Martha Stewart's rhubarb meringue pie

I was thumbing through Martha Stewart Living at B's aunt's house last week and admiring the pictures, so B's aunt kindly lent me several back issues. When I flipped through the May issue, I saw all the rhubarb and knew this was where I had to start. B requested the rhubarb meringue pie. It was easy but time-consuming to make, just because the rhubarb pulp had to be cleaned out of the juicer so frequently. (Cleaning up, on the other hand, was ridiculously difficult and time-consuming. Getting all the bits of rhubarb pulp out of the tiny crannies of the juicer I'd borrowed required a bevy of toothpicks and an electric toothbrush [with a clean head, of course].)

The end result was nice but not amazing. Despite my following the directions exactly, the pie filling didn't firm up quite enough. Every time I cut a slice, the filling gooshed all over. And the meringue was not the billowy-yet-firm masterpiece I'd imagined from the photo. It didn't quite set properly, and there wasn't enough of it. And the overall flavor, though nice, was a bit one-dimensional. However, I really loved the crust, which I wasn't expecting after tasting the dough before it baked. The crust was just perfect. The pie was nice enough that I'd like to try it again with a few tweaks. When I make it again, I'll make more meringue, whipped to firm rather than medium peaks. I'll add just a bit of gelatin to the filling to firm it up. And if the extra meringue doesn't balance out the sour filling, I may resort serving it with strawberries.


rhubarb meringue pie (from Martha Stewart Living, May 2010, p 34)
1 disk pate sucree
all-purpose flour, for surface
2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut crosswise into 3-inch pieces
1.75 C sugar
coarse salt
3 large egg yolks plus 4 large egg whites
2 TB unsalted butter

1. Preheat aoven to 375. Roll out pate sucree to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface. fit dough into a 9" pie dish; trim to 1", fold under, and crimp edges. Refrigerate for 30 min. Prick inside of pie shell all over with a fork; line with parchment. fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are golden and set, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove weights and parchment. Bake until bottom is dry and light gold, 5-10 min. more. Let cool.

2. Juice rhubarb. (You'll need a juicer to make this filling. Rhubarb is fibrous, so cut it into 3" pieces before juicing. This will help keep the fibers from clogging the appliance. Clean your machine if it gets too full or sounds labored.) You'll need 2.25 C juice; add water if needed. Whisk together 1 C sugar, the cornstarch, and .25 tsp salt. Whisk in juice; bring to a boil in a medium saucepan, whisking. Cook for 1 min.

3. Place yolks ina bowl; gradually hisk in half of hot juice mixture. Return to pan. cook over medium heat, whisking, until thick, about 1 min. Whisk in butter. Strain through a fine sieve into pie shell. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat abroiler with rack about 8" from heat source. Heat whites and remaining .75 C sugar in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering waater, whisking, until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot (160 F), about 2 min. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer. Whisk on high speed until medium peaks form. Dollop meringue onto pie. Broil until well browned, 30-40 seconds.

pate sucree
2 large egg yolks
.25 C aice water
2.5 C all-purpose flour
3 TB sugar
salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. Lightly beat together yolks and water until combined.

2. Pulse flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. Drizzle yolk mixture over dough mixture. Pulse until mixture just begins to hold together (no longer than 30 seconds).

3. Divide dough in half, and wrap in plastic wrap. Shape dough into disks. Refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes or overnight.

le succes

This dessert is the reason I bought Rose's Heavenly Cakes. When I thumbed through a copy at the bookstore, none of the other recipes really called to me (although that has certainly changed as I've looked through the book more). But le succes looked heavenly with its thick layers of ganache. And it's absolutely as good as it looks. Layers of ganache sandwiched between almond meringue disks, it's basically a giant truffle. And the ganache is made with creme fraiche, which gives it a lovely, subtle tang. It's quick and easy to make, although you do need to wait a day to eat it. I'll definitely make it again, and I can't wait to make the ganache by itself for truffles.



le succes (from Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Rose Levy Beranbaum)
Prepare and compose a day in advance.

succes
6.3 oz almond flour
6.3 oz superfine sugar
7.5 oz (weight) egg whites (about 7) at room temp.
1 tsp cream of tartar

Line two 17-inch baking sheets with parchment and coat lightly with cooking spray. Mark three 8-inch circles on the parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Beat egg whites on medium until foamy. With mixer off, add cream of tartar. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Gradually beat in 2.5 TB of sugar until stiff peaks form when beater is raised slowly. (If whites are not very stiff, the succes will spread slightly during baking.)

Fill a pastry bag (with 1/2-inch plain tip) with meringue and pipe the batter onto the baking sheets, forming three 8-inch circles, starting at the perimeter and spiraling inward toward the center. Because the disks will puff and expand up to 1/2 nnch in diameter when baking, do not pipe them too close to the edge of the pan. Use an offset spatula to fill in any gaps with leftover batter and smooth the surface.

Bake first the two circles then the remaining circle, baking each pan for 15-20 minutes, or until the disks just begin to brown. Rotate the pan front to back n the oven halfway through.

Place on baking sheet on wire rack to cool. Cool completely, then loosen carefully with long offset spatula, including at the centers.

tea ganache
1 lb dark chocolate, chopped
13.6 oz creme fraiche
2.7 oz heavy cream
4 tsp instant powdered lemon tea

Whisk together cream and creme fraiche and scald it. Pour it over the chocolate and mix until smooth. Mix in the tea. Let it sit for an hour, then cover with plastic and let it sit until it reaches frosting consistency.

Spread a little ganache on the serving plate to anchor the succes. Place a disk on the ganache and cover with an even layer of ganache. Place the second disk on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. Spread on another layer of ganache and place the third disk on top. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate another hour. Spread a thin layer of ganache around the sides, then cover the top. Bring to room temperature before serving.

daring bakers: piece montée (croquembouche)

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

This was my favorite DB challenge so far. I've been meaning to make cream puffs for quite a while now, but I've been too intimidated. And croquembouches sounded even more fun, and even more intimidating, than regular cream puffs. Thanks to Cat, I've conquered my fear of choux pastry. The recipes she provided were easy to follow and the results were delicious. For eating out of hand, I prefer the vanilla pastry cream. But for the actual cream puffs, the chocolate pastry cream won, no contest. Everyone who tried them preferred it. Unfortunately, I was the only one who liked the croquembouche. Or perhaps not so unfortunate, as it left more for me. I love the feel of the caramel coating cracking in my teeth.

The pastry cream and the choux pastry were simple to make, but I'll need more practice to get my pastries a consistent size and shape. And to be able to assemble a piece montée without burning my fingers or having the finished dessert come out lopsided.

Anyway, we all loved these. I ended up making a whole batch of both the chocolate and vanilla creams and two batches of the puffs. One just wasn't enough. And my son particularly loved the cream puffs. They were just the right size for his hands. I don't have any of Nick Malgieri's cookbooks yet, but that's going to have to change after trying these. Thanks to Cat for such a great pick.



cream puffs

vanilla crème patissiere (half batch)
1 C whole milk
2 TB cornstarch
6 TB sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 TB 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.

chocolate pastry cream (half batch)
Bring ¼ cup milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.

pate a choux (yield: about 28)
¾ cup water
6 TB unsalted butter
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 C all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

egg wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425 F. 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. Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high and 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).

Bake the choux at 425 F until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350 F and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool. They can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

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.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

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.

assembling your piece montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up.

paneer with spinach and simple pilaf

B and I love Indian food. Well, we love almost any kind of food. But Indian is one of our absolute favorites. I've tried to cook Indian food in the past, but the results have been nothing like the wonderful things we eat when we go out. Toasting and grinding spices is a lot of work for a meal that tastes terrible. So I haven't tried to make Indian for a few years. But I found Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy on sale at the bookstore a while ago and when I read her description of her food as not being for purists, I thought this was something I could handle.

The first thing I made was saag paneer, which she calls "paneer with spinach." I served it with her simple pilaf. The saag paneer is my new favorite. I like hers better than any of the ones at the local restaurants--it has a lovely, bright flavor. And true to her title, it was very easy to make.

The recipe makes a rather small batch, so I always at least double it. I've since had a bit of trouble making the paneer successfully, but it has worked when I've used yogurt with a bit of lemon juice, so that's how I'll make it from here on. I used ghee instead of oil to cook in, and I throw a pinch of asafoetida in the cooking oil (on the recommendation of the former chef who owns the Indian spice shop I go to). There's really nothing more to say about this--a little blanching, a little chopping, a little frying, and you've got dinner. Couldn't be easier.

paneer with spinach and simple pilaf (from Indian Food Made Easy, by Anjum Anand)

paneer
4 C whole milk
7/8-1 C fresh yogurt or 2 TB lemon juice

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-based saucepan. once the milk starts to biol and rise up, stir in 7/8 C of the yogurt or all the lemon juice. Keeping the milk on heat, stir gently to help the milk curdle--this should take only a minute or so. If it does not separate, add the rest of the yogurt (if using) and keep stirring. The curds will coagulate and separate from the watery whey. Remove from the heat.

Line a large strainer with muslin or cheesecloth, and palce it over a large bowl or saucepan. Pour the cheese into the lined strainer and run some cold water through it. Wrap the cheese in the cloth, and hang it from the faucet over the sink to allow the excess water to drain for 10 minutes. Then, keeping it fairly tightly wrapped, place on your work surface with a heavy weight on top (I refill the same saucepan with the whey or water and palce it on top) for 30-40 minutes or until it is flattened into a firm block. Then cut into cubes or crumble, depending on how you want to use it.

Store any unused pieces of paneer in the refrigerator in water in a covered container. You can alos freeze it in an airtight container. Defrost thoroughly before use.



paneer with spinach
7 C baby spinach leaves, washed
3 TB veg. oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2" fresh ginger, sliced into long julienne strips
1.5 TB chopped garlic
1-2 green chilies, left whole
2 tsp ground coriander
salt, to taste
4 C milk, made into around 9 oz paneer with fresh yogurt
1/2-1 tsp garam masala, depending on quality
3/8 C whole milk or 4 TB heavy cream
1-2 tsp lemon juice, or to taste

Blanch the spinach leaves in hot water for 3 minutes or until well wilted. Drain into a colander and run under cold water until they cool. Blend to a smooth paste and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan. Add the cumin seeds and fry for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the onion and fry over a mild heat for about 5 minutes or until soft. add the ginger, garlic, and chilies, and cook for 1 minute. Add the ground coriander and salt to taste. Cook for another 30 seconds, then add the spinach and a splash of water, if necessary. The mixture should be loose but not watery. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes.

Add the paneer cubes, garam masala, and milk or cream. Stir and cook for a few minutes or until the spinach is creamy. Before serving, stir in the lemon juice to taste.

simple pilaff
2 TB vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced (I chopped mine instead)
1 tsp garam masala
salt, to taste
1 C Basmati or long-grain white rice, washed and soaked for 30 min.
3/4 C frozen peas
1.5 C water
1-2 TB lemon juice, or to taste

Heat the oil in a large nonstick saucepan. Add the cumin seeds and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the onion and saute for about 6 minutes until lightly caramelized. Add the garam masala and salt, and cook, stirring, for another 20 seconds.

Stir in the drained rice and frozen peas, then add the water. Taste for seasoning. Bring to a boil, then cook, covered, on the lowest heat for 10 minutes. Check that the grains are tender; if not, leave to steam for another 2 minutes. Then remove the lid and allow any moisture to evaporate, Drizzle the lemon juice over and gently mix with a fork, fluffing up the grains.

daring bakers: steamed british pudding

I admit, I dreaded this challenge all month. We were supposed to make a traditional British steamed suet pudding, either a crust or a sponge pudding. The ingredient list for the sponge pudding didn't appeal to me, so I decided to make the crust pudding. But I was defeated by my imagination--a steamed crust pudding just sounded like it would come out squishy and dumpling-like. I couldn't bring myself to make it. (Judging by some of the others' pictures, I was completely wrong and steaming will give you a lovely crisp crust.) So I made the sponge pudding instead.

The batter had a nice flavor and came together in five minutes or less. I didn't know where to get suet, so I used a mixture of butter and butter-flavored Crisco. I was also out of milk, so I swapped half cream and half water. And I didn't have a one-liter bowl or even a tall, relatively narrow bowl. So I just buttered up one of my small metal mixing bowls and steamed the pudding in that. Unfortunately, I didn't butter it enough. My pudding broke when I tipped it out.

The final flavor of the pudding was fine. The breadcrumbs gave the pudding a coarser texture than I care for. I mixed up some Byrd's custard (with a little extra powder for thickening and a *ton* of extra sugar) and made a tangerine caramel for serving. After dousing the pudding in custard and caramel, I understood the need for the breadcrumbs. They help the pudding keep a little bit of form under a deluge of sauces.

The pudding was a fun thing to try, but I probably won't make it again. I liked it okay, but I didn't love it, even with the sauces. And three hours is a long time to wait for a dessert that I don't love. [Edit: After letting everything sit over night and cool so that it wasn't a hopeless slog of soggy pudding, I really enjoyed the dessert. It reminds me a little of old-fashioned strawberry shortcake.]

The April 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

steamed sponge pudding
100 g all-purpose flour
.25 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
100 g bread crumbs
75 g caster sugar
75 g butter & butter-flavored Cristco
1 large egg
6-8 TB cold milk

1-Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into bowl.
2-Add breadcrumbs, sugar, and fat.
3-Mix to a soft batter ith beaten egg and milk.
4-Turn into a buttered 1 liter pudding basin and cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.
5-Steam steadily for 2.5-3 hours.
6-Turn out onto warm plate. Serve with sweet sauce to taste, such as custard, caramel, or a sweetened fruit sauce.

David Lebovitz's chocolate sherbet

When I saw David's photo of this sherbet, I knew I had to make it. In fact, it looked so good I went ahead and made a quadruple batch the first time. It was easy to put together (aside from my letting the chocolate/milk mixture boil over--all over, below the electric coil on the stove and in the tiny gap between the stove and the cupboard--because the baby started crying at a crucial moment;), and it tasted every bit as good as it looked. I had some trouble getting it to freeze properly--I had to put it in the freezer to get it to set up, and it had some unpleasant ice crystals when it did--but testing other recipes confirmed that this is a problem with my ice cream maker and not the recipe.

This is a fantastically intense dark chocolate sherbet. While I certainly didn't limit myself to the one scoop David suggests, this sherbet packs enough punch that I felt satisfied much sooner than with regular ice creams. My only complaint about this sherbet was that when I did choose to glut myself on it, after I ate the sherbet for fifteen or twenty minutes, a cocoa/fat scum started to accrue on the roof of my mouth. I suspect this is a problem most people don't have.

chocolate sherbet (David Lebovitz)
2 cups (1/2l) milk (whole, low, or non-fat)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur, such as Kahluà

For directions, see David's site.

pear caramel tartlets

I love tarts. I am invariably disappointed by tarts that I get at local restaurants and bakeries, though. The crusts are hard and flavorless and the fillings are boring. But I love baking tarts. I've had a few disappointments baking them myself, but not many. I love Dorie Greenspan's Tartest Lemon Tart and I adore Pierre Herme's Linzer Tart. Herme's cinnamon-rum-almond tart crust for the linzer tart is my absolute favorite. It's easy to make (at least, it is now that I can buy almond flour instead of having to grind it myself), it has a lovely crumbly texture, and it's delicious. Homemade tarts are one of my favorite desserts. And the only way to improve on a homemade tart is to make it a tartlet. Smaller means cuter, and as long as there are enough minis to go around, it means you can try all the flavors or have several servings of the same one without the guilt of having a full serving each time.

My family gave me a set of mini tart pans for Christmas, and I'm always plotting new things to try in them. (You'll be seeing a lot more tartlet posts as I work out the fillings I like.) I made these pear caramel cinnamon cream cheese tartlets a couple of months ago and they were a big hit with my family. The caramel was something I threw together after reading the ingredients on a bottle of delicious and, sadly, discontinued pear caramel I found at the store. Mine was, of course, quite different from the original, but still quite good. It seems to be my sister's new favorite. At any rate, it's a work in progress, so the directions are a bit higgedly-piggedly. When I made the tarts again to use up the remaining caramel, I replaced the cinnamon in the cream cheese with ginger. The sharper flavor was a nice contrast with the caramel.

pear caramel tartlets

pear caramel

2 C pear juice

2 C sugar

.5 C corn syrup

1 TB butter

2 C cream

pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp-2 Tb lemon juice (to taste)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Melt the butter. Add sugar and corn syrup. Mix and cook on medium heat until just turning golden. Add the pear juice and cook ten or twenty minutes so that the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining ingredients. When cooled to room temperature, spoon over cream cheese in tart shells.

cream cheese filling

8 oz cream cheese, softened

pear caramel, to sweeten to taste

.5 tsp cinnamon or 1 tsp ginger

Mix all and spoon into cooled tart shells.

tart crust (from Chocolate, by Pierre Herme)

7 TB unsalted butter, at room temperature

2.5 TB confectioners' sugar

2.5 TB finely ground almond powder

1 large hard-boiled egg yolk, at room temperature, pressed through a fine strainer

.25 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 tsp dark rum

pinch of double-acting baking powder

.75 C all-purpose flour

Mix butter until creamy. Add sugar, almond powder, egg yolk, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until smooth, scraping bowl as necessary. Whisk the baking powder into the flour and add the flour to the bowl, mixing until thoroughly blended. The dough will feel soft and look a little like the dough you'd use to make peanut butter cookies.

Place dough in plastic wrap and form into a disk. Chill at least 4 hours before rolling and baking.

Roll the dough out or pat it into the tart pans. Chill at least thirty minutes.

Bake at 350 until crust is honey brown. (How long this takes depends on the size of your mini tart pans.)