Fat Friday #35 Croissants

First of all, Happy Friday! When this blog post gets published, I'll be in the middle of my synoptic test, which is a pastry test that I need to pass for college. So wish me luck. I'll be making Danish pastries, Florentines, Baked Alaska and Croissants! All of which will most likely be featured on the blog soon. This week we're looking at flaky, buttery croissants. This is a failsafe recipe, ONLY IF, you measure everything in pounds and ounces. I prefer grams, but I've been told by my pastry tutor that its best to weigh it in pounds.

Recipe: Makes loads for breakfast (Kindly provided by my pastry tutor):

·       1 1/2 lb Strong Flour / (680.39g)
·       ¼ lb butter/(113.40g)
·       8oz butter/(226.8g)
·       ½ pint of water
·       1oz milk powder/(28.35g)
·       ¼ pint of egg
·       1 ½ oz sugar/(680.39g)
·       ¼ oz salt/(113.40g)
·       1 ½ oz yeast/(680.39g)
·       Plus extra beaten egg wash

Equipment:

·       Sieve
·       Saucepan
·       Bowl x 2
·       Clingfilm
·       Rolling Pin
·       Croissant cutter (you can get one here)
·       Pastry brush
·       Baking sheet lined with silicone

Method:

1.    Sieve the flour, salt and milk powder. Add the smaller amount of butter and rub into the flour mixture.
2.    Warm the water to body temperature and add the fresh yeast and sugar. Add the eggs to the yeast mixture.
3.    Combine the wet mixture to the dry mixture to form a dough. Put in a clean bowl, cover with cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 10 minutes.
4.    Roll out the dough vertically and place the larger amount of butter in the middle. Fold the dough into thirds to cover the butter. Roll out and perform 1 double turn. Place in the fridge.
5.    Repeat 2 more double turns.

6.    Roll out the dough to about 2 ½ mm thick and cut using a croissant cutter.
7.    Preheat oven to 200c/400f/Gas Mark 6.
8.    Roll up each croissant to form a crescent. Place on a lined baking sheet, egg wash, and place in a warm place to prove until doubled in size.
9.    Bake until golden brown. Serve cool, with jam or cheese and ham or whatever you fancy!
Have an excellent weekend!

Fat Friday #17 Autumn Strudel

Welcome to that time of the week! It's Fat Friday! This weeks recipe is a great recipe to do with a friend, as you'll need some help with the strudel pastry. Its tons of fun to stretch and play with!

Recipe: Makes 4 large or 8 small strudels

Strudel Pastry:
·       250g Plain flour, sieved
·       1 egg
·       30ml vegetable oil
·       25g melted butter, plus a little extra
·       113ml water
·       100g poppy seeds

Spiced Apples:

·       3 apples cored, peeled and cut into chunks
·       20g raisins
·       20g apricots cut into pieces
·       100g granulated sugar
·       30g water
·       A pinch of cinnamon

Equipment:
·       Chopping Board
·       Saucepan
·       Wooden Spoon
·       Measuring Jug
·       Teaspoon
·       Tablespoon
·       Timer
·       Baking sheet lined with silicone paper
·       Pastry Brush
·       Fork
·       Loaf tin lined with silicone paper
·       Knife

Apple Filling

1.Place all of the filling ingredients in a saucepan and cook until apples are cooked through and the mixture is slightly mushy.
2.Put aside in bowl to cool and place into the strudel pastry.

Strudel pastry

1.Sieve the flour into a bowl.
2.Add the egg, oil, water and butter and mix with your hands to form a dough.
3.Knead for 5 minutes until elastic.
4.Rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
5.Once rested, roll the pastry out on a floured surface until ½ inch thick.
6.Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/ 170c/325f
7.Stretch the dough by hand until it is as thin as paper.
8.Brush the pastry with a little melted butter

9.Cut the pastry into long oblongs. Spoon in the apple filling across a little of the pastry and roll into a cracker shape.
10.Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
11.Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes

What other flavours do you like in strudel?

Fat Friday #12 Rice Pudding Soufflé served with Candied Pecans

This weeks Fat Friday is quite special because its one of the first desserts that I've made in my pastry class. It will be need to be made at least the night before. Don't worry it sounds a little complex but it makes a good dinner party dessert. Its a twist on a traditional soufflé, its made with rice pudding rather than crème patisserie (but if you want a traditional recipe here it is from a couple of weeks back!) (sometimes called pastry cream). Its very impressive sounding and looking but easy to make. Its worth making the French spiced breadcrumbs and the rice pudding in advanced.  Serve with the candied pecans, for an additional crunch to the light and airy soufflé.

Recipe: Makes 6 souffles with lots left over
1 batch of Pain D’Epices (French Spiced Bread):

Candied Pecans:

·       500g pecans

·       114g granulated sugar

·       30g water

Rice Pudding:

·       50g Butter

·       110g pudding rice

·       500ml double cream

·       500ml whole milk

·       90g caster sugar

·       2 bay leaves

·       1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

Souffle:

·       200g egg whites

·       80g sugar

Equipment:

·       Chopping Board

·       Heavy-based saucepan (that can be used in an oven)

·       Saucepan

·       Wooden Spoon

·       Measuring Jug

·       Teaspoon

·       Tablespoon

·       Foil

·       Timer

·       Liquidiser or blender

·       6 Ramekins

·       Tray with a damp teatowel

·       Baking sheet

·       Pastry Brush

·       Whisk

·       Fork

·       Loaf tin lined with silicone paper
·       Piping Bag

·       Scissors
·       Bowls x 3

 

Candied Pecans:

1.    Roast the pecans on a baking sheet for about 1 minute.

2.    Dissolve the sugar in water a pan and add warm pecans and mix until crystallize.

 

Preparation for the Ramekins:

1.    Chill ramekins in the fridge for as long as possible.

2.    Melt a little butter in a saucepan.

3.    Meanwhile get a tray lined with a damp teatowel ready.

4.    Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom of the ramekin and the sides using vertical strokes. Chill the ramekins in the fridge.

5.    Line the ramekins with the pain d’epices crumbs and place in the fridge until needed.

 

For the Rice Pudding:

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 170c fan/190c/375f/Gas Mark 5.

2.    Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan. Sauté the rice for about 30 seconds in the heavy based saucepan.

3.    Add the milk, cream, sugar and bay leaves. Scrape the vanilla seeds and the pod into the pan. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down. Simmer for about 20 minutes stirring frequently.

4.    Cover the top with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stopping every 15 minutes to stir the rice pudding.

5.    The rice pudding should be thick and glutenous when done. Pick out the bay leaves and vanilla pods out of the pudding.

6.    Transfer the pudding mixture to a blender and blend to a smooth puree. Place into bowl, cover with cling film and place in fridge to cool down.

To Complete the Souffle:

1.    Whisk 200g of egg white with 20g of sugar. Continue to whisk and gradually add the remaining sugar until the egg whites are very fluffy.

2.    Place 250g pureed rice pudding into a bowl and carefully fold in the egg whites.

3.    Divide the mixture into the prepared ramekins using a piping bag, level with a palette knife, then pinch the sides to create an even soufflé bake.

4.    Bake at Gas Mark 4/350c/180c for 9 minutes, turning carefully once after 5 minutes they should be golden and very fluffy. 

What do you think about this new twist on a French classic? Have a great weekend!

Summer Raspberry Roulade

Hello and Happy Friday! Or should I say Happy Fat Friday! I love Fat Friday's its sort of like TGIF, but about gorging yourself on food purely because its Friday. Or is that just me? Maybe its just be who goes "Yeah! Its Friday! Stuff my face with food!". Anyway, its recipe time.  

Nothing says summer like a roulade, and what works better with sweet sticky meringue and smooth cream? Tart summery raspberries, of course. I had this recipe written up and ready to publish but had a serious lack of pictures. There wasn't even a picture of the end product... So it sat in the drafts for about, oh I don't know, 2 years?

I remember making this for the first time in my pastry class, this was when the blog first started my gosh! Its a good dessert to use up any leftover egg whites and cream. Lots of different fruit can also be used, try a tropical version with pineapple chunks or try mixing a little cocoa powder in the whipped cream for a taste of chocolate.  

Recipe: Meringue (My own recipe)
4 egg whites
275g caster sugar
Lots of Whipped Cream (I whip about 500ml double or whipping cream.)
200g Raspberries

Equipment:
Bowl
Electric mixer with the whisk attachment/Handheld whisk
Baking sheet lined with baking paper
Large palette knife
Clean teat-towel
 

1. Preheat the oven to 220c/200f/Gas Mark 7. Line the baking sheet with baking paper and set aside. 
 2. Whisk eggs whites to a soft peak. This should be white, foamy but still holding a peak.
3. Put your mixer on a low/medium speed and add the sugar gradually one tablespoon at a time every 10-15 seconds. This gives the time for the sugar to dissolve.

4 Once all the sugar has been incorporated, whisk for a further 2-3 minutes at a lower speed. The meringue should be stiff.

5. Spread onto a baking sheet using a palette knife and bake for 8 minutes until a pale golden colour. The reduce the heat to 160c/140f/Gas Mark 3 and bake for a further 15 minutes. 

6.Remove from the oven, the meringue should be firm to touch, not wet or soggy. Place on clean teatowl and remove from the baking paper. Set aside to cool

7.Meanwhile, whip the cream until it stands in stiff peaks. 

8. Once the meringue is cool, spread the cream over the meringue. Sprinkle some raspberries liberally.

9. The next part is a little tricky. Roll the meringue with the tea-towel to support the roll. This will keep you're fingers clean and will prevent it breaking.

 

What type of fruit would you put in your roulade? Want to share your Fat Friday foodie moment? Use the hashtag #fatfridays on Instagram and twitter or whatever the cool kids are using nowadays.

Have a good weekend and Happy Baking!