One More Bite

Earl Grey Ice Cream Cakes

Posted on October 2, 2017 by JDL

My family loves Earl Grey tea and begged me to try and tackle an ice cream cake with that flavor. Earl Grey tea is a black tea flavored with Bergamot, a citrus fruit. I love the combination of Earl Grey and chocolate. It also works well with other citrus fruits and with nuts, particularly walnuts. So I thought a moist walnut and chocolate cake would be a nice base for the cakes. If you don’t want to make a cake and prefer something crunchy, you can make a chocolate cookie crust. Or, you can do none of the above and just scoop some in a dish and eat it plain or drizzled with sauce

Finding a chocolate cake recipe proved tricky. I didn’t want something too rich, like a brownie. I thought about using my favorite chocolate butter cake recipe but butter cakes don’t like to be cold. They get hard and dry with refrigeration and I wanted to be able to assemble the ice cream on top of the cake and freeze the whole thing. So I started trying chiffon cakes which use oil instead of butter. Oil doesn’t freeze so I figured the cake wouldn’t freeze hard. One recipe by Rose Levy Barenbaum in “The Cake Bible” caught my eye. Apparently when her mother gave her the recipe she told her the texture was perfect even right out of the freezer. So I gave it a shot but it didn’t have a deep enough chocolate flavor and the texture was too fluffy so I tried again, adding another 25 grams of cocoa powder and that seemed to do the trick. It had a deeper chocolate flavor and the texture improved as well.

This recipe makes about a pint of ice cream. The number of cakes you get depends on the size of your molds. I use molds that hold about 4 oz so I get 8 cakes.

Julie

COMPONANTS

Earl Gray Ice Cream

Chocolate walnut chiffon cake

1/2 cup Caramelized walnuts ( see my post on Caramelized nuts)

1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel (see my post on candied fruit)

1 cup Bittersweet chocolate sauce

Deconstructed Banana Split

Posted on September 24, 2017 by JDL

I love ice cream, almost more than anything. Almost any dessert can be enhanced by a scoop of silky smooth ice cream. A crisp, a tart, a pie, even a cookie is better with a bit of ice cream especially if the dessert your pairing it with is hot and crunchy. Cold, hot, creamy and crunchy is irresistible.

I recently purchased an ice cream book called ” Hello, My name is Ice cream ” by Chef Dana Cree. Its a wonderful book, laid out in a logical way with clear instructions. She is very thorough in her discussion of the science of ice cream with useful information on stabilizers, emulsifiers and other elements necessary for turning out silky ice cream. She goes over the variety of frozen desserts: sorbets. sherbets, Philadelphia and custard style ice creams. At the beginning of each chapter she gives you what she calls a blank slate recipe. This allows readers to create recipes beyond those that Chef Cree has offered. For me, that’s the best kind of book because it allows me to create.

Chef Cree’s recipe for banana ice cream is amazing and has inspired a few iterations. I have spun it and added a thin stream of melted bittersweet chocolate at the end so I get a banana stratiatella. I have served it with a rum caramel ribbon and a fudge ribbon. But the prettiest plate I’ve done is a rif on a banana split. I love the flavor of bananas in a banan split but not the incorporation of banana slices. This banana split has banana ice cream as the base, scooped up into three little scoops and each served with its own sauce: caramel/rum, bittersweet chocolate and fresh strawberry.

A word about ice cream machines. I use an ancient Simac Gelataio Boy. It churns ice cream in about 15 minutes. The day it dies will be a sad, sad day for me. It has a built in compressor which keeps the base chilled while you are churning it. Since my Simac was manufactured, they EPA made it illegal to use this particular type of freon in non commercial ice cream machines, or so I was told by Simac. I had purchased another Simac a few years ago with a removable bowl, thinking it would be easier to clean and I did not like it. It didn’t get as cold and took longer to churn the ice cream. Therefore, the ice cream was not as creamy. I can’t recommend another built in compressor machine. Perhaps Lussino or Lello or another Italian company.

I also have a freestanding Cuisinart unit where you need to chill the bowl before you use it. For some ice creams they may be interchangeable but for at least one of my ice creams, the Simac gives it a much better texture. So, I used the Simac for this banana ice cream and I don’t know how it would turn out with the Cuisinart. Let me know if you try it. The advantage of the Cuisinart is that if you freeze multiple bowls you can make several quarts of ice cream. My Simac heats up so I can do two batches and then I have to let it cool down before I can use it again. Yep, I need a commercial ice cream maker. I just don’t happen to have 10k lying around.

Julie

COMPONANTS

1 quart banana ice cream
Strawberry sauce
bittersweet chocolate sauce
caramel/rum sauce
chopped roasted almonds
whipped cream

Michigan Grape Tarts

Posted on September 9, 2017 by JDL

I rarely buy grapes in the supermarket. While they are sweet, they have no flavor. Occasionally I find Muscatel grapes at Whole Foods and those are wonderful. For the past few years I’ve found a Michigan variety of a petite, seedless grape with a lovely, delicate flavor. I believe the variety is called Candace. Each grape is the size of a hazelnut: rosy red with touches of pale green. Right now, I am finding these grapes in my Midwest farmers market. Go buy some and try this tart!

Julie

These little grapes make great tarts and provide a nice change from berries or stone fruits. You can make all of the components in advance and the assembled tart will hold up in the refrigerator for at least 10 hours.

Lemon Semifreddo with Strawberry Sauce

Posted on September 9, 2017 by JDL

The first time I ate a Semifreddo was at Vivoli Gelateria in Florence Italy many years ago. While the gelato was wonderful, the Semifreddo had a unique texture that was silky, light and completely captivating. Semifreddo means ” half cold ” and it feels less cold than ice cream or gelato. Personally I feel that I taste the flavors more intensely because there’s no numbing effect on your tastebuds as there is with colder confections.

Semifreddo consists of a flavored base folded together with Italian Meringue and whipped cream. The base can consist of a Crème Anglaise (yolks cooked with milk and sugar), Pâte à Bombe (a base of yolks beaten with cooked sugar syrup) or a base of puréed fruit. However, the key component which needs to be included for the best texture is Italian Meringue.

So, as I often do, I tried to find Semifreddo in my hometown to no avail. Then I began to collect recipes and try them, still without success. Finally I stumbed upon the answer to my failures in an article authored by Marino Marini titled ” More Perfect than a Parfait”. According to the article a semifreddo derives its origin from a French Parfait which is a Pâte à Bombe into which whipped cream is folded. The Semifreddo can be differentiated from a Parfait because it includes Italian Meringue, the missing ingredient in all the recipes that I had tried. Italian Meringue doesn’t freeze at zero temperature and has a silky mouth feel. Without it, you never get the correct texture. This history feeds nicely into my narrative that the Italians (me and my ancestors) taught the French (my husband and his ancestors) how to cook, which began when Catarina d’ Medici brought her pastry chefs to France when she married Henri II of France. Clearly the Italians continued to school the French into the early 20th century when the Italians transformed a very nice desert, the Parfait, into a spectacular dessert, the Semifreddo. Ha!

This is a dessert that you can definitely play with. An easy modification would be to do a raspberry coulis or a blueberry sauce. Other flavor combinations come to mind: lime Semifreddo with blackberry coulis, passion fruit Semifreddo with mango coulis, orange/Cointreau Semifreddo with candied walnuts or pine nuts and caramel sauce; grapefruit Semifreddo with, well, I leave that up to you. You can also forgo the daquoise and place the semifreddo directly on the plate or use a thin shortbread cookie, a ginger snap or cookie crumbs. Try different combinations and make this recipe yours.

A special thanks to blogger and author Grace Massa Langlois of gracessweetlife.com for inspiring the design of this dessert. Check out her book and her blog. Her recipes are well written and trustworthy.

Julie

Lemon/Limoncello Semifreddo Dessert Componants

Whipped Cream
Italian Meringue
Pâte à Bombe
Strawberry sauce
Limoncello bubble sugar

Chickpea Stew

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Daniel de Lara

INGREDIENTS

For Chickpea stew

2 cans chickpeas
1 box San Marzano crushed tomatoes (about 28 oz)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin seed
2 teaspoons coriander seed
1 onion diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 clove garlic minced
Salt
Pepper
Fresh mint chiffonaded (for garnish)

For Sweet Potatoes

2 lbs sweet potatoes peeled and cut into even chunks
1 stick butter
½ cup honey
About 6 cups water (just enough to cover the potatoes)
1 teaspoon salt
Sachet of a few sprigs of fresh thyme, 3 tablespoons whole peppercorn, 1 tablespoon coriander seed

For Kale

½ pound kale stem removed
¼ onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
A few splashes of tabasco
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup water

Roasted Orange Juice Chicken

Posted on August 22, 2017 by Daniel de Lara

This is one of the simplest chickens I do and one of the best. It comes from the Cookbook ” The Scent of Orange Blossoms” authored by Kitty Morse and Danielle Mamane.

I first made this recipe when I was 13 years old for a project comparing Sephardic and Ashkenazy cooking. I have used it so often since then that the book opens up right to the recipe.

Lemon Lavender Poppy Seed Scones

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Daniel de Lara

The first recipe a cook masters holds a very special spot in their hearts. For me this spot is reserved for these lemon-lavender poppy seed scones. It was the first recipe I designed and remembered by heart and remains one of my specialties. A few years ago, I was flipping through Baking Illustrated when I saw a recipe for british cream scones. I became inspired and for the next month I spent any free time I had experimenting with scones. I love how scones are a great vessel for an infinite number of combinations. I must have made more than 15 batches of scones during that month ranging from classic plain to bizarre (but still yummy) strawberry with balsamic vinegar glaze. The lemon-lavender poppy seed stood out among the others, combining a classic flavor profile with a little twist. The top of these scones is crisp with a tangy and sweet glaze that has a tantalizing hint of lavender that keeps you coming back for more. The flaky crust is contrasted by a moist, buttery, cloud-like interior with a little bite from the poppy seeds and bright lemon zest studded into the crumb. These scones are without a doubt one of the best confections I make, and now you can make them too.

Daniel

INGREDIENTS

For Scones
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
For Glaze
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons very soft warm butter
Juice of 2 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons dried lavender (optional)

Dream Bars (Potbelly)

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Daniel de Lara

I had been raving about the Dream Bars at Potbelly’s and finally my mom asked me to bring her one so she could try it. As per usual, after a few bites of the sugary oatmeal, caramel and chocolate chip confection she said, ” I think we can do better, or at least as good”. You can decide.

While Potbelly’s Dream Bars are soft, from being wrapped in plastic, ours have several distinct layers: crumbly oatmeal topping, creamy caramel and crunchy shortbread. Mom likes to add toasted walnuts or pecans to hers to cut the sweetness but for me and my friends, the sweeter the better so I don’t add nuts.

Originally we used the wonderful but pricey Knudsen caramels but many sheet pans of cookies later my mom put her foot down and told me if I wanted to keep on baking sheet pans of cookies for my swim team I’d have to make my own caramel and so she taught me. One day we’ll update the recipe to reflect our caramel recipe.

Daniel

Utensils:

½ sheet pan (18” by 13”)
Mixing bowls/tools
Measuring tools
Parchment paper

Ingredients:

- For Crust/Topping:
- 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (25 ounces)
- 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar (about 9 1/2 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 32 tablespoons unsalted butter (4 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened to cool room temperature ProTip: To soften butter but keep cool, beat it with a rolling pin while in the package before cutting.
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (6 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- For Filling:
- 26 ounces good quality caramels
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 ounces good quality chocolate chips (Ghirardelli is preferred)

Pear Galette/Crostata with Star Anise and Vanilla (with variations)

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Daniel de Lara

Galettes are delicious flaky free form french tarts. This galette dough, published by Alice Waters but which she attributes to Jacque Pepin is easy, delicious and versatile. You can fill the dough with nearly anything you want, sweet or savory, from apples to zucchini. For this particular recipe I’m sharing, I took a journey back into my childhood for inspiration.

This recipe really brings me back to when I was a child. My mom makes a lot of amazing desserts, but there is one in particular that always fills the house with a tantalizing sweet aroma: poached pears. I’m also a little sentimental about the pears because they were the only dessert with fruit I would eat until I was 10. I know poached pears doesn’t seem that exciting, but my mom made them in a unique way. She would poach the pears in a simple syrup with vanilla, lemon, and a hint of star anise and serve it with a homemade chestnut gelato. The 3 bold flavors perfectly blended with the sweet earthy flavor of the pears. This flavor is what I recreated for my galette filling.

Daniel

This galette is really versatile and I’ve done it with a variety of fruits. You’ll find pictures and suggestions at the end of this recipe.

Julie

INGREDIENTS:

For Galette Dough
130 grams, (4.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon sugar
Pinch teaspoon salt
85 grams (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ½ inch pieces
3.5 tablespoons ice water

For Filling and Topping Galette
1 tablespoon roasted ground almonds
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of pulverized amaretti
5 ounces galette dough, rolled into a 14-inch circle and chilled
1.5 pounds ripe pears
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Zest from ½ lemon
½ Vanilla bean scraped
1/8 tsp ground star anise
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons of sanding sugar (the larger crystals resist melting and add a nice crunch.
A little apple jelly (optional)

Best Red Velvet Cake

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Daniel de Lara

10372774_10204552244420897_9083352211704006813_n I’ve always been a person with a major sweet tooth. Whenever someone asked me what my favorite food was I would always reply with my favorite dessert of the time (usually ice cream). However, I really wasn’t much of a cake guy. I thought chocolate cake was too dense and rich, and vanilla was too dry and bland. I was the kid at birthday parties who ate more than their share of pizza, and then didn’t eat any cake. Every year for my own birthday, my mom tried a new version of cake that she hoped I would like. One year it was vanilla buttercream, the next marble cake, the next devil’s food cake. Each year, to her dismay, I took a bite, smiled, told her it was pretty good, then took a second bite and said I was done. Then, when I was 10 I fell head over heels in love with a cake. It was just any cake though, it was ruby red velvet cake with luscious fluffy cream cheese frosting.

My mom was at her friend Patty’s house (who now owns a cupcake store in Chicago) and whenever she goes out I always ask my mom to bring me something home. On this particular day she brought me a slice of red velvet cake. Looking back, it comes as no surprise that the first cake I ever liked came from Patty’s house because all good things come from her house like my first video games or tickets to Cirque du Soleil. Even though I didn’t like cake, I liked trying new things and the cake’s red crumb contrasted by snow white frosting was hypnotizing so I had to have some. After that first bit I sighed and my body melted as I entered cake nirvana for the first time. It was moist and delicate and the frosting was fluffy and just a little bit tangy. I found my perfect cake and every year since then, my mom has made me red velvet cake for my birthday.

There is a lot of confusion people have when it comes to red velvet cake. Many people think it is just a chocolate cake that’s dyed red, which is far from the truth. Traditionally a southern cake, it has it’s own unique flavor. There’s some cocoa powder in it, but also vanilla. The unique flavor can’t really be described in any other way than yummy and unique. The tangy cream cheese frosting that is a must for the cake perfectly complements the moist and flavorful cake. While my mom is the one who makes me the cake for my birthday, I make red velvet cake and cupcakes as often as I can. I’ll find any excuse to whip up a batch of red velvet bliss.

Daniel

INGREDIENTS

For Cake
2 ¼ cups (11 ¼ ounces) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
pinch salt
1cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder (NOT DUTCH PROCESSED)
2 tablespoons (1 ounce bottle) red food coloring
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (10 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
For Frosting
16 (2 sticks) tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (16 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
16 ounces cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces, softened
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt