King Cake on a Rainy Day

Today I am finishing up the King Cake and am utterly disappointed in my results. Perhaps it is due to the rain pouring down outside, as humidity in the air can affect the moisture content of dough. For whatever reason, the brioche dough is just not cooperating. It is normally quite difficult to work with, but today it seems it is impossible. I had planned to make one King Cake and some cinnamon rolls with the remaining half of the dough, but my first attempt at King Cake was such a flop, I had to give it another try. Luckily, while assembling the first, I decided to use only half the fillings. It was a good call, because the filling I did use ended up spilling out through cracks in the dough as I tried to move it onto the pan. Imagine the mess I would have had with double the filling. The King Cake looked perfect until I tried to move it. I even took the parchment off the pan and attempted to slip it under the cake, but that proved to be unsuccessful and so I ended up with this:

On my second attempt at assembly, I formed the dough into a ring on a floured sheet of parchment, thinking this way I wouldn't have to move it for baking. I rolled it flat into a big doughnut shape,
Spread the fillings inside, (although, I think I was a little heavy on the berry filling)

then folded the dough over the fillings.

Well, it was more successful than the first one, but still not what I was looking for. I didn't end up with enough dough to fold, so my fillings ended up sticking out through most of the top. Kind of like one big danish. I am baking them with hopes that the berry filling doesn't spill out and burn on the pan, smoking us out. (we have really sensitive smoke alarms that get tested from time to time) On the bright side, if they bake up ok, we'll still have some pretty tasty cakes even if they look like total flops. Besides, they ARE supposed to look gaudy, and I can always cover them up a bit with some purple, green, and gold frosting.

I'm going to go back to my old posting and update the recipe based on what I learned today, in case you want to attempt making King Cakes. I hope my little disaster has not deterred you!

King Cake

Tuesday is Mardi Gras which means it's time to make a King Cake! Breaking up larger baking projects into two days makes them seem less daunting and much more manageable. Especially when you have a 20 month old demanding your time. I just stirred some flour, yeast, and warm milk together to make a sponge for the Brioche dough. I plan to make the dough today then let it retard in the refrigerator overnight. Tomorrow I'll make the cream cheese and berry filling, then assemble and bake the cakes.

Chow posted an article and recipe for their version of "Mardi Gras King Cake". They decided to fill their ring of dough with a spiced pecan filling. I'm sure it's tasty, but I thought of dry coffee cake when I read the article and looking at their picture only made it less appetizing. It did not make me want to try this version, especially when I know how rich and tasty my own cream cheese and berry filled creation can be. I only make this one time a year, if that, so it better be good. That being said, I was really glad to see that other sites are posting recipes for the reknowned Mardi Gras treat.

Ok, so the filling is not what I personally would choose to use to fill my King Cake, but the indisputable problem with their version, was that it was not decorated. They used a plain white frosting for the top. I suppose you could make this for Easter brunch, but not Mardi Gras! Whether you frost your King Cake or not is up to you, but whatever you do, make sure it is gaudily decorated. It should be covered with bright green, purple, and gold frosting and/or sugars. Think "Mardi Gras" when you're embellishing your cakes. Remember, it is a festival of excess and indulgence. Traditionally, the last day to eat, drink, and be merry before Ash Wednesday, the first of the 40 days of lent leading up to Easter. It's Fat Tuesday!

Valentine's Chocolates

This photo says it all. Addison thoroughly enjoyed making chocolates. She must have eaten half a dozen by the time we were done dipping. She emphatically asked for "Mo chocolate" as I tried to explain it was not for us to eat right now... it was for Valentine's day and to be shared. That logic was pretty much lost on a 20 month old. She continued to ask for "Mo chocolate!"

We made fillings during the week prior to Valentine's day, which fell on a Saturday this year. I made fleur de sel caramel and poured 1/3 over toasted mixed nuts, 1/3 over halved pecans and the remaining 1/3 was left plain. I found some 9 inch loaf pans lined with parchment and sprayed with oil to be the perfect size for this task and the parchment proved to make removal a cinch. The caramels were easy to work with and held together nicely while dipping in the chocolate coating. I brought them up to a temperature of 250 degrees, which kept them nice and chewy- just like I like them.

I also experimented with different flavors of dark chocolate ganache: earl grey, star anise, mint, and hazelnut. I started with a ratio of two to one for chocolate to heavy cream. This worked well for the hazelnut and the mint, which were both flavored by adding a liqueur or extract. The earl grey and the star anise, on the other hand, required a bit more cream as I needed to heat it twice- once for steeping and then a second time to ensure it was warm enough to melt the chocolate. Both ratios worked out just fine and there was no noticeable difference. I think heating the cream twice also reduced it a bit, so we probably ended up with a two to one ratio by weight afterall.

Fleur de Sel Caramels

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fleur de sel

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

First, prepare the pans:

If making plain caramels, line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch square pan with a square of parchement, then spray lightly with oil.

If you'd like to make plain caramels and some with nuts, line two or three loaf pans with parchment and spray with oil. I did it three ways- one pan I filled about 1/2 inch deep with toasted mixed nuts. A second pan was filled with a layer of pecans, lined up side by side, so when the caramels set, I could cut them into individual rectangles, allowing for one piece of pecan inside each caramel. A third pan was lined and left empty for plain caramels.

To make the caramel, combine the sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil until the caramel is golden brown, stirring with a wooden spoon as it starts to brown.

While the sugars are boiling, bring the cream, butter and fleur de sel to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep warm.

When the sugars have browned to the desired color, slowly add the cream mixture. Be careful, it will boil up as you add the liquid filled cream mixture to the hot sugars. Stir in the vanilla and continue to stir while cooking over medium heat until the caramel reaches 250 degrees. Remove from heat immediately and carefully pour into prepared pan or pans. Allow to cool and set before removing from the pans.

I would suggest making the caramels a day or two before you want to coat them with chocolate. When the caramels have set, remove the parchment from the pan and cut into the desired shape and size. I cut the mixed nut caramel into a rectangle, resembling one of my favorite candies from See's, then I proceeded to coat the bottom and sides only, leaving the top peeking through, showing the nut mixture through the glossy brown caramel. For the turtle-esque pecan caramels, I turned the block of caramel over so I could see the layout of the nuts within and cut them so each caramel enrobed one pecan half taking care not to cut through any of the nut meats. Lastly, the plain caramels were cut into squares and after coating with chocolate, are sprinkled with fleur de sel. Make sure you sprinkle the fleur de sel on them before the chocolate dries.

Mint Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), chopped

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Chop the chocolate and place into a small bowl. Heat cream over medium heat until just boiling, pour over chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted. Add the peppermint extract and pour into the prepared pan. Top with another sheet of plastic wrap and allow to set at room temperature.

Hazelnut Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao)

2 Tablespoons Frangelica liqueur

Toasted Whole Hazelnuts

Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Chop the chocolate and place into a small bowl. Heat cream over medium heat until just boiling, pour over chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted. Add the Frangelica liqueur and hazelnuts, then pour into the prepared pan. Top with another sheet of plastic wrap and allow to set at room temperature.

Earl Gray Ganache

3/4 cup heavy cream

8 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao)

2 teaspoons loose leaf Earl Grey Tea

Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Chop the chocolate and place into a small bowl. Heat cream over medium heat until just boiling, add the tea and allow to steep for at least 5 minutes or until the cream smells fragrant. Reheat the cream, then strain through a fine mesh sieve while pouring over the chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Pour into the prepared pan. Top with another sheet of plastic wrap and allow to set at room temperature.

Star Anise Ganache

3/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao)
3 star anise, ground in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle

Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Chop the chocolate and place into a small bowl. Heat cream over medium heat until just boiling, add the ground star anise and allow to steep for at least 5 minutes or until the cream smells fragrant. Reheat the cream, then strain through a fine mesh sieve while pouring over the chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Pour into the prepared pan. Top with another sheet of plastic wrap and allow to set at room temperature.

When the flavored Ganaches have set, cut them with a very sharp knife and dip in dark chocolate for a decadent chocolate candy.

Tempering Chocolate

The dipping process was by far the most tedious and time consuming of all the candy making. For the above chocolates, I used 2 pounds of 60% cacao dark chcolate and I ran out. No worries, as ganache tastes just fine without a chocolate coating. Note that you'll need an accurate candy thermometer to temper chocolate.

To temper dark chocolate, use at least 1 pound of chocolate. Chop the chocolate into very small pieces and place 3/4 of it into a large stainless steal bowl. Reserve the remaining 1/4 of chocolate.

Place the large stainless steal bowl over a couple of inches of simmering water in a medium saucepan creating a double boiler. Melt the chocolate, bringing it to 115 degrees, no hotter.

Then, remove from the bowl from the saucepan and cool the chocolate by adding the reserved chopped chocolate, about 1 tablespoon at a time and stirring until the chocolate falls below 84 degrees.

Remove any chunks of chocolate keeping them for another use, then place the bowl back over simmering water a few seconds at a time, stirring, until it reaches 88 to 89 degrees. Do not allow it to exceed 91 degrees. Your chocolate is now tempered and should be shiny and smooth.

Keep the chocolate in the 85 to 88 degree range as you dip your candies. It is much easier to maintain the appropriate temperature if you are using a larger amount of chocolate. You'll need to place the bowl over the hot water once in a while to maintain the heat.

A trick I learned from a cooking class at Sur La Table, is to use a heating pad- the same type you use for achy muscles. Place the heating pad inside another large bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, then place your bowl of chocolate over the pad and your chocolate should maintain your desired temperature. Start with the lowest heat setting and work your way up as needed if the temperature of the chocolate drops.

Potato-Leek Soup

On crisp winter days, there is nothing more satisfying to me than a warm bowl of soup. I think the best soups are those made with a few fresh quality ingredients, so when I found some nice organic leeks on sale at a local market, I picked up a couple for a batch of my potato-leek soup. I like the hearty creaminess that a pureed potato can contribute and the delicate flavor of a fresh leek. This soup makes for a simple but satisfying lunch on its own, or you can serve a small cup of it with a sandwich. You'll need about 10 minutes for preparation and another half hour for cooking, but it can easily be made ahead of time and warmed up for a quick lunch at home or at work.

Potato-Leek Soup

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, halved length-wise, sliced into 1/2 inch slices, then thoroughly washed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, sliced
2 large or 4 small potatoes, cubed
2 cups chicken stock + additional stock or water as needed
1/2 teaspoon dried herbs de provence or Italian herb mixture
1 cup milk

In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced leeks and cook until they begin to appear translucent. Add the garlic, then the carrot and potatoes. Finally add the chicken stock and the dried herbs. The stock should just cover the vegetables. Add a little more stock or water if necessary to cover. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are fork-tender. Blend the soup until creamy using an immersion blender or in batches in a conventional blender. You can also just use a potato masher- your results will be less smooth and less refined, but you can just call it "rustic". Finally, add the cup of milk, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

A cake you don't want to make

This has been a bad food week. For one, I wasn't able to eat for two days and am still having trouble choking down even the blandest of foods... I am just getting over the most awful stomach flu. I haven't been this sick in at least 10 years. Unfortunately, I caught the bug from my 19 month-old daughter, Addison, so we were both grumpy and vomiting. I'm sure there's plenty of parents out there who know what it's like to have to clean up your child's vomit while all you want to do is lie down and take a nap.

Earlier in the week, before the bug struck, I made a Grapefruit Upside Down Cake thinking I'd make good use of all the grapefruit we have on hand. It was a bad call. The cake itself tasted great- it was a light, fluffy spice cake, and it was what inspired me to make it in the first place as it was not the traditional yellow cake batter usually used.
After turning the freshly baked cake upside down, we were excited for our scrumptious warm treat to eat with the homemade vanilla ice cream that was waiting in our freezer. Unfortunately, the sour grapefruit just does not lend itself well to a topping for a sweet cake. The sugars brought out the pure bitterness of the grapefruit and covered up any of the citrus flavor I had expected. It was so disappointing and at first I felt like it was a total waste of time and a waste of two grapefruits, but it seems mistakes in the kitchen end up teaching a cook just a little bit more about flavor. I may try another dessert using grapefruit, but I know it won't have chunks of the bitter sections, perhaps it'll be something using the juice or the rind. For now though, I think I'll stick to eating it straight or in savory salads.