For the love of baking

Assorted goodies for a neighbor’s birthday party

Many of us pursue baking simply for the love of it - I know I do. Believe me, I know how fortunate I was back in 2006 to attend pastry school in both Florence and Paris. As a new career and later-in-life endeavor, it was exciting, emotionally charged, exhausting at times and well worth it.

Though I’m both “home schooled” and professionally trained, it’s not a search for fame or fortune that keeps me in the kitchen. Trying new things, reading about how others approach their craft, tweaking a recipe to create a different flavor combination all help to keep me coming back for more.

I find the process - planning, prepping and baking all the way to tasting and sharing - so calming and rhythmic. Even cleaning up, when all is said and done, is its own rite. Everything washed/dried, organized and stored in it’s own place, ready for the next baking adventure.

Just a few frequently used tools

Apricot blueberry danish

Cooling challah

Fresh berry tarte

Caramel knots

The remaining content is taken from a post I first published on March 14, 2022 in the early weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I posted it right on the heels of another post, and I suspect many of you who tend to follow this blog may have missed it.

“If pastry could change the world” still captures what baking means for me and so many others. Enjoy!

Valentine feuilletés

If everything could remind us of love . . . . .

If we could all share fresh bread, cheese and wine . . . . .

If a simple and delicious apple tart could make each day better . . . . .

If a bright, flashy, chewy macaron could shout “Be Happy”! . . . . .

If croissants could bring us together as one, multi-layered as we are . . . . .

If a buttery scone could make us giggle with delight . . . . . .

If creamy profiteroles could smooth out all the kinks amongst us . . . . .

If a shortbread sandwich cookie could hug each and every one . . . .

If caramelized Kouign-amann could roll us up in a big warm embrace . . . . .

Don’t you think the world would be a better place?

Here’s to all the bakers out there everywhere. Cheers!!

Summer beauty

If pastry could change the world . . . . .

If only everything could remind us of love . . . . .

If we could all share fresh bread, cheese and wine . . . . .

If a simple and delicious apple tart could make each day better . . . . .

If a bright, flashy chewy macaron could shout “Be Happy”! . . . . .

If croissants could bring us together as one, multi-layered though we are . . . . .

If a buttery scone could make us giggle with delight . . . . . .

If creamy profiteroles could smooth out all the kinks amongst us . . . . .

If a shortbread sandwich cookie could hug each and every one . . . .

If caramelized Kouign-amann could roll us up in a big warm embrace . . . . .

Don’t you think the world would be a better place?

Milk chocolate malted ice cream profiteroles

After that extensive Danish Kringle post (whew!) I knew it was time for a break with a quick note on a fun and delicious dessert experience.

This past weekend we celebrated Steve’s birthday in isolation, enjoying a tipple of champagne followed by his famous marinated flank steak on the grill, roasted little potatoes and a veggie mix of edamame and last summer’s freezer stashed sweet corn. Mmmm mmmm good.

As luck (or the fates) would have it, I had choux puffs in my freezer that were originally intended for an event that was canceled due to the pandemic, and I’d been scheming about how I might use them. Since anything made with choux paste is on Steve’s favorites list, I knew they would have to be part of his birthday dessert.

I recently posted on making chocolate chunk bars as a way of using up some of the chocolates I had in my cupboard. I still had some Valrhona milk chocolate on hand, as well as Carnation malted milk powder which I originally purchased some months ago to make brown butter shortbread cookies. Inspired once again by Claudia Fleming’s “The Last Course”, milk chocolate malted ice cream was officially on the menu. Profiteroles here we come!

What a great plan ahead dessert. Make your choux puffs using your favorite recipe and stash ‘em in the freezer where they’ll be fine for some weeks. Make or buy any flavor ice cream you choose a few days, or even a week or two ahead and you’ll be ready to assemble on the big day.

I made my usual ice cream base and, once cooked and off the heat, blended in 113 g / four ounces chopped milk chocolate, 28 g / one ounce 64% Guittard chocolate discs and a scant cup of Carnation malted milk powder (sift before whisking it in). Then strain and chill.

I usually keep my ice cream bases refrigerated for a day or two before processing. Once the ice cream is churned it needs a good 3-4 hours in the freezer to firm up. But you can make it ahead and it should be fine in the freezer for a week or two.

On the day you plan to serve the profiteroles, take out as many as you want, put ‘em on a parchment lined sheet pan and warm them in a 300ºF oven for 10 minutes or so to thaw them and crisp them up a bit. Cool before slicing the tops open and filling with lovely scoops of frozen goodness. Then simply put them back in the freezer to hold until serving.

A quick note about ice cream - this malted milk version was easy to scoop right out of the freezer (maybe due to the malted milk powder??), but some flavors of ice cream will freeze harder than others. Give yours a feel and if it’s rock hard, take it out 10-15 minutes ahead of scooping for greater ease of assembly.

For a lovely ending to Steve’s birthday meal I just popped a few in each of our bowls, topped them with chocolate sauce, caramel drizzle and chocolate shortbread cookie crumbs et voilà - un dessert três délicieux!

The next day I had empty puffs on hand and more ice cream so I filled them all and froze them for enjoyment later. I found that once they had firmed up over the next hour or two, I could turn ‘em upside down while gently holding the tops on and dip them in a chocolate glaze made by melting 113 g / 4 ounces dark chocolate with 42 g / 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, then back into the freezer they went.

In case you’re wondering, I had a few crunchy topped puffs in the mix which I left unglazed.

Even though we work at keeping our meals pretty darn healthy, during these days of ongoing isolation it’s nice to be able to anticipate a little sweet treat every now and again don’t you think?

Stay home, stay safe and keep on baking!

Happy spring!

Better late than never, it’s high time I sent welcome-to-spring wishes to everyone. Even though we actually had a bit of SNOW! the other evening, we’re seeing green shoots coming out of the bare ground and some tree limbs showing their first hints of leaves. We’ll take it!

It seems life has a way of carrying us onward, often to the point of prompting us to ask “what I have been doing these past few weeks/months?!” While I don’t have a specific recipe or new project to share with you on the blog this time around, I thought it would be nice to show you what I’ve been up.

Oh - news flash! I’ve finally added a search box in the blog’s sidebar so you can type in key words, e.g. “croissant”, and find posts I’ve written on that particular topic. Cool!

Crunch top berry mascarpone profiteroles

Hazelnut choux rounds getting ready for Paris-Brest

Lemon mascarpone cake with orange honey buttercream

Petite citrus cakes

Next up is my new favorite version of financier, those delightful teacakes that I love so dearly. This one is coffee hazelnut, dipped in dark chocolate ganache and topped with chopped toasted nuts. SO GOOD.

Coffee hazelnut financiers

I simply cannot ignore fresh fruit tarts - they always make me smile! These contain a baked ricotta custard/vanilla scented filling - deelish with fresh berries.

Sea salt caramel and espresso nib shortbread

Current shortbread flavors, all tubed up!

Breton blueberry almond tarts

Ham and cheese whole wheat spirals

Lemon ricotta cakes

Cream cheese Danish

Ham/cheese spirals and Danish combo

Another thing that keeps me busy involves planning and preparing for my classes at Sur La Table in Grand Rapids. Things like figuring out the best way to set up the class for optimum hands-on experience, determining quantities of dough that might have to be prepped ahead for topics like croissants or artisan breads, orchestrating a smooth flow to the class with delicious baked goods as the end result. What’s not to like.

Below is a test I did for a no-knead rustic bread baked in a Dutch oven style enameled cast iron pot. The loaf on the right was done in a gorgeous Le Creuset 2.25 quart lidded saucepan (sorry the lid is missing from the picture!) and the one on the left on a sheet pan. Not only the rise but the crusty, golden, shiny surface of the one from the cast iron pan can’t be beat! NOTE: one pound of dough worked very nicely in this size pan, the taller sides giving just the right lift to the dough.

Rustic no knead loaves

There’s lots to be learned. Check out the class calendar on Sur La Table’s website for all sorts of topics, both savory cooking and baking/pastry classes. There are a number of chef instructors, myself included, just waiting to share their knowledge with you.

Until next time - happy baking!