Piece Montee - Daring Bakers Challenge May 2010

The May 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montee, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump's Baking School in Manhattan & Nick Malgieri.

Wow this is something that I have always wanted to do but have hesitated as I have never successfully made the cream puffs that make up the tower. The first thing I did was do a trial run of the pastry and they were great, I just made them too big ... so onto the real thing!

Everything went really very well, I did do a trial run of the pastry before I did the final piece but I really didn't need to. By the end of this challenge I had made 4 batches of the pastry and creme filling.

The pastry ... the foundation of the croquembouche!
Pate a Choux (Yield: About 24)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Coffee Pate a Chox (Yield: About 21)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
2tsp coffee

Chocolate Pate a Chox (Yield: About 21)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
50g dark chocolate

100 g. all-purpose flour
4 large eggs


Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.


Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.


As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes. I did adjust this to the feel of my oven and ended up quickly rotating the tray and putting them in for a further 5 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.


It said in the instructions that they can be stored in a airtight box overnight. I did this and was not happy as they were softer than I wanted. I was later told to make a small hole in the top of each after they come out of the oven so allow the steam to escape and this will stop them from softening overnight. I will try this next time :)

Fillings ... the yummy stuff inside!

I made 3 different types to match to the 3 types of pastry that I made, all worked very well and were very yummy. Leftovers went well with icecream!

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):
Melt 50g of chocolate with the butter and add as per before.

For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe)
Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee and wisk in with the egg mixture.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.


Assembly ... making the creation!
Dip the tops of your puffs into either chocolate or toffee to give the 'crunch' effect. I did both and then with some of the chocolate ones dipped them into 'hail' sugar, a sugar designed not to dissolve.

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:
Ok I did just try to grab pieces and glue them together with the caramel glaze, it didn't really work and the instructions did speak about working out the best combination before etc but I was pressed for time as my guests were arriving in about 10 minutes, I think this may be part of the reason it is a little lopsided, the other reason is that the plain pastry did appear to puff up more that the flavoured pastry. Overall this looked a little lopsided but all the guests loved it and it tasted great. The next time that I make this type of dessert I will 'glue' it together with chocolate as this is a lot easier to work with.

Vegetable Rolls and Sausage Rolls

So I had gotten some sausage meat out to make some sausage rolls when my two favorite food bloggers both posted on these type of things ... Anita at Leave Room for Dessert had made Vegetable Rolls and and old friend, now living in Switzerland,
Kiriel at The Papillon Pantry had made sausage rolls.

It seems that it was a good time for me to post my versions of these yummy treats, the Veggie rolls were inspired by Anita's recipe as it sounded so good. I choose to make them on a Wednesday, why do you ask is that important ... well Gracie my 4 year old has childcare on a Wednesday so I know that she will get nutritious cooked meal for lunch so I don't need to worry as much for her dinner!

I started with the vegetable roll mix first simply as it takes more time to prepare. Both are very easy to make, I like to serve these type of things just warm as I think the flavours are better than when they are piping hot!

Vegetable Rolls (inspired by Anita's)

1 Tbs olive oil

1 leek, finely sliced lengthwise

1 bunch fresh spinach (I cut mine from the garden, about 2-3cups), finely sliced

1/2 large carrot, grated

1 zucchini, grated

400g ricotta (I always get this from the deli as it is not watery)

1 egg

2-4 Tbs Sweet Chili Sauce

salt and pepper to taste

4 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry

Heat pan, add olive oil, leek and spinach cook on a very low heat to soften the vegetables. I covered them and allowed them to sweat. Leave to cool.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir well to combine. Lay out pastry and make strips of the filling, roll and cut to the length of roll you wish to make. Brush with milk or egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you wish.

Bake in a hot oven, 220 Celsius, for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Serve with Sweet Chili Sauce.

Sausage Rolls

800g Sausage meat

1 onion, finely diced

4-8 Tbs Hoi Sin Sauce

1 egg

salt and pepper

4 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir well to combine (I mix with my hand, faster and easier). Lay out pastry and make strips of the filling, roll and cut to the length of roll you wish to make. Brush with milk or egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you wish.

Bake in a hot oven, 220 Celsius, for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Serve with Tomato or BBQ Sauce.

Black Forest Cake

Ok so watching MasterChef on Australian TV and I think I can do that, and yum I love Black Forest Cake. Sooo I try to make it. The recipe itself can be found on the MasterChef website and what is useful is that you can also view the entire episode so you can see what they did if you are in any doubt.

The cake itself was really easy to make, even though I had never made a sponge cake before so was very nervous, it worked! I did make sure that I followed the instructions exactly.

After making the cake there are six further components to make, none of them are difficult, just time consuming! I was forced to use frozen cherries as they are not is season at the moment and unavailable where I live. The other componets of the cake are shown below ....

chocolate hazelnut praline mousse, candied cherries,

cherry compote(not shown), cherry sugar syrup, mascarpone cream, and dark chocolate ganache(not shown).

After construction the cake the best advice I have is that you need to refrigerate the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse before constructing, also I would add more whipped cream than specified to 'lighten' the flavour. My construction appeared to be going well until I placed the 4th layer on top and then the bottom started to collapse ..... oh no! Anyway I think this is because my base cake was the wrong size, I used 20cm and 22cm springform cake tins as that is what I had. The bottom my have collapsed but it still looked good as a birthday cake and tasted fantastic!

Ingredients
For the chocolate sponge
7 eggs
250g caster sugar
200g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the candied cherries
½ cup semi-candied pitted cherries, ¼
cup juice reserved
¼ cup caster sugar

For the cherry compote
1/3 cup caster sugar
600g pitted fresh cherries, halved
1 tbs brandy

For the cherry sugar syrup
90g caster sugar
¼ cup cherry juice

For the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted lightly and skinned
300g chopped dark chocolate
3 egg yolks
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the mascarpone cream
500g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbs icing sugar

For the dark chocolate ganache
150ml cream
200g chopped dark chocolate

Method

1. For the chocolate sponge, preheat oven to 160°C fan forced. Grease and
line 2 x 20cm springform cake pans.
2. Add eggs and sugar to a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer, and set over a saucepan of simmering water over very low heat. Whisk the mixture until 37°C. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat with an electric mixer on a mediumlow speed for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has cooled and thickened to a mousse-like consistency. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together twice. Using a large metal spoon, fold the dry mixture into the egg mixture in 3 batches until combined, adding the vanilla extract with the first dry batch.
3. Pour the mixture into the lined cake pans and smooth surface. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until sponge springs back when lightly touched. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks. Allow to cool completely.

4. For the candied cherries, preheat oven to 120°C. Place cherries on a lined baking tray. Lightly dust with the sugar and place in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Remove and cool. Coat with remaining sugar. Set aside.

5. For the cherry compote, add the sugar to a non-stick saucepan and place over medium heat. Once the sugar begins to dissolve add the cherries and cook until they start to release their juices. Add the brandy and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and thickened. Strain, reserving liquor.

6. For the cherry syrup, heat 170ml water and the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved cherry juice and compote liquor. Allow to cool.

7. For the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse, line a baking sheet. In a dry heavy-based saucepan, cook sugar over medium heat, stirring, until melted. Once melted, cook without stirring, swirling pan, until lightly golden. Add hazelnuts, stirring until well coated. Immediately pour mixture onto the baking sheet and cool completely, in blast chiller for 5 minutes. Break praline into pieces. Place into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.
8. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the egg yolks in a small heatproof bowl. Heat 250ml of the cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir through half of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan over low heat and stir until thickened. Strain into a clean bowl. Stir the melted chocolate into the hot custard. Add the vanilla and allow to cool. Whisk the remaining cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture with the praline, until just combined. Set aside.

9. For the mascarpone cream, beat the mascarpone, vanilla and sugar in a bowl until smooth and slightly thicker in volume.

10. For the chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside. Bring the cream to just below boiling point in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, then add the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow to cool until thick but still pouring consistency.

11. To assemble the cake, slice both cakes into thirds. Place the base of 1 cake onto a serving plate and brush with some of the cherry syrup. Spread over half of the chocolate praline mousse.
12. Place the next layer of cake onto a board, and brush with cherry syrup. Spread over half of the mascarpone cream. Divide the cherries into two parts for two separate layers. Place cherries around the border of the cake, 5mm from its edge and scatter remaining in the middle. Carefully remove layer from the board and place on top of the first layer. Repeat each layering process on the board (you will have 1 spare slice of cake), starting with the praline mousse and ending with the cherries on the mascarpone cream.

13. Place the final layer of the cake on a wire rack sitting over a baking tray. Evenly pour the ganache over the cake, ensuring it is completely coated. When the ganache has set, place on top of the layered cake. Decorate with shaved chocolate, fresh cherries and candied cherries.

Stacked Green Chilie and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas - Daring Cooks Challenge May 2010

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious stacked green Chilie and Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! This recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on http://www.finecooking.com/ and written by Rob Walsh.

This was my first ever challenge with the Daring Cooks. We had to make the Enchilada Sauce but if was our choice if we wanted to make the tortillas. Of course I had to give it a try.

The first and I think the most important thing I had to do was find the ingredients, luckily the other Daring Cooks in Australia had already found places and I was very lucky that one supplier was close to home so that I was able to go and visit. This was Aztec Mexican, it is a great little store that is just off the office of their distribution warehouse. It was there that I was able to find the Tomatillos and the masa harina (cornflour for the tortillas).






The tortilla sauce was a lot easier that I was expecting the only problem I had was that I had run out of cornflour so had to use regular plain flour to thicken the sauce. When it was done I was sure that it was too runny but once made up it was fine. I used a mix of mild and hot green chillies as I have a family that doesn't eat chili very well. Next time I make it I will need to use more hot chillies as we all thought it needed more, as a result I did add some chili flakes in the cooking of the sauce.

I had to make the tortillas without a tortilla press, I do not recommend this as it was time consuming and did not leave them flat enough, I know people who make tortillas will cringe but I resorted to rolling them out once I had flattened them, it was the only way I could get them thin enough. The tasted great and the smell of the mix was wonderful.

The verdict from the house was that they were great, defiantly something that I will make again but after I have a tortilla press.

Ingredients
680 grams Fresh green chiles (about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles) 24 ounces - roast, peel, remove seeds, chop coarsely. (NOT bell peppers) 212 grams Tomatillos (about 4-5 medium)- peel, remove stems
4 cups Chicken broth (32 ounces/920 grams)
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons yellow onion, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ tsp Salt (add more to taste)
¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)
2 tablespoons Cornflour (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening)
2 Boneless chicken breasts (you can also use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs)
3 tablespoons Olive oil or other neutral vegetable oil (use more as needed)
salt and pepper
12 Small Corn tortillas (5-6 inch/13-15 cm). (you can also use wheat tortillas or other wraps)
170 grams grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
Roasting Fresh Chiles
1. Coat each chile with a little vegetable oil. If you are doing only a couple chiles, using the gas stove works. For larger batches (as in this recipe), grilling or broiling is faster.
2. Lay the oiled chiles on the grill or baking sheet (line pan with foil for simpler clean-up). Place the grill or broil close to the element, turning the chiles so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered.
3. As they are completely charred (they will probably not all be done at once), remove them to a bowl and cover with plastic, or close up in a paper bag. Let them rest until they are cool. 4. Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out (it rarely does for me). Open the chile and remove the seeds. Turn the chile skin side up and with a paring knife, scrape away the skin. Sometimes it just pulls right off, sometimes you really have to scrape it.
5. DO NOT RINSE!

Green Chile Sauce

1. Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil and remove the papery outer skin from the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft.
2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.
3. Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chiles, minced onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes.
6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.


Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas
1. Heat a gas grill to medium high or build a medium-hot charcoal Coat the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes a side for boneless chicken breasts.
3. Cool and then slice into thin strips or shred.
4. In a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Dip the edge of a tortilla into the oil to check – it should sizzle immediately.
5. Using tongs, put a tortilla into the pan and cook until soft and lightly brown on each side, about 15-20 seconds per side (at the most).
6. Drain on paper towels.
7. Add oil as needed and continue until all 12 tortillas are done.
8. In a baking dish large enough to hold four separate stacks of tortillas, ladle a thin layer of sauce.
9. Lay four tortillas in the dish and ladle another ½ cup (4 ounces/112 grams) of sauce over the tortillas.
10. Divide half the chicken among the first layer of tortillas, top with another ½ cup of sauce and 1/3 of the grated cheese.
11. Stack another four tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese.
12. Finish with the third tortilla, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
13. Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
14. To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.

Corn Tortillas (from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen)
Makes about 15

1 3/4 cups masa harina
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot water

Pour hot water over masa harina, cover and let sit 30 minutes. Add (additional) cool water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is soft but not sticky. Divide the dough into 15 balls and cover with plastic wrap.

Heat a large (two burner) ungreased griddle or two large skillets, one on medium-low and one on medium-high.

Put a ball of dough between two sheets of plastic. If you don’t have a tortilla press, press to a 5-6” circle using a heavy frying pan or bread board or other heavy, flat object. Put the tortilla into the cooler pan or cooler end of the griddle. The tortilla will probably stick, but within 15 seconds, if the temperature is correct, it will release. Flip it at that point onto the hotter skillet/griddle section. In 30-45 seconds, it should be dotted with brown underneath. Flip it over, still on the hot surface and brown another 30 seconds or so. A good tortilla will balloon up at this point. Remove from heat and let them rest while cooking the remaining tortillas. Use quickly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDegTyqL55o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm6_iAZ-CCA&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFn3GKVLHnM&NR=1
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_corn_tortillas/