The Imperial Russian Pavlova

Let’s begin this story with this question: what does one do with heaps of leftover egg whites? While some of you may have plenty of answers (feel free to comment and share!!), this is the predicament this beginner baker found herself in one fine evening, prior to a certain housewarming – that has by the way yielded enough recipes to share for the entire 2011 blogging year. What do you do? Traditional meringues can be tricky, if not done right. Macaroons? Too much fuss and time. In either case, I was stumped. Thank god for David Lebovitz and Google – otherwise, I would never have connected with this very useful post.  After some poking around on what exactly could be done with said egg whites, I was intrigued by the Pavlova – mostly because it looked beautiful, ethereal, and was softly tugging on some familiar memory that was only a brush away from surfacing.

What is a Pavlova? For those that are familiar with ballet, Anna Pavlova is easily recognized as one of the world’s finest classical ballerinas, and was the principal ballerina for the Imperial Russian Ballet. She too was delicate, beautiful, and is credited for bringing to life the eternal grace of the “dying swan” choreography in Swan Lake. Hence, the name of the dessert. What can I say, I had to make it!

What I wasn’t expecting was how easy it would be (a mixer here is a must because it’s only easy when it’s doing all the real work!) or how delicious. And that memory tugging in the back of my mind? This dessert, so ironically “rediscovered” by me in my mid-twenties is the very same dessert I loved as a child in Russia – only there, it is called the “Bizet.” Yes, after the French composer. Go figure! Without further delay, here’s what you need to do to experience real sugary joy (this recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes). Serve it with a homemade Chantilly cream and fresh fruit.

Raw Materials
Meringue (makes 8-10)
1 1/2 tsps of pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
1 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
6 large egg whites (about 6 oz)
Pinch of salt
Chantilly Cream (i.e. fancy whipped cream)
1 cup of heavy (whipping) cream
1 tbsp of granulated sugar (add more if you prefer a sweeter cream)
1/5 tsp of pure vanilla extract
Tools & Bakeware
Electric mixer with whisk attachment
Baking sheet(s)
Parchment paper

What I did and what you should do given what I did:
Line 2 baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Place rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 275F.

2. Stir the cornstarch into the sugar in a small bowl.

3. In a large bowl of a mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt for 2-3 minutes, starting on low, increasing gradually to medium speed until soft peaks/trails start to become visible, and the egg white bubbles are very small.

4. Increase the speed to medium-high, gradually pouring in the sugar-cornstarch mixture. Continue to mix for a few minutes.

5. Slowly pour in the vanilla and increase speed to high. Whip until meringue is glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, about 5 minutes. The good thing is that you can’t really overdo it here. The longer the mixture is whipped, the stiffer it becomes, which is great!

6. Spoon the meringue into 8-10 large round mounds onto your parchment-lined baking sheet. With the back of a spoon, create an indentation in the middle of the mound for holding the filling once the meringue is baked, or you can create a nice peak formations if you don’t want any fillings.

7. Place baking sheet in the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 250°F. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the meringues are crisp and dry to the touch on the outside, and white, not discolored or cracked. Check on the meringues at least once during the baking time, and then regularly starting at 50 minutes. Sometimes, 50 minutes is all my pavlovas needed, but sometimes a little extra baking time was required. If they appear to be taking on color or cracking, reduce temperature 25 degrees, and turn the pan around. This may also be a good sign that they are over-done and it’s time to take them out!

8. Once out, let them cool. If tightly sealed in a container, these will keep for up to a week. I personally cannot guarantee more than 3 days, because this is the longest they’ve lasted in my house

9. For the Chantilly cream, you’re about to get a lesson in easy breezy fancy whipped cream: In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla until the cream takes on a fluffy thick consistency and soft peaks have begun to form. Use immediately or refrigerate until serving.

And Voila! I love to top these mini-meringue cakes with bright colored berries to accentuate the lovely presentation (blueberries featured below). Let me just say, if you’ve never had a Pavlova before you are in for a treat. When my Mom tried my version of this all-too familiar dessert, she said it was like having the most luxurious, decadent ice cream straight from the creamery. The crispy shell of the meringue, the soft marshmallow interior, topped with fresh Chantilly cream and a sauce made from blueberries and a bit of sugar tossed around in a saucepan (featured below) – this was “Bizet” like she’s never had it before. And now you can too!

Bon Appetit!

Eat Pray Love the Raspberry Chocolate Flat Macaroon

While I may have been in writing relapse due to all the recent amazing life changes going on (backpacking through Spain and Portugal, grad school, new job (!), the baking has been never-ending. This little recipe is quite timely, given that though I started this post several months ago, I just saw Eat Pray Love the movie a few weeks ago. Whatever your reviews of the film may be, it’s undeniable that you should have left it with your stomach grumbling for pastas, prosciutto, and pizza.

We may get to those yet, but in the mean time, let me share something delectably unwholesome – the flat macaroon (adapted from Epicurious). Who knew taking the path of least resistance (another post will have to go into the art of puffing up the traditional macaroon just right) would yield such delicious results!

Raw Materials
Macaroons
2 cups of sliced blanched almonds (not slivered)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 large egg whites
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tbsn granulated sugar
Red or pink food coloring
For chocolate raspberry ganache
3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (60 to 64% cacao), finely chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsn unsalted butter, softened
1/16 teaspoon raspberry extract (more for stronger flavor may be needed)
Tools & Bakeware
2 baking sheets
Parchment paper
Mixing bowls
Electric mixer
Food processor
1 gallon-size sealable plastic bag

What I did and what you should do given what I did:
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Pulse almonds with 1/2 cup confectioners sugar in a food processor until very finely ground, 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Sift in remaining cup confectioners sugar, stirring to combine.

2. Beat egg whites with salt in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add granulated sugar, a little at a time, beating, then increase speed to high and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Add drops of food coloring to reach desired shade and mix at low speed until evenly combined. Stir almond mixture into meringue with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. Don’t be surprised to see the meringue deflate.

3. Spoon batter into bag, pressing out excess air, and snip off 1 corner of plastic bag to create a 1/4-inch opening. Twist bag firmly just above batter, then pipe peaked mounds of batter (the size of a chocolate kiss) onto lined sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Let cookies stand, uncovered, at room temperature until tops are no longer sticky and a light crust forms, 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 300°F.

4. Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until crisp and edges are just slightly darker, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on sheets on racks, about 30 minutes.

5. While the macaroons bake, make the ganache. Melt chocolate with cream in a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat, then add butter and raspberry extract (if you want a stronger raspberry essence and flavor, I would suggest adding more extract; I added about a teaspoon of McCormick extract and it was not overpowering in the least), stirring until butter is melted. Let stand at room temperature until cooled completely and slightly thickened.

6. Assembling: Carefully peel cookies from parchment (they will be fragile). Sandwich a thin layer of ganache (about 1/2 teaspoon) between flat sides of cookies.

The nutty flavor, the fragrant raspberry chocolate ganache – you can’t go wrong! Promise.

Bon Appetit!

Hershey’s Kisses for the Sweet

I have been bad. With all the recipes I have stashed around here, I could hardly find the time in the past several weeks to share even one. The planning of my birthday outing two saturdays ago apparently took precedence over all. Sorry! But there are surprises in store for the week…..in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day – there were Irish Carbomb Cupcakes, and a delightful belated birthday now turned 4-year anniversary cake paying homage to the the tri-color italian cookie will be concocted in the next few days. I’m so excited. AND….I’ll have to picture-guide you through the AMAZING two gifts I received from my lovely coworkers and friends. But all in due time, and expect the next post to be quite a bit longer. Meanwhile, let me share an oldie but goody. This was one of my very first baking attempts, way before I started blogging about it (hence, the pictures provided will not be my own, but they really did look exactly like it), and it was a total success. Presenting Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossoms (courtesy of Hershey’s Kitchens)!

Raw Materials:
48 Hershey’s Kisses milk chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar
Tools and Bakeware:
Cookie sheet
Cookie scoop
Mixer/Bowl & whisk

What to do (makes about 48 cookies):

1. Heat oven to 375 F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. I used a cookie scoop to standardize the amount of dough I took each time. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Also, depending on how hot the cookie is when you press the chocolates into it, the kiss might melt until only the tip remains. I almost liked it better that way with the tip peaking out from beneath waves of melting chocolate in the center.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Simple, easy, and utterly impressive.

Bon Appetit!

Chocolate Flew Over the Cupid’s Nest

Happy belated Valentine’s Day (and Chinese New Year ), everyone! Did you know that while we spend countless of dollars on flowers, chocolates, and ummm…baking, the actual history behind this day of love is still a cryptic unknown? Some say that our dear Valentine was a rebellious priest, marrying couples in secret despite Emperor Claudius II’s law prohibiting matrimony to maintain his army reserve. Other stories tell of a courageous man jailed for freeing persecuted Christians, credited with sending the first love note signed “From your Valentine” to the jailer’s daughter (apparently named Julia!) on the day of his execution. Whatever the real story may be, the day should really be a simple reminder of the love we keep around us all year round.

Hence, keeping with the tradition of never celebrating the national hallmark day of love on February 14th, this post is quite a bit delayed, and as for the day itself -  I spent it interviewing for clinical psychology PhD programs in upstate NY. Still, I’m a romantic at heart, and so I couldn’t depart without having left Jay with something sweet and crunchy to miss me by.

This week’s posting is going to be a double feature, given that my coworker, the lovely and talented Melissa Benedict has shared with me her V-Day treats and sweets. Taking the quite predictable chocolate-chip cookie, recipe courtesy of Nestle Toll House, she added a fun twist with yet another awesome baking utensil – the Cookie Cutter.  As for my end, I combined Jay’s favorite: crispy bar + peanut butter + milk chocolate + dark chocolate = ???? You’ll have to just wait and see. All in all, this was one chocolaty valentine.

Recipe # 1: Cupid’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (60 cookies)

Raw Materials:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts
Tools and Bakeware
small bowl and whisk
15 X 10 in pan
cookie cutters

What you should do:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts.
PAN COOKIE: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Use cookie cutters of your choice to cut out shapes and leave on rack to cool.

Below are the holiday cookie cutters Melissa used:

And here are a few shots of her final delicious result, of which I had the pleasure to partake during our bimonthly office pigout – hehe :

To Be Continued:

(Stay tuned for the rich and tasty crispy chocolate peanut butter bar recipe, coming very soon to an idratherfallinchocolate.wordpress.com near you…)

Bon Appetit (for now!)

They put marshmallows on pizzas now?

A week or so ago, one of my interns was leaving to go back to school. If you’re asking yourself whether I used that as an excuse to attempt a recipe….that would be an appropriate question.  My pick? Marshmallow pizza! Oh yes, you read correctly. And no, I did not mistaken ‘marshmallow’ for ‘mushroom’  – I heard that one already, thank you very much.

Let’s begin with the raw materials:
1.75 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of softened (unsalted) butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of  firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1.25 cups of chopped pink and white marshmallows
1 large egg
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup of  roasted peanuts
Tools & Bakeware
12 inch nonstick pizza pan
mixing bowl and whisk (or an electric mixer, if you can afford it!)
rolling pin

What I did and what you should do given what I did:

I swear, when I started, it was with the best of intentions. I dragged Jay to the nearest Stop n Shop with a specific list in hand. Unsalted butter? Check. Granulated white sugar? Firmly packed light brown sugar? Check Check! Pizza pan?? CHECK. But here’s the number one rule I learned ever since I started this baking business: Never expect to get everything you want. Like that time I tried to make passion fruit cupcakes in the middle of winter…kinda hard to get the passion fruit in December, my friends. So anyway, maybe when you were 5, pink marshmallows were an easily accessible luxury – but wait until you need it for your intern’s cookie pizza, and all you’ll get is literally rows of white marshmallows in all shapes and sizes and not a single other color. What happened to diversity? In either case, all white it was going to have to be – and I made sure to pick up a bag of mini marshmallows to avoid the whole chopping endeavor altogether.

What to do: Back in the cozy kitchen, I set my oven to 375 F, pulled out my trusty companion: The Golden Book of Baking by Carla Bardi et al., and got to work preparing the “dough.” As hinted at above, I’m way too poor to afford an electric mixer – and let’s face it, I’m writing  off this kitchen duty as gym time – so I arm myself with the rustic bowl and whisk. I combined the flour and salt in one mixing bowl and set it aside. In a second bowl, I whisked together the partially melted butter (stick it in the microwave for 20-25 seconds to get a nice half-solid mixture) and both types of sugar. You may have to go till your arm aches a bit, but the end result needs to be relatively smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract, followed by the egg. Now, remember that other bowl with the flour and salt? You’ll want to combine that with our creamy mixture gradually. At some point using the whisk might become difficult as the mixture becomes increasingly drier and doughier. Switch to a large spoon or even your hands, but keep in mind that the goal should be to fully integrate the flour into the mixture, avoiding unmixed clumps. Even without an electric mixer, I did not find it very difficult to do in this recipe. That chocolate cake, however, was a different battle – but that’s also a story for a different post.

Once the dough is prepared, the most difficult part is over. You’ll want to take your creation and spread it evenly across the pizza pan. Having a rolling pin to help you out would be pretty useful, and believe me I should know, having had to spread the dough with my hands because…ahem…still no rolling pin in MY kitchen. Sigh. Now, stick it in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Mine was still a little soft when I took it out. Once out, decorate it with marshmallows (all colors welcome), chocolate chips, and roasted peanuts. This is what mine looked like when I finished:

After you’re done, you want to stick it back in the oven for another 5 minutes or so until the marshmallows are golden and toasted.

I expected the marshmallows to be more melted by the time the 5 minute bell rang, and since they in fact were not, I kept my pizza in the oven for probably an extra 7 minutes or so. Despite being a strong supporter for improvisation and deviation, this is one change I would not recommend. Here’s why: In essence, you’re making a huge cookie piled on with stuff. Keeping a cookie too long in the oven prevents it from staying soft and chewy and causes it to harden relatively fast, as my coworkers found out the next day. Since I overbaked my cookie, I had to stuff it back in the oven at work (thank god for ovens at work!!) to soften it and the marshmallows before serving. Otherwise, while completely delicious, one could have ended up going home with a broken jaw. So, the lesson here: Don’t overbake your cookie! And if you want melted marshmallows on your pizza, maybe chopping up even the minis wouldn’t be a bad idea. In either case, it was beautiful when it came out and the scrumptious smell of it permeated every fiber in the apartment. For days, all I could think of was living in a gingerbread house.

If you decide to make a marshmallow pizza, make sure to have a slice for me too. And don’t forget to let me know how it goes!

Bon Appetit!

The Initiation

Full Disclosure: I’ve recently been bitten by the baking bug. By weekday, I may be a newly published (woohoo!) research assistant, but by weekend – I cannot wait to jump out of bed and get my hands deep in egg yolk and sugar. It makes me feel  creative, consumed, and entirely happy. Well, maybe not consumed quite yet, but each successful recipe gets me one step closer to joining Baking Anonymous. Let me put this in some context. I’ve always wanted to learn how to prepare food, and particularly desserts, but with a hundred marvelous russian cooks (aka my mother and grandmother) already in my tiny Brooklyn kitchen, it hardly leaves me any time to try my luck. By the time I’m home, I’m ready to zonk out in front of Castle, Bones, or Fringe with a half-eaten lean pocket. I know, I know.

Fast forward a few months to December 2009. Several hard life lessons and one very broken friendship left me pining for something a little more sweet – and not the purchasable kind. Sure, I wanted to eat my end result, but for me it was about taking the small individual pieces and making something whole, rich, and delicious. Call it a not too subtle metaphor of how I wanted to deal with my inner PTSD. And with the holiday season only a few short days away, I could not have had a better incentive to get to work. Great, but let’s be honest – I did not get well on my way without some serious help. This cinderella wasn’t ready for the ball just yet. First, I needed an oven. Even if my kitchen became suddenly available, it would still be no use since my oven is perpetually awaiting repair. And for that oven, I needed bakeware, none of which I owned up until that point. Thanks to a fairy godmother or two, a boyfriend to the rescue, and what I like to think of as some serious wishin’ and hopin’, by the time Dec. 23rd rolled around I had a magnificent bakeware set, filled with cookie sheets, casserole pans, not one but TWO pie pans and a lasagna dish, measuring cups and spoons, a spatula scraper, two baking books, a Julia-Child-wisdom-in-the-kitchen-in-less-than-150-pages book, and last but not least – Jay’s kitchen with a fabulously working oven! AH! What can I say, I was dressed and ready to go – and my pick for that Christmas was nothing less than the melt in your mouth, sweetly pepperminty candy cane cookies, sprinkled with powdered sugar and crushed candycanes!

Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of my own final result, something I intend to include from here on in, but here is a copy of the recipe I used from the NY Times, shared by Melissa Camero Ainslie. They were absolutely amazing, so much so that I made a second batch a couple of days later and carried them straight to work.  No good reason not to share my new found delicious habit. And needless to say, the recipe still hangs on the fridge door.

And so dear reader, prepare yourself for an adventure, the only appropriate word one can use when one finds herself on a weekly basis covered in melting  grated dark chocolate or on the floor crushing candy in a baggy with a wine bottle because the kitchen is thus far conveniently missing a rolling pin. Hmm….but that’s another story. What do I hope to include here? A chronicle of my journey navigating the kitchen. There will be recipes, mishaps, mouth-watering pictures, and a few culinary surprises here and there as I urge my friends (and you!) to divulge their kitchen secrets. Since my first attempt in December, Jay’s kitchen has already seen potato and tomato quiches, vegetable lasagnas, apricot coconut macaroons, marshmallow pizzas, tiramisus, and of course – the exquisite cocoa chocolate cake with a custard-like chocolate cream, topped off with toasted almonds. What is it they say? I have proof – and I definitely won’t be afraid to use it.

Bon Appetit!