Back in Black - Blackberry Millefeuille with Maple Crème Fraîche

Muscovado....  The word sounds like a breed of duck, but it's really much more sexy than that.  (though I must admit that a Muscovy duck dinner IS pretty sexy)  Especially when one finds said sexy sugar for a miniscule amount of cash.  Yes, I found "my find" the other day at Whole Foods (or should I say Whole Paycheck?) on sale for a paltry sum that seriously had me doing a double take in the isle before grabbing my prize and heading with great haste for the check out before someone decided it was mis-marked, thus bursting my excitement bubble and sending me careening down a depression spiral that could only result in my utter devastation as I sat, cold and alone in my muscovado-lessness...  a hem..  Yeah.. OK, moving on....  ;)

Muscovado sugar is one of those odd ingredients that professional pastry chefs have ready access to, but is seldom within the reach of us common folk.  Or if it is, it's exorbitantly priced.   So what is this "oh so special" sugar?  Well, in essence it's really nothing more than a form of brown sugar; it even comes in light and dark varieties.  But looks can be deceiving.  Muscovado is a little more grainy than "normal" brown sugar.  It is also minimally processed so it retains more moisture and more trace minerals along with the natural molasses.  All these factors mean that it tastes slightly different from your "run of the mill" brown sugar which is refined white sugar with molasses added back in in varying amounts.

The refining process for Muscovado is different too.  Once the juice has been wrested from the cane by pressing, the slurry is cooked slightly, then impurities are removed in a strange process that utilizes Coconut milk and Lime juice...  evidently these react with the impurities and form a foam that can be skimmed off, leaving the rich delicious cane elixir behind.  (See what I mean about he sugar being kind of sexy?)

So in honor of this sexified sugar product from Barbados,  I decided on an equally sexy dessert that I saw Laura Calder make on her show, French Food at Home. I have mentioned Laura Calder's show before.  French Cooking at Home (Food Network Canada) is currently shown on the Cooking Channel. In her recipe for Blackberry Millefeuille she makes use of Maple sugar. Sadly, I live on the West Coast and there are no Sugar Maples here.  I mean, I know one place that carries it on a seasonal basis, but I can't afford it.  It's like Beluga Caviar, nice to dream about having, but more than likely will never happen.  OK, I did have some once, (Maple sugar, not Beluga) but only through a similar pricing fluke like my Muscovado "find".  Alas it has been gone for years now.

SO, armed with Muscovado as a substitute as well as some homemade Crème Fraîche, I embarked upon a super sexy dessert.  Oh, and in case you were wondering about the Browned Butter, I thought it's inherent nuttiness would pair well with the hazelnuts.

 Blackberry Millefeuille with Maple Crème Fraîche

Adapted from Laura Calder's French Food at Home
4 sheets Filo pastry (or 2, cut in half, depending on the size of your sheets)
3 TB Beurre Noisette (browned butter)
4 tsp light Muscovado Sugar
3 TB finely chopped Blanched Hazelnuts
1 1/4 cups Crème Fraîche
Maple syrup, just enough to lightly sweeten (preferably Grade B, but Grade A is fine)
1 lb Blackberries

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C and grab 2 baking sheets and two pieces of parchment paper.

Chop the Hazelnuts finely.....

And make some Beurre Noisette and allow it to cool slightly.

Lay 1 sheet of filo on your work surface and brush gently with Beurre Noisette.

Sprinkle with some of the Muscovado sugar.

Top that with a scattering of chopped Hazelnuts.

Place the second filo sheet over the nuts and repeat (Butter, Muscovado, Nuts, Filo) until you have 4 layers of filo.

Grab a SHARP knife or pizza cutter, slice the sheet into 12 rectangles.(about 2 inch by 4 1/5 inch)

Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet,

cover with another layer of parchment,

Nest an additional baking sheet over that (this will keep the filo flat)

Bake until golden and crisp, about 7 - 10 minutes.

Move to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Spoon the Crème Fraîche into a medium bowl. (store bought or homemade, your choice)

Whip the Crème Fraîche with 1-2 tsp Grade B Maple Syrup until soft peaks begin to form.

On a dessert plate, place 1 rectangle of filo.

Spoon a small amount of Mapled Crème Fraîche over.

Nestle the Blackberries into the Crème Fraîche.

Spoon a small amount of Crème Fraîche over the berries (this will make the top piece of filo stay in place).

Place another rectangle on top of the Crème Fraîche and press gently to adhere.

Serve within 1 hour of assembly, as the filo will begin to absorb moisture from the Crème Fraîche and become soggy.

Mangia!!
~~

You Catch More Aunts with Honey - Baklava

My aunts have been visiting over the last week. One from Texas and one from Seattle. It's been awesome seeing them after being in SoCal for so long. Somehow in our conversations, Greek food came up. As it turns out, both of my aunts are crazy for Greek food. So tomorrow I am preparing a Greek'ish Feast of things like Spanakopita, Hummus, Sopa Avgo Lemono and Kibbeh. But one should ALWAYS prepare a dessert.

Thus, Baklava arrived on the menu. Normally, I make this around the Holiday Season, but I had too many things on my plate last year. So it's the perfect time to finally get down to making a big pan. I find that I ALWAYS need to make a big pan of it, for it seems to disappear as if by magic.

The real secret to Baklava is speed. The ingredient list is actually fairly simple... nuts, a little sugar, spices and filo dough... all held together with a TON of butter... Then soaked in honey syrup. Easy... Lemme show ya.... You'll see...

Baklava

3 Cups Walnuts
2 Cups Almonds
1 Cup Pistachios
4 TB Granulated Sugar
4 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Mace
1 tsp Ground Cardamom
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
2 tsp dried Orange Zest
2 lbs Filo (The Filo I buy contains 22 sheets per lb, so 44 sheets total)
1 lb Unsalted Butter
1 half-Sheet Jelly Roll Pan (it's the same size as the Filo)
1 large Pastry Brush

Honey-Lemon Sauce
1 1/2 cups Orange blossom Honey
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
1 cup Water
1 TB Orange Blossom Water
1 tsp Rose Water

Grind all nuts and place in a medium sized bowl, add sugar, spices and zest.

OK, now is when I let you in on a little secret ingredient of mine. I did not place this in the ingredient list because they can be a little hard to find, and Baklava is just as good without them. I am referring to this.....

1 tsp Ground Rose Hips. (Just a little something extra)

After you have combined all your ingredients in the bowl, you have 2 options..... Stir with a spoon....

or cover with a lid, or plastic wrap with a rubber band to secure it, and shake the bejeezus out of it.

There, see? Filling is all done.

OK, let's set up the assembly station......
Melt Butter in a sauce pan or in a measuring cup in the microwave and grab a pastry brush. The bigger the better. It will allow you to apply butter to the 'leaves' at greater speed, thus reducing the possibility of the dough leaves drying out. (it takes 10 minutes to assemble Baklava)

Remove the Filo from the refrigerator and grab the half-sheet pan, set butter to the side of the pan then unwrap your Filo and unroll onto work surface.

Brush Pan with a little butter

Then lay down the first sheet,

brush with butter and lay down the second sheet....

Continue this until you have laid down 15 sheets.

Spread 1/2 of the nut mixture over the 15th sheet and drizzle with butter from the pastry brush.

Brush your next sheet on the stack, then lay it over (Butter side down) this will adhere it to the nut mixture a little better.

Brush the side facing up and lay down your next sheet, continue brushing with butter and laying down more sheets until you lay down another 12 sheets. (you will have to open your second roll of Filo to finish this off)

Spread the remaining nut mixture and drizzle with a little butter.

Again, butter your next Filo sheet, lay it (butter side down) and brush the up facing side too.

Continue laying sheets with butter until you run out of Filo sheets. (about 17 sheets)

Using a VERY sharp knife, score your baklava by cutting 1/2 way through it (not all the way) I like to use a diamond pattern, but square is fine too.

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before starting the syrup.


Lemon Honey Syrup
Pour Honey, Lemon Juice and Water into a large sauce pan (honey foams when boiling)

Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes until reduced to about 2 3/4 cups of liquid.

Seriously, watch for boil over... If the foaming gets too high, simply remove from the heat momentarily until the foam subsides...

Then return to the heat and continue reducing.

After the syrup has been reduced enough, remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Add the Orange Blossom Water and Rose Water, stirring to combine.

Place syrup in a container you can easily pour from.

Pour hot syrup over the cooled Baklava.

Allow 30 minutes to 1 hour for the syrup to be absorbed by the pastry, then cut all the way through with a sharp knife.

Serve to your aunts with a fresh flower. (aunts like flowers) :)

MMMMM Flaky Goodness.

Mangia!!
~~