Blueberry-Almond Bars

Whew. Just a little time has passed! I'd like to claim lots has happened, but mostly it's just been work work work. Good stuff, but we're here for the food, and we all know it. ;)

Food then! I present Blueberry Curd and Almond Cream bars. They take some work, but oh goodness, they're addicting. There's just one other recipe I've had more requests for - this one even passed the One-Bowl Brownies! I can't say I'm surprised though, for a non-chocolate dessert these are stunning. They start out with a layer of almond shortbread, flavored with cinnamon and lemon. A layer of almond cream, flavored with liquor, makes up the middle. The crowning glory is a layer of homemade blueberry curd. Just... yum.

The recipe is an adaptation, but after a year I'm afraid the link has vanished from my records. Once again recipe gods, please give my thanks to your acolyte!

Blueberry Almond Bars

Shortbread:
* 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup ground toasted almonds
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Almond cream:
* 1/4 cup pure almond paste (2 ounces)
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 egg
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Blueberry curd:
* 1 pint blueberries
* 2 eggs
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* Pinch of salt
* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 8x8" baking dish.

Crust: To make the shortbread, combine the butter, flour, almonds, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt until small lumps form. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake until the shortbread is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Almond cream: Purée almond paste, granulated sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until smooth. Add 1 egg, vanilla, and almond extract and purée until incorporated. Add flour and pulse until incorporated.

Blueberry curd: In a food processor or blender, puree the blueberries until smooth. Pass the puree through a chinois set over a bowl, using a pestle to press on the solids and extract as much juice as possible; discard the solids. You should have about 1/2 cup juice.

In the top pan of a double boiler or in a nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until blended. Then whisk in the blueberry juice, salt, and lemon juice. Set the top pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan, or set the saucepan over medium-low heat. (If using a saucepan, take care not to heat the mixture too quickly.) Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the mixture is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Begin adding the butter a little at a time, stirring each addition until blended before adding more. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until a finger drawn across the back of the spatula leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Pass the curd through the chinois set over a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk to blend.

Assembly: Pour the almond cream over the cooled crust and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven then pour the curd on top, spreading it evenly to the edges. There may be some blending of the almond cream and the blueberry - no worries.

Bake until the curd is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into individual bars, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust the bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Spiced Pecan Cupcakes with Whipped Caramel Filling and White Chocolate Frosting

I wanted to make a dessert without having to run to the store, so I took stock of my kitchen. I had chocolate, nuts (oh goodness, lots of!), various fruits, and a whole lot of sweetened condensed milk. I loved the walnut cupcakes from Chockylit's Cupcake Bakeshop and wanted to make something similar again.

Glancing back over my list of ingredients, three jumped out at me: pecans, white chocolate, and dulce de leche. Not exactly a spring dessert, but one that brings nothing so much as "golden" to mind for description. The end result was a combination of subtle flavors, gentle enough to savor but light enough that you could enjoy more than one (and the boyo did!)

I don't have a cross-section but the daub in the picture is the caramel filling, with the almond-praline topping from here.

Whipped Caramel (adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe):
* 1 can sweetened condensed milk
* 2 tsp sea salt
* 1 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour sweetened condensed milk and sat into a glass pie pan and stir to combine. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and place in a roasting pan. Fill roasting pan halfway up pie pan with hot water. Bake for 1-1/2 hours or until caramel is golden brown. Allow to cool completely before continuing.

Whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3 of whipped cream to dulce de leche and stir until combined, to lighten. Fold remainder of whipped cream into dulce de leche. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pecan Cupcakes (adapted from Cupcakeblog.com)
~20 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

* 1-1/2 c flour (cake if you have it, otherwise all-purpose)
* 3/4 c sugar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 c grape seed oil or vegetable oil
* 4 egg yolks (approximately 3 oz)
* 1/4 c water
* 1/3 c pecan butter
* 7 egg whites (approximately 7 oz)
* 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
* 1/4 c sugar
* 1/2 tsp cardamom
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* zest of one orange

In a food processor, blend 3/4 c sugar with orange zest until finely ground. Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices into the bowl of a standing mixer. In a medium bowl, combine oil, egg yolks, water, and pecan butter. Stir to combine.

On a low setting, start to beat the dry mixture and slowly add the wet. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until incorporated. Transfer mixture to another bowl. Wash and dry mixer bowl.

Whip egg whites with whip attachment on medium-high speed until foamy. With the mixer on medium speed, add cream of tarter and slowly add sugar. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Scoop about a third of the stiff egg whites into the batter and stir to combine. This should lighten up the batter. Transfer the batter to the egg whites and gently fold until there are no more streaks of egg white.

Scoop into cupcake cups just less than 1/2 full and bake at 350 F for 20-22 minutes.

White Chocolate Frosting (from Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible"):
* 9 oz. white chocolate, melted, cooled to room temperature
* 12 oz. cream cheese, softened
* 6 oz. unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice, or to taste

Beat cream cheese in mixing bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in the melted and cooled chocolate until incorporated. Add in the butter and lemon juice last, beating well until smooth.

Assembly:
Once cupcakes have cooled, cut a cone out of the top and dollop enough whipped caramel to put it just below top of cupcake. Cut the tip off the cone and place it back on top of the cupcake. Pipe frosting over cupcake and sprinkle praline over top. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Cardamom-Chocolate Pinwheels

I've found a new favorite food blog! Dear god, this site is awesome: besides decadent recipes, she includes wonderful photos and notes. I didn't make any changes to the recipe this time around, so the original is here. I was impressed with the chocolate-pepper combination as pepper in general is not something I add to my bakery goods. It did indeed blend beautifully with these flavors though: a rich, chewy shortbread followed by the tiniest of kicks.

The prospect of swirling two flavors together in a cookie has left me breathless with possibilities: raspberry and lemon! Chocolate and orange! White chocolate and strawberry! Now that I have a base I believe I'll begin experimenting. Prepare for the pinwheel stampede!

Chocolate-Strawberry Macarons

After reading through Zinnur of Our Patisserie's adventures with macarons, I decided it was time to try them myself. Luckily for me, I had the benefit of her experiences to draw from, as well as those from David Lebovitz's blog (he's in France, where they have ingenious recipes like Salted Caramel Ice Cream. -droooooools-) I decided to use David's recipe, with a few minor changes. The end result was gorgeous: crunchy, chewy, sweet and fruity all at once. My ganache for the center was a little too soft: I didn't drain the strawberry juice before adding the puree because I wanted to keep the full flavor. In retrospect this was a mistake; next time I would add the juice to the cream and boil it a little.

Macaron Batter
* 1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
* ½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces , 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
* 3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
* 2 large egg whites, at room temperature* 5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling
* ½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream* 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
* 4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces

Strawberry Filling
* 15 medium strawberries (pitted), about 5 ounces (150 gr) strawberries
* 2½ ounces (70 gr) best-quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
* 2 tablespoons Amaretto

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn't quite fine enough. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the countertop to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Strawberry Filling:
Smash the strawberries with a fork until you have a rough puree. Using a sieve and a wooden spoon, push the strawberry juice into a small saucepan. Keep the pulp. Melt the milk chocolate and the Armagnac in a double boiler or microwave, stirring until smooth. Stir into the strawberry puree. Cool completely to room temperature (it will thicken when cool.)

To make the chocolate filling:
Heat the cream in the small saucepan with the corn syrup and strawberry juice. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, turn down the heat so it simmers for 2-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.

Assembly:
Spread a bit of batter on the inside of the macarons then sandwich them together. (You can pipe the filling it, but I prefer to spread it by hand; it's more fun, I think.)I also tend to overfill them so you may or may not use all the filling.

Let them stand at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons

Strawberry Almond-Cream Tart

It's a variation on my pear-almond tart. All I did was substitute strawberries for pears, but oh wow the difference. Before the fruit flavor was too subtle; the pears were overwhelmed by the sugar. This time the strawberries and almonds made a gorgeous slightly tart but very sweet overall flavor. When baking it this time, I made an aluminum foil tent to put on top after 40 minutes, then let it bake for 30 more to avoid it being overbrowned on top. All in all, I'm very happy with this version. I might try it with other fruit (apricots!) later; seems like most fruit would work.

Pecan Truffles

I know I promised pictures of my almond cake, but disaster struck during assembly. Instead of looking like a three-tier wonder, the cakes cracked under the weight of the frosting, leaving me with a bakery earthquake. The taste was ok, not something I would make again. Overall it was a disappointment.

These, however, were not! I haven't made truffles in years, and I couldn't remember how to dip them to get that smooth outer coating. With a little practice with a spoon, a corn skewer, and a lot of melted chocolate, I think I've got the knack. Good thing too, since truffles are a major portion of my Christmas goodie bags. These are but the beginning to my seasonal baking frenzy -- I already have a mint version in the frig that will have to wait until tomorrow for coating since it is near midnight. Tomorrow's post should be a long one though! On the agenda: gingerbread men (haven't made those in years either, I even bought sprinkles!), eggnog hot cross buns (since I have leftover eggnog and have a yearning to work dough), almond brittle, chocolate walnut fudge, and of course, truffles. Whew, who needs a job, I'm hard at work already!

Ingredients:
* 2 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves
* 3 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about three 5- by 2 1/2-inch graham crackers)
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 24 oz white chocolate (chopped)

Finely chop 1/2 cup pecans.

In a food processor grind remaining 2 cups pecans with a pinch salt, occasionally scraping down side of bowl, until pecans release their oil and mixture becomes a smooth paste, about 3 minutes. Transfer pecan butter to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients until combined well.

Form level teaspoons of pecan butter into balls and with a dipping fork dip into melted white chocolate. Adorn with halved pecans, if desired. Chill truffles, in layers separated by wax paper, in an airtight container at least 1 hour, or until firm, and up to 4 days.

Makes about 40 truffles.

Lemon Cheesecake with Almond-Gingersnap Crust

The boyo and I are visiting my parents this week, and I commandeered the humongous kitchen for myself. Since 9:30 this morning, I have made 2 batches of peppermint bark cookies, an apple crisp that turned out beautifully, an almond cake that I will post tomorrow, and this: a lemon cheesecake with almond-gingersnap crust. It looks rather plain, especially compared to its predecessor, but delicious nonetheless. I changed the recipe (as is my wont) and added some chopped almonds for crunch and extra lemon juice for zing. My modifications were minor though, and recipe below (thanks epicurious!) is unaltered.
Ingredients:
Crust
* 2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
* 5 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
* 2 cups sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 7 large eggs
* 3 cups (24 ounces) sour cream
* 2 tablespoons (packed) finely grated lemon peel
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Lemon leaves or twists (optional)

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir cookie crumbs and butter in medium bowl until evenly moistened. Press mixture onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter removable-bottom cheesecake pan with 3-inch-high sides. Bake crust until deep golden, about 12 minutes. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Stack 3 large sheets of foil on work surface. Place same cake pan in center. Gather foil snugly around pan bottom and up sides to waterproof.

For filling:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, then salt. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in sour cream, grated lemon peel, and lemon juice. Pour filling into pan.

Place wrapped cake pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake cake until filling is slightly puffed and moves only slightly when pan is shaken gently, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Remove cake pan from water bath; remove foil. Cool cake in pan on rack 2 hours. Chill uncovered until cold; cover and keep chilled at least 1 day and up to 2 days.

Cut around pan sides; carefully loosen pan bottom from sides and push up pan bottom to release cake. Place cake (still on pan bottom) on platter. Garnish with lemon leaves or twists.

Pear-Almond Tart

I've never made a pear tart before, mostly because pears are not my favorite fruit. They can be very good, but mostly they're failed attempts at the brilliant: too mealy, too starchy, not sweet enough, overripe. At the request of a friend though, I attempted one for a dinner party. It was good, about what I would expect from a pear dessert. Not my preference but edible. However, the almond cream that went in the bottom was gorgeous. That I would love to make into a tart by itself -- it was sweet and nutty, and the texture was properly crunchy with ground almonds.
Recipe was taken from one of my favorite blogs, Our Patisserie.
Pastry Shell:
* 1 1/2 c unbleached flour
* 8 tbs unsalted chilled butter, cut into 8 pieces
* 1 large egg
* 2 tbs sugar
* pinch of salt
* 1 tsp ice water (if required)
Almond Paste:
* 1/2 c (1 1/2 oz) whole almonds
* 3/4 c sugar
* 4 tbs butter at room temperature, cut into 4 pieces
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 tsp almond extract (check health food stores for oil-based almond flavor)
* 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Filling:
* 1/2 c heavy cream
* 1 large egg yolk
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 4 large ripe Bartlett or Bosc pears, halved, peeled and cored

For the crust, process flour, butter, egg, sugar and salt until mixture resembles coarsemeal, 10-15 seconds. Pinch; if it does not hold together, sprinkle a few drops of cold water and pulse 2-3 times to mix. Do not overprocess. Gather dough in a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12 inch-circle about 1/8-inch thick. Line a 10-inch quiche pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes before filling.

Meanwhile, you can prepare the almond paste, pears and the cream filling: For almond cream, process almonds and sugar until finely ground. Add butter and pulse 4-5 times. Add remaining ingredients and process 15 seconds to blend. For cream filling, process cream, egg yolk sugar and vanilla extract for 10 seconds.

Before assembly of tart, preheat the oven to 350F. Spread almond paste over bottom of pastry shell and arrange pears attractively, flat side down on almond paste. Pour cream filling carefully over pears. Bake for 1 hour or until filling is set and browned. Cool in pan over wire rack. You can glaze the tart with a little diluted apricot jam if you want. Equally delicious served warm or at room temperature.

Banana-Rum Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

I guess I'm just in a cheesecake mood. Compliments of the Food network, this has an almond crust, a caramelized banana layer, a rum-cheesecake layer, then is smothered in caramel. Next time I think I'll embed almond slivers on the top for decoration; otherwise, yum!
Crust
* 9 graham cracker sheets
* 1/2 cup almonds
* 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
Banana Layer
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1 tbsp rum
* 3 firm bananas, sliced
Cheesecake
* 2 lb. cream cheese at room temperature
* 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
* 5 large eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 tsp rum extract
Caramel Topping
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 tbsp corn syrup or lemon juice
* 1 cup whipping cream
Directions:
For crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and wrap the pan in foil. In a food processor, pulse almonds until fine. Add graham crackers and pulse until crumbled. Add melted butter and pulse to combine. Press into the bottom of prepared springform pan (not up the sides) and bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool while preparing bananas.

For bananas, heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and add butter and brown sugar, stirring until melted and bubbling. Stir in vanilla and rum and add bananas. Stir just to coat and warm and pour into cooled crust.

For cheesecake, beat cream cheese until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Add brown sugar in 2 additions, beating well after each addition. Beat in butter. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and rum extract and pour cheesecake batter over caramelized banana layer in springform pan. Bake cheesecake in a water bath: place springform pan into a baking dish and pour hot tap water around it, to come halfway up the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until filling puffs just slightly around edges but still moves a little in center when shaken. Remove pan from water and allow to cool for 2 hours before refrigerating overnight.

For caramel topping, combine sugar, water and corn syrup or lemon juice in a pan. Bring to a boil without stirring and cook, uncovered, until it turns a rich amber colour. While cooking, occasionally brush down the sides of the pot with a brush dipped in cool water. Once sugar has reached desired colour, remove from heat and carefully stir in whipping cream (watch out for the steam and bubbling). Return to medium heat and simmer until reduced by a third, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Chill until thickened but still fluid, about 15 minutes. Pour caramel over cheesecake and chill completely. (This can be done up to 8 hours before serving). To serve, run a knife carefully along the inside of the pan to loosen, remove pan and slice with a hot, dry knife.

Bakewell and Linzer Tarts

Now I understand the term "food porn." Lately I've been flipping through the Flickr photo sets for desserts and pastry while watching tv: BAD idea. Thousands upon thousands of gorgeous food pics, but very very few recipes to accompany them. The agony! Many don't even have titles, so I don't know what sinful concoction is before me. The few who do post recipes however, normally link the picture to their blogs, which are chock full of brand-spankin' new recipes for me to try. I've added a few of the best to my favorites.

Anyway, from my porn surfing, I found these two tarts: the Bakewell Tart (pictured above) and the Linzer Tart. The Linzer I didn't get a picture of before it was whisked off to the hungry boyos; just assume mine looked as good as the one in the recipe. The Bakewell is a shortbread crust, with strawberry jam smeared on it, then covered with an almond cake. It overflowed while baking so I got to taste the leavings: the almond cake absolutely melts in your mouth. The Linzer Tart is an almond shortbread crust, with a raspberry jam layer, then chocolate ganache poured on top. I didn't get to taste but the bowl for this one, but I did make one adjustment to the recipe: I added ~1 tablespoon of cinnamon to the ganache, to spice it up a little bit.

The last recipe I'll post today is my birthday cake. Mine didn't photograph well at all; in fact it collapsed mid-picture under the weight of the mint sauce. It was a definite chocolate bomb though. I made one addition to the recipe: mid-bake time, I stuck a chocolate ganache truffle in the center of each. The idea was, melted chocolate truffle center! However, I stuck it too far down then over-cooked the cakes: the truffle was melted at the bottom, causing it to collapse faster once I took it out of the pan, and there was no molten center. They were still excellent though; just mini souffles.