I almost fainted right there at the table.

Last week, I met a few friends for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants when the unthinkable happened.

Scanning the restaurant’s menu I was stopped cold. It was right there in harsh letters that practically jumped off of the paper…Pumpkin Ravioli.

I had to look again. I clenched my eyes and reopened them as if I was hitting the reset button on my laptop. It was still there, “Pumpkin Ravioli.”

And while I love pumpkin ravioli as much as the next guy, it was way too early in the year for pumpkin anything. I was horrified – was summer over all ready?

It should also be noted that the restaurant was offering an entrée of braised pork (which is what my friend Roderick, ordered – Et tu, Brutus?). I mean, seriously, pumpkin ravioli and stewed meats in September? Had my favorite restaurant gone mad? I mean, technically, it was still summer.

I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Am I alone on this?” Was I the only person that wasn’t ready to give up on summer? Was I on some Quixote-esque mental rant to fight a fight that everyone else knew was over? “No matter,” I thought. I now saw myself as the captain of ship Summertime Fun and like any good captain I would pull out all of the stops to save my ship or I would go down with it.

So, as I thought about what recipe I would post next on this site, I had one mission in mind: find the most summery recipe on planet Earth. That’s when I remembered this little treat. It screams summer. It’s frozen. It’s made with strawberries. It borrows the flavors of the quintessential summertime drink…margarita.

I originally flagged this recipe in The Best of Gourmet about a year ago. I had all intentions of making it but through the course of my exhausting and continuing homelessness (don’t get me started), I never got around to it.

Now, one year later, fueled by seasonal delusion, I knew it was time.

It’s exactly what I expected. Obviously, the strawberries are the star of the dish but the other ingredients give the pie dimension and depth: sweet (strawberries), fruity (peach syrup/triple sec), sour (limes), heat (tequila) and the whipped cream adds an airy texture to what otherwise could be a very dense dish.

And for such a huge payoff, this was a relatively easy dish to make. There was only one hitch. Since I don’t have access to my kitchen equipment, I had to beat the heavy cream to a hard peak by hand (and I have the aching forearms to prove it).

I only made one minor change to the recipe. I didn’t have triple sec on hand – which presented a problem because I felt that the saturated and fruity sweetness of the triple sec was probably key to the success of the dessert. After a quick scan of my host’s kitchen, I came across a can of canned peaches. I substituted the triple sec with an equal amount of the syrup from the can.

On that note, I wouldn’t recommend omitting the tequila AND the triple sec. First, they really add to the flavor of the pie. Secondly, the alcohol helps to prevent the pie from freezing into a block of solid ice.

It truly is an amazing dessert.

Enjoy. Cheers!

Oh yeah…and long live summer!

FROZEN STRAWBERRY MARAGARITA PIE

Originally printed in the Best of Gourmet

NOTE: I wanted to serve the pie on a platter and not in the pie pan. I also didn’t have a spring form pan. So, I lined the pie pan with aluminum foil. It popped right out.

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs from 9 (2 1/4- by 4 3/4-inch) crackers

2 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 lb strawberries, halved (3 1/2 cups)

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lime zest (from 3 limes)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)

1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons tequila

2 tablespoons triple sec, Cointreau (or 2 TBL of juice from canned peaches)

1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream

MAKE CRUST:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a buttered 9-inch metal or glass pie plate (4-cup capacity).

Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pie plate on a rack, about 30 minutes.

MAKE FILLING:
Purée strawberries, zest, lime juice, condensed milk, tequila, and liqueur in a blender until just smooth, then transfer to a large bowl.

Beat cream in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold one third of cream into strawberry mixture gently but thoroughly to lighten, then fold in remainder in 2 batches.

Pour filling into crust, mounding it slightly, and freeze, uncovered, until firm, about 4 hours. Remove from freezer and let soften in refrigerator, about 40 minutes, before serving (pie should be semisoft).

Gourmet Magazine Notes: Pie can be frozen up to 3 days, covered with plastic wrap after 4 hours and then wrapped in heavy-duty foil. Pie can also be made in a 9-inch (24-cm) springform pan. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up side of pan.

It’s now day 98 (that’s an exaggeration) of The Foodie with No Home….and surprisingly I’ve actually made peace with the whole situation. Actually, I would even say that I am as happy as I have ever been.

I haven’t been able to update these pages on a regular basis because, as I went into in last week’s post, I am between homes right now.

A few months ago I went into contract for a condo in Brooklyn, NY. I vacated my home with the anticipation that I would be closing and moving into my new place within days. At the time there were just a few clearances that we were waiting for from the NYC Department of Buildings. 98 days later…I’m still waiting.

Despite the limbo, I’m pretty excited about my new neighborhood, Williamsburg (if I ever move, that is). A Bon Appetite article dubbed it the new foodie mecca and “culinary hotbed only one subway stop from downtown Manhattan.” Food & Wine magazine talks about the neighborhood’s growing food and design scenes. And a recent New York Times feature story spoke of a ‘new culinary movement’ (to be fair, the NYT story was about Brooklyn as a whole but the lion share of the people and stores featured in the piece were centered in Williamsburg). So, you can only imagine how excited I am to move in and get the show on the road…or in my case take the show off of the road.

But for now, I rent out temporary apartments until my yet to be scheduled closing/move in date is able to be scheduled.

Having no kitchen has put a serious dent in my ability to cook and keep these pages updated. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My new temporary rental is right on the outer edges of my beloved Williamsburg. So, I get to walk to my soon to be neighborhood and enjoy all of the restaurants, cheese shop, micro-breweries, local food markets and artisanal coffee houses. The bad news is that I also get to walk by my condo building everyday and be taunted by the completed yet empty structure that someday I may call home. (Ugh. Pardon me for a moment as I recite the Serenity Prayer.)

Being that I have no place to cook I am always on the lookout for easy, kitchen gadget-free recipes. I came across this Honey-Pear Tart recipe thumbing through the latest copy of Donna Hay’s magazine (the Martha Stewart of Australia). I have quite a number of her cookbooks (in storage, ugh). Her food philosophy can be summed up in one word…simple.

Reading the feature in the magazine, this tart looked so easy and so delicious that I had to give it a try. I just made a few tweaks.

First, reading through the recipe it seemed as if it would be a bit heavier than what I was looking for at the moment. I wanted to add a little brightness and zip to counter the creamy ricotta and buttery puff pastry. So, I incorporated a bit of lemon juice and zest.

Also, while testing the filling, I noticed that it needed a bit more sweetness. So, in addition to the honey, I added a teaspoon or two of sugar.

Once again, Donna Hay comes through. If you love the flavor of pears, this is the tart for you.

Because the pears aren’t cook to death, their natural sweetness (and a bit of their texture) really shine through in this dessert – their juices actually collects in little pools throughout the tart. The other ingredients hang out in the background, beautifully playing their parts as supporting actors.

The ricotta filling with a slight accent of cinnamon and lemon is as creamy and soothing as the pears are bright and fresh. And the puff pastry, buttery, flakey offer up the perfect crunchy finish to the soft pears and ricotta.

This tart is definitely a keeper.

Cheers!

HONEY-PEAR TART

1 lemon

1 cup ricotta cheese

¼ TSP ground cinnamon

1 TSP granulated sugar, plus more for dusting

3 TSP honey

2 pears

1 puff pastry sheet

1 TBL butter

Preheat the oven to 400⁰F.

Zest about 1 teaspoon from the lemon and set it aside. Juice about 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice and set it aside separately.

In a medium bowl mix together the lemon juice, ricotta cheese, cinnamon 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoon of the honey until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Cut each pear into about ¼” slices. When needed, use a knife to remove and seeds and stems. To prevent the pears from browning, coat the slices in the remaining lemon juice and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut a standard puff pastry sheet in half lengthwise (you should have two 10”x5” sheets). Being careful not to cut through the pastry, score each half sheet with a ½” border.

Staying within the pastry borders, divide and spread the ricotta mix among the two puff pastry sheets. Layer the pear slices on top of the ricotta mix. Dot the tarts with dabs of butter.

Using your fingers, gently wet the borders of each tart and pour a generous coat the borders with a generous coating of granulated sugar.

Bake tarts for about 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed.

Gently heat the remaining honey (about 5 seconds in a microwave) and glaze the pears (Alternatively, you could glaze the tarts with warmed pear preserve).

Finish tarts off with reserved lemon zest.

Makes 2 tarts

Curled up in the fetal position, I was in my own personal nightmare.

If you’ve been to the CeramicCanvas.com in the past two weeks you may have noticed something….there was no CeramicCanvas.com. It seems that we were experiencing some technical difficulties or as our web hosting support tech calls it, “a fatal programming loop.”

I confess, I’m way too IT-challenged to even begin to understand what that means. But luckily for me, all is well again with our little slice of the internets…and I’ve managed to pick myself up off of the floor.  There’s just one little problem. Because of our blackout, most of you never got the chance to see last week’s Blackberry Custard Tart recipe – which is a real shame, cause it is one of my favorite desserts of all time.

I found it back in 2000 while perusing a copy of Saveur magazine – and have loved it ever since. Packed with a one-two punch of berry flavor, it’s one of those fail safe recipes that you make when really need to wow a crowd. If you get a chance, check it out.

And speaking of desserts that I’ve had a long term affair with, the Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake featured in this post is nothing to sneeze at.

When I first came across this recipe in 2002, I was a bit scandalized. At the time I had never heard of using olive oil and rosemary in a dessert before. I was immediately skeptical and thought to myself, “Olive Oil and rosemary in a dessert? This is just crazy talk!”

But it was a Mario Batali recipe (from The Babbo Cookbook) so, I knew I had to try it. I figured it would expand my culinary horizons. With a small amount of trepidation I nervously got down to baking and about an hour later dove my fork into my first slice of Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake.

It’s been eight years now and I have to say I love this cake as much today as I did that first day. It’s super moist and delicate. It’s sweet but not overly sweet.

The rosemary adds a subtle smoky- woodsy twist to what looks to be a very ordinary pound cake. And the olive oil lends it’s unmistakable richness to this classic Italian treat.

It’s a perfect cake to serve with coffee and/or tea.

Cheers!

ROSEMARY & OLIVE OIL CAKE

As printed in The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali

4 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 TBL fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 TBL baking powder

½ TSP Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325⁰F. Spray a 10-inch loaf pan (or an 8-inch round cake pan) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the eggs for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is very foamy and pale in color. With the mixer running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Using a spatula, gently stir the rosemary into the batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through for even color. The cake is done when it is golden brown, springs back when touched, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool briefly in the pan, then tip out onto a cake rack to continue cooling.

I doubt that I will survive the experience.

Since as far back as I can remember, I’ve never really been the tough guy. I have pre-school memories of a 5 year old me being mocked by the ‘mean girls’ cause they wouldn’t let me cook with them in the kindergarten’s play kitchen. “Go outside and play with the boys,” they’d taunt.

Considering this, I very seriously doubt that I would survive prison today. I shudder thinking of my first day behind bars and how it would bring back awkward pre and high school memories.

Would I fit into any of the cliques? Which cafeteria table would I sit at (would anybody even let me sit at their table)? Would I be as bad at making a shank as I was in high school wood shop? Ugh!

I think about how when everyone shares their tales of what landed them in prison (i.e. bank robbery, racketeering, money laundering), the awkward silence that will follow as I share my story of what landed me in The Rock…recipe plagiarism.

Normally, at the CeramicCanvas.com, when I come across a recipe that inspires me, I tweak it, cook it and share it. But this time is different. This time I am copying someone else’s recipe word for word…with absolutely no shame.

I’ve made and enjoyed this Blackberry Custard Tart for over a decade and I have never veered off the original recipe as it was printed in the October 2000 issue of Saveur Magazine.

I mean, why mess with a good thing.

It’s an explosion of berry flavors. The blackberries are incorporated in the tart in two ways. First, the berries are pureed and mixed into the egg custard – providing a sweet, creamy but distinctive summer-like berry flavor.

The second berry burst is more intense and comes from the blackberries that are left whole and allowed to ‘stew’ in the cooking tart. As they cook they release their juices and you’re left with berries that are full of tarty goodness.

Vibrant in color, this tart has a delicious one, two berry punch!

Considering the plagiaristic mess I’ve now gotten myself into, I can only hope that one day someone bakes and sends this tart to me in my jail cell (and please don’t forget to bake it with a file hidden inside) 

Cheers!

NOTE: The pastry recipe that was printed with the tart used vegetable shortening (which produces a flaky crust) but a good all-butter crust works just as well. The butter pastry recipe below is from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.

BLACKBERRY CUSTARD TART

Originally published in Saveur Magazine

FOR THE PASTRY (Pastry Recipe Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman):

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 TSP sugar

¾ TSP Kosher salt

10 TBL cold unsalted butter, cut into to ½ cubes

4 TBL ice water, plus more if necessary

FOR THE FILLING (Originally published in Saveur magazine):

6 eggs

1 1⁄4 cups superfine sugar

2 1⁄2 cups blackberries (or raspberries)

1 lemon

6 tbsp. heavy cream

For the pastry: Sift together flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter (or two knives) to work butter into flour until it resembles coarse meal. Drizzle in up to 4 tablespoons of ice water, stirring dough with a wooden spoon until it begins to hold together. Press dough into a rough ball, transfer to a lightly floured surface, then flatten slightly with your hand to make a round. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 14″ round, fit into a 12″ fluted false-bottom tart pan, and run rolling pin over rim to remove overhanging dough. Prick bottom with a fork. Line dough with parchment, add pie weights or dried beans, and bake until crust is set and edge begins to color, about 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°, remove parchment and weights, brush bottom and sides with egg, and continue baking until crust is golden, 15–20 minutes longer.

For the filling: Whisk together eggs and sugar in a medium mixing bowl until pale yellow. Purée 1 1/2 cups of the blackberries in a blender, and stir into egg mixture. Remove the zest from half the lemon, then squeeze juice from lemon and add both to egg mixture. Add cream; mix well. Arrange remaining 1 cup blackberries evenly on crust, pour in filling, and bake until filling is set, about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool before serving.

It’s the first day of Spring 2010 and it was the night before Christmas!

Let me explain. It was life imitating art. As penned in the famous poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas, “The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their head,” last Saturday, I was lying in bed half asleep, half awake when I was startled to consciousness by a vision that could only be described as a gift from the heavens… Mini Chocolate Pound cakes soaked in ginger syrup and topped with a white chocolate ganache (Wow! Was that a run-on sentence or what?).

The more I thought about this flavor combo, the more excited I got. And as luck would have it, I remembered that I already had little 3 ½” loaf/cake pans that I had bought over a year ago but never got around to using.

This was coming together. I was wound up. I could barely go back to sleep. I tried counting sheep but they would start turning into chocolate pound cakes jumping over a country wood fence in front of a stream of white chocolate ganache. Ahhh, they were so cute.

The next morning I sprung out of bed, dashed over to the market, grab a knob of fresh ginger and sprinted back home to start my mad science experiment.

I was reasonably confident that I could develop the ginger syrup recipe on my own, but I knew I needed a jumping off point to for the cakes and ganache. I found what I was looking for in my often used cookbook, Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I needed to make adjustments to the recipe.

The original recipe was for a classic standard sized pound cake (I cut the ingredients by half), I would need to add cocoa powder (so I reduced the amount of flour so that the final cake wouldn’t be too dry) and I needed to reduce the cooking time.

I am very happy with these cakes. The flavor profile came together almost exactly how I had imagined. The cakes themselves have a beautiful moist texture with a deep flavor from the cocoa powder. The ginger syrup, with its spicy, almost peppery flavor adds a spike of unexpectedness that really works well with the earthiness of the cocoa.

And then there’s the white chocolate ganache. It’s white chocolate…what else can I say.

One last thing. To give the cakes an added layer of flavor (and visual texture), I topped the cakes with a sprinkle of chopped crystallized ginger. This was my good friend Robert’s idea. And it was a stroke of genius on his part.

NOTE: You’ll have little more of the ginger syrup than you’ll need for the cakes. No worries. Mix a little of the syrup with a glass of club soda and you’ll have a fabulous homemade ginger root soda.

NOTE 2: I first tried spooning ginger syrup over the cakes (see photo). That didn’t work so well. The syrup didn’t absorb into the cakes – it just ran down the side. So, I decided to instead submerge the warm cakes upside down into syrup. That worked like a charm (photo above).

Cheers!

MINI CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE WITH GINGER SYRUP

GINGER SYRUP

Original Ceramic Canvas Recipe

4” piece of ginger

1 ½ cups of water

1 cup granulated sugar

Using the back of a spoon, gently rub the skin off of the ginger piece. Cut the ginger into medium sized dice. Add ginger pieces and 1 ½ cups of water into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to the water barely simmers. Continue simmering until water has reduced to about 1 cup in volume, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Pass liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove ginger pieces. Stir in sugar until it dissolves. Set aside.

MINI-CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 TSP kosher salt

4 TBL cocoa powder

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup of granulate sugar

1 TSP pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Special equipment: 3 ½” nonstick loaf pans

Preheat a convection oven to 325⁰ (or 350⁰ on a traditional oven). Line nonstick mini-loaf pans with parchment paper and set aside (alternatively, you can butter the loaf pans instead of using parchment paper). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder, set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla on medium-low speed until the light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. With mixture on low speed, add flour mixture, beat until just combined.

Spoon the batter into a prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula. Bake until cakes rise, turn rich brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool just until they are able to be handled.

Makes 6 mini-loaf cakes

WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE CHOPPED GINGER GARNISH

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

3 TBL crystallized ginger

½ cup heavy cream

4 oz white chocolate, chips or finely chopped

Finely chop crystallized ginger and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat bring cream to a full boil. Turn off heat. Add the white chocolate and swirl pan to completely cover it with the cream. Let stand about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk mixture until it is smooth. Transfer to a clean bowl, Let cool, stirring frequently.

Ganache will thicken as it sits. To cover cake, it should be pourable but still thick enough to coat. If not, place bowl of ganache over a pan of simmering water and stir until it reaches the right consistency.

Set ganache aside.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKES

Pour warm ginger syrup into a medium sized bowl. One by one, place upside-down cakes into the ginger syrup and allow them to absorb a good deal of the liquid, about 3-5 minutes each. Repeat process with all cakes.

Spoon white chocolate ganache over the ginger syrup-soaked cakes. Garnish with finely chopped crystallized ginger. Serve.

I’ve never worked with phyllo dough before. I’ve never really been inspired to do so. But last week inspiration hit me like a ton of phyllo bricks.

I was watching Vefa Alexiadou demonstrate a Milk Pie recipe from her cookbook, Vefa’s Kitchen. I’ve been eyeing the book for some time but have always passed on getting it. I’m not quite sure why I’ve been holding out. I guess it’s because Greek Cooking has always been, well, ‘Greek to me.’ – get it? I couldn’t resist.

Watching Vefa, I decided that the time was now and that her encyclopedic 702 paged, Greek Cooking 101 manual, was the best place to get my feet wet.

What brought about this sudden change of heart? Her Milk Pie recipe (renamed Phyllo Custard Pie). I was intrigued. What’s not to like – heavily buttered, crispy, paper thin phyllo dough baked in a vanilla egg custard.

Plus, the dessert looked so easy to make that I just couldn’t resist it. I couldn’t wait to get started but first I wanted to make a few slight changes to the recipes. The recipe called for a 14” baking pan. Unless, you’re a wedding cake designer, who has a 14” cake pan? I adjusted the recipe for the far more standard 9” cake pan. Also, I wanted to add raisins. Not any ole’ raisins. I would soak and plump these raisins with warm Hazelnut Liqueur.

With a plan in mind I head to the supermarket to grab some phyllo dough. I was surprised to find it right there in the frozen food section. I thought to myself, “Hmmm, the recipe looks easy, finding the phyllo dough was easy, this is gonna be a cake walk.” I was wrong. There would be hitches.

First, I’m not a big believer in spending a lot of money on specialty foods. If I want puff pastry, I buy regular old Pepperidge Farm out of the grocery store. So, I didn’t think twice about getting the cheaper supermarket brand phyllo dough. Huge mistake. As I unrolled the dough I realized that it was too dry – a particular problem when working with paper thin phyllo dough. It just falls apart. I had to heavily butter the damage dough to keep it together long enough for me to work with it (as opposed to buttering the dough in the pan as the recipe suggested – this way worked fine, anyway). So, word to wise. If you are near a specialty store go ahead and spring for a quality phyllo dough…it’ll be worth it.

The second problem was 100% my fault. For some boned headed reason I decided to use a spring form pan. You already know what happened, right. As I poured the custard into the pan it immediately began seeping out the bottom. Sometimes I amaze myself with my stunning lack of common sense. Ugh!

But with all of the stumbles along the way I have to tell you this Phyllo Custard Pie with Hazelnut Raisins was totally worth it. The top is supper flaky and buttery and the bottom is pure vanilla cream. And I’m really happy with the addition of the raisins…they ground the pie with an unexpected nutty flavor.

This is a beautiful pie to look at and eat (it was devoured before bedtime). So, if you’re looking for something different, stunning and delicious, I highly recommend that you try this pie.

By the way what’s the difference in spelling it phyllo, filo or fillo?

PHYLLO CUSTARD PIE WITH HAZELNUT RAISINS (MILK PIE)

Adapted from Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou

1/3 cup hazelnut liqueur

¼ cup raisins

6 TBL unsalted butter, melted

8 to 9 sheets store-bought phyllo

1/8 TSP ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting

1 ½ cups whole milk

3 large eggs

½ generous cup granulated sugar

½ TSP pure vanilla extract

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

In a small saucepan, bring hazelnut liqueur to a boil. Boil until alcohol has burned off, about 3 minutes. Pour liqueur in small bowl and let slightly cool. Add raisins to the liqueur bowl. Let raisins seat in the liqueur until they are plump and tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch round cake pan with some of the clarified butter; set aside.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on work surface with one long side parallel to edge of work surface. Using a pastry brush, brush butter all over phyllo dough. Using your hands, loosely ruffle phyllo by pushing short sides towards one another to create a long cylindrical shape. Place upright in center of prepared cake pan creating a spiral.

Repeat process with remaining sheets, continuing spiral outwards until bottom of pan is covered.

Sprinkle with cinnamon. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat milk in a medium saucepan until it just barely begins to boil; remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Gradually add heated milk, a little bit at a time, whisking constantly; whisk in vanilla. Set aside.

Meanwhile, sprinkle raisins across the top of pre-baked phyllo crust. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the steeped hazelnut liqueur across the top of the crust.

Spoon milk mixture over baked phyllo, evenly covering surface. Return pan to oven and bake until filling has set, 25 to 30 minutes more. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon; serve immediately.

Ricotta-Almond Doughnuts with Caramel Dipping Sauce

I’ve always had a warm place in my heart for donuts (or is it spelled ‘doughnuts’? – more on that later). And I especially love Krispy Kreme donuts. As a kid running errands with my mother, there would be the occasional Krispy Kreme store sighting. If we were lucky, we’d come across one that was just finishing a fresh batch. The warm scent of the bread would wind its way from the store, through the air, across the street and into our car. Often, we would make a B-line for the store – the errand would have to wait.

Sometimes we get to the donuts while they were still a bit warm and the glaze would stick to your fingers like glue. As a child, I would look with pity on the adults rushing to the bathroom to wash their hands when they were done – they were missing half the fun. The whole point of holding warm, sticky glazed donuts is that you get to lick the glaze off of your fingers when you are done…one finger at a time. Adults. Ugh. What were they thinking?

So, with doughnuts having such a special place in my heart, it’s no wonder that I have never tried to make them at home. Why ruin a good thing? I’ve tasted too many dense homemade ‘donuts’ with a texture that resembled a round pound cake with a hole punched in the middle to risk soiling something that I held in such high regard.

But something happened this weekend. When I came across a doughnut recipe in the new Williams-Sonoma cookbook, Cooking for Friends, I was intrigued – a doughnut with ricotta cheese! I realized that by design, these doughnuts would be a little more dense than the donuts that I grew up with but I was feeling adventurous and decided, “What the hell. Give it a try.”

In the cookbook, the doughnuts were paired with three dipping sauces: caramel, dark and white chocolate sauces. The caramel sauce was calling my name.

Now, I just had to put a little Ceramic Canvas addition on it and we were in business. I wanted to add a nutty flavor (to round out the caramel sauce), so I incorporated grounded almonds. Then I got to cooking.

The verdict? Two thumbs up! The doughnuts are not the same as the Krispy Kreme of my childhood but they are still oh so delicious. And the almonds offer a nice nutty flavor that works well with the caramel sauce.

Oh yeah, donut versus doughnut. My understanding is that ‘donut’ is an American spelling referring to the yeasty, ring-shaped variety, and ‘doughnut’ is a European/Australian spelling more often referring to the balls (or as we say in the States, ‘donut holes’) – like the ones in this recipe. If there are any donuts/doughnuts historians out there, please feel free to expand and/or correct me in the comment section.

Enjoy.

RICOTTA-ALMOND DOUGHNUTS WITH CARMEL DIPPING SAUCE

Adapted from Cooking for Friends (by Alison Attenborough, Jamie Kimm)

Canola Oil for deep-frying
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 tsp grounded almonds
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbl granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting

In a large, heavy saucepan, pour oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches and heat to 370˚ on a deep frying thermometer.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, lemon zest, salt and grounded almonds. In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla. Add flour mixture to ricotta mixture and whisk until well blended.

Working in batches, gently drop level tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.

Dust with powered sugar and serve with dipping sauce.

Makes about 20 doughnuts

CARAMEL SAUCE

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tbl of butter, diced
¼ cup heavy cream

Put sugar in a small heavy saucepan and add enough water just to cover sugar (it will resemble wet sand). Place over medium-high heat and cook, without stirring, but occasionally swirling the pan to ensure even cooking, until mixture starts to bubble and edges begin to turn amber, about 7-10 minutes. Watching carefully to prevent overcooking, continue cooking until mixture turns a deep amber, 3-5 minutes more. Remove from heat and very carefully add butter (it may spatter). Carefully add cream and swirl pan until evenly mixed.

Use at once, or cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Warm gently on the stove top if reheating is needed.

Makes about ¾ cup

]]> http://ceramiccanvas.com/2009/06/ricotta-almond-doughnuts-with-caramel-dipping-sauce/feed/ 12 http://ceramiccanvas.com/2009/05/crepes-cake-with-chocolate-meringue-frosting/ http://ceramiccanvas.com/2009/05/crepes-cake-with-chocolate-meringue-frosting/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 19:11:06 +0000 Reginald http://ceramiccanvas.com/?p=282

This cake is insane! I love it. But first, let me set it up.

I’m a wuss. They say men have a lower threshold for pain. They’re right. As I’m writing this it’s 82˚ in my study and I’m about to crawl out of my skin. I mean, you wanna talk about ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’ I would spill a multitude of state secrets right now if someone would come over and fix my damned central air conditioner. So, if my writing seems a little off, please understand that I am about one degree away from blacking out. Now on to the cake.

I first came across the idea of making a cake out of crêpes back in 2005 while reading a copy of House Beautiful (yes, House Beautiful. Don’t laugh). The cake was adapted from the Lady M Cake Boutique in New York City. After reading the description and salivating over the photograph, I remember that I couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen and chef this baby up. So, I dashed to the store to get everything I needed.

As I stood in my kitchen I was excited. I pulled all of the ingredients together on the countertop and got centered for what I anticipated would be a mind blowing experience. But my excitement was short lived. First, the first few batches of crêpes were awful (half brunt, most wouldn’t release easily from the pan, to thick…) and then the heavy cream frosting lacked the impact that I was expecting. To say I was disappointed doesn’t capture the half of it. I was so traumatized by the experience that I couldn’t think of trying it again for years to come. Now, fast forward to the year 2009.

So, as I thought about what I do for my next blog entry, I found myself debating whether I should reattempt what has come to be known as The Great Crêpes Cake Disaster of 2005. Seriously, it was an internal debate in my head. You know, like in the movies where some poor schmuck is trying to make a decision and two tiny figures suddenly appear on each shoulder (usually one dressed in a red devil outfit, and the other dressed like an angel in white). Here’s how the debate went between my two little ones:

Devil Figure: He can’t do it. He tried it before. He failed.
Angel Figure: Yeah, that was a while ago. He’s a more accomplished cook now. And isn’t logging the successes AND failures the whole point of the blog?
Devil Figure: Ok, don’t blame me if he embarrasses himself and us.

With doubt bouncing around in my head, I decided to try it again. This time I would do it with my own twist – if I’m going down, I might as well go down with my own stuff. I would still brulee the top crepe (I like the unexpected crunch) but this time I would dress the cake with an airy chocolate meringue frosting. And I would cover the entire thing so that it appeared to be a standard chocolate cake from the outside and when you cut it open you would immediately see that this is not your mother’s cake.

With a plan in hand I set out to make ‘The Great Crêpes Cake Disaster of 2005. The Sequel.’ And after I finished I stared at the final cake and paused before digging in and taking a bite. I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it!

The cake has a rich and chocolaty flavor (the icing alone, makes it a dream). But it’s the little surprises that really make it a standout. First, the 40 layers of crêpes and frosting just visually grab you. It stands out. And then you taste the addictive, buttery and light as air frosting and you just know that this is too good to be good for you (your little angel figure will say, “This is heavenly!” Your little devil figure will say, “And it’ll be on our hips in the morning.” But you won’t care. It’s that good and tomorrow’s another day.)

The second little surprise comes from the first bite. And that’s the crunch and rich flavor you get from that top caramelized crêpe.

In my humble opinion, this cake is just a beautiful marriage of flavors and textures. Yum!

I hope you enjoy it!

CRÊPES CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE MERINGUE FROSTING

For Crepes (adapted from Lady M Mille Cake Boutique):
12 tbl cake flour
3 tbl sugar
4 eggs
6 tbl unsalted butter, melted
2 cups warm milk
Vegetable Oil

For Chocolate meringue Frosting (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook):
6 large egg whites
1 ¼ cups sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
10 oz, bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 tsp of prepared espresso

For the cake:
15 to 20 crepes
Chocolate Meringue Frosting
2 tbl sugar

MAKE THE CAKE: Sift flour and 3 tablespoons of the sugar together into a mixing bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk eggs together, being careful not to overbeat. Gently stir in flour mixture until smooth. Stir in butter. Slowly stir in milk until just blended with the consistency of light cream – do not over mix. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest for at least 1 hour.

Rub bottom of an 8-inch nonstick crepe pan with vegetable oil and wipe out excess with a paper towel. Place over medium heat. Ladle in about 4 tablespoons of batter into the center of the pan. Tilt and rotate pan immediately to make the batter run around the edge and cover the bottom evenly. Pour any excess batter back into the bowl. Cook until brown, about 20 seconds. Lift crepe edge with your fingers or a spatula (you may want to do this off of the heat). Cook on the other side for about 10 seconds. Turn out onto a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter (pan will probably not need to be greased again). Stack crepes separated by between paper towels. Crepes can be made ahead and kept for several hours, wrapped in plastic at room temperature, or refrigerated over night. Makes about 20 crepes.
MAKE THE MERINGUE FROSTING: In a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine the egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch (about 160˚F).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium low speed, add the butter several tablespoons of butter at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in melted chocolate and espresso. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE: Place first crepe on a plate. Spread a thin layer of meringue evenly across the cake. Lay second crepe on top. Repeat frosting process until all but one crepe is left.

Place the last crepe on a separate plate. Evenly distribute remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Caramelize the sugar with a small handheld kitchen torch. Place the crepe on top of cake and let cool.

Once the caramelized sugar has cooled, frost the top and side of cake. Immediately, cool cake in the refrigerator to let frosting harden.

Let cake sit out at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.