Gourmet Scientist - Pastry

Tiramisu

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:48:00 -0400

I have been searching for the authentic tiramisu for a very long time, although I'm beginning to think that it's impossible as there can be so many variations, and it ultimately depends on what you like.

I only found out two years ago that some people add amaretto. Then there's the instant coffee or expresso punch. More alcoholic burn (boozy), coffee caffeine rush, or chocolate depth. It can be moussy creamy that is densely flavoured or lightened with whipped cream. Or it can be more cake and bread-like with a moist or lighter texture.

In any case, I was most amazed by the one we had in Venice. It was cake-like with less marscapone and zabaglione. The alcohol and coffee was also minimal. The balance was perfect with both the texture and flavour light but present. Completely contrary to practially all the tiramisu's that I've had, this one was perfect for the end of the meal. It was neither heavy nor overpowering. I never knew tiramisu could be so ethereal.

Macaroons

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:36:00 -0500

So far, I've encountered three sweets under the name ''macaroons'': a Scottish flapjack made with coconut and chocolate, a coconut biscuit/cookie, and a sandwich biscuit/cookie made with crushed almonds. It's the last that's of interest.

My first encounter with these was at a local dessert shop back home in Columbus, Ohio, called Pistachia Vera (formerly ''Pistachio''). The batter is left to air-dry for a day before baking to create a thin crunchy exterior followed by a moist bread/cake-like interior. Sandwiched between two pieces is a creamed filling. Priced at 1 USD for the size of a medallion, it's definitely an indulgence; but once you've tried one, you can't help falling in love with the mixture of texture and flavour.

Recently, I encountered them at two other shops. One was French Tart in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the macaroons were shipped daily from France. Slightly smaller and more expensive, I wanted to know why someone would go to such an extent. The second was Laduree, a famous French patisserie with a branch in London, UK, next to Harrods; this store was well-reputed for their macaroons, and at 1.20 GBP each, it was not cheap. Amazingly, neither tasted as good as the one from ''Pistachia Vera''! The one in Pittsburgh was no where as flavourful while the one in London did not have the unique texture (dare I say, bordering over-moist).

Who would have thought: a local store could produce something that surpasses internationally-reputed standards!

Chiffon Pudding Cake

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:00:00 -0500

Finally! Success!

Ever since arriving in Cambridge, I've had difficulty making the chiffon cake, mainly because of problems with the hand mixer. With a house that supplies wacky power, a 6-speed hand mixer is reduced to 1-speed -- turbo -- which makes accomplishing correctly beaten egg whites, one of the most critical elements, fairly difficult. It was quite disheartening as I'd already had my 1.5 failures in the States before the first success (according to my mom, it takes 3 failures, so I've been fortunate).

Now, after yet another 1.5 failures (have I now attained my 3 failures??), I finally made my first success in Cambridge! Yay!!

Surprisingly Moist and Crispy Scones

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:02:00 -0400

This past Sunday, we made scones that were amazingly delicious! As it was an impromptu request, we used ingredients that were immediately on hand and a recipe that I modified for higher moisture. The most basic recipe called for 4 ingredients, but me being the complicated cook, it extended to 9. I mixed white and wholemeal flour and added skimmed milk and an egg. I was expecting a fairly dense scone, but what resulted resembled a light biscuit/cookie. The crust was a thin crisp layer while the inside was moist, soft, not doughy nor crumbly; and the flavor was mildly sweet with a gentle grainy crunch.

I think the wholemeal flour improved the scone incredibly. It prevented too much gluten from forming while the wholemeal added a nice texture. The milk and egg definitely helped with moisture. And of course, the butter was a big plus; although I'd venture to say the scones would be fine with a little less.

As I quote my friend, "It's almost a crime to put anything on it!" Seriously, it tasted so good, we were content eating it plain.

Scones and Jam

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:13:00 -0400

I'd forgotten how easy it was to make jam (if you skipped the sterilization and canning process). No wonder it's the ideal option when you're overloaded with fruits during harvest season. As I'd made plans to bake scones with a friend in the afternoon, we needed some jam and clotted cream for the quintessential English cream tea. What better than fresh-baked homemade scones with homemade jam. (I don't think we'll go as far as homemade clotted cream... )

With blackberries still ripening (couldn't you have guessed??), my huge stash of gelatin (although pectin is preferable), and white sugar, I was set to go. Unfortunately, I was misled by the various recipes I'd seen online as my jam turned out WAY TOO SWEET! I should have started less and added to taste during the boiling process. I know, it's the essential quality of a good cook. But hey, it was early Saturday morning... Regardless, I was still happy that I made a jam from fresh hand-picked fruits that would soon accompany fresh self-made scones.

Next came the scones. After nearly 7 months, I remembered my friend's offer to show me how to make them. Armed with a BBC recipe, we added a few changes of our own (the recipe made no mention of a rising agent!). Unfortunately, it being Saturday, we weren't mentally there for the first batch for which we named "Rustic scones" (we were following the recipe too closely and forgot the vanilla extract, baking powder, and almonds/sultanas); it resembled shortbread in texture but not as buttery. The second batch came out much better. The texture seemed different--a little more doughy and not as crumbly--compared to commercial ones. It might be in the quantity of fat used--butter, vegetable oil, or egg (is that a surprise??). No wonder the fruit ones always tasted drier than the cheese ones; and it might be the reason why jam and clotted cream made them taste so much better (although I do prefer them without anything). But the dryness may also be from overworking the dough.

At least now that I know how easy they are to make, I can begin tweaking the recipe.

Healthifying Muffins--Part 2

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:02:00 -0400

So, I had some free time today and wanted to test my modifications in hopes of some success after so many failures. It seemed I was somewhat granted my wish...

I tried my best to minimize all possible sources of extraneous liquid. I drained and baked the mashed sweet potato, mashed the fresh blackberries through a strainer to squeeze out the water, strained the yogurt using paper towels (like a cheese cloth), and eliminated the vegetable oil. I also increased the baking powder. Lastly, I remembered to sprinkle some white sugar to help create a crispy crust.

There was definite improvement as the inside resembled the holey texture of a muffin; however, it still seemed a bit wet. The muffins still did not rise much; and the crust was crunchy, albeit a tad bit overboard.

After another round of investigation, I've gathered that the wholemeal flour may be contributing to the low rise as there's less gluten to help develop a stable puffed structure. I may indeed need baking soda since I have acidic ingredients that could be neutralized and help leaven the muffins some more. I may have actually overbaked the muffins, since I was so afraid of a soggy inside due to underbaking. I don't think I want to further reduce the liquid ratio as the muffin is showing potential for dryness; and frankly, I'm not sure how much more liquid I could eliminate.

One friend likes the muffins as is with the crunchy crust and soft inside. Another feels that the contrast is too drastic. A compromise may be difficult, but the ideal muffin texture in my mind is a thin hardened crust with an airy moist inside. My second attempt has neither a thin crust nor an airy inside. Maybe the third try will be it, but I'm definitely getting there as I'm running out of modification ideas...

Healthifying Muffins--Part 1

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:37:00 -0400

Ever since I bought the freshly ground wholemeal flour at Die Valken windmill in the Netherlands, I'd been intending to use it since the suggested best before date was October 2007. Ideas ranged from cinnamon buns to my mom's braided raisin bread to chinese scallion or dried pork sung buns; yet time was always against me. Finally, when a friend told me about her failed muffin attempts (which I gathered was from her complete elimination of butter), I toyed with the idea of healthifying muffins; and the bank holiday weekend offered the chance.

First off was the flour, which I knew I'd replace half with the wholemeal flour. Next was the butter. I'd already been researching various methods for replacing butter (see blog entry Fruit Sponge Cake), and I had seen some recipes for banana bread without butter. Applesauce + oil seemed a popular replacement as well as pureed vegetables or fruits. Unfortunately, the only applesauce that I could find was Bramley apple sauce which previous experience revealed it to be extremely tart and completely different from the American applesauce. I failed to locate any pureed or canned vegetables except tomatoes and potatoes. Lacking a blender, I decided to steam and mash my own sweet potatoes. Last was the fruit-flavored yogurt.

I used the Banana-Raspberry Bread recipe as a foundation; replaced half the flour with wholemeal, 1/4 of the sugar with brown sugar, milk with yogurt, and banana with steamed and mashed sweet potatoes; and used only baking powder (as I had no baking soda on hand).

Having never baked muffins before, this may have been too ambitious an attempt. Needless to say, it was a failed attempt. I'm pretty sure it was not overmixing as I'd been forewarned enough by all the "DO NOT OVERMIX"'s and "DO NOT OVERBAKE"'s I'd encountered. It seemed my batter may have been too wet, since the muffins did not rise and the insides were mushy as if undercooked. I was somewhat worried about the possibility, but I naively thought that quick breads could withstand higher moisture content. Wrong I certainly was! I didn't even realize how high my liquid ratio was; water seeped from the steamed sweet potatoes, yogurt, vegetable oil, fresh washed blackberries, and egg!

So, my next attempt will be to eliminate the vegetable oil, decrease the yogurt and strain it through a paper towel, and bake the steamed sweet potatoes to help reduce the moisture. Let's see where this will take us...

Fruit Sponge Cake

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:58:00 -0400

Prompted by the need for a thank you gift, I decided to bake a cake using the fresh-picked damsons and blackberries. I used the upside down cake and claufouti as an inspiration for placing the fruits at the base of the baking pan. For the cake itself, I used the Chinese Steamed Cake recipe as a foundation. I'm still quite impressed at the lack of butter or oil in the recipe, and it seemed a great starting point for creating a healthy tasty cake. So, I took the opportunity to make my first altercations.

One person had commented that the cake could be baked, although the texture was a bit too spongy and chewy; so I focused on adding more moisture as well as reducing the 6 eggs. Since I've encountered several cake recipes that used sour cream as a source of moisture and I myself have used fruit-flavored yogurt in my cheesecakes, I ventured to test the effects of fruit-flavored yogurt in the cake. I also thought adding a little oil could help with moisture. Thus, I eliminated 1 egg, replaced the water with yogurt and oil, and split the sugar between white and brown.

Thankfully, the cake didn't collapse; but the texture was not what I desired. It was quite a bit rubbery and the air bubbles weren't even. After searching through baking911.com, I learned a couple things. I think I may have overmixed when incorporating the flour. The sugar was not fully dissolved either, so I may try beating the yolks over heat to help with dissolving the sugar and increasing the volume. I'm beginning to wonder if I should switch to pastry flour to help with the tenderness, although I may try ground almonds to see its effects. Pureed squash seems like another good alternative, although it's usually a replacement for butter. Definitely lots of possibilities. Let's hope I can obtain the texture I have in my mind while keeping it healthy. )

I also learned the difference between a convection oven and the baking oven typically found in American homes where the heat is either from the bottom or top. I knew that the convection oven was the most ideal as the heat source came from both the top and bottom with a fan circulating the heat evenly. I was quite surprised to find it in typical English homes. Apparently, when using a convection oven, one should decrease the temperature and cooking time by about 10%. That would explain why the cakes I've baked so far tended to burn on top while the meats tended to be dry. I've not realized the needed drop in temperature. Eureka!

Damson Crumble

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:30:00 -0400

Who would have thought? Prior to this summer season, I have been living in a fruitful paradise without ever realizing it. In my house garden, we've discovered damson trees, a blackberry bush, and maybe even an apple tree. Who knows what other treasures there may be (besides the family of muntjacs...). Numerous damson trees stretch along the street outside the house. And, apparently, there's even a fig tree along a nearby street.

So tonight, 2 housemates and I decided to pick some of the damons and make a damson crumble. It was delicious and extremely juicy, albeit fairly tart. I think only one of the trees bear sweet damsons, while the others are tart. Regardless, picking our own damsons from our own garden and making a dessert out of it makes everything that much more tasty especially when the only "sweat" that we shed was harvesting the fruit from trees that we neither planted nor sowed. :-?

All that remains is for the blackberry bush to ripen and to see whether we do or do not have an apple tree...

Damson Tree

Plum Tree

Fruits from 3 trees

Freshly baked crumble

Gastronomy of Provençal France

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:00:00 -0400

Less than four months, and I find myself back in France. B-)

I just returned from visiting my housemate in Aix en Provence as well as hiking through Les Calanques near Cassis and exploring Marseille. England has been plagued with uncharacteristically gloomy and unpredictably moody weather, so France's incessant southern coastal sunshine was the exact cure (although a tad overboard at times). But even more so was the much anticipated French gastronomy...

Pain au chocolat from Patisserie Weibel

I love French pastries, and I loyally had one every morning. (I would have it for all three meals if I could stomach it.) The best, we discovered, was from the Patisserie Weibel. The pain au chocolat--baked golden brown, enclosed in a thin fragile crust, puffed round with air, and buttery moist and smooth--disappeared unsatisfactorily fast, leaving you craving for more. The pain au raisin disintegrated into flakes with each bite, coating the tongue with flurries of butter, flour, and sugar, and contrasted well with the chewy raisin. I was a bit disappointed with the brioche--fluffy white dough encased in a thin honeyed crust--as it was a bit too dry. I may be blaspheming, but I think I prefer the brioche at Le Chatelaine (Columbus, Ohio) for its better moisture and tenderness.

We happened across Bechard and decided to have a very unhealthy and high in refined carbohydrate and fat lunch. (Hey, it's France; forget the diet. :-? ) I was intrigued in trying the cannele de bordeaux as I've heard it is difficult to make. It is typically baked in a mould that resembles a mini bundt cake; on the outside is a honeyed crust while the inside is a creamy custard. The texture was leaning towards rubbery, so I wasn't too impressed by it. I also tried the Aix specialty, the calisson, which consisted of marzipan and flour sandwiched between a wafer and a layer of sugar frosting; it's chewy but not very sweet. The original was okay, but I wish I could try the fig and lavender flavored ones..

Fourré chocolat with Olives au chocolat in the background

We also walked through the confectionary chain "La Cure Gourmande" and were warmly offered samples. The fourré frambouise was quite fascinating; it's a biscuit ("cookie" in the US) with raspberry filling. The store in Marseille offered a fourré chocolat. Both were nice, though buttery rich like a shortbread. The other sample was the olives au chocolat; but the name deceives. It's made to look like olives, but it's actually almond covered with a layer of chocolate followed by a layer of flavoured sugar coating (kind of like an M & M). The flavours ranged from pistachio to tea to licorice to several others (my French was a bit too limited...).

Charlotte

For dinner, we splurged on a three-course meal at Le Village. I didn't realize until a couple days later that the fish soup that I ordered as my starter was actually a cheaper version of the famed Marseille bouillabaisse (there's even a charter dictating the required ingredients). The flavour was incredible! It didn't taste of fishiness; but rather, it was a rich meld of meaty fish broth, vegetables, and herbs. Soaking the croutons topped with the garlic chili aioli and grated cheese in the soup enhanced the richness of flavour. The braised lamb, my main, was cooked so well that I could tear the meat off with just the fork; each piece was incredibly tender, moist, and well-infused with flavour. As for dessert, the crushed nuts and cream in the summery light charlotte complemented very well with the strawberry coulis. Rounded off with a deep Buzet red wine, it was definitely a satisfying meal.

Overall, I would have to say this trip was a gastronomical success! I still love, if not enamored further by, the pastries, chocolate, and food from France! ) Vive la France!