Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake

Lately I've been a cravin' crepes. It all started when I went to the Mobile Chowdown with some friends. We spent plenty of time standing in lines for various foods and I was planning on ending our food excursion on a sweet note. I had been eyeing the crepe stand for awhile. Well, needless to say, I didn't get any. Right around the same time, I got my monthly Martha Stewart magazine in the mail and right on the cover was a mouthwatering crepe cake. After perusing the recipe over and over, I decided to just go for it. How else was I going to get my stinkin' crepes?

The ingredient list was doable. The only item I felt iffy about were the Meyer lemons. But I figured the Fred Meyer's by my place would have them. Well, they didn't. What? Fred Meyer doesn't have Meyer lemons??!!! Get it? Ok, bad joke. Fortunately the knowledgeable produce guy knew where I could get them. If I went up the street, there was a Mediterranean market within "walking distance" that had them on sale. Excellent! After purchasing the rest of my groceries, I proceeded to walk aimlessly up the street, with my heavy bag in hand. I later learned that within "walking distance" actually meant "seven blocks", the area I was walking was not safe, and yes, I should have gone to the bathroom before I left. It also didn't help that my groceries were becoming increasingly heavy and that I had to locate the address of the Mediterranean market on my phone with my free hand covertly inside my purse. When I finally got to the market though, the staff were very friendly and I was able to at last purchase my precious Meyer lemons.

What is a Meyer lemon? It is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. They are known for being sweeter than other lemons. They also have a rounder shape, which I think makes them adorable.

Sorry for the long narrative, now to the baking part.

To make the crepe cake you need to make a lemon curd mousse and you need to make crepes. While making the curd, you add the ingredients and whisk them continuously for ten minutes over medium-low heat. When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, it is ready for the next step. It took me 20 minutes before the curd thickened. I was literally about to give up when it did this. Note: I think the mixture had to heat up sufficiently before it would thicken. I have an old stove range, so it took longer. But I kept on whisking. A light yellow bubbly layer formed on top and then slowly the whole thing became light yellow and bubbly and then it thickened pretty quickly. I was Sooooooooooooooooooooo happy to see that since I worked so hard to get the lemons. :)

Now, on to the crepes. I had never made crepes before either. So this whole recipe was a big learning experience for me. I used a regular non-stick frying pan for the crepes. My dad had pulled out an old, dusty crepe maker from the garage while I was home earlier that day. I had no idea he owned one. I was tempted to use it, and even tried it once, but gave up. I didn't have time to make another batch of batter if it didn't work out. So I stuck with my first plan. My first crepe turned out fragile and kind of moist. And was too sticky to be flipped. I realized I did not wait for the edges of the crepes to turn golden brown before flipping it over. The recommended 30 seconds per side from the recipe was not accurate. So I judged by watching the edges instead. After the edges became golden brown, I turned the pan upside-down over an overturned plate. When the crepe fell, I would place it back into the pan on the side that needed to be browned. Not very professional, but it got the job done. I also kept adjusting the temperature of the pan. Increasing and decreasing as necessary to keep the crepes from cooking too fast or slow. Note: be sure your crepe batter is cold before using.

After the curd had plenty of time to refrigerate, I was able to add some whipped cream to make it into a mousse. After that it was only a matter of stacking crepes and covering them with the mousse. Pretty simple. I learned much from making this crepe cake. And it was not too difficult. Though you need plenty of time to make this. I started the night before by leaving some eggs out to become room temperature. And then there's time needed to refrigerate the crepe batter and the curd. And also the mousse and then the actual cake once it is assembled. All in all, it turned out well. Though the taste was too rich for me, one piece was perfect.

Cupcake Pedestals

So, right now cupcakes are popular. Cupcake wedding cakes are in, little cupcake shops are popping up more and more, and Martha Stewart has even devoted a whole cookbook to those yummy little pieces of cake. They're pretty in different shades of butter cream or other rich frostings. They are in reasonable portion sizes, they come in many wonderful flavors, and they're portable. Etc., etc. There are so many reasons that we love cupcakes.

So many in fact, that these little cakes have their very own pedestals. Yep, that's what they're called. They're not the tiered cupcake stands or trees. They are miniature, footed cake stands. Some complete with their own domed covers. The tiered cupcake stands have been around for awhile, but an individual pedestal, that was new to me. What a cute and novel idea! When I first saw one in person, I knew I had to have one. Yes, I am a compulsive shopper. Fortunately/unfortunately, my voice of reason was with me, (Brian), so I didn't get it. But it got me thinking about what is really pedestal worthy.

Certainly an exceptional food deserves recognition. There are awards given in different categories for such things. Though I know little about this. So, I guess what I really care about here goes beyond food. It goes perhaps to the thoughts/intentions behind it. To the people who make meals or dishes to serve others. Those who prepare a special meal to show their love, compassion, or appreciation. To share kindness, fellowship, and/or concern. To those people, I toast you. And though there is no pedestal big enough for you to stand, I hope somewhere in your future, there will be a little one, perhaps with a cupcake on it, just for you.

The pictures came from these sites in order:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41110027
http://totallytabletops.blogspot.com/2008/08/cupcake-pedestal.html
http://www.rosannainc.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=rosanna&Category_Code=134

French Macarons: Part 1

First of all, sorry folks for the lag in postings lately. Well, for my next project, I have decided to take on French macarons. They are the pastel sandwich cookies, not the coconut macaroons you usually see around. I've been wanting to make these for years, but thought I should taste them first. Last summer, I went to the Cheese Festival with some friends and the French bakery, Le Panier, by Pike Place Market had them. So I was finally able to try them. They were crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and very sweet. I am not superficial, but the attractiveness of this cookie outweighs the inner tastiness for me. Therefore even if this cookie is too sweet for some, they still can be enjoyed. I would definitely not hesitate to bring them to formal events.

So...back to the baking...

When I first attempted these delightful delicacies, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had two recipes to choose from. Both looked harmless. Easy enough to follow at least. Well, as you can tell from my pictures, my macarons did not turn out...well, well. Technically they can't even be called macarons because they have no "foot". (The little ruffled looking border on the bottom edge of the cookies.) Isn't that cute? :D

What went wrong? A million things! Like I said, I had no idea how tricky these cookies are. I even found one website that called them the "Diva" of cookies. Great! Alright! One thing I have to say though, my epic failure was a good thing. Because now I am as determined as ever to get these finicky little frivolities right! Phew! (Try saying that ten times fast.) But seriously, I have been researching macaroons and will hopefully have a much better result in my next post. Though there may be several parts to this series, (depending on how difficult they end up being.) I hope to try again soon, as soon as I get my food processor back. Till then, I will keep on researching and let the failures of fellow bakers keep me company.

Signing off,
Mandy

All Caught Up. Now on to Tartlets!

For the most part, my posts from now on will be from current experiences. My latest excursions have been in tartlets.

There's something about individual servings that's really special. Maybe I feel this way because as a twin, I grew up sharing everything. But I really like having my very own little pastry ALL to myself. And I think the idea of little tartlets in itself is charming. They're so enticing with their fluted, golden brown crusts and attractive arrangements of fresh fruits atop a decadent filling. Ahem, excuse me while I stop salivating.

Ok, so I've been a little obsessed lately. For a few months now, I've been looking at the same tartlet recipes, but waiting. Waiting for what? The gumption to again try something new, and also to commit already and buy those darn tartlet pans. My kitchen is already straining to accommodate all the special equipment that I need for my baking.

Well, I finally bought the pans, and then I finally tried some recipes. The first were for a simple pie or tart dough and the second for a raspberry-chocolate ganache filling. The tart crusts came out golden brown and very un-disc-like. And the ganache also turned out well. With raspberries and powdered sugar on top, the tartlets looked very promising. Well, they tasted good. But that was it, just, good. Maybe my sweet tooth is too demanding. The only added sugar the recipes called for was for the garnish. Not enough. I think some whipped cream on top would have done the trick, but I was too lazy. So half of the tartlets sat in the fridge for awhile. When I did decide to eat them, the other flat of raspberries had already molded. So I added bananas, which actually tasted pretty good.

A little later, I was having company over so I decided to try a new crust recipe and do a different filling. The new crust called for sugar and more butter. To make a long story short, the dough was impossible to work with, so I had to throw it in the freezer for awhile. Thankfully I had leftover dough from the first batch. I used that to make the first six crusts. They came out too brown. I figured it had to do with sitting in the fridge for awhile. So I used the more buttery, sugary dough. That came out browner. Only two of the second batch were salvageable. Rather than throw out all my hard work I decided the crusts would taste better once the filling was added. I made a quick cream cheese filling and added some fruit. Ta da! They turned out fine.

I wish the sweeter, more buttery crusts had turned out, (even the burnt ones tasted good). But they didn't and neither did the batch ahead of them. I now know why. Instead of using my regular baking sheet underneath the tartlet pans, I used an older one with rims to keep the pans from sliding off. The older one apparently decreased the baking time.

Lessons Learned
I learned that I need to be more creative when baking. The raspberries and ganache didn't work out for me, but the bananas did. And I'm sure some candied oranges would taste good too. Also, I need to remember that not all baking sheets are created equally. And when using a new one, I need to monitor the baking progress. Lastly, the second dough was impossible to work with, I wanted to give up and throw it away. (Luckily it improved a little in the freezer.) Though it was a pain, if it hadn't burnt, it would have been worth it. So, I shouldn't avoid more difficult things, they do pay off.

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

This past December, my friend Michelle and I wanted to make some baked gifts for people. After throwing out some lofty ideas, we settled on making snowflake sugar cookies. We designated a day to do it and began buying ingredients. I was very happy with the outcome, and it was fun hanging out at the same time. But it took over eight hours to make 76 cookies! I think part of this was because we used a Martha Stewart recipe. They are usually more involved than others. And I didn't realize or remember this, but sugar cookie dough needs time to refrigerate. The decorating was surprisingly fast. We spent most of our time working with the dough. Refrigerating, rolling, cutting, re-refrigerating, baking and cooling. The next time I make sugar cookies, I will make the dough a day ahead. And since we also wanted to make our own pretty packaging, the next time we do baked gifts, we will reserve two days.

Reality Check: One Ugly Pie

So, due to my past baking successes, I was feeling pretty good about myself. And last fall, Brian informed me that we'd be receiving a bunch of apples from a guy at work. Apparently he had an apple tree. That got me thinking about apple pie. Mmmmm!

A week later, Brian texted me from work: Got the apples. I knew that my pie making plans were a go. We both had plans that night but I was sure I could bake the pie before we left. Brian got home and after a quick dinner we started peeling apples and measuring ingredients. Since I was doing the measuring, I didn't notice the tiny brown dots on the apples that Brian was throwing into the sugar mixture. When I took over the cutting, Brian assured me that the dots weren't anything bad. I decided to trust him, despite my great fear of eating a worm or any other bug in my food. Though mostly a worm. After cutting and peeling for several minutes (all of the apples had dirty holes) my fear finally caught up to me. Brian googled the apple's symptoms and then refused to tell me what they meant. We ditched the apples into the garbage, planned to pick up more from the store and went to our respective meetings.

It wasn't till late that same night, that we were again cutting apples, (though not peeling) and measuring ingredients. The first mistake was asking Brian to mix the dough. We both "thought" it looked ok. But when rolled out, it was tough and it kept cracking. Oh well, we were in a hurry. I patched the dough together and pushed it into the pie pan. Next, I slopped in the filling, then realized I forgot to add something. The filling went from pie pan to bowl and back, covering both in a sticky mess. I then placed the top pie crust on, remembered I forgot to add extra pieces of butter, wrenched it off, added them and threw everything into the oven. Finally relief! It wasn't till after the pie was done that I realized, I forgot to sprinkle the top with some cinnamon. Something my dad had asked me to do for him.

Well, I love to eat. So as long as something tastes good, I'm usually not too concerned with how it looks. (Ok, this is not true if it's something I've made.) Unfortunately, and this was the last straw, the pie tasted awful. And the apple skins that we were too tired to peel off, reminded us with each grueling bite, that this pie was a disaster.

Lessons I Learned
I'm glad that this happened. It made me realize there is still much for me to learn. And it has reminded me the importance of carefully following instructions and to not rush things. Though I did not accomplish what I set out to do, I ended up making something else, which is maybe even better.

A humble pie.

Fruit T(art) and Baking Blind

My First Two Fruit Tarts
For my birthday I received a gift certificate to a baking shop and decided to tackle fruit tarts next. I bought my first tart pan and found a simple recipe to try. After reading and re-reading the recipe, I proceeded to make the crust. To my disappointment, what came out of the oven was not a perfect looking deep tart crust. But a flat looking disc. What went wrong? Since I was making two tarts, one each for a different potluck, I poked holes in the next tart dough and made sure to carefully flatten out the center and make the sides thicker. The result, another disc of dough, but with a shallow crater in the middle. Defeat again! Well, fortunately the filling and the pretty fruit on top, made up for the crust's shortcomings. But I was left with the question, what did I do wrong?

It wasn't till recently that I realized I was baking blind. Which is baking a pie or tart shell without a filling inside. When you do that, you need to place something on top of the crust to make sure it doesn't puff up. Some people use tin foil and dry beans or pie weights. The recipe I used, did not mention this, which is why I was so confused. But this knowledge is obviously something an experienced baker would have known, therefore, it didn't need to be mentioned. Right?

On a different note, I had never arranged fruit on a tart before and was very pleased with how it turned out. It was fun to create a pattern with the different shapes and colors. However, after I added the glaze, (which was just a bit of apricot jam heated up and strained) I realized I left open too much empty space. For each area that the filling was not covered, the glaze settled and pooled, making it look messy. You can see this in the second tart picture. Solution: cover as much of the filling as you can with the fruit and do not add too much glaze. Or do not use a glaze. Omitting the glaze is fine if you're going to serve your tart soon. Or if you wait till right before serving to add it. If you don't, you run the risk of the fruit looking dry.

Now I'm accurately baking blind in the art of the tart.

I Heart Pocket Pies

Pies in individual portions. They are great at gatherings or as gifts. I got my pocket pie molds at Williams Sonoma. The dough recipe on the back of the box is good and pretty simple to make. And here, my friend Son and I made a blueberry filling. This was my first experience with pie dough, and I was very satisfied with how it turned out. At the time we weren't sure if we should trim the edges of dough that squished out of the mold. But looking at the pictures, I think its better if you do.