Blog #6

Today's dessert of the day is Eclair's! Another dessert that I had the opportunity to try back in the summer of 2009, while I was in Europe. They are really yummy, and they can be found anywhere. Eclair's have become so popular that it can be found anywhere around the globe. Although the eclair's origins were from France back in the 19th century. The word "eclair's" translate into lightening, but the name seems to have no relation to the food. Food historians had said that the creator of eclair's was Antonin Careme, a famous French chef, also known as "The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings." The first English written recipe for eclair's was first written in Boston Cooking School Book by Mrs. D.A Lincoln. 

The dessert has very simple ingredients but it's very complex to perfect. The dough is called choux dough, and it's very thin and fluffy. When making this dessert you have to create a puff where the inside of the dough is hollow. Once the dough is cooled off you would then pipe a custard, chocolate or coffee flavored cream, or whip cream into it. After you are done piping then it is covered in a fondant, typically a chocolate flavored fondant, but any flavored fondant is also great to use. With eating an eclair, it's very popular to pair it up with some coffee, or something to drink. And bon a petite, dessert is served, or maybe a snack.  

Chocolate Eclairs: 

Ingredients (for 20 eclairs):

Eclair Dough:
2/3 cup Milk
2/3 cup Water
4 oz. Butter
1 cup Flour
5 Eggs
2 tsp. Granulated Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Chocolate Cream Filling:
6 oz. Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
1 cup Milk
4 Egg Yolks
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Flour

Chocolate Icing:
5 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate
2 oz. Butter
1/4 cup Water

How to Make It:
Eclair Dough:
Preheat oven to 425°F
1. In a pot, mix water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil.
2. Once butter has completely melted, take off flame, and slowly pour in flour, stirring constantly.
3. Put pot back on flame and continue to work it with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring and kneading with spoon until the dough dries out and stops sticking to the sides of the pot.
4. Take off flame. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring energetically.
5. Fill a baking sac with batter. Butter a baking sheet. Squeeze out "finger-sized eclairs" onto baking sheet, well-spaced.
6. Bake for 10 minutes. Then turn oven down to 385°F and bake another 10-12 minutes with the oven door open.
Voilà!

Chocolate Filling:
1. Melt chocolate (chopped) and milk in a pot, and bring to light boil, remove.
2. In a bowl, whisk yolks and sugar until it whitens.
3. Slowly add flour, stirring.
4. Slowly add chocolate and milk, stirring until homogenous.
5. Put back in pot, bring to light boil, stirring constantly, until cream thickens and becomes smooth.
6. When cream cools off (and eclairs have cooled off as well), you can begin filling the eclairs: Cut a small slit lengthwise, and then stuff with cream, using your baking sac or a small spoon.
Voilà!

Icing:
Almost done! Hang in there! Chocolate eclair recipes are well-worth the time they take!!!
1. Melt chocolate with water in a small pot over a low flame.
2. Once melted add butter, whisking the whole time. Should look shiny and creamy!
3. Remove from heat. Spread a thin layer on each eclair, using a spatula.
4. Wait until icing hardens a bit to serve it.
Voilà! And Bravo!

Tip:
Even if you are making fewer than 20 chocolate eclairs, make the full quantity of dough (it will prepare better!). You can always freeze what you don't use.

Recipe from: http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/chocolate-eclair-recipes.html

Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Éclair_(pastry)

Pictures from: http://ffoodd.tumblr.com/

Blog #5

Today's dessert of the day is something I had the chance to try back in 2009 when I went on a Europe trip with my family. It's very satisfying, and refreshing, especially on a hot day in Italy, it's called Panna Cotta. Panna Cotta translates to "cooked cream". Panna Cotta is generally from the Northern area of Italy, and it was said to date back from a long time ago. Back then it was believed that the Italians had eaten cream and topped it off with hazelnuts or fruits as their dessert, but as time progressed it had turned into a gelatin topped with delicious toppings. And now eaten and well known all over Italy. It consists of milk, cream, sugar and gelatin, and topped off with berries, caramel, or chocolate. There are similar types of desserts like Panna Cotta, although they are found in different countries, like Greece, France, and Finland.

From my experience, making Panna Cotta wasn't the easiest for me to do, but then again making any type of jello dessert isn't easy for me. Although there are many skill levels of baking, and according to my family member, "...it's no impossible to make". I encourage all my readers to try to create this dessert, because it's just that delicious to eat!


Recipe for Panna Cotta:

4 cups (1l) heavy cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water

1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

(If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod. Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean then rewarm the mixture before continuing.)

2. Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.

3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them stand at least four hours. (Judy told me American refrigerators are colder than European ones. )

If you’re pressed for time, pour the Panna Cotta mixture into wine goblets so you can serve them in the glasses, without unmolding.

6. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and garnish as desired.

To make Panna Cotta with sheet gelatin: Soften 25g (approximately six sheets) in a liter of cold water for 5 to 10 minutes. Wring the sheets out and stir them into the warm Panna Cotta mixture in step # 4, until dissolved.

Recipe from: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/04/perfect-panna-cotta/

Citations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panna_cotta

Blog #4

Tonight my Mom had made a traditional Filipino dessert for me and the rest of the family and it is called "Halo Halo".  In today's dessert of the day Halo Halo has become a world wide known dessert, it is now very popular in cultural festivals and other places. The dessert Halo Halo translates into mixture, that's because it's a mixture of many ingredients. This dessert can be eaten during anytime of the day, it could be eaten during lunch time, as a snack, or as a dessert. But the most common time to eat this is after dinner. This is a very family-oriented dessert, and can be eaten by anyone in the family.

Halo Halo has shaved ice, milk, ice cream, sweet beans, and fruit in it, all put into one big bowl or maybe a tall glass. Those are the typical ingredients put into this dessert, but really you can put anything you like in it. You can pick from mung beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, coconut, purple yam, and all kinds of different fruits. Although you can pick your favorite ingredients to put into this dessert, there is a certain order you have to follow to make the dessert delicious, and organized. First you would but the beans, fruits, and other sweets at the bottom of the cup, then the shaved ice is on top of that, after sugar is put on top of the shaved ice, then ice cream or flan is put on top of that, and the last step would be to pour milk on top of everything.

Recipe:

• 2 tablespoons kaong or...
  2 tablespoons nangka (jackfruit)
• 2 tablespoons macapuno (a variety of coconut meat sold in bottles)
• 2 tablespoons sweetened kidney beans
• 2 tablespoons sweetened garabanzos
• 2 tablespoons sweetened plantains
• 2 tablespoons ube or yam
• 2 tablespoons custard or creme caramel
• 2 tablespoons sweetened corn kernels
• crushed ice  to fill glass
• 2/3 evaporated milk
• a scoop of ice cream on top
  
  

Sources for pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/imago2007/3370467246/
http://islandcruzer.wordpress.com/2007/03/27/highlights-from-philippines/

Source for recipe: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog_Default_files/Philippine_Culture/halo_halo.htm

Blog #3

Every time I go on Tumblr (another blogging site) I see these desserts everywhere. When I first saw them I thought they were just mini ice cream sandwiches but I found out they weren't when I started following this other blog. They are actually called French Macarons. After I found out what they were I started to see and hear about them a lot more. My auntie who lives down in South California made some and she said that they were really hard to make for her. But anyways they are little thin, chewy meringue cookies that are put together with some kind of filling. Most of the fillings that are used in these desserts have almond paste added to it, which gives it a very nutty taste.

These desserts are more common in France than in the United States. Some places to find these desserts around the bay area is LaBoulange in San Francisco (1909 Union Street), Lulu Rae's Confection in Oakland (6311 College Avenue), and Paulette Macarons in San Francisco (437 Hayes Street). These were the top three places listed to be able to find these colorful, delicious, classy, and petite desserts.

Nutella Macarons

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (200g)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (30g)
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar (180g, granulated)
• 1/4 cup water
• approx 1 cup Nutella

• Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Sift together hazelnut meal (finely ground hazelnuts), confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl. 
• Add in two egg whites and stir mixture until it comes together into a very thick dough. This may take a few minutes, but the mixture will eventually all come together.
• In a small saucepan, bring granulated sugar and water to a rolling boil.
• Meanwhile, in another large mixing bowl, beat remaining two egg whites until frothy. 
• When sugar mixture comes to a boil, beat egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer on medium speed, drizzle the hot sugar mixture into the egg whites very slowly until all of the syrup has been incorporated and you have a thick, fluffy meringue.
• Take 1/3 of the meringue mixture and mix it into the chocolate paste with the electric mixer. Fold in remaining meringue in two or three additions.
• Transfer batter to a piping bag (or plastic bag) with an approx 1 cm opening. Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheets to form 1-inch discs (approx 1 1/2 tbsp per disc); batter will spread slightly after piping. Leave about 1-inch between discs on the baking sheet. Once all of the batter has been piped out, let the macarons sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to form a “skin” that will give them a smooth, shiny top during baking.
• While the macarons sit, preheat the oven to 350F.
• Bake macarons for about 11-12 minutes, until the tops are set.
• Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once macarons are cool, sandwich them together with about 1 teaspoon of Nutella. There is no need to be exact with this measurement, just so long as there is a thin layer between each pair of cookies.
• Cookies are probably best on served the day they are made, but can be stored at room temperature for a day or two (resulting in a slightly chewier cookie, but still with good flavor).

Makes about 36 sandwich cookies.

Credit for recipe goes to: http://bakingbites.com/2009/05/nutella-macarons/