A Dessert to Share

Sorry about the long delay, but it's a busy season in law school. It was my friend Joe's 30^th birthday the other day, and I volunteered to make the cake with the help of my friend Jessica. I was told Joe's favorite kinds of cake were cheesecake, and chocolate cake. Being an indecisive person, I decided that rather than choosing one, I would combine the two. The obvious choice was a brownie bottomed cheesecake. Some quick googling turned up this recipe for a brownie bottomed peanut butter cheesecake. This cheesecake was amazing, good enough that people cursed me out when they felt compelled to go back for more. Which is why this is a cheesecake to share, so that you won't end up eating the whole thing. This recipe does make more cheesecake batter than is needed, so I made a second smaller cheesecake with the extra. I tried to make a pretzel crust for it, but I didn't like it, so I didn't bother to include the recipe for it.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake

Brownie Crust

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (I used Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla)
2 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

1 cup peanut butter chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch springform pan with butter.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with spoon or wire whisk. Add eggs; stir until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; blend well. Spread in prepared pan.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from side of pan. Meanwhile make cheesecake layer (see below).

4. Immediately after removing brownie from oven, sprinkle milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups over brownie surface. Spoon cheesecake mixture over chips. Turn down oven 325°.

Cheesecake Filling
2 lbs cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
1/2 cups whipping cream
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini peanut butter cups*

*These were chocolate chip sized peanut butter cups I got from Trader Joes, if you can’t find them, skip them

1. Beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until smooth.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sugar, peanut butter and cream; mix until smooth.

3. Stir in vanilla and mini peanut butter cups.

4. Pour filling into prepared crust. (I poured the rest off into a smaller springform pan)

5. Double-wrap springform pan with aluminum foil to prevent water seeping in. Place springform pan into a larger baking pan. Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the water comes 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. (This is easiest to do once you have already moved the pan into the oven, that way you don’t have to try to move a pan full of water).

6. Bake at 325 degrees 1-1/2 hours, or until firm and lightly browned.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for one hour.

8. Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan somewhat.

9. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before decorating. I tend to make cheesecakes a day ahead to let things set.

Decoration

¼ cup whipping cream 

½ cup chocolate chips 

½ cup peanut butter chips

1. Place all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on medium power in 30 second bursts, whisking after each, until mixture is fully combined.

2. Let the ganache sit out until it has firmed up enough to pipe. Use to decorate the cake as you choose.

Brunch Food

I had friends over for a potluck brunch this morning. Earlier in the week the weather got really nice, and it put me in the proper mood (of course today it was cold and rainy). Brunch is one of my favorite meals, mostly because it is an excuse to eat vastly oversugared breakfast foods, along with some fruit, and call it a meal. In keeping with that theme, I decided to make pecan rolls. I followed Dorie Greenspan’s recipe in “Baking From my Home to Yours.” Her recipe, however, calls for a full recipe of Golden Brioche dough to be made, and then only half of the dough to be used. I was having enough people over that I wanted to use the full amount of dough, so I made one regular recipe of Honey Pecan Rolls, and one recipe of Chocolate Almond rolls. I thought both turned out really well. The pecan rolls were sticky and caramely, and the almond rolls were rich and chocolaty (I didn’t make the almond rolls in a caramel glaze). 

I did find that the rolls baked faster than the recipe called for. The recipe also said to knead the dough until it pulls away from the bowl, and after 20 minutes in the mixer, I found this still hadn’t happened. The rolls tasted great anyway though, so I didn’t worry too much about it. I did find that the almond buns got a little burnt on top, because they didn’t have a glaze to sit in. I’m not sure what can be done about that. Fortunately covering them in glaze helps to hide it.

Golden Brioche Dough

Makes 2 loafs

2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons) 

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water 

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons salt 

3 large eggs, at room temperature 

1/4 cup sugar 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

4. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can make the sticky buns or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

For the Glaze:

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar 

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 

1/4 cup honey 

1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the Filling:

1/4 cup sugar 

3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar 

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:

1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

1. Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

2.  On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you.

3. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).

4. Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this). In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

5. With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

6. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

7.  When the buns have almost fully risen center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven. The buns must be immediately unmolded. To do this, place a rimmed cookie sheet lined with a silpat directly over the baking pan, and flip everything over. The buns should fall out of the pan onto the silpat. Be careful, the caramel will be scalding hot! These are best eaten as soon as they have cooled enough.

 Chocolate Almond Buns

For the glaze:

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar 

2 T milk 

½ t vanilla extract 

¼ t almond extract 

Slivered almonds

For the filling

¼ cup granulated sugar 

3 T brown sugar 

¾ blanched almonds 

¾ cup mini chocolate chips 

3 T butter

1. Put the sugars and blanched almonds into a food processor. Pulse until mixture is coarse. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the almond-chocolate mixture, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you.

3. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can.

4. Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this). With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

5. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

6. When the buns have almost fully risen center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden. Unmold by placing a rimmed cookie sheet over the top of the baking dish, and then inverting.

7. Mix together the sugar, milk, and extracts until smooth. Drizzle the tops of the buns with glaze, and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

 

Another Pound Cake

My softball team was having a cookout on Sunday, so I decided I would make pound cake. I’ve made Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Pound cake before, so this time I thought I would try the Pound Cake Recipe from The Best Recipe. I thought that resulting pound cake was excellent, moist, good crumb, and nicely dense. I did think it could have used a little more flavor, and I think upping the vanilla would be a good idea, or switching to vanilla paste. I would definitely rate this pound cake highly though.

The Best Recipe Pound cake

Makes 1 9 x 5 loaf

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

1 1/3 cups sugar 

3 large eggs, plus 3 large yolks, room temperature 

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract 

1 ½ tsp water 

½ tsp salt 

1 ½ cups cake flour

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan, line it with parchment paper. Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until butter is smooth and shiny, about one minute. With the machine still on, gradually add the sugar over about 30 seconds. Continue beating the mixture until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes.

2. Mix the eggs, yolks, vanilla and water together in a measuring cup. With the mixer still on pour the egg mixture into the butter in a very slow stream. Beat in the salt.

3. Sift ½ cup of flour over the batter and fold it gently in. Repeat two more times until flour is fully incorporated.

4. Scrape batter into prepared baking dish. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes, until cake is golden and a cake tester inserted into a center comes out clean. Remove cake from the pan, let cool.

Raisin Chai Bread

I’ve never really been big bread baker, in part because I don’t really eat a lot of bread. But, for whatever reason I was struck with an inclination to make bread this week. I started out with the recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread in The Best Recipe. In my view, however, cinnamon bread is never complete without raisins, so I decided to add some (I used golden raisins because that’s what I had). Then I thought I might add some cardamom to the cinnamon mixture, since cardamom is one of my all time favorite flavors. At that point it was a short leap to adding the remaining spices to make it Chai mix. My friend and fellow blogger Beth then suggested that I could actually infuse tea into to the dough. At that point it was settled I was making raisin chai bread. The results are unusual. When I was making the bread I didn’t really think I could taste the tea in the dough, but it definitely came through in the finished products. The spices are a little more subtle, but are very much present. Overall I think it’s a very good bread, and would be great toasted with jam. Even better, I may use it to make some French toast this weekend. I think this bread would also be ideal going into a bread pudding, but I won’t make a bread pudding unless I have something to do with it other than eat the entirety myself.

A few notes on this recipe. I had to use all of the flour allowed to make my dough get to the right consistency. I also found the second rise took at least an hour over what the book said it would. Since it’s winter here, I let my bread rise in a slightly warmed oven.

Raisin Chai Bread

Makes one 9 x5 loaf

Bread Dough

½ cup milk 

1 bag black tea (such as Tetleys) 

4 T unsalted butter, cut into 

½ inch pieces 

½ cup warm (110 degrees F) water 

1 package (2 ¼ tsp) dry active yeast 

1/3 cup sugar 

2 large eggs 

1 ½ tsp salt 

3 ¼ - 3 ¾ cups flour 

1 cup raisins

Filling

¼ cup sugar 

1 T cinnamon 

1 T ground cardamom 

½ t ground ginger 

½ ground cloves 

2-3 cracks of ground black pepper 

Milk for brushing

Egg Wash

1 large egg 

2 t milk

1. In a small saucepan over medium high heat, bring the milk to a boil. Remove from heat and add the tea bag and butter. Let the tea steep and the butter melt. Remove the teabag once the mixture has come back down to about 110 degrees.

2. Put the water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Beat in the sugar and eggs at low speed. Add milk mixture, salt, 2 cups of flour, and raisins and mix at medium speed until thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute.

3. Switch to the dough hook attachment. Add an additional 1 ¼ cups flour and kneed at medium-low speed, adding flour sparingly if dough sticks to the side of the bowl (I found I had to add a few tablespoons here). Continue kneeding until dough is smooth and comes away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

4. Turn dough out onto work surface. Grab the dough with a clean, dry, hand. If the dough sticks to your hand, kneed in up to an additional ½ cup of flour (I had to add about a ¼ cup). Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased plastic bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise. Let rise until doubled, 2 to 2 ½ hours.

5. Lightly grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan. Mix the spices and sugar. When the dough has risen, punch it down once. Then turn the dough out onto your unfloured work surface (I recommend flouring just a little). Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

6. Press the dough into a 6 x 8 inch rectangle, with the short side facing you. Roll the dough into an 8 x 18-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with milk. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 ½ inch border on the far side.

7. Starting with the edge closest to you, roll up the dough, pinching gently to make sure it is tightly sealed. Use hands to push the sides of the loaf in as you go, to make sure it stays within the 9 inches. When you reach the end, pinch the dough ends together to form a secure seam. Firmly pinch dough at either end to seal sides.

8. Place loaf, seam side down, into the prepared pan. Press lightly to flatten. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until dough is one inch above the top of the pan, about 1 ½ hours (this took closer to 2 ½ hours for me).

9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the eggs and milk for the egg wash. Brush the top of the loaf thoroughly with egg wash. Bake until loaf is golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.  

 

Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Dacquoise Napoleons

This was the dessert I made for my big dinner, and was by far the best part of the meal. You’ll have to forgive the lack of a photo of the plated dish, but it was so good that I forgot to take one. And despite this being essentially a modification of an earlier post, I strongly recommend this preparation. I served the final napoleons sitting in a vanilla crème anglaise, and drizzled a raspberry coulis over the top of the dessert. I should note that because of the addition of the jam, the mousse was not nearly as stiff as other times I’ve made this. I stuck the mousse in the fridge for a few hours and it firmed up enough to be pipable. I would recommend making the ingredients for this dessert in advance, but only combining the Dacquoise and mousse an hour or two before serving, and not adding the sauces until it is actually time to serve. In the prep photo, if you look closely enough, you might notice there are raspberries on the bottom layers, but not the top, that’s because I ran out of raspberries. I did top each napoleon with two raspberries, which I cemented in place with a little chocolate mousse. I’ve included an picture of the assembled but not plated dessert below.

Chocolate Raspberry Napoleons

Makes ~ 6

Chocolate Mousse 

400 ml water 

16 oz. bittersweet chocolate 

6 T seedless raspberry jam, melted (I recommend Polaner’s)

1. Get a large mixing bowl and a larger pot. Fill the large pot with ice and water, and place the mixing bowl in it. You might want to build a foil collar for the mixing bowl, as chocolate is going to spray.

2. In a medium, heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine the chocolate and water. Heat over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixed with the water.

3. Pour the water and chocolate mixture into the prepared mixing bowl, and immediately begin to beat using a hand mixer. Beat for 5-10 minutes, or until mixture has cooled and stiffened into a mousse (the more you beat, the stiffer it will get, and because it will loosen up when the liquor is added, you want it very stiff to start).

4. Beat in the jam 1-2 T at a time. Store the mousse in the fridge until ready to use

 

Almond Dacquoise

215 grams blanched almonds 

150 grams confectioner’s sugar, plus more for dusting 

5 egg whites 

50 grams granulated sugar

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the nuts out on a cookie sheet and bake them for 10 minutes, or until just golden. Quickly place them into a towel and rub them together to get the skins off. (chances are you will be more successful getting the skins of the hazelnuts than the almonds, don’t worry about it).

3. Reserve 80 grams of the nuts. Place the remaining 135 grams in the food processor and pulse until coarse. Add the powdered sugar and pulse until combined and fine.

4. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. With the mixer on high, gradually add the granulated sugar. Continue beating the egg whites until they reach still peaks.

5. Gently fold the nut and sugar mixture into the egg white mixture, until just combined.

6. Using a pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch tip (this is just a bear coupler on a regular bag). Pipe the dacquoise into rectangles. I didn’t bother using any kind of form for this, I just made each rectangle 5-6 inches long, and three passes with the pastry bag wide.

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until dacquoise are crisp and golden, switching the baking sheets half way through. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container with wax paper between the dacqoise until assembly.

 

Raspberry coulis

1 pound bag frozen raspberries 

½ cup sugar 

1 T lemon juice

1. Put the raspberries and sugar in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk until liquefied (this may take awhile if you start with frozen raspberries). Continue until mixture is brought to a simmer and somewhat reduced.

2. Remove from heat and strain the coulis through a sieve to strain out the seeds. Stir the lemon juice. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

 

Crème Anglaise

2 cups whole milk 

1 T vanilla paste 

½ cup sugar 

4 egg yolks

1. Set a medium bowl in an ice bath, with a sieve over the top. Set it aside.

2. In a second bowl whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Set aside.

3. Combine the vanilla and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until small bubble begin to form.

4. While whisking the egg mixture, pour the half of the milk into the eggs in a thin stream. Pour egg mixture into the saucepan and combine it with the rest of the milk.

5. Put the saucepan back over the heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture has thickened slightly (Do Not bring to a boil).

6. Pour the mixture through the sieve into the ready bowl (the one sitting in the ice bath). Refrigerate until ready to use.