Broken Cabbage - Danish Puff

My mother made this a lot when I was growing up.  She obtained the recipe following a potluck at the, then, Troutdale Baptist Church from Dorothy Evans.  This is not really Danish pastry per se, it is more of a pie crust or "broken dough" (Pâte Brisée) with Puff Paste or "cabbage dough" (Pâte á Choux) spread over the top.  Though it may not be made of the same yeast-ed and turned dough as croissants are made of, the result is still deliciousness.  Besides, "Danish Puff" sounds so much more appetizing than "Broken Cabbage", don't you think?

Let me tell ya, this is laden with butter.  Thus it is imperative that, since butter is the principle flavor, you use a good quality butter.  I usually turn to Lurpak or Kerry Gold for this, depending on which one happens to be on sale at the moment.

The Choux paste is pretty standard as Choux paste goes, except for the addition of a little Almond extract.  The Pâte Brisée, however, is much more butter laden than normal.  Where I normally use about 3 cups of flour in total (2 3/4 AP and 1/4 Cake flour) with 8 oz of butter, this version contains 1 cup of flour with 4 oz of butter. Which is why you will need to press it out onto the baking sheet instead of rolling it out, cause it's just way too sticky.

The Apricot preserves are completely optional.  I started doing it a little while back just because, but my mother never did it that way.  She always garnished it simply with sliced Almonds and drizzled it with glaze.  It's one of my favorite breakfast treats, simply because the only sugar contained in the recipe is the Confectioners' in the glaze (and in the preserves, if you are using them) so it's not TOO sweet like so many other breakfast foods.  That always makes me happy, cause I really don't like starting my day out with a sugar buzz. :)

Danish Puff

Pâte Brisée
1 cup (127g) (4.5 oz) AP Flour
Pinch of Kosher Salt
4 oz (113g) unsalted Butter
2 TB Ice water

Combine Flour and Salt in a bowl.

Cut butter into the flour as for Pâte Brisée.

When butter is small pea sized,

add ice water

and mix with a fork until the dough begins to come together.

Draw dough into a ball and divide in half. (about 130 g each)

On a large baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, press each of the 2 balls into 12 x 3 strips.

Refrigerate to let it rest while you prepare the Choux paste topping.

Pâte á Choux
4 oz (113g) Butter
1 cup (236ml) Water
pinch of Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Almond extract
1 cup (127g) (4.5oz) AP Flour
3 large Eggs

Glaze:
1 cup (100g) (3.5 oz) Confectioners' Sugar
1/4 tsp Almond Extract
4 tsp Whole Milk

Garnish:
Sliced Almonds
(optional) Apricot Fruit Puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a medium saucepan bring water and butter to a boil over medium heat.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add Vanilla and Almond extracts stirring to combine.

Add the Flour and stir constantly and continuously until the flour has absorbed all the water,

and forms a balled mass that pulls away from the sides of the saucepan.

Let the dough rest for about 3 minutes to cool slightly.....
Begin adding eggs 1 at a time, stirring after each until completely incorporated before adding the next.

The  dough will break apart and look like a big mess at first....

but as you keep stirring it will come back together again..  That is when it's time to add the next egg.

When your done stirring in the last egg, the dough will have transformed into a smooth, yet sticky, paste. (thus the name, Choux paste)

Remove the Pâte Brisée strips from the refrigerator.

Divide the Choux paste between the 2 base pastries.

Spread with with a spatula until the Choux is evenly spread over the base.

Move to the oven and bake for 50 minutes. (until golden and puffed)

Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes before icing with standard Milk/Confectioners sugar glaze.
Simply combine Confectioners' Sugar and Milk with Extract.

Mix with a fork until smooth. (you are going to want it a little on the thick side, so don;t be afraid to add more Confectioners' if it seems a little too runny)

If you like, you may spread pureed Apricots over the surface (I usually only do this to one of them)

Sprinkle sliced almond over the pastry.

Apply glaze by drizzling with a fork.

Consume with wild abandon!

Spis!!  er, I mean...  Mangia!!
~~

A Cabbage By Any Other Name, Would Taste as Savory...

Welcome to Puff Paste (not Pastry) 101: Pâte á Choux and You, from Gougeres to Eclairs

Be it, Cabbage Paste, Puff Paste, Choux Paste or Pâte á Choux, this twice cooked dough is responsible for such heavenly desserts as Eclairs, Profiteroles (Ice Cream Puffs), French Crullers, Beignets, Creme Puffs, Croquemboches, and Kue Sus, not to mention delectably savory items like Gougères.

Pâte á choux has had many lives under many names as it has morphed over the centuries.
Beginning with Pâte á Panterelli, named for the Italian Chef of Catherine de Medici's entourage, upon moving to France. This then evolved into Pâte á Popelin (used to make small cakes of the same name). In the 18th century Pâte á Popelin got a makeover by Avice and was used to make his Choux rolls (Cabbage rolls), which is where the current name comes from, although I think is also means "Snail shell", but I am gonna stick to the former explanation. Antoine Carême is responsible for modifying the paste, yet again, into it's current form, but the name remained the same. Thank goodness, I don't think I could handle one more name change.

What's with the history lesson? Honestly, I have no idea. Because it really has no bearing on this recipe... What I am really here to talk about is the WHAT the process is and WHY the process is in place.

You see, the secret to mastering this paste lies in mastering the element of water.

First we must cook the flour so it absorbs water, then we must cook out some of the extra water, so we can load it with more water, so we can bake out the water.
Sounds funny, huh? Let me explain.

The flour must be cooked in hot water, like polenta, but in order to ensure every grain is exposed and the starch and gluten contained within can absorb the water, you actually use more than is necessary. Thus there is actually too much water in the resulting paste, and it must be cooked out. But you are going to cook it even longer, and dehydrate it slightly, because you are going to add eggs. The protein in eggs, albumen, is necessary for expansion and the yolk enriches the paste, but eggs contain water, so in order to not flood the paste with excess water, a little extra water needs to be cooked out of it first. Still with me?

OK, so once the paste is made, then it is all about exploiting the water locked within. For the explosion potential is tremendous. Starting off in a hot 425 degree oven heats the water up quickly causing massive initial expansion via steam. The albumen in the egg starts to set along with the initial burst of steam, creating the "Puff" pockets. Then the oven is turned down to 375 to finish the baking, without burning, and allowing the gluten in the flour to set and strengthen the already puffed paste as well as to foster browning.

There will still be steam inside those little puffs, so if you want them particularly dry, because you are going to be filling them with something (which I will touch on tomorrow) then remove them from the oven, and poke a whole in the bottom, laying them back down on the sheet, upside down and return them to the oven for an additional 10 minutes. This allows all the steam to escape and dries out the inside to prevent them from becoming soggy and prepare them for a creamy filling of... Oh, say Sauce Duxelles.

About lining the baking sheets:
OK, this is just my personal experience here, but most recipes state that if your puffs are small, use a bare ungreased baking sheet or if large grease and flour the sheet first. Maybe it's because I have kitchen gremlins, or the fact that Murphy's Law runs rampant through my life in SO many areas, but they ALWAYS stick anyway... SO, I always line the sheet with parchment regardless of the size of puffs I am making.

Mixing in the eggs:
I usually do this in the pan with a wooden spoon, because I can feel the tension of the paste as it gets thicker. But for these, I went ahead and used the stand mixer, just to see if it would work. It seemed to work very well I must say. I don't think I am a complete convert, as I like having more contact with my food during preparation, but it was a definite time saver. A word of caution, I don't think a hand held mixer has the power necessary to do this, so if you are sans a Stand Mixer, I would go ahead and just do it by hand with a wooden spoon.

Sneaking in a little extra punch of flavor:
Classically Gougères are made with Gruyère cheese. A very savory cheese indeed. But since I was not going to run to the store for 1 thing, I decided to use my Pecorino Romano instead. While P. Romano is a deliciously savory cheese, it does not contain the same notes as Gruyère. I had originally though of exchanging some of the butter for Bacon Fat, but "Chickened Out" at the last minute. Literally... I used Chicken Stock instead of plain water to give it a little more savoriness.

OK, Long dissertation aside, lets get the the recipe and pics... shall we? Here we GO!!!

Oh, one last thing. Realizing that the U.S. is the only place left on the planet that uses Imperial volume measurements for cooking and baking, I have tried to provide Imperial weights as well as Metric weights and measures. If you are familiar with these conversions and find that I have made a mistake.... Please let me know. All ingredients weigh different, 1/2 cup + 1 TB Flour may be 70g or 2.5oz, but 1/2 cup + 1TB Sugar does not weigh the same. Volume to weight conversions can be a little difficult.

Gougères
Pecorino Romano and Thyme

This will make 24-30 Gougères

1/2 cup (4oz) (125ml) Chicken Stock
3 TB (1 oz) (28g) Unsalted Butter; Cubed
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
And your choice:
A healthy pinch of Chile powder or Cayenne Pepper
or a few turns of freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 1 TB (2.5 oz) (70g) AP flour
2 large Eggs
1 to 2 tsp minced fresh thyme (mine came from my herb garden)
3.25 oz (90g) grated hard cheese; Divided
optional 1 Egg Yolk; beaten

Preheat the oven to 425F (220C.)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Heat the Chicken Stock, Butter, Salt, and Chile or Pepper in a heavy saucepan until the butter is melted and the mixture begins to simmer.

Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, forming a smooth (almost) ball.
Continue cooking for another minute or 2, to remove any excess water, then remove from heat and let rest 2 minutes.

Move the paste to your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Turn the mixer on medium speed and begin adding eggs 1 at a time, waiting for the paste to "break"

and then reform before adding the next.

Add about 3/4 of the P. Romano and the Thyme, and stir until well-mixed.

Scrape the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe the dough into little mounds onto the lined baking sheet.
Keep them evenly spaced about 2 inches apart and making the mounds slightly larger than a Cherry Tomato; pressing down the peaks with a damp finger.

You can either glaze each mound with beaten egg yolk and then top with a sprinkle of reserved P. Romano, or skip the yolk glaze and simply top with a little sprinkle of cheese.

Move the sheet to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F (190C) and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
They should be completely Golden Brown and Delicious.

During the first 25 minutes of cooking (10min at 425 and the first 15min at 375) you CANNOT open the oven, if you let any heat escape quickly, the steam inside will condense back into water and they will fall.

For extra-crispy puffs, five minutes before they're done, poke the side of each puff with a sharp knife to release the steam (they should be "set" by then) and return to the oven to finish baking.

These can be cooled and filled, or frozen on the baking sheet in the freezer and moved to a freezer bag and stored for 2 months.
Simply rewarm them at 300 for 10-15 minutes.

Savory little bites of deliciousness.

Mangia!!
~~

Cruller Intentions - The French Cruller and the Churro

OK, what happened? I realize that all things change. But, honestly, someone should have warned me about this…!!!

Let's rewind for a moment <<------------------<
When I was a child, oh so many decades ago… OK, it was only 3 decades but still. A doughnut was a lightly sweet but spicy torus (Geometric/Physics speak for doughnut shaped) of deep fried goodness, with or without a small amount of glaze and maybe some sprinkles (If you had been especially well behaved that day)…

Fast forward to the Now >--------------------->>
Doughnuts are sickly sweet gobs of shortening soaked dough that are then, saturated with enough glaze to choke the Tooth Fairy. Dunkin is defunct, Winchel’s…all but wiped out, and Krispy Kreme (The worst perpetrator of sucrose over-saturation) has taken their places.

Maybe it’s because my taste buds have changed, but I seriously do not remember doughnuts being so grossly "over the top" sweet. I think KK is in league with the American Dental Association in an evil plot to raise the average American’s oral hygiene costs.

By far the hardest hit by this trend is, what is supposed to be, a light and fluffy, crispy yet creamy manifestation of Choux Paste --- The French Cruller. It is now, so over laden with glaze that it collapses under its own weight with a texture more befitting and “Old Fashioned” doughnut. Depressing.

In my ongoing quest to avoid sugar commas, even when I am craving something "sweet", I had embarked upon a home-made spiced French Cruller in an attempt to re-create the more spicy doughnuts I remember from childhood... and while not a "Real" Cruller, which is torpedo shaped and twisted (more like a cinnamon twist), they are quite delicious and, for the most part, resemble, in flavor, the delicious French Crullers I use to acquire from Dunkin Donuts. The point of all this, is that someone from work asked me why I had not made doughnuts for awhile (I originally did it about 8 months ago). So, I have revisited my French Cruller recipe and added a twist.

Unlike "true" crullers, which are of German/Dutch origin, French Crullers are based on Pâte a Choux or Choux Paste, just like Eclaires and Creme Puffs, however, they are deep fried instead of baked.
Choux paste is fairly easy to make at home, you will need a piping bag to make rings (tori, for all you geometry and physics buffs out there) of dough on parchment. Once the rings are made they must be frozen to facilitate movement into the hot oil. Being frozen when they hit the oil is part of what creates their crispy exterior and puffy yet creamy interior.

As a side note, before I begin, this is also very similar to how Churros are made. Simply replace the sugar with about 2 TB brown sugar and cut the eggs in half and flavor with 2 tsp cinnamon. Fill the pastry bag and skip the freezing step, simply squeeze dough from the pastry bag directly into the hot oil. Drain and roll in cinnamon & sugar. I am making both this evening. It gives me something to do while I am waiting for the French Crullers to freeze.

French Crullers – Spiced Pâte a Choux

1 cup Water
8 TB unsalted Butter
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup AP Flour
1/2 tsp Mace
1/4 tsp Cardamom
1/8 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ginger
4 Large eggs (possibly 5)
Peanut/Vegetable oil, for frying

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1.5 oz milk
If you want to coat them you will need to make a double batch of this glaze.

Combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.

Measure out flour and spices and whisk together lightly to combine.

Once water is boiling, remove from heat and add the flour mixture all at once and begin stirring with a wooden or bamboo spoon until the flour has absorbed all the liquid.

Return the pan to the low heat and continue to cook the paste, stirring constantly, for another 2 minutes to evaporate any excess water.

Remove pan from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.
Now comes the hard part.
Take your first egg

Crack an egg into the mixture and begin stirring,

the dough will "break" and kind of fall apart, looking like a total mess, but keep stirring..

Then suddenly the dough will bind back together again and become a homogeneous paste.

It takes a lot of stirring, you can use a hand mixer, but you don't want to incorporate too much air into the batter.
Add each of the 3 remaining eggs individually and stir until each egg is incorporated.
The dough will break each time, and then come back together.
When you are done, you will have a smooth and glossy paste.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a large star tip, with the choux paste.

Pipe 3 inch rings of choux paste onto the parchment paper. (I usually get 1 1/2 dozen)

Place baking sheets into the freezer for 1 hour.

Make the glaze, by mixing confectioners sugar and milk with a whisk until smooth, cover to prevent crusting.

Fill a large pot, deep skillet or your deep fryer with at least 2 inches of Vegetable or Peanut oil.
Heat oil to 350 degrees.
Remove a baking sheet from the freezer, peel the rings from the parchment and gently slip them into the hot oil.

After about 30 second they will rise and begin to float in the oil.
They will need to be turned once the tops of the crullers puff up.

Once turned in the oil, fry an additional 1 1/2 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oil and place on a brown paper bag, or multiple layers of paper towels to drain.

Once cool enough to handle, drizzle with glaze
Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes before serving.

Churros

Follow the same steps above, replacing the Sugar with 2 TB of Brown Sugar in the Butter/Water Mixture.

Place 2 tsp Cinnamon (Canela) in with the Flour

Since you will only use 2 eggs, you will find that the dough is a lot stiffer and not as "paste" like.

Fill your pastry bag, and squeeze out about 4 inches of the dough, then cut with scissors.

Fry until golden brown.

Drain.
Shake in a plastic bowl with cinnamon & sugar...



Now the funny part - I got my tips mixed up cause I was in a hurry. Thus my Cruller tip made my Churros and my Churro tip made the Crullers....

Eat Well.