and the winner is.......FROSTING!!!!!

c

Just a quick update posting.

A couple of weeks back we had a taste off between old fashioned frosting and Italian meringue buttercream and it seems like old fashioned frosting was the winner.

That's right, that simple go to recipe of sugar, butter, milk and vanilla won out over 40 minutes of boiling sugar syrups, mixing meringue and kitchenaid whipping.

Although it did only just win and most people said they would be happy with both. Some really disliked the frosting as too sweet, and others disliked the buttercream as too creamy. I guess as with most things its a matter of taste.

So if you like sweet and sugary go for the frosting. However if you like fluffy, creamy frosting which pipes beautifully I recommend the buttercream.(the roses on both cakes were buttercream as the frosting just would not hold up to piping)

BIG thank you to all the testers who tasted and got back to me.

May 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge - Piece Montee or Croquembouche

For a few years I have noticed on a number of the food blogs I follow the Daring Bakers. They set a challenge each month and the members all make the same item, with significantly varing and wonderful results to post on their blogs.

How wonderful I thought to myself, this will make me grow as baker and challenge me to try things I would never think of. I am a Daring Baker I decided to myself, actually a long time ago and last month I finally signed up.

Except I was pretty busy this month and thought I signed up after the cutoff date and wouldn't have to start until next month........Eeeek I was wrong!!!

Oh well I guess it's called a challenge for a reason.

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.


The recipe provided by Little Miss Cupcake was easy to follow and worked well, so the actual baking of the puffs and making of the cream was relatively easy.

So my first try I flavoured the cream with rosewater and it was a pretty delicious flavor combination.

I had just baked a batch of macarons and decided to try and include them in the decorations so here is my first attempt play around. I used chocolate instead of toffee as I had a 20 month old holding onto my legs during the construction stage and didn't feel comfortable with all that hot sugar flying around.

So here are a couple of variations on my first attempt.

See I made a funny little disk out of the choux pastry to help support it as I didn't want to use the toffee.

Then I decided to get serious and use toffee. Not a big fan of toffee these days, although as a kid I can remember my mum making it for fair sweet stalls at the school and I loved it then.

My dislike of the toffee might have something to do with the fact that I had croquembouche for my wedding cake and I still remember now trying to get one of those hard toffee balls out of the cake. 

I stuck the puffs together using just a little toffee on the bottom of each. I was making some sugar 'Halos' for another project which I posted a couple of days ago so I made some larger ones to pop over the top of this project. I also attempted spun sugar which actually worked but I thought it looked a bit messy when applied.

I took a couple of quick photos outside, it was still only 6ish in the morning and it's coming into winter here so still not much light. All was going pretty good. I planned to take the real photos after school drop off.

Then disaster in the form of my 21 month old son. He ate the top before I got any great shots
.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, he did really enjoy it.

Overall the project was a bit of fun, and something I wouldn't have chosen to do myself. The choux pastry and cream are reasonably easy to make and taste great on their own or with a chocolate sauce. I don't like toffee so I wouldn't go to the trouble to built a structure again unless it was for a specific reason, but it was a great challenge. Thanks Little Miss Cupcake :)

Vanilla Crème Patissiere 
 2 cup (450 ml.) whole milk
 4 Tbsp. cornstarch
200 g. sugar
2 large egg
 4 large egg yolks
 4 Tbsp. (60 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp Rosewater
Dissolve cornstarch in 1/2 cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla and rosewater.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.
Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.
Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Toffee for Halos

Instructions for the toffee I used are in my Halo Cupcakes post click here for the link

 Assembly

Group the puffs and do a trial run at arranging them, use the larger puffs at the bottom. Once are happy with how you will be arranging the puffs, pop the bottoms into the toffee and working quickly stack the puffs. Decorate with spun toffee, halo's or ribbon and flowers.

Halo Effect Cupcakes - Inspired by MissusT fanfic

I have a dirrrty little secret that I'm about to share. I read fanfiction.

Ok, I don't just read Fanfic its a mild addiction. Not just any fanfic mind you it has be to be good, based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels and include Sookie and Eric.

What, you've never heard of Fanfic or Sookie Stackhouse. Well before Christmas neither had I and then my life was turned about. I watched TrueBlood, a HBO series based on 'The Southern Vampire Mysteries" and I loved it. I loved the show, I loved the books, I loved the characters (well maybe not Bill).


Then I found a link to Fanfiction and my life was changed. Instead of waiting a year for a new book to be released there were hundreds of stories that fans who are also really talented authors have written based on the characters in these books. It's free, it's sometimes a bit raunchy and I really enjoy it.


And just before I lose some of you I'll just say 'Twilight". That's right Bella and Edward updated on a regular basis and with story lines you could never imagine. Fanfic actually has stacks of different categories so your fav TV show no doubt has a stack of stories just waiting for you to read.

The very talented MissusT has written a fanfic called Halo Effect which features a food blogger as the main character. Which is something I have been thinking about doing for a number of years.

I thought it was inspiring how the writers on fanfic spend their time writing for the enjoyment of others for little more than the joy of knowing that other people have read and enjoyed their work enough to provide reviews. So this idea, along with a couple of other things that clicked together is the reason I am here typing my own blog.

Here is the link to MissusT's Halo effect, which will link you thru to the world of Fanfic. But I'm warning you it can be highly addictive.

Lemon Chiffon Halo Effect Cupcake

Moist lemon chiffon cupcake topped by a fluffy meringue, a sugary halo finished with a rich surprise filling

Lemon Chiffon cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup macadamia oil (use canola if macadamia not available)
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup less 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 160 C (325 F).

Sift cake flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl. Make a well in the center and add oil, egg yolks, zest, juice, water and vanilla. Mix on medium speed about 3 mins or until mixture is smooth and thick. Scrape down sides as required.

In another large bowl with clean beaters mix egg whites and cream of tartar until whites are foamy and tartar dissolves, continue beating on high speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth to approx soft peak stage. Slowly beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp at a time until sugar is dissolved.

Stir around 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the yolk batter and then add the remaining egg white mixture carefully folding until no white streaks remain.

Transfer into a muffin tin with no liners, filling each hole to the top and bake 35 mins until the tops are golden and a tester inserted comes out dry.

Allow to cool completely and remove by using a small knife to loosen the edges and then using your fingers to gently rock them back and forth to release as required.

Seven minute frosting

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1tsp vanilla extract

Bring the bottom of a double boiler to simmer.
Put sugar, water, egg whites and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler and beat with a mixer on high speed until white and foamy approx 1 min. Put double boiler on top of the simmering water and beat egg mixture at high speed for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in vanilla immediately.

Frosting must be used straight away.

Optional Chocolate filling

I used left over chocolate filling from my walnut cookies click here for recipe

Sugar Halo's

227 gram (1/2 pound) granulated sugar
116 ml (4 liquid oz) water
43gram (1 1/2 oz) glucose

Bring sugar and water to boil, add glucose and cook to a light caramel. Quickly plunge bottom of pan in cold water to stop cooking process. Spray metal cookie sheets lightly with oil.

Using a spoon, make halo shapes onto the metal cookie sheets.

Allow to cool, remove from sheets carefully just prior to using.

Assembly
Place a small ball of chocolate filling into center of cupcake. Top with seven minute frosting, using a knife to make swirly peaks. Place halo on top of cupcake just before serving.

Verdict - this cake was really yummy,  there was a little to much frosting for my tastes, which is easily fixed. But the fluffy frosting worked well with the lemon cake. For an easier and just as delicious version leave out the choc filling and the halo's.