Chocolate Covered Vanilla Cream Puffs

Cream puffs, profiteroles, éclairs of a different shape, or choux a la crème are all the same delicious thing.  Darling little pastry puffs that bake up light, airy, and practically hollow in the middle and are filled with vanilla pastry cream. Then drizzled with melted chocolate.  I love vanilla, I love chocolate, but my very favorite things are a combo of the two.

I was browsing through the cookbook section at the library and came across a picture of éclairs on the back of one (Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table).  Like, the most delicious picture of éclairs you’ve ever seen. Once I saw that picture I could not stop thinking about making éclairs for myself IMMEDIATELY.  After obsessing over cream puffs for about an hour I dropped everything, went to the store to gather my supplies, and got cooking.  I tend to be a little impulsive like that.  But hey! It’s fun! I made cream puffs, I’m not doing anything dangerous!

They’re not difficult to make, but there are quite a few components.  You could easily split this up over a few days if you’d like.  The pastry dough, once plopped into little balls on a baking sheet, can be frozen and then baked (from the frozen state) at any time.  The pastry cream can also be made ahead and then given a quick stir to loosen it prior to spooning it into the cream puffs.  The melted chocolate step is easy – I just melted a nice chocolate bar (but you could just as easily use chocolate chips if you have them on hand) and then drizzled it over the filled cream puffs using a spoon. 

Chocolate Covered Vanilla Cream Puffs

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table; a cookbook we highly recommend!

This is a longish recipe and has two steps.  You can make the dough & cream filling separately – the magic doesn’t have to happen all on the same day.  Make the pastry dough, spoon onto a baking sheet, and then freeze for the future.  You can bake these from their frozen state, no need to defrost.  Follow the same directions for baking as un-frozen puffs – they may need an extra minute or so, but that’s it. You can also make the Pastry Cream a day or two in advance – just store it in the fridge until you need it.

Pastry Dough:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 Tablespoons butter, cut into large pieces
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large eggs (room temp)

Preheat the oven to 425. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.

Bring the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt to a rapid boil.  Add the flour, reduce heat to medium-low, and start stirring like crazy! I used a big whisk, you could also use a wooden spoon.  The dough will come together in a ball, a crust may form on the bottom of the pan – just keep stirring for one to two minutes.  This gives the dough the chance to dry out a bit.

Turn the dough into a large bowl (use a stand mixer if you have one.  I don’t, so I used a hand held mixer), let it cool for a minute, then add the eggs one by one.  Beat and beat until the dough is thick and shiny.

Using about a tablespoon of dough for each cream puff, drop the dough from the spoon onto your baking sheet leaving about 2 inches between each ball.  *Once that’s done you can either bake immediate or freeze the dough balls for use later.*  If you want to bake, slide them into the 425 oven and immediately reduce temp to 375.  Bake for 24-30 minutes.  They’re done when they’re golden, puffed, and firm.

Pastry Cream:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 1/2 Tbsp butter, cut into small squares

Bring the milk to a boil.  In a separate, larger saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch.  Whisking without stopping, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture.  Go very slowly at first (first 1/4 cup of hot milk) after that it’s OK to speed up a bit.  Keep on whisking, turn up the heat, and bring the mixture to a boil.  Keep it at a boil – and keep up your crazy whisking – for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk in vanilla.  Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk in the butter bits.  Scoop into a bowl, cover in plastic, and let cool in the fridge.  Your pastry cream is ready!

To Assemble:

Cut lids off the baked cream puff shells.  They’ll be pretty much hollow inside.  Scoop the pastry cream in to fill them puffs, then put the lids back on.  Melt chocolate and then drizzle over the tops of the filled cream puffs – I did the drizzling with a small spoon.  You’re done!

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries

Over the last several weeks, Sarah and I have taken turns going on vacation. I visited the very lovely and blissfully cool and cloudy Oregon coast, while Sarah has been blazing through various Midwestern states. This has been great in many ways, but not so great for our blog which has been sadly neglected. We aim to post with greater frequency very soon! In the meantime, we offer up one of our new favorite breakfast treats.

These are light and ethereal pancakes, and the ricotta makes them surprisingly moist. We took advantage of the abundant blueberries that are in season, but they would also be excellent with frozen blueberries. In  fact, I can't wait to try this recipe which whatever berry I have on hand.

I tend to shy away from recipes that involve beating egg whites, but really it only takes an extra few minutes. If you have an electric mixer, it is seriously no big whoop. And it makes such a big difference in texture and lightness! Totally worth it. Try it, you'll see.

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries

adapted from Food & Wine

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tb pure vanilla extract
• unsalted butter, for the griddle
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, milk, ricotta, sugar, and vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
3. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (watch that you don't over-beat it!) Fold into the batter.
4. Butter your griddle. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle, being sure not to crowd your pancakes. Cook over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes, until bottoms are lightly golden. Press a few blueberries unto each pancake, and then flip. Cook a minute or so longer, until pancake is golden. Serve with maple syrup!

Raspberry Rhubarb Crumble

This raspberry rhubarb crumble is so simple.  It’s a pie pan full of ripe fruit topped with a simple three-ingredient streusel like topping.  We sometimes add rolled oats or almonds for extra crunch, but that’s not necessary. In fact, that might transform this from a crumble to a crisp, according to here and here?  We're not sure...seems like an age old argument to us.  Call it what you will - this dessert bakes up crispy and buttery on top with sweet tart fruit on the bottom.

This is my new go-to summer dessert. It isn’t as pretty and orderly as other old standbys. But when it’s hot out and you have a boatload of fresh fruit that you want to whip into a delicious dessert – there is nothing easier.

This crisp is flexible too – just use any ripe fruit you’ve got on hand. Top it with some ice cream or crème fraiche and you are set! 

Rhubarb Raspberry Crumble

Topping:

• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup white flour
• (optional) 1/2 cup oats
• (optional) 1/4 cup almonds, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients, cutting the cold cubed butter into the other dry ingredients until you have a coarse sand. Pop this in the fridge while you put everything else together. Chilling isn’t necessary, but some (like Nigella Lawson) think it makes for a more crispy crumbly bumpy topping!
Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups raspberries
• 1/2 cup chopped rhubarb
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

Pour the fresh fruit into a pie pan, sprinkle with the 2 Tbsp brown sugar. Get your bowl of Crumble Topping out of the fridge and sprinkle it evenly over the fruit filling.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

It’s officially summer when you can make the switch from hot to iced coffee. There’s nothing better than a frosty glass of iced coffee on a warm summer morning. 
This recipe isn’t a new one – we’ve been seeing it pop up all over the place this summer – but we’ve been enjoying it so much lately that we thought we’d snap some pictures and share it with you. It goes perfectly with our Vanilla Simple Syrup (and cream)!

Cold brewed coffee can last for up to 2 weeks in the fridge (NY Times says so!). We’ve consumed ours well before 2 weeks have gone by, but it is very handy to be able to make a double batch of coffee and have it ready to drink for more than just one morning.

The idea with cold brew coffee is that because there is no heat involved in the cold brew process, the coffee is smoother and less bitter than traditional coffee. According to America’s Test Kitchen:
Exposed to far less heat, cold-brew is significantly less acerbic than its sweltering sibling. Less bitterness means that the subtler flavors found in coffee beans are more perceptible. For me, good cold-brew balances hints of dark chocolate, caramel, ripe black fruits, and vanilla with a pleasant viscosity, mild acidity, and pitch perfect bitterness.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

• 4 cups water
• between 3/4 c. and 1 c ground coffee (depending on how strong you like your coffee)

Mix together, then let sit on the countertop for 12 to 24 hours. I do it either the morning before or the evening before.
After the coffee and water have steeped, strain the coffee through a metal or paper coffee filter, into a glass pitcher. Serve! Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Bacon Potato Salad

When we made our delicious homemade mayo, we knew that we wanted to put it to work in another recipe. It would have been delicious slathered on BLTs, but we wanted to use it to elevate a summer picnic staple: potato salad. Oh, and speaking of BLTs, we threw in some mouthwatering bacon to the mix. (No homemade mayo in your fridge? No worries, Hellman's will do the trick too.)

To add an extra dose of summer freshness, we snipped some herbs from Sarah's garden: chives and lemon balm. If we'd had parsley, that would have been a nice option as well. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

The salty, crispy bacon is a critical player here. I'm pretty sure it was the bacon that made my husband, a notorious potato salad poo-pooer, say, "This is pretty damn good." Hey, can't argue with that.

Bacon Potato Salad

• 3 cups cubed red potatoes

• 6 slices bacon

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 2 tsp dijon mustard

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tb lemon balm, chopped

• 1 tb chives, chopped

1. Boil potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile cook bacon until crisp. Let cool on paper towel-lined plate, and then crumble into small pieces.
3. Mix together mayo, mustard, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in potatoes, herbs, and finally bacon until just mixed. Refrigerate.

Popsicles with Roasted Strawberry & Coconut Milk

In search of something creamy and cool, with a seasonal fruit thrown in the mix, we came up with these popsicles.  With only three ingredients – coconut milk, roasted strawberries, and a spoonful of agave for sweetness - these are simple to make and easy to substitute in any seasonal fruit you’ve got on hand.  Not bad in terms of a reasonably healthy treat that makes toddlers literally squeal (loudly) with excitement!

We decided to see what would happen if we attempted to concentrate fresh strawberry flavors from fresh and light to rich and intense.  We love fresh strawberries, but their flavor sometimes seems too muted when you start using them as an ingredient (rather than eating them straight out of hand).  We did it simply by roasting the strawberries for 20 minutes. Sprinkled with a tablespoon of sugar, they develop bubbly brown edges and deep flavors.  Perfect for blending with coconut milk to create a creamy popsicle with lots of strawberry flavor.

To be honest, these popsicles came together as a result of leftovers. I had some coconut milk waiting in the fridge, and I was itching to use it in a summery dessert. We had leftover roasted strawberries from our latest cocktail over at our Whole Foods column, Locally Mixed.  A little agave for sweetness (chosen for its easy-to-stir-in consistency) and we had ourselves four sweet little popsicles! 

Popsicles with Roasted Strawberries & Coconut Milk

• 1/2 c. coconut milk
• 1/2 c. roasted strawberry puree (recipe below)
• 1 Tbsp. agave

Blend all three ingredients together, pour into popsicles molds, and freeze overnight.  Warning:  This recipe only makes about 4 small popsicles; feel free to double it!

 

Roasted Strawberry Puree

• 2 cups roughly chopped strawberries
• Sprinkled with 1 Tbsp sugar

Yield: 1 cup

Roast at 400 for approx 20 minutes or until edges are browning and the pan contains bubbling & caramelizing strawberry juice.  I highly recommend a rimmed baking sheet for this recipe!  Scoop roasted strawberries into a glass jar for storage and mash them with a fork until they fall apart into a rough “puree”.

If you’re looking for another excuse to make a batch of the Roasted Strawberry Puree, here’s one:  Roasted Strawberry, Gin, & Ginger Cocktail!

Homemade Mayonnaise

Sarah and I have been talking about doing homemade mayo for what feels like forever. Now we're experiencing summer temperatures in Colorado, and our thoughts are on picnic baskets, baguette sandwiches, and potato salads. I am not a huge mayo fan, and I have always used it sparingly on sandwiches, if at all. It was a great point of contention when I discovered that my husband's family dips their artichoke leaves in mayonnaise. (Melted butter, am I right?) But homemade mayo is a whole different creature than the supermarket stuff. Is anyone surprised?

I recently bought the gorgeous cookbook Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. I'm pretty sure that everyone else in the blogosphere (did I really use that word?) already owns this hefty tome, but I tend to be late to the party. When we decided to finally make mayo, I thought Dorie was just the woman to turn to. Of course, I did not read the recipe from start to finish beforehand, and I flubbed it on my first go. (Note to self: read the damn thing first.)

So take it from me, when the recipe says to go slow and literally add the oil drop by drop, it truly means literally. It isn't to say that it takes very long to make mayo (unless you have to start all over again). It actually doesn't take long at all. You just need to do it right. Drop by drop.

Also, I tried it in my food processor which has a gracious 14-cup capacity (love that thing), but it didn't work for this because it was just too big. I switched over to my handy stick blender, and finally things started happening. So if you have a large food processor, use the small bowl attachment, or try another mixing method.

Homemade Mayonnaise

• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

• 2 tsp white wine vinegar

• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/2-1 cup oil, mild (such as grapeseed or canola) or more flavorful (we used olive), or a combination

Put the yolk, vinegar, and the mustard in a bowl, blender, or food processor. Whisk or whir to blend. Drop by drop (literally!! don't go to fast here...) start adding the oil, mixing all the while. When you've got about 1/4 cup oil beaten in and the mix is starting to look like mayonnaise (around 4 minutes or so), you can add the remaining oil more steadily, but still slowly. Use at least 1/2 cup oil, and up to about 1 cup to get the consistency you want. We only used the minimum 1/2 cup oil, and we liked how thick and flavorful the result was.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

It’s amazing how much flavor a healthy dose of lemon zest can contribute. This cake has a brown crisp top, then inside it’s dense and lemony. I personally recommend eating a slice as soon as you pull it out of the oven so you can enjoy the lemony steam this cake creates!

We’ve really been getting our money’s worth from the latest Bon Appetit magazine. The Agave Margaritas were a big success and then we moved right along to this delicious cake. It’s a classic French recipe; the magazine says that it is one of the first recipes French mothers teach to their children. And so I have to assume that everyone in France has this delicious cake recipe memorized. Right? Either way, it’s a great classic recipe.

The lemon zest is added to the sugar, then the two are rubbed together until the oils in the lemon are evenly distributed and the sugar becomes clumpy and moist. The cake comes out of the oven with a shiny brown top, and as you slice it open you’ll release a burst of lemony steam. Enjoy!

Lemon Yogurt Cake

recipe by Bon Appetit

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon zest

3/4 cup whole milk Greek yogurt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350.  Grease & flour an 8 1/2” loaf pan.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Combine lemon zest and sugar in a large bowl, and rub the two together with your fingers until the sugar is moist. Add yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla – stir to combine completely.
Fold dry ingredients into wet and stir gently until  just to combined.
Pour batter into pan, smooth top, and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting.