Sunday, February 27, 2011


     That's one of the few times I get to complete a DB challenge on time and to be honest it's not excactly complete since I have substituted florentine cookies with orange tuilles due to lack of ingredients. Surprisingly I found the making of panacotta challenging (which is great) since I was quite ambitious about getting a butterscotch filling frozen (never happens) but the result totally worthed it. I also had the chance to use leftover cramble and almond paste from my almond torte as the cream's base after blending and baking them alongside with the tuilles (an addition that I recomend).

           Panacotta
           450gr                                          heavy cream
           150gr                                          milk
           60gr                                           granulated sugar
           90gr                                           white chocolate
           12gr                                           gelatin sheets, softened in cold water

           Butterscotch sauce
           140gr                                          brown sugar
           35gr                                           strong coffee
           105gr                                          heavy cream
           35gr                                            butter, room temperature
           50gr                                            milk (optional)

           Tuilles
           90gr                                            flour
           90gr                                            butter
           90gr                                            powdered sugar
           90gr                                            egg whites
           1                                                orange (zest)


For the panacotta bring cream, sugar and milk almost to boiling point, remove from heat and dissolve in the gelatin. Then melt in the chocolate, let the mixture cool and fill almost 10 small moulds. Refrigerate for several hours. To make the sauce, start warming the heavy cream and bring sugar with coffee to boil. When the syrup reaches 115C, remove from heat, add the butter and then the hot cream. To achieve a thinner texture poure in up to 50gr of milk and refrigerate after cooling. Finally for the tuilles, simply melt the butter and whisk in the sugar with the zest. Blend in the flour and then beat in the egg whites without incorporating air to the mixture. Spread the batter on silicone mats making thin layers (a stencil would be helpfull) and optionally sprinkle some chopped almonds. Bake at a preheated oven to 200C for 4-6min. In order to give them a curvy shape wrap them around a rolling pin as soon as they come out of the oven.

  

Tuesday, February 22, 2011



 
       This is one of the best type of sweet bread I have made as terms of flavor and moistness but also very easy and enjoyable at the preparation. The filling which could be considered as a coconut version of chocolate frangipane is great enough to be used in many ways as tart filling or cookie dough mixed with additional flour and really complements the soft buns. However after a lot of attempts I still haven't achieved a perfectly airy texture (though they were very soft) and rise that will prevent the buns from flattening when it cools. I guess this could be relevant to making a dough with a tendency to loosen and spread during fermentation maybe as a result of the butter. So if you have any ideas feel free to leave a tip! 


            Sweet bun
            280gr                                                 bread flour
            8gr                                                    instant yeast
            65gr                                                   sugar
            60gr                                                   butter (room temperature)
            120ml                                                 coconut milk or cream
            15gr                                                   milk powder (optional)
            1                                                       small egg (room temperature)
            1/4tsp                                                salt
            vanilla powder                                    optional


            Filling
            70gr                                                   butter
            70gr                                                   powdered sugar
            70gr                                                   shredded coconut
            70gr                                                   semisweet chocolate
            1                                                       egg
            23gr                                                   flour
            2Tbsp                                                 cognac
Warm the coconut milk and before it gets hot dissolve in the yeast. In the bowl of your mixer combine the flour with salt, sugar, milk powder and vanilla. Then mix in the egg with a dough hook and at the same time poure gradually the yeast mixture in. Keep beating for a couple of minutes and start adding the butter in doses. After the butter is completely incorporated you may need to add some more flour and knead until you get a soft and quite sticky dough. Then let the dough rest in warm enviroment (it could be a slightly heated oven) until it doubles in size. Punch down the dough and start making the filling. First melt the chocolate in bain marie, beat butter with sugar until creamy using the paddle attachment and add the coconut. Beat in the egg and when incorporated poure in the cognac. Keep beating in medium speed and gradually poure in the melted chocolate. 

Divide the dough in two uniform pieces and roll each one into a 30cm-diametre circle. Cut 8 triangles from each circle, spread the filling with oiled fingers if it's too stiff and shape small croissants. Let the prepared buns puff, cover with egg wash and even sprinkle some coconut if you want. Finally bake at a preheated oven to 190C for about 10min. Remaining filling can be mixed with flour and be baked as cookies with the buns.