Pâte à Choux can be tricky but this recipe is pretty easy. I’m just not that great at it.

INGREDIENTS

Pastry Cream

2 1/4 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup cream (whipped before filling eclairs)

Pâte à Choux
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
10 oz dark chocolate for topping

DIRECTIONS

Pastry Cream
In medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.

Transfer remaining 1 3/4 cups milk to heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add pod. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup sugar over, letting sugar sink undisturbed to bottom. Set pan over moderate heat and bring to simmer without stirring.

Whisk hot milk mixture, then gradually whisk into egg yolk mixture. Return to saucepan over moderate heat and cook, whisking constantly, until pastry cream simmers and thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, discard vanilla pod, and whisk cream until smooth. Transfer to bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Chill until cold, about 4 hours.

Pate a Choux
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and cook until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is simmering.

Add in the flour all at once, and continue to cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the dough gathers itself into a ball and a film begins to form on the bottom of the pot.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed.

Drop in the eggs, one at a time, while continuing to beat. Allow each egg to become fully incorporated, before adding the next (about 30 seconds to a minute).

Pipe or spoon the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, allowing about 3 inches in between each puff.

Bake time can range from 20-40 minutes, depending on size. Remove from the oven when they are puffed, golden brown, hollow, dry, and light.

Fill Eclairs

Whip cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold into chilled pastry cream until smooth. Fill pastry bag for piping into cooled shells. Use a chop stick or something similar to poke three holes in the bottom of the the cooled puffs. Pipe into eclairs.  Melt chocolate by putting chips into microwave for 30 seconds at a time until smooth.  Dip eclairs on one side.  Let set and serve.  Refrigerate if not eating immediately.

I used this recipe for the Pate a Choux.

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I imagine myself eating this with chocolate ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
Zest of one Cara Cara orange
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
16 oz softened cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
juice of one orange
zest of one orange

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, or in a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and orange zest together until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and making sure batter is fully combined after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.

Add one-third of the dry ingredients, beat to combine, then add half of the buttermilk and mix again. Alternate between dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry, until everything is just combined.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9 x 9-inch square pan (or a loaf pan, or a 9-inch circular pan) with parchment paper, then butter or spray the paper.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out with a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and cream until smooth.  Add powdered sugar a cup at time until whipped smooth.  Add juice and zest and mix until well combined.

Slice, layer, and frost cake as desired.

I thought I’d make Kimberly one of her favorite cakes for her birthday.

INGREDIENTS

Cake

1 ²⁄₃ cups flour
²⁄₃ cup cocoa powder
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ cup shortening
1 ¹⁄₂ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¹⁄₂ cups buttermilk

Filling

¹⁄₂ cup kirsch
¹⁄₂ cup unsalted butter
3 cups icing sugar|
1 pinch salt
¹⁄₄ cup espresso
2 lbs fresh black cherries

Icing

2 cups heavy whipping cream
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla
¹⁄₈ cup kirsch
2 tablespoons dry milk
2 tablespoons icing sugar
¹⁄₂ cup shaved dark chocolate

DIRECTIONS

Pit most of the cherries leaving about 10 for decoration on top of the cake. Take the pitted cherries and soak them in a jar of the 1/2 cup Kirsch overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F Line the bottom of three 9 inch round cake pans with parchment.

Sift the dry cake ingredients together.

Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk and mix well.

Pour evenly into the cake pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Cool and remove the cakes. Prick the tops of the cakes with a toothpick and pour the 1/2 cup of Kirsch (that the cherries soaked in) onto the cake.

In a bowl beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the icing sugar, salt and espresso and mix well. If the icing is too thick add Kirsch or cherry juice.

Cut the cherries into halves.

Place the base layer on top of your cake tray, spread 1/2 of the filling over one top, cover with cherries and top with another layer of cake.

Spread the second half of the filling over that layer of cake, cover with cherries and top with the third layer of cake. Cover this and let sit in the fridge for a day or two to allow the kirsch to soak into the cake and become moist.

The day you’re going to serve this cake prepare the icing. Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks.

Gently fold in the dry milk and icing sugar.

Add the vanilla and pour in the Kirsch until it’s a good consistency.

If you like more icing double this recipe. Spread the icing over all of the cake.

Place the fresh, intact cherries on top for decoration and cover the top with the chocolate shavings. Serve and enjoy!

I got the recipe here.

Chocolate and almonds in a gluten-free treat.

INGREDIENTS

7 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
7 oz. unsalted butter, cubed
4 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon espresso powder
200 g sugar
100 g ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch/20cm (or a 9-inch/23 cm) springform pan. Wrap the outside bottom and sides of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent leaking.

Place chocolate and butter in a medium heat-proof bowl and microwave in 20 to 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Alternatively, you can set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl, and stir occasionally until melted. Set aside.

In a large bowl, place egg yolks and ½ cup (100g) sugar, and whisk by hand for a minute until pale and thick. Stir in chocolate mixture, espresso powder, almonds, and salt.

In a mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk eggs and the remaining ½ cup of sugar on high speed until thick, shiny, soft peaks form.

Using a spatula, fold one-third of egg white mixture into chocolate mixture until mixed. Fold in remaining mixture in 2 additions until combined.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs. The cake should be set on the sides but still wobbly in the center. Allow to cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours until completely set.

Sift cocoa powder over cake before serving. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Cake will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It also freezes well.

I got the recipe here.

Drool.

Cherries and Almonds are a match made in bakers heaven.

INGREDIENTS

Tart Dough:
1cup/125 grams all-purpose flour
¼cup/45 grams granulated sugar
⅛teaspoon salt
6tablespoons/86 grams chilled unsalted butter, in small pieces
1egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons water

Filling:
4 ounces raw almonds
1tablespoon flour
½cup grams sugar
4ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
2eggs
1teaspoon almond extract
12ounces pitted cherries
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

PREPARATION

Make the tart dough: Combine flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Work in butter thoroughly. Stir in egg yolk mixture and knead briefly until dough is smooth, then form into a flat disk.

Roll dough to a large circle and lay it in a 10-inch/23-centimeter fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press in well (patch any cracks with extra dough). Refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Blind bake tart shell until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. (You do not need to cover the shell or use pie weights.)

Meanwhile, make the filling: Put almonds, flour and sugar in work bowl of food processor and grind to a rough powder. Add butter and pulse until well incorporated. Add eggs and almond extract and process until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, use ground almonds and make batter with a mixer instead.)

Pour almond batter into prebaked shell and smooth with a spatula. Press cherries into batter in a single layer. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes. (An inserted skewer should come out clean.) Cool on a rack and remove outer rim of tart pan. Place tart on a serving dish and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

I worked with this recipe.

I am obsessed with shortbread.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2  teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until coconut is light golden, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.

Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Mix in salt and vanilla. Beat in flour in 2 additions. Stir in toasted coconut and chopped nuts. Gather dough together, flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Roll out and use whatever shape cookie cutter you desire. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps and reroll; cut out additional cookies.

Bake cookies until light golden, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. Dip in melted chocolate if desired.

Nina brought me some cherries so I made a cherry cake.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 pound fresh sweet cherries, divided
1 cup flour
1/2 cup ground almonds (or almond meal)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter, or spray with a non stick cooking spray, an 9 inch spring form pan and line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Rinse, dry, and pit all the cherries. Then take about 14 cherries (about 1/3), cut them in half, and set them aside (place on a sheet of paper towel, cut side down) to be placed on the top of the cake during baking. To the rest of the cherries, cut into quarters (to be folded into the cake batter).

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar until thick and light colored (about 3-5 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract and almond extract (if using). Then fold in, with a rubber spatula or wire whisk, the melted and cooled butter and milk just until incorporated. Next, fold in the flour mixture just until moistened. Gently fold in the quartered cherries (not the cherries that you have halved for the top of the cake). Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or back of a spoon.

Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven. Quickly arrange the remaining cherries, cut side down, on the top of the cake. Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. If you find the cake over browning, cover with a piece of aluminum foil.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly (about 10-15 minutes).

I worked with this recipe.

The rain kept me from going for my walk today so I made chocolate cake.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup  unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup  buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted chocolate (whatever leftover chips or scraps you may have)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and lightly flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add the egg and beat well, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, espresso powder and salt together right into your wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not overmix. Fold in melted chocolate. Scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure everything is mixed in.

Pour the batter into loaf pan and bake for 70 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 to 15 minutes before you turn out.

I got the recipe here.

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