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!!
~~

Ready, Willing and Æble - Æbleskiver (Ebelskiver)

Woe to the "pancake puff".... (American reinvention, repackaging and mass marketing as it's finest)  OYE!

Let me give ya a little "Danish History" regarding Aebleskiver ('aebleskive' being the singular form). Truth be known, I don't think anyone really knows how or why these Danish treats have taken on a spherical form.  Maybe it's because Danes are such well rounded individuals and it shows in their food.  ;)  har-dee-har-har

Oh there are legends aplenty, especially on the internet, about vikings doing their "triple P" thing, (Plundering, Pillaging and Pilfering) all resulting in several dented shields and/or horned helmets.  After which, since it must have been an early morning raid and the cook just happened to forget the pots and pans, they resorted to cooking pancakes on their dented shields and helmets.  Since the batter naturally ran into the dents, you have the first aebleskiver.  Hmmmmmm.  I find this fairly unlikely, since most Viking era shields were made of wood planks held together with bands of metal.  Wood does not make a good cooking vessel, especially over an open fire. Then again, Vikings didn't have horns on their helmets either.  Those were products of romantic period art, drawing on ancient Greek descriptions of ceremonial dress.  I know, Blah blah blah blah.... LOL

More than likely, since the Nederlands and Denmark are so close in proximity, the Dutch Poffertjes simply made their way north....  Either that, or the Aebleskiver made it's way south.  One or the other.  Though Poffertjes tend to be more ovoid in shape, rather than spherical, the idea is the same.  And just as Proffertjes require a special pan, so to does an Aebleskive.  I am not sure if the Proffertjes pan has a specific name, but an Aebleskiver pan is called a "munk" pan, and is also used to cook Munker (a yeasted batter) as well as Aebleskiver (baking soda and egg white batter).  Which also begs the question, "Which came first, the Munker or the Aebleskiver?" These pans are usually made of cast iron though there are non-stick aluminum versions available at Fantes and there is even an "Electric Skillet" version floating around on the net.

Dubious historical data aside, and probably more information about Vikings than anyone would want to know before breakfast, I just wanted to set the record straight regarding this silly "pancake puff" thing.  It's not a new idea, its been around for centuries... and personally, since I was an idiot and bought one so I could cook 14 at a time instead of only 7, those pans are terrible.  They heat unevenly and casting is so bad it will take eons for them to become properly seasoned. (I gave it to the Goodwill and spent 8 dollars less on a decent one from Fantes)

So what exactly is this Aebleskiver?  Aebleskivers are as sort of hybrid between a doughnut and a pancake with a little bit of waffle DNA thrown in for good measure.  I have heard, and read, that they are traditionally filled with apple slices or jelly.  Personally, I have never had, nor made, them that way but I am intrigued by the idea, however suspicious I may be about sticky goo winding up in the bottom of my Monk pan.  The dents, or holes are about 2 1/4 inches across and about 1 inch deep, giving you a nice "almost" golf ball sized hunk of fried, butter rich, pancake batter that is perfect with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and served along side raspberry preserves, or your favorite cane berry. (though my personal favorites are bilberry, huckleberry or marionberry)

Growing up, these were the presage of Christmas to come, for they were, and are, part of a nutritious Christmas Eve morning's breakfast.  We all knew that once the Aebleskivers hit the table, it was only 24 hours before Christmas morning arrived.  Santa would be coming down the chimney and the stockings would be filled with all sorts of hard to find winter goodies, like tangerines, nuts, various dried fruits and such. (modern day shipping has made these special winter treats more commonplace in cold climates than they were when I was a young pup)

So let's hear it for the Æbleskiver! (pronounced AY-blah-skee-wah)  The herald of Christmas!

Æbleskiver

2 Large Eggs - Separated (or 3 Medium Eggs)
1 tsp Granulated Sugar
2 cups of Buttermilk
3 TB Melted Butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 Cups AP-Flour
1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Mace
1/4 tsp Cardamom
1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter

Separate the eggs, whisking the yolks to break them up a little. (I always separate the yolks into a pouring pitcher)

Then add the sugar to the yolks and whisk until pale and thick.

Add Buttermilk, Melted Butter and Salt, stirring until well combined

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and spices with a whisk.

Add flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and stir until smooth.

In another clean bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tarter until stiff peaks form.

Fold egg whites into batter in two batches.

Warm aebleskiver pan on medium heat (You will probably have to adjust heat after the first batch, I always burn the first batch)
Add a small amount of vegetable oil, butter or lard to each one of the seven indentions.

Fill each indention only about 2/3 full.

(trust me, they will raise and fill the holes)

Cook until bubbly on top (3-4 minutes), just like regular pancakes, then, utilizing the traditional knitting needle, a bamboo skewer, or my favorite, a fondue fork,

turn the dough balls over to obtain a round shape. (This takes a little practice)

Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Serve with traditional Raspberry preserves (or Bilberry) and confectioners' sugar.

Lingonberry, while Swedish, also goes very nicely as well as Black Current and, as I mentioned, Hucklberry, Marionberry or Bilberry.
They may also be served in American fashion with Maple syrup (I prefer Grade B to Grade A Dark amber)

Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår!!

Spis!!  er, I mean...  Mangia!!
~~

Cream of The Crop - PiskeFlødeValfer for BakeSpace Challenge #15 (Strawberries and Eggs)

Cream of the Crop - PiskeFlødeValfer? or Danish Whipped Cream Waffles

It was only a matter of time before I revisited Waffleville again. Yes, I have one more for you. This is another Danish waffle, made in the same flower/heart iron,

but containing copious amounts of whipped cream in the batter. This creates a very VERY rich waffle. Quite delicious with Raspberries, ya know, that whole Danish thing, or Black Currant preserves and a sprinkle of confectioners' sugar.

But I am gonna throw a little spin on it this time... you see, it's also time for the BakeSpace Monthly Challenge!!! That's right, and this month's challenge is Eggs and Strawberries. The eggs were covered by the Waffle batter, so that was not the challenging part. I felt it was necessary to take the strawberries past the point of just chopping them up with a little sugar and dumping them on top of a waffle, with some whipped cream.. SO... I did a little flavor testing... Borrowed a little culinary flair from France and some Strawberry "know how" from Italy and combined Fraises au Vin Rouge (Strawberries in Red Wine) with Fragole all'Aceto Balsamico (Strawberries in Balsamic Vinegar). Which was all kinds of good, but I needed a twist... Something a little more unexpected. Black Pepper.

I have had black pepper on strawberries before, eons ago. I can't even remember who served them to me at this point, all I remember is that they were out of Balsamic Vinegar so they sprinkled black pepper on them. You see, black pepper, like balsamic, makes strawberries taste MORE like strawberries.... This is a good thing, especially in this day and age, with all the hybridization and genetically modified foods, that tend to lack any sort of actual flavor.

The reason I say this is that the strawberries that I ended up buying, were terrible. Awful, flavorless blobs with pithy hollow middles.

Compared to the strawberries of my youth, these were not even fit for jam. BUT.... A little Balsamic, a little Black Pepper and a little Pinot Noir.... Voila!!! They suddenly tasted amazingly delicious!!!!

So, here is my secret for awesome Strawberries... Try this on Strawberry shortcake, you will not be disappointed... Trust me... and always remember, the flavor of a berry is greatly compromised by cold. So ALWAYS let berries "warm" up to room temperature before serving.

Peppered Balsamic Pinot Noir Strawberries

16 oz Strawberries (hulled and quartered)
2 TB Honey
1 1/2 TB Balsamic Vinegar

Combine and let macerate for 30 minutes.


Pour off juice into a sauce pan (There will be about 3-4 TB) and add
5 TB Balsamic Vinegar
3 1/2 TB Sugar
5 TB Pinot Noir (Red Fruit and Low earth - light Black pepper on the finish - Like Rex Hill Kings Ridge 2006)

Simmer over low heat until it is reduced to a thick syrup (this takes awhile)

You should have about 1/4-1/3 the amount when you are done.
Let cool until it is only warm to the touch.

Hit the strawberries with several grinds of coarse black pepper.

Pour the syrup over the Strawberries,

cover and leave at room temp while making the waffles.

2 1/2 cups Self Rising Flour
4 TB Superfine sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Large Egg
1 Large Egg white
6 TB Whole Milk
5 TB Unsalted Butter – Melt, then cool
12 oz Heavy cream
1/2 tsp Mace

Sift the Flour into a bowl with the Sugar and salt

Add egg, egg white, milk and melted butter;

Mix thoroughly. The dough will look kind of like brioche

In a separate bowl, whip the cream with Mace to stiff peaks.

Fold whipped cream into the batter.

Let stand for 30 minutes.
Heat waffle iron.
Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter just off center of the iron towards the hinges. (The hinged back tends to push the batter towards the front of the iron)

Bake in Iron for 3-5 minutes or until G B & D or the steam stops rising.

Move cooked waffle to a baking sheet lined with paper towels in a 200 degree oven to keep warm, while cooking the remaining waffles.

Serve with Strawberries above, Raspberries and Confectioners' Sugar, Lingonberry Jam, Blackberries and Whipped Cream or Currant Preserves.

Mangia!!
~~