Fresh, Fluffy, French Croissant Daring Bakers September Challenge.

Tags

Baking, bread, breakfast, chocolate, daring bakers, french croissant, pastry

 

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

This Challenge was terrific. I wanted to try the croissant a long ago, but there was always no time, I know it will take too much time in preparing the dough, may be this was the reason I didn’t do it until the challenge, but finally I did it, Thank you Sarah for letting us do the honor to make these jewels of croissants.

I followed Sarah recipe and steps except for preparing the butter block, I did the same measurement for the folding the dough though, but found that the final pieces too small, I cut the salt in half since I found it too much for the amount of flour, I twice let the dough sit in the fridge overnight.

The final results was amazingly good, I liked the croissant and the little pockets inside, the croissant was light and fluffy from inside crisp and flacky from outside, I used some dough to make chocolate croissants and pain au chocolate, my kids loved it too, that those beauty didn’t stay for the next morning hahah …

Will definitely be making these goodies again.
Here you will find the recipe as in Db by Sara with tip and vedio clip for Julia Childs, down I wrote the recipe with some improvements and did the correct size for this batch of dough to make a decent medium size croissants for the next time I will do it.

Fresh, Fluffy, French Croissant

Preparation checking outlines

Making dough, 10 mins
First rise, 3 hours
Kneading and folding, 5 mins
Second rise, 1.5 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Rolling in the butter (turns one and two), 15 mins
First rest, 2 hours
Turns three and four, 10 mins
Second rest, 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Forming croissants, 30 mins
Final rise, 1 hour (or longer in the fridge)
Baking, 15 mins
Ingredients
¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used Polish all-purpose flour, which is 13% protein)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
3\4 teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt
½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk (I am not sure if the fat content matters. I used 2%)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used generic vegetable oil)
½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash
Directions:
Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.
Measure out the other ingredients
Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar
Place the flour in a large bowl.
Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour
Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl
Knead the dough eight to ten times only. Smacking the dough on the counter (lots of fun if you are mad at someone) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.
Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag
Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size.
After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.
Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm).
Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up)
Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.
Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. I let the dough rise overnight in the fridge.
Cut the butter into pieces, put between two sheets of plastic or wax paper. Use a rolling pin to tap the butter until it’s soft enough to roll, roll between the two sheets until it’s a 7.5X7.5inch square. Put in fridge.
Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two.
Roll the dough out until its double size of the butter sheet, 11X11inch in this case. Tap butter until it’s roll-able, and the texture is similar to the dough. put the butter in the middle of the dough as following, fold up dough and seal the butter. Pay attention to corners and edges, you don’t want spots where there’s no butter.
Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches.
Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.
Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.
After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter.
Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little

Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
Fold in three, as before
Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (I let it overnight)
It’s now time to cut the dough and shape the croissants
First, lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready
Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter
Roll the dough out into a 16 by 8 inch rectangle
Cut the dough into four rectangles (each 8 by 4 inches ).
Cut the rectangle into two triangle
Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles.
Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape.
Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet
Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 8 croissants in total.
Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 2-3 hours.
Preheat the oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
Mix the egg with a teaspoon of milk
Spread the egg wash across the tops of the croissants.
Put the croissants in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely
Take the croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Candylicious! The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge.

Tags

almond, almond nougat, candy, cardamom, chocolate, chocolate chip, chocolate truffle, cinnamon, daring baker, daring kitchen challenge, dates, Dessert, dried cherry, holiday candy, non chocolate candy, nougat, pretzel, pretzel truffle, rosewater, sweets, truffle

Crowded August, though it was as fast as you can imagine. Since we had our fasting month, and no time for a lot of things, plus my husband began remodeling bedrooms’ floor and painting the walls, add to that the schools began on the 17th and the battle of sleeping schedule… So very sorry I am late.

This month Daring Bakers’ challenge I can’t miss it, because it’s as delicious as the chocolate is, it is the first time I make candy, so I piled my cooking books and searched for something chocolity.

From The Martha Stewart Living cookbook, I tried the Nougat but added to the recipe some other elements and flavors to it, did the half of the recipe though, it was the most delicious nougat I ever ate. For the chocolate part, it was from my creations and ideas, I did the tempered chocolate the seeding method and dipped my truffled dates and macadamia nuts, and did another truffle but it was another beyond, I did the pritzel truffle, the saltness of the pretzel was amazingly very compliment with the sweetness of the chocolate, and it was my kids favourite one.

Blog-checking lines:

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

Big THANK YOU Lisa and Mandy for this delicious challenge.

Almond and Cherry Nougat

Ingredients

For the mazetta

1 large egg whites, room temperature
1\3 cup light corn syrup
1\4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon water

For the Nougat

1\2 cups light corn syrup
1\4 cup honey
3\4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoon pure rosewater syrup
3\4 cup dried cherry
1\2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1\2 cups raw almonds, skin on, chopped

Begin by making the mazetta: Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff; set aside. In a 1-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, water, and sugar. Clip on a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until temperature reaches 242 degrees (soft-ball stage), 15 to 20 minutes. Remove sugar syrup from heat. Beating constantly on medium speed, slowly pour hot syrup into egg whites. Continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until syrup is incorporated. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to make the nougat.

Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable-oil spray; set aside. Place mazetta in a large bowl; set aside. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup,honey and sugar. Clip on candy thermometer. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 5 to 10 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.

Over medium-high heat, cook to 280 degrees (soft-crack stage), 12 to 15 minutes, without stirring. If heat is too high it can boil over, so watch carefully. Remove from heat; let stand for 2 minutes. Without scraping pan, pour syrup over mazetta. Working quickly, stir with a wooden spoon until almost smooth. Stir in butter, vanilla, rosewater,cardamom and salt. Mix until butter is incorporated. Stir in nuts and cherry. Scrape into prepared pan, and smooth the top; you may spray your hand with vegetable-oil spray and run it over the warm candy to smooth it. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until firm, 4 to 6 hours.

Spray a large cutting board generously with vegetable-oil spray. Unmold nougat from pan onto sprayed surface. Cut nougat into 3-by-1-by-3/4-inch pieces or other desired shapes. Wrap each piece in cellophane or waxed paper.

Tempering Methods:
for more tempering methods try this link

With tempered chocolate pieces, also called “seeding”

Tempering Ranges:

Celsius
Dark: 45°C-50°C > 27°C > 32°C
Milk: 45°C > 27°C > 30°C
White: 45°C > 27°C > 29°C

Fahrenheit
Dark: 113°F-122°F > 80.6°F > 89.6°F
Milk: 113°F > 80.6°F > 86°F
White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

Tempering using the seeding method

• Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form (about the size of almonds).
• Place about ⅔ of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl
• Set aside ⅓ of the chocolate pieces
• Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water)
Tip: Make sure that your bowl fits snuggly into the saucepan so that there’s no chance of steam forming droplets that may fall into your chocolate. If water gets into your chocolate it will seize!
• Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly
• Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer, as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat (between 45°C-50°C / 113°F-122°F for dark chocolate)
• Add small amounts of the remaining ⅓ un-melted chocolate (seeds) and stir in to melt
• Continue to add small additions of chocolate until you’ve brought the chocolate down to 27°C/80.6°F (You can bring the dark chocolate down to between 80°F and 82°F)
• Put it back on the double boiler and bring the temperature back up until it reaches its working temperature of the chocolate (milk, dark or white) as seen in the above chart. (32°C/89.6°F for dark, 30°C/86°F for milk and 29°C/84.2°F for white)
• If you still have a few un-melted bits of chocolate, put the bowl back over the simmering water, stirring gently and watching the thermometer constantly.
• IMPORTANT: You really need to keep an eye on the temperature so that it doesn’t go over its working temperature

It’s now tempered and ready to use

Tip: Another way of adding the “seed” is by dropping in one large chunk of tempered chocolate (the seed). That way you only need to fish out one piece of unmelted chocoalte and don’t need to fish out several small bits of unmelted chocolate once the chocolate has reached temper.

Truffles

Ingredients
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Dark/Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (5 oz / 160 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) White Chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup (2 oz / 60 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)

Ganache can either be used to make rolled truffles or cut into squares and then dipped in chocolate, which is called a bonbon.

Making the ganache

1. Finely chop or grate the chocolate
2. Place in a heatproof bowl
3. In a saucepan, heat cream until just about to boil (it will start bubbling around the edges of the pot)
4. Pour the cream over the chocolate
5. Gently stir the mixture until all the chocolate has melted and it is smooth
Tip: If you end up with pieces of chocolate that won’t melt, put the bowl over simmering water (but not touching the water) and stir gently until it’s all melted
Tip: Be careful if you do need to heat it over simmering water, if the mixture gets too hot it will split and you’ll end up with gooey chocolate swimming in oil, so don’t overheat the ganache, steam from a gentle simmer is all you need.
6. Stir in your desired flavorings

For rolled truffles

1. Allow the ganache to firm up in a container of choice, preferably deep rather than shallow
2. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop up room temperature ganache
3. With gloved hands, roll the balls between your palms to round them off
4. Dip in tempered chocolate or roll in various ingredients like cocoa or chopped nuts as desired
Tip: If dipping in chocolate, it’s best to refrigerate the ganache balls before dipping so that they’re firm and don’t melt from the warm chocolate
Tip: For a thicker chocolate shell, dip once in tempered chocolate and allow to set. Then do a second dipping or smear a small amount of chocolate over the truffle and roll in desired ingredients
5. Place on parchment paper until set

Dates and Macadamia Nuts truffles

1 1\2 cup Medjule date pitted
1\2 teaspoon cinnamon
1\4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon butter
Macadamia nuts, raw
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
tempered chocolate(from the recipe above)

Knead the date in your hand a little with the cinnamon, nutmeg and the butter into a paste like (it can be easily combined since this kind is very soft). Roll a small ball of date in your palms and make a grove, put the nuts in it and close roll it to make sure it’s cover with the dates. Dip the date balls in the warm ganache and let it cool and harden a little in the fridge. with the ice cream scoop, scrap the balls and all the ganache around it, and make it into a ball in your hands making sure that the chocolate ganache covers all around the dates, set back in the fridge to cool.

After you make the tempered chocolate, dip the truffled date balls into the melted chocolate( here I find it very difficult to control even with forks), set a side to cool.

Pretzel Truffle

2 small bags of pretzel
ganache recipe (above)

After making the ganache, chop the pretzel and add half of it to the ganache, let it cool down in the fridge, with your hands roll it into a ball and dip it in the remaining chopped pretzel

The Daring Bakers July 2011 Challenge: FRESH FRAISIERS!

Tags

blueberry, Cake, Cupcake, & Muffins, chocolate cake, daring baker, fruit cake, le fraisier, pastry cream, strawberry

It was the July 19th, my youngest son’s 4th birthday, and the Le Frasier daring bakers challenge was on time. Started two days before to arrange what I need to do first, he choose the chocolate chiffon, I brought some fresh strawberries and blueberries and started to make the cake.
Skipped the almond paste, added some decorations with the whipping cream, sprinkled with some of chocolate cake crumbs that was remaining from trimming the cake, I used some fresh blueberries and strawberries with a little sugar and corn starch let it cook on medium heat for 15 min then grind it to make fruit jelly (the four dots on the top), each one is bigger than the other to express for his sweet four years.

The cake was perfect, the pastry cream, and every thing went very well, all of us loved it, since I always wanted to try it before but there was no chance until this month’s challenge.

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Fraisier inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

Thank you so much Jana for this wonderful cake, the taste was exquisite. definitely will try it again.

Chocolate Frasier

All the recipes you can find it here.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake:

1 cup cake flour
14 cup coco powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
23 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (3.17 fl oz/95 ml) water
1 teaspoonpure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon zest, grated
5 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to moderate 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3).
Line the bottom of an 9 12-inch (24 cm) spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and coco powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.
In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.
Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.
Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.
Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Pastry Cream Filling:

1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon (4 gm) gelatin
1/2 tablespoon (7½ ml) water
1 cup heavy cream

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a stand mixer add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine
Add the eggs to the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until smooth.
When the milk is ready, gently and slowly while the stand mixer is whisking, pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture.
Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally.
Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth.
Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days.
In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.
Put two inches (55 mm) of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.
Measure 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 ml) of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water.
Heat the cream until it is 120 F (48.8 C). Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches.
In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup:

You may choose to flavor the syrup. One way is to use flavored sugar (for example: apple cider sugar, orange sugar, or vanilla sugar) or to stir in 1-2 teaspoons of flavored extract. You may also infuse with herbs or spices, if desired or add four tablespoons (60 ml) of fruit juice or liqueur while the syrup is cooling.

1/3 cup of sugar, flavored or white
1/3 cup of water

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup.
Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly.
Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator. Simple syrup can be stored for up to one month.

Fraisier Assembly:

1 baked 8 inch (20 cm) chiffon cake
1 recipe pastry cream filling
⅓ cup (80 ml) simple syrup or flavored syrup
2 lbs (900 g) strawberries
1 lbs blueberries
1 cup heavy whipping cream
14 cup confectioner sugar
chocolate cake crumps

Line the sides of a 9-inch (23 cm) spring form pan with plastic wrap. Do not line the bottom of the pan.
Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers.
Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough.
Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side up forming a ring, arrange the blueberries between each strawberry.
Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake.
Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake, add some blueberries. Cover the strawberries and blueberries entirely with the all but 1 tbsp. (15 ml) of the pastry cream.
Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup.
Whip the cream with the sugar, add some on the top of the cake, spread it even, arrange some blueberries on the sides, using head number 22, decorate the whipping cream over the blueberries. Sprinkle with chocolate cake crumps.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Very important note : when you assemble the cake use a spring form pan that is smaller than the you bake the cake with, I used 9 12 -inch (24 cm) pan when baked the cake, and after trimming I used 9 – inch (23 cm) pan to assemble the cake.

To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap.
Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Orange flavored Chocolate Marquise for May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge

Tags

almond, caramel, chocolate, coco powder, cocolate marquise, daring baker, Dessert, fancy dessert, mango, may 2011 challenge, Meringue, orange chocolate, peanuts, popcorn, strawberry

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

This is my first daring challenge, and wow… what a challenge. I never tasted the chocolate marquise before or even know it. Thank you Emma and jenny for sharing the recipe.

The Chocolate Marquise to me looks like frozen chocolate mousse or soft ice-cream when it melt. very delicious rich chocolate flavor smooth and sweet. can be served a long with different flavors, just make sure it complement with the chocolate.

In my version of chocolate marquise tried to substitute the tequila with the orange juice and add zest of orange to enhance more orange flavor hmm yummy… and omit the cayenne, the meringue looks really like marshmallow cream.

I did the quarter recipe and it was considered huge for my little family, so I served half of it and kept the rest in the freezer for another serving (it can be frozen up to six months).

The first time served it with fresh mango and strawberry salad, it adds more freshness to the chocolate. The second with roasted peanuts – caramel popcorn and it was wonderful, the popcorn adds crunching and saltines to harmony with the caramel (every ones favourit)and completed with the creamy chocolate and the meringue.

Here is my presentations:

Chocolate Marquise with Fresh Mango and Strawberry Salad 

The Chocolate Marquise with the meringue topped with the fruit salad, roasted almond, caramel sauce.

Prepare the pan and line it with parchment papers.

For the Chocolate Marquise (the quarter recipe) :

3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon  water
Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
½ cup  heavy cream
½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling)

For the Chocolate Base:

3 oz  bittersweet chocolate (I used cherardelli 60% coco)
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons  heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon orange juice
zest of an orange
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon/(less than 1/4 ounce) cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey’s Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
dash freshly ground black pepper
1/4 oz unsalted butter (1/2 tablespoon), softened

Begin with the chocolate base to let it cool down a little to use it in the marquise recipe.

Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.

In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe

Continue with the Chocolate Marquise recipe, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high-speed until very thick and pale, about 10 – 15 minutes.

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil  (235F/115C).

With the mixer running on low-speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.

When all the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all the air you’ve whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute.

Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn’t allow in any air).

Freeze until very firm, at least 2 – 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).
When you’re ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it’s still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment ‘handles’  or by flipping it over into another piece of parchment.

Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they’ve softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you’ll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet sensations on your palate

For the torched meringue:

3 large egg whites
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon  sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.

Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture. Use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don’t feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.

When you’re ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue into a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.

For the Caramel sauce:

1 cup sugar
1\2 cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1\4 teaspoon lemon juice fresh
1 cup heavy cream

In a pan put the sugar then the water, let the sugar soak and try to wipe any sugar on the sides of the pan (because if sugar didn’t desolve completely it will crystallize),bring it to boil on medium – high heat until almost all the water evaporates and the sugar Carmelites to a dark mahogany color.

Add the corn syrup and the lemon juice, working quickly, add the cream to the darkened caramel. It will bubble and pop vigorously, so add only as much cream as you can without overflowing the pot.

Return the pot to the stove on low heat and whisk gently to break up any hardened sugar. Add any remaining cream and continue stirring. Gradually, the hard sugar will dissolve and the caramel sauce will continue to darken.  When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the Spiced almonds:

Makes about 1 cup of spiced almonds

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1 cup blanched whole almonds

reheat the oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon,and salt.

In a larger mixing bowl whisk the egg white until it’s frothy and thick.

Add the spice mix to the egg white and whisk to combine completely.

Add the nuts to the egg white mixture and toss with a spoon.

Spoon the coated nuts onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake the nuts for 30 minutes, or until they turn light brown. Allow the nuts to cool completely and they will get very crunchy. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the fresh mango strawberry salad:

mango diced
strawberries diced
fresh mint leaves
fresh orange juice
sugar
drops of lemon squeeze

Combine all ingredient, let it in the fridge to cool, use it fresh.

Chococlate Marquise with Roasted Peanuts Caramel Popcorn

The same recipe of the chocolate marquise as above, and the same meringue.

for the peanut caramel popcorn

Roast the peanuts either in the oven or on the pan on the top of the stove,  let it cool down a little, heat he caramel on the microwave add the popcorn and the peanuts (the caramel will harden a little).