A Sweet Mouthful of Praliné

 

It wasn't just the first mouthful of praliné that made an impression: it was every single one.

I've mentioned the chocolates from Carl in Saint Dié and how everyone, seemingly, counts them amongst their favorites. Carl chocolates have always been packaged the same ever since I can remember: a shiny bag of dark pink color tinged with purple, with a telltale crunching sound that gives you away whenever you reach in for an extra chocolate.

Seeing the metallic pink creates a sort of Pavlovian reaction in my brain, much like the strange thought of cold chocolate milk whenever I see a violet. I'll admit that food-related associations are rife in Lucie-land, but still. Whenever I see the shiny pink, I think praliné.

Praliné paste is made by grinding hazelnuts, almonds, and sugar. Pretty great, right? Mix some chocolate in, and cover that with another layer of chocolate to trap it in a delicious envelope. Tah-dah! You've got my favorite chocolate ever. One bite and I'm back in Urbana, opening up a huge box filled with doll clothes, sweaters from France, and Carl chocolates. The creaminess of the praliné is a perfect complement to the underlying nutiness, melded with the lusciousness of milk chocolate--my favorite for praliné.

Now, picture praliné...in macaron form. A praliné ganache, sandwiched between two fluffly cookies made of hazelnut powder instead of the usual almond powder. Sure, they may not look like your traditional macaron, but I can assure you that one bite and you'll forget all about it. The outer layers of the macaron have a satisfying crunch, followed by a moist crumb that leads up to a creamy, ultra-rich ganache.

Now that's a sweet mouthful that can only lead up to...a second one. Package them in a shiny turquoise bag, and you'll see that creating Pavlovian responses isn't magic. It's all about baking.

Praliné Macarons

makes approximately 72 macarons

The macaron base used in this recipe is the classic, which you'll find right here. Simply use finely ground hazelnuts instead of almond powder, or use half and half. Also, omit the food coloring.

Praliné Ganache

Note: Praliné chocolate for baking may prove difficult to find in the United States, but it's worth the search! Poulain and Nestlé Dessert both make it here in France, but the Poulain version, called Pralinoise, has a higher proportion of actual praliné.

3/4 c. heavy cream

2 TB unsalted butter

9 oz. praliné baking chocolate

Chop chocolate and place in a medium bowl.

Bring cream to a boil, and pour over chocolate. Let stand for a minute before mixing delicately, without incorporating any extra air.

Once mixture is warm, add butter cut into small pieces and mix until blended. Refrigerate until cold.

When ready to use, beat ganache like you would whipped cream. It will get lighter in color and should feel whipped.

Pipe onto macaron shells. Refrigerate 24 hours before serving.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Post-Christmas

 

What will you be doing on December 28th?

I've been spending a good part of my day throwing furtive glances around me. As I write this, I have one hand digging into a box of quince candied fruit squares (called pâte de fruit in France) because I just couldn't stand thinking about them anymore.

In front of me are three bowls. One is filled with lychees, and the other two are piled high with chocolate. If I round the corner near the fireplace, I head towards the cookie box. The kitchen is the riskiest zone in the house. You'll wish you were Shiva and had many more hands than you do now, just so you could dig into the box of candied chestnuts, the gingerbread house, caramel marshmallows, and a giant Toblerone all at once. I guess maybe I should put multiple arms on my Christmas list for next year.

Now, let's imagine you wanted to get a little work out by climbing up the stairs. Watch out! In my room are the contents of my Christmas stocking...more chocolate.

Some would say I'm living in paradise, and I pretty much agree. I must be dreaming, though. I think I need an extra chocolate just to make sure this is all real. Then again, my friends, this is Post-Christmas: time to eat vegetables, limit yourself to five chocolates a day, and stop putting your Christmas presents into piles just to look at them over and over again.

Who am I kidding? I do that with my Christmas presents all year long. I hope you had a wonderful holiday; I know I sure did. The days after Christmas make some people sad, but the only reason I can think of is that there's no more chocolate yule log left.

In France, the chocolate bûche is a classic--and usually my Maman's thing. I was always a big eater of bûche, but never tried my hand at making one until this year. And since I would rather eat something good than completely failed on Christmas day, I only did half of the work and teamed up with my Maman for the rest.

This would make a great dessert all throughout the holiday season, so if you're looking for a beautiful way to end a meal, give this recipe by the esteemed Jacques Pépin a try. It's tasty and light, so you'll be able to polish off the bowl of chocolates afterwards.

Sounds like a plan I would stick to.

Chocolate Yule Log

from The Art of Cooking by Jacques Pépin

serves 10 to 12

for Jelly Roll Cake:

8 eggs, separated

2/3 c. granulated sugar

1 TS vanilla

2/3 c. flour

for Chocolate Pastry Cream Filling:

3 egg yolks

1/3 c. granulted sugar

2 TB cornstarch

1 TS vanilla

1 1/2 c. milk

5 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

for Rum-Chocolate Ganache:

4 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 TB dark rum

for Decorations (optional):

1/2 tube marzipan

food coloring

Make Jelly Roll Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Beat 8 egg yolks, 2/3 c. sugar and vanilla together until very fluffy and smooth, approximately 1 minute. Add flour and whisk until smooth.

Beat egg whites until firm. Fold yolk mixture gently into whites.

Butter a parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan (12 x 16 in). Spread cake batter evenly on top.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Cake will deflate as it cools.

Make Pastry Cream: Beat egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla together.

Meanwhile, bring milk to a boil. Pour boiling milk into yolk mixture, whisk, and return to saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and boil for about 10 seconds. remove from heat.

Add chocolate and stir gently until chocolate is melted and evenly distributed. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Assembly: When the pastry cream is cold, spread it on top of the cake (with parchment paper still underneath cake). Lift up the cake using the paper and roll it on itself. Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate overnight or up to one day.

Finish Log: Cut off both ends at an angle--these ends will be used to make the "stumps" on top of the log.

Make ganache: Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Place cream and rum in a bowl and pour melted chocolate on top. Whisk for 15 to 30 seconds until mixture lightens slightly in color. Do not overwhisk, which would cause discoloration and hardening of the ganache. 

Coat cake with a small layer of ganache. Place "stumps" on top. Continue coating with ganache and using a fork, create a bark effect.

Optional: Using marzipan and food coloring, make marzipan leaves and mushrooms to place on log.

Refrigerate until serving. 

Who Stole my Stollen?

Also known as,

"Why do I keep instant yeast with a December 2009 use-by date?"

Like with many a baked good not involving chocolate or obscene amounts of sugar, stollen and I have a rocky past.

For those of you unfamiliar with stollen, it is a bread-cake hybrid usually enjoyed during the Christmas season in Germany. Chock full of dried fruit, some versions also have an alluring marzipan center--you'll have no trouble guessing that's my favorite part.

When I was younger, I made a run for the chocolate or sugar-covered lebkuchen when Christmastime came around. My sister, meanwhile, indulged in stollen: the one thing I probably never tried to pry from her hands. I'd rather we didn't get into all those Barbie heads I pulled off. No, really, I'm not even sure that ever happened.

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for my calorie intake, I grew into loving every and any baked good I can get my hands on. Stollen is no exception. The yeasty cake is made even more moist thanks to raisins, almonds and candied zest. The taste doesn't scream "HOLIDAY SEASON!", yet hints at it with elegant subtelty.

Now, a stollen made with yeast that doesn't provoke any chemical reaction is another story. It becomes a denser block of dough and fruit--one with a marzipan filling. Meaning, I ate it anyway and it wasn't bad at all. And I guess even my sister agreed.

I'm quite positive, however, that Mary's recipe which I used and adapted according to what I had on hand is great--and all aspiring stolleners (stollen makers in made-up language) should have a go at it.

It's sure to be a Stollen Christmas--just don't tell anyone you're the thief.

Dresdner Stollen

makes two medium loaves

recipe adapted from One Perfect Bite

2 3/4 c.  flour
1/4 TS salt
1 scant TB instant yeast
1/2 c. milk
6 TB butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 c. dark raisins
3/4 c. white raisins
zest of one lemon
zest of one orange
1/2 c. lightly toasted chopped almonds
1 tube (6 to 7-ounces) almond paste
Confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, mix salt and flour. Microwave on high for 1 minute, or heat in a saucepan for 2 minutes, watching closely. Add yeast and whisk.

Heat butter, milk, and hugar in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Let cool slightly. When mixture is tepid, add egg and whisk to combine.

Blend both mixtures together and add raisins and zest.

On a floured surface, knead for approximately 5 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let sit in a warm spot until doubled in size (about two hours).

Separate dough into two logs, and flatten into rectangles. Add a log of almond paste in the center of each rectangle and roll dough around it. Pinch edges and turn the loaves seam side down.

Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let sit until doubled.

Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C. Bake on the middle rack until golden, approximately 30 minutes.

Remove form oven, brush top with butter, and let cool 30 minutes. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

Workday Linzer Cookies

A bilingual post, specially in honor of my friend and colleague Aurélie's grandma:

I woke up this morning thinking I was going to cut back on the cookies for the week and a half up to Christmas...ha. Yeah right.

Enter Aurélie, the bearer of Christmas cookies, freshly baked by her grandma. Like the most meticulous of surgeons (and especially after scarfing down six of them), I dissected the cookie. Oh, I forgot to mention: this is a sandwich cookie. In other words, perfection.

Layer 1: Cookie. Is that hazelnut and almond powder I detect? A delightfully crisp texture: melt-in-your-mouth, yet it doesn't break apart. Ooh wee.

Layer 2: Jam! Visions of wrapping myself in my comforter and drinking hot chocolate start to burst forth.

Layer 3: Cookie again, with a hole (or two!) to see the jam. And, as the French say cerise sur le gâteau, a paper-thin layer of royal icing.

Three layers for the perfect workday snack. Although, all things told, I would gladly eat these weekday and weekend. The best part is, like all family-made cookies, I don't have the recipe. The mystery yummy.

                                                                          *********

Des gâteaux de Noël, rien de tel pour contrer un long lundi au travail. Au diable les envies de régime (comme tous les lundis, cette fois je m'y mets)...je me retrouve face à face avec un sachet rempli de gâteaux faits maison, qui plus est par la grand-mère de mon amie et collègue Aurélie.

Deux couches de sablé, délicieusement parfumé à ce qui semble être de la noisette et de l'amande...entourant une fine couche de confiture. Sans oublier un glaçage à peine visible à l'oeil nu, mais qui rajoute un petit quelque chose qui rend le biscuit parfait.

J'ai failli rentrer directement chez moi, sachet à la main, pour me cacher sous ma couette et les tremper dans une grande tasse de chocolat chaud... mais ça aurait été trop visible. Dommage. Je me suis donc contentée de garder la main dans le sac toute la journée. Une journée parfaite, quoi.

Merci mamie d'Aurélie!

Let It Snow Chocolate Crinkles

Every morning, on my way to work, I walk about thirty minutes.

When it was still summertime and the walk took me through a lush green park filled with tennis courts and children taking their lesson, it was actually quite nice. The sun was shining bright, the birds chirped, and I had a spring in my step on my way to work.

Fast-forward to December. By the time I'm on my way to work, the sun has barely risen, and chances are I'm trudging through rain, slush, or usually a mix of both. Everyone looks gloomy, hidden underneath scarves and coats and the morning fog. And the cute little park? Well, it's empty and filled with remnants of  fall leaves, making the ground slippery and forcing anyone to look at their feet rather than at the sky.

There is only one way I can get to work without becoming a grumpy employee these days, and I'm the first to admit it just might be a little ridiculous. I have a four-song playlist that I put on repeat, and every single one of those four songs is of the Christmas variety. Hey, I'm entitled to it: December 25th is less than three weeks away, after all.

Here's my problem, however: listening to Christmas songs triggers something in my organism. I get the Christmas bug. My mind functions like a flowchart: Christmas songs leads to Christmas decorations leads to Christmas baking leads to peppermint leads to peppermint cookies.

Yep, Christmas peppermint cookies. Add a little chocolate to that and you've got exactly what I made last weekend. Chewy, "snow-covered" (can I at least pretend?), with a chocolate-mint taste that's just right. In other words, perfect for the season.

Did I mention that that flowchart was just a branch in the "master flowchart" of Christmas? Christmas baking leads to almond paste, also leads to gingerbread, also leads to... you get the idea. Infinite possibilities for a cookie-covered Christmas. You'll be ready to take on that dirty weather.

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

adapted from the Betty Crocker Cooky Book

makes 3 dozen cookies

1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 TS vanilla extract
1 TS peppermint extract
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 TS baking powder
1/4 TS salt
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar

Mix oil, chocolate and granulated sugar in a bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Add vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Stir flour, baking powder and salt into oil mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C when ready to bake.

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into confectioners' sugar and shape into balls. Place on a baking sheet and bake approximately 10 minutes.

Cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container.

Christmas Sachertorte

(Or how an epic fail turned into a yummy cake.)

"The night before Christmas" evokes magic and holiday spirit. It can also bring up images on delicious White Chocolate Macadamia Rasperry cakes from Fine Cooking... that is, until you actually follow the recipe step-by-step, and put the first cake layer in the oven for "28 to 35" minutes. 28 minutes later, unbaked. 35? Same thing. An hour later, the layer was baked, but once it cooled there was no doubt about it: too much butter in the recipe. Just putting my finger on the cake made it glistening, and although the cake wasn't terrible-tasting, it did have a strong butter note that I could've done without.

Off to the birds it went.

I wouldn't say it became The Nightmare Before Christmas, but it came close. I didn't know what to bake to make up for my ingredient-heavy and time-consuming failed cake. In fact, I didn't even know where to start looking. I wanted something easy but holiday-worthy, and those two don't go together much. And I definitely wanted a cake, not cookies or biscotti, as tempted as I was.

I settled on a chocolate cake, and decided to use the raspberries that were planned for cake #1. That is, until we realized that despite what the man at the market said, they had definitely gone bad. Raspberry jam would do. Chocolate, jam... sachertorte!

I would call this a modified sachertorte, because it seems that the traditional one uses apricot jam and a chocolate-syrup glaze (I used ganache). However, it came together easily and I added the raspberry jam and glaze the next morning. After a little decorating, the result was pretty nice. Well, especially nice after such a bad start!

And the taste? Everyone was happy, and the jam provided a nice contrast to the chocolate.

Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.

Christmas Sachertorte

Makes one 9-inch two-layer cake

(sorry for the European measurements!)

130g dark chocolate (Ghirardelli's 72% baking chips were great)

130g butter

40g confectioner's sugar

1 TS vanilla extract

pinch salt

6 eggs, whites and yolks separated

180g granulated sugar

130g all-purpose flour

350g raspberry jam

Chocolate Ganache

4 oz. dark chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler until smooth. Let cool to 35°C.

Beat butter, confectioner's sugar, salt, and vanilla with a mixer. Add chocolate and beat until fluffy. Add six egg yolks one at a time, until blended.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks with granulated sugar. Fold into the chocolate mixture.

Add flour and mix until combined.

Butter a 9-in. springform pan, and add a disk of buttered parchment paper to the bottom of the pan. Pour batter in, smooth, and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, approximately 40 minutes.

Once cake is completely cooled, split it in half to create two layers. Heat raspberry jam until it becomes easy to spread, and spread half between the two layers and on top layer.

Spread remaining jam on the sides of the cake and spread another layer on top. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes so the jam sets.

Make chocolate ganache: melt chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from heat and add cream, beating for 15 to 30 seconds. Spread on top and sides of cake. (This may seem like the "opposite" way to make ganache, but it works)

Decorate, and keep cake in a cool place until serving.

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas!

The best part of Christmas morning is getting up late after a night filled with opening presents...that is until the day you start baking dessert for the 25th when family comes over. In that case, it means getting up earlier to try and finish the cake you started on the 24th--mission accomplished! (But more on that later)

In honor of Christmas morning, a few pictures of my favorite muffins baked a few days ago in snowy Paris. Remember these?

Well, here they are, no recipe included. You know why? Just scroll down and you'll find out.

If someone asks me what I learned in 2009, I'll know what to reply: my favorite muffins come from a box mix. Well, in that case, I know who to give thanks to. Thank you, Betty Crocker!

And most of all, happy holidays to everyone!

Lebkuchen, or the Cookies I'll never make on my own

I know it's only October and even Halloween hasn't come and gone, but once I get into the fall state of mind, all I can think about is the holiday season.

"Holiday" has a specific meaning for me--sure, I like Thanksgiving and all--but I'm mostly thinking about Christmas and that little day a month beforehand... my birthday. No, I'm no longer six years old or celebrating my sweet sixteen, but my birthday is admittedly my favorite day of the year. After October 20th rolls around, November 20th isn't far behind and I start getting into my own version of the holiday spirit.

When I'm in Saint Dié, not so far from the German border, this means indulging in feasts of gingerbread cookies dipped in hot chocolate milk. I'd love to tell you a story of how the recipe for these was passed down for generations and generations, but that's not how it goes. You know those German discount supermarkets like Lidl, Aldi, and Norma? That's where it all takes place. The earlier you go--end of October is perfect--the fresher these cookies are.

Covered in chocolate or thin sugary icing, they're called Lebkuchen and look somewhat like bells or Christmas trees. Some of them also have tiny colored sprinkles, and sprinkles have always had a strange appeal for me. All I remember from a long flight delay that got us stuck at the Chicago O'Hare Hilton when I was 5 is the donut with sprinkles I had at the hotel. I don't think I even liked donuts, but I sure liked sprinkles.

Anyway, these Lebkuchen signal the beginning of my favorite part of the year. And the ones we bought today were absolutely perfect and possibly the best I've ever had: moist, tasty, and colorful. They were as fresh as can be, and though I couldn't even wait to get home for the hot chocolate that usually goes along with it--the parking lot is a fine place for Lebkuchen--they were all I needed.

All I can say now is that Holiday Season, Lucie Version, looks like it's off to a good start.

P.S. : If you want to go ahead and make Lebkuchen, here's a recipe that looks nice.