BERGAMOT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES ON AIR

One of the modern pastry chef’s greatest secrets is air.  He captures air and whips it into his preparations with cream, chocolate, or butter.  Temperature, texture, and beater speed all play a role in this delicate collection of microscopic bubbles that create so many of our favorite desserts.

Bergamot pairs deliciously with chocolate.  You will find light and airy chocolate cream in each of these little dark chocolate caps. Some are topped off with homemade lemon sugar.

To make homemade truffles that stay pretty, you need to temper the chocolate. This simply involves heating, cooling, then heating again your dipping chocolate. Why would you bother with such a thing? For a number of reasons, one being that untempered chocolate develops an unsightly dull white sheen.  You need a thermometer to do it right. Mine is broken at the moment, so I did without. The results were not bad, but not outstanding. You might notice in the photos that these truffles are not very shiny. This is because they were poorly tempered. For a very good explanation read David Lebovitz’s article, How to Temper Chocolate.

I found the recipe for the whipped milk chocolate ganache that fills these truffles on pastry chef Ron Mendoza’s blog, One Spoon Quenelle. After a few tweaks, it became whipped bergamot dark chocolate ganache that you can easily make at home.

Start 3 days in advance.

recipe for bergamot chocolate truffles on air:

ingredients:

• 225 g milk
• 50 g corn syrup
• 300 g dark chocolate
• 580 g heavy cream
• Zest of one bergamot
• Juice of half a bergamot
• Plus about 200 g dark chocolate

…

Day 1:

Bring milk, corn syrup, and zest of bergamot to a simmer.

Break 300 g chocolate into small pieces into a large bowl.

Pass the hot milk mixture through a fine mesh strainer (to take out the pieces of zest, unless you prefer to leave them) pouring over the chocolate and whisk by hand until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy. It helps to start whisking in the center of the bowl, slowly incorporating the edges.

Add the cream, blend well. Then add the bergamot juice a little at a time, blending well after each addition.

Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Day 2:

The next day use an electric beater to whip the ganache to soft peaks. I would say that I whipped to good peaks, not soft ones. You should have a mixture that looks and tastes like a rich chocolate mousse. You could always stop here and serve in little bowls.

Use a pastry bag or teaspoon to make small rounds, kisses, or any form of chocolate onto the lid of a Tupperware, or in something that you can cover without smashing the ganache rounds. I used the lid of a Tupperware bowl and used the bowl to cover the chocolates. Here is the upside down Tupperware held up to the light.

Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight.

 

Emmett the cat loves to smell each ingredient when I cook.

Day 3:

Temper the 200 g of dark chocolate. Take the frozen chocolates out of the freezer and quickly dip them into the melted chocolate. Place them on a sheet of waxed paper to dry. This can be done with forks or special chocolate making forks.  They will harden very quickly.

Usually I don’t keep chocolate in the fridge, but I kept these refrigerated in a tin and we finished them within the week.

Flavored sugar is very easy to make. These lemon sugar disks were made with sugar, lemon zest, and just enough lemon juice to humidify the sugar. Once humid, you can roll the sugar out flat and use a cookie cutter or knife to cut shapes, or press into molds, then allow to dry for a day or two, or in a slightly warm oven.

Two bites!

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

Bonjour!

Since last I wrote, we bought a little stone townhouse… a charming fixer-upper.  The highly improvised and poorly lit kitchen inspires me to flip through kitchen catalogues and home decor magazines more than it inspires the act of cooking, hence my lack of word.

I recently came home to a chocolate craving, but nibbling on a square of chocolate just didn’t hit the spot. I needed something intense, creamy, chewy, dense but airy :  a French chocolate cake.

Flipping through my books, I searched for the recipe that would accommodate my craving, my lack of envy to cook, and working in my sorry excuse for a kitchen. I happened upon this recipe shared by Michael Roberts in his book, “Parisian Home Cooking.” Most importantly, choose good quality dark chocolate for making this cake. You won’t be disappointed.

Perfect for its simplicity and delicious, it was even better the second day.

recipe for flourless chocolate cake

You need :
A large mixing bowl
A smaller mixing bowl put over a double-boiler
Electric beaters
a cake pan (springform pan, or fluted tube pan)
…

10 oz unsweetened chocolate broken or chopped into small bits

1 cup brewed espresso (or very dark coffee)

8 tbs or one stick of unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

4 large eggs

Cacao powder for dusting

…

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Butter and flour the cake pan or fluted tube pan.

Place the chocolate, espresso, butter, and sugar over the double boiler and heat until melted, stirring from time to time.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl at medium-high speed, until they are very thick, pale, and have quadrupled in volume. You can do this while the chocolate is melting, for about 10 minutes.

Turn the speed to medium-low and add the melted chocolate. Mix until incoporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the top cracks. The center should rest slightly undercooked.

Allow to cool 30 minutes before unmolding. When cooled completely, sprinkle with cacao powder.

I keep it in the fridge, where it stays good for a few days.

 

On other things I have been learning to do this year:

Here, I learn to slice iron with fire.

CHESTNUT SABLÉS

Chestnut cookies dipped in dark chocolat

Spring days whiz by stringing me along. Chive, thyme, and violette flowers are budding… (I plan to eat them).  An herb garden now grows on my little terrace. I’ve never had so many plants growing under my supervision… luckily they don’t seem to realize the danger they are in, and I am giving it all I’ve got not to kill them this time.  Yesterday afternoon I rushed my violette to the bathtub and frantically rinsed off a growing population of black aphids, sucking sweet juices from the poor plant. Where are the ladybugs???

I haven’t posted lately for 5 reasons. 1- No internet until last week. 2- Wine school takes up lots of time. 3-  Organizing new house. But most importantly,  4- Almost everything I cook lately could use some… (clearing throat)… perfection before sharing. The previous sentence expresses the cause of much agony and gastronomic frustration indeed.  What happened to those little cakes that knock my socks off??  Luckily, my gastrnomic  life is not completely at a stand-still, as I am discovering a number of delicious local specialties around Pézenas, and will surely do a little report in the coming weeks.  Lastly, 5- Of the few (ok, two) things that have turned out, I forgot to take photos!  Let us hope that my culinary frustration will soon melt into the perfect fusion of ingredients that so tantalize my taste buds.

But enough yahdi yahdi yah. Luckily there are still a few good recipes in my personal archives. On the the point of this post : Chestnut flour!  Chestnuts are delicious in the winter, but chestnut flour is good all year long.  I found some last year at a market in the Champagne region, and also here in the Languedoc-Roussillon.  If you can’t find any locally, you can find it online.

I made these cookies with palm oil butter, which is very neutral in flavor and gives you a cookie that is very delicate and crumbly. You could use butter instead and they will probably take on a little more color and a caramel flavor. They are perfect with a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

recipe for chestnut sablés

200 g white flour

100 g chestnut flour

1 pinch of salt

1 tsp baking soda

100 g powdered sugar

100 g palm oil butter, or butter at room temperature

Melted dark chocolate for decoration

…

Mix the two  flours, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.

Cream the powdered sugar with the butter.

Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and cream together until well mixed.  Using your hands might be the easiest!

Roll into a ball, flatten with your hand, and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150°C or 300°F.

Roll the dough to the thickness of about 4 mm, quite thin, and cut shapes with a cookies cutter. You can re-use the scraps until you have no more dough.

Bake on a non-stick cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes, until they appear hardened and have taken just a little color.

Allow to cool on the baking sheet before removing.

Melt some dark chocolate dip part of each cookie. Using a spatula or flat knife spread a thin coat of chocolate on the back side of each cookie. Place the cookies on parchment or waxed paper.  Use a parchment cone (how to make) to decorate the cookies. Don’t overfill a parchement cone, or your chocolate will come out the back end and get all over your hands. Make sure you leave enough space to fold the end a few times.  Allow the chocolate to set before serving.

These cookies save for 3 or 4 days in an airtight tin.

ALMOND HAZELNUT HOLIDAY PIE

A new take on an American classic – Pecan Pie looses to the pecans!  And don’t be mislead by that buttery crust – there is no gluten and no dairy!

Cooking for my dessert-loving no-nonsense husband and my dessert-loving no-substitutions  father has been a challenge recently because I’m cooking also for my dessert-loving mother who can’t digest wheat or dairy.  Such a challenge has opened a door to the discovery of new ingredients, or simply, different ways to use well-known ingredients.

This pie or tart crust recipe is much like a pâte sablée or shortcrust pastry.  It it buttery (coconut buttery) and crumbly, just as a good crust should be.  I like it as much as the best wheat flour and butter pastry dough I have tasted.

I am not very snobbish about finding recipes.  Good ideas can come from almost anywhere, even the lowly product label. The basic recipe for the filling of the pie came from the label of the “Golden Eagle Syrup” found deep in my parent’s cupboard.  Golden Eagle Syrup is a product from Alabama, a blend of corn syrup, cane sugar syrup, cane molasses, and pure honey. If you can’t find it, use half corn syrup and half honey.

A forkfull has been known to please even the most anti-gluten-free of palates.

This gluten-free piece of goodness is easy as a slice of pie, but tastes like you have been hovering over a copper saucepan watching sugar slowly caramelize all afternoon. Roasted almonds and hazelnuts with dark chocolate bits in caramel fill each bite.

Recipe for Almond Hazelnut Holiday Pie:

Note: You can use a regular crust recipe if you prefer. Try a pâte brisée. Otherwise this gluten-free crust is great as well.

For the gluten-free crust:

150 g cornstarch (preferably from non-gmo corn)

50 g corn or rice flour (ditto)

50 g powdered sugar

large pinch of salt

150 g coconut butter (coconut oil) which is a white solid

3-4 tablespoons cold water

1 egg

a pastry dough cutter (because coconut butter melts too quickly if you use your fingers)

…

The process is slightly different from traditional shortcrust pastry in that you really can’t mix with your hands in the beginning, and you roll out the dough before chilling it.

Mix together the cornstarch, corn flour, powdered sugar and salt.  Cut the coconut butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Using the pastry cutter, mix it with the flour using a chopping motion until all the flour is mixed with the coconut butter, but not so much that the coconut butter is completely mixed. The dough should have a sandy consitency.

Add the cold water and an egg. Mix together using your hands, just until the dough looks uniform.

Roll out and press into a tart pan, making nice edges. Chill.

…

For the almond hazelnut filling:

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup Golden Eagle Syrup (or your own mixture of honey and corn syrup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons melted coconut butter

1 cup lightly roasted almonds

1 cup lightly roasted hazelnuts

1 cup coarsly chopped dark good-quality chocolate

…

To roast your almonds and hazelnuts if they are raw, place on a cookie sheet and cook for 8 to 10 minutes at 350°F or 180°C. They should just start to take on color in the center. Allow to cool.

Pre-cook the pie crust in the lower part of the oven for about 10 minutes at 360°F or 190°C. Use baking beans if you have them, or else simply flatten the crust before filling if air bubbles pop up.

Lightly beat the eggs. Add the sugar, syrup, salt, and melted coconut butter. Don’t beat too much, or you will add too much air and your pie will rise and fall like a soufflé!

Spread the nuts and chocolate into the slightly pre-cooked pie crust and pour the filling over them. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350°F (180°C).

Allow to cool before serving. This pie cuts best if it is chilled before slicing.

A rich winter dessert to finish off a festive or lighter meal!