Cucumber Sandwiches

Well, if you missed the news, let me tell you myself, DC had an earthquake. Not a major one. We're not complaining. My office shook for 30 seconds, and most people remained composed.Not me, I ran like the wuss I am and didn't stop for a block. Actually, what has upset DC most is the lack of preachers condemning DC. We have a pretty tongue-in-cheek humor here and were really looking forward to a few men of God blaming our earthquake on liberal social politics. Personally, I broke into a rendition of Carole King's "I feel the earth move under my feet." I think the best coverage was done by the National Zoo, who studied all their animals to show the ways they reacted and which knew about the earthquake before it happened. Remind me to get a pet lemur.

The building next to ours has been having some work done. Our office is an 1800s historic rowhouse just up 16th St. from the White House and ....well it predates building codes. When our building shook I assumed the construction next door had destabilized our building. I confess to screaming like a baby, yelling "I'm getting out of here" and taking the steps four at a time.  I realized I was standing outside looking like a fool among everybody else. They were composed and I was......not. Once I realized I was looking pretty idiotic, I decided to handle this "crisis" in the true English fashion: tea and

  cucumber sandwiches.

 Now, my version of a cucumber sandwich is nothing fancy: cucumbers, cream cheese or mascarpone and bread. However, I like to make them look pretty so I can feel fancy. I use my mandolin to cut the cucumber slices as thin as possible, so they are transparent and I can get a stained glass effect. I layer them in rows so that they are just overlapping and cut them with cookie cutters to match the bread. You'd be surprised how easy it is to move the cut cucumbers over to the cream cheese topped bread. Sounds awful, but the base layer is usually so large it doesn't shift...like DC yesterday. Next time we have a minor earthquake I hope to react in such a composed manner.

 Fingers crossed my afternoon is less eventful than yesterday's.

 Cheers!

Lemon Mascarpone Brulee with Cherry Compote

What does $700 mean to you? It could be rent, it could be a stinking nice car payment, or maybe it's what you spend on dining a month.  Now....if your landlord called out of the blue and said "hey, I haven't raised the rent in three years, I was thinking of raising it $700 a month." that $700 would mean choking, crying, and sudden onset depression. A 30% rent hike? Wow.

My landlord did this. Yesterday.

I love my house. You've seen the pictures when I've thrown parties. I am more than happy that he hasn't raised the rent on us in the three years and considered that a fair trade for the sake that he never fixes anything either.....this rent hike however puts me into some deep future plans re-evaluation.

My current life plan was that my life would stay exactly as it is for another two years. Then, with my "buoyed" savings account, I would relocate to the southern city of my choosing, live on my savings for a few months while I looked for work and blogged and baked my heart out......

Now my plan is to just figure out what on earth to do if we can't talk the landlord into a reasonable rent hike. Stay in DC? Try to find housing that isn't more than half my pay? Leave DC MUCH sooner than I planned? Start a new career in a new city? Which city? Should I move into my mother's cabin in the mountains for a few months and allow myself to fully indulge in this unforseen breakdown? Yes, that is how much I love my house. I can't imagine living in DC without it.

I used to live in a HOLE of an apartment in Foggy Bottom that I paid way too much money for, was near nothing, and thus made me spend as much time out of it as possible. That's my option. If you have to find housing in 30 or 90 days in DC it ain't going to be pretty or you're going to pay out your ears. I hear rumors of cheap places around $1000 a month with parking four blocks from work. I also hear five year old girls say unicorns exist.

So, I'm in the market for life plans, and in lieu of them I'm baking comfort food. This is a two to three day dessert. Day one make some mascarpone, day two make the filling and the shells, day three combine everything else.  In some ways, this is great. Less work per day, quick and easy. On the other hand, it takes forethought, but it's worth it...good things take time, find good places to live takes significantly more. Oh, life, you tricky devil.

Enjoy!

Lemon Mascarpone Brulee with Cherry Compote

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tspn lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 whole large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 cup of your freshly made mascarpone
6 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cherries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar

To make Mascarpone:
Heat cream in saucepan until small bubble form at edge (do not boil!), add lemon juice and leave on the heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. If the cream hasn't thickened return to heat and add more lemon juice.

Place a sieve over a bowl, line the sieve with cheesecloth. Pour the mix into the sieve. Place in fridge and allow to drain overnight.

To make Tart Shells: 

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, kosher salt, cream and vanilla, until mixture is moist and crumbly.

Press dough into four 4-inch tart pans (or one 9 or 10 inch tart pan) and press it up the sides, making sure the layer on the bottom is even.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust is set and firm at the edges. Cool, and store in an airtight container until use. 

Make filling:
In a heavy saucepan combine butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, and remove pan from heat. In a bowl whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until thick and pale. Add hot butter mixture in a stream, whisking constantly, and transfer to pan. Cook mixture over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thick and just beginning to boil. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl and stir in zest. Cool lemon mixture completely, its surface covered with buttered wax paper, and chill at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together mascarpone and cream until thick and smooth. Fold in 1 1/2 cups lemon mixture, reserving remainder for another use, until combined well.

Divide filling among shells, smoothing tops. Chill tarts, loosely covered, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Make sauce:
Throw all sauce ingredients into a sauce pan. Cook until desired constancy is reached.

Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon superfine sugar evenly over each tart and caramelize with a blowtorch, moving flame evenly back and forth over sugar until melted and caramelized, about 30 seconds.

Serve tarts with cherry sauce.

Pavlova Cookies N' Ice Creme Anglaise

If you're looking for a decadent take on an ice cream cake search no further. Mascarpone and Creme Anglaise contrast beautifully. The meringue chocolate chips add a beatiful touch and a slightly malted flavor. The perfect ice cream cake for a food snob. As seen on Photograzing!

pavlova cookies n' ice creme anglaise

So here we have it! My first Daring Bakers’ Challenge! I was very excited to finally get to participate! I was sad that I’d missed last month’s Croquembouche challenge. Butchie and I had made one for our baking night last year…I really just wanted to eat the Croquembouche is all.

chocolate pavlova cookie sandwiches

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I have to say I had more than a fair amount of trouble with this recipe. I followed the instructions the first time around exactly but what I got was not so perfect! I found it near impossible to fold in the cocoa and still have a merinque. I baked it for the designated amount of time and I ended up with course granular bricks instead of the beautiful marshmallow meringue I had been expecting.

my failed pavlovas

I started scouring the internet for what went wrong, and made a second attempt. My Berries N’ Cream Pavlova was MUCH MUCH better. With that under my belt I decided to conquer this chocolate pavlova again. 

My three pieces of advice are as follows: use nowhere near the amount of cocoa and use entirely powdered sugar and lastly, bake for less time. Those three changes fixed EVERYING. You can see the amazing differences in these pictures. The finished products are dramatically different.

failed chocoalte pavlovas and beautiful plain pavlova

I still prefer a plain pavlova however. Yes. You read that correctly. I, in fact, have found something I prefer to not be chocolate.

my second attempt at chocolate pavlovas

Because I’d already made the filling once, I opted not to make it again. I actually used the first round of chocolate mascarpone mousse and the crème anglaise to fill the chocolate buttermilk cupcakes for my kickball team. They loved it. Mostly because of a secret ingredient I added just for them. Wink. Wink. So this time around I decided to take a few liberties.

Without further ado may I present:

pavlova cookies n' ice creme anglaise

Pavlova Cookies N’ Ice Crème Anglaise!

Chocolate Meringue

3 large egg whites

¾ cup and 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon cornstarch
1 ½ tablespoon dutch process cocoa

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar and cornstarch about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)

Sift the cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold in (This looks like it will not happen; Fold gently and it will eventually come together).

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into one inch circles, roughly the size of a small cookie. Level down the peaks with a knife if you prefer.

Bake for one hour and ten minutes until the meringues become dry and crisp. Turn off oven and allow meringues to cool inside.  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone

Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

Place the mascarpone, and the remaining cup of cream in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone until it holds soft peaks.

Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Pipe some into the middle of the pavlova cookies to create sandwiches. Reserve the remaining mousse. 

Ice Crème Anglaise:

1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Directions:

Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Crème Anglaise:

1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.

Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.

Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Ice Cream Assembly Instructions:

When finished pour in layers like you would a trifle of the crème anglaise ice cream, chocolate mascarpone mousse, and pavlova cookie bits.

Freeze until fully hardened. Allow to soften 10 minutes before serving.

Original Assembly Instructions:

Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top (do not freeze!). Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.