Busy Bee

Just a quick note to say I've been a busy busy gal. I've started a shiny new job at a sweet little bakery, and I'm getting ready for a trip to Arizona/Vegas to see some family and attend a wedding.
I made some delicious Irish Car Bomb cupcakes to celebrate both the holiday and my birthday last Monday. This time however I filled them with Jameson Truffles and topped them with Baileys whipped cream or the whipped cream mixed with some of the truffle mix. The Bailey cream topping was the best, hence there being none left to photograph. Also my husband lent out his good camera, so we just have out little old point and shoots. So, sorry all around for the crummy picture. I just don't like posting without a picture of some sort.
In other news I hate accounting and am currently dragging my feet on doing my homework for the class. I also have a little "science of baking" project in the works. I'll try to get that all wrapped up and posted before the trip.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I've been in a real pie mood lately. I'm not sure if spring is making me crave fruity fresh delights, or if it's just happenstance. I only know I find my mind drifting off to pie quite frequently.
This is another winner of a recipe from The Brass Sisters, so far everything I've made from their book had been fantastic. It help that Berkeley Bowl had some deep red rhubarb and fantasticly sweet strawberries.

Double Crust
(altered from The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball)

20 Tbs butter
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2T sugar
8-10 Tbs ice water (I generally end up adding about 11-12)

Sift together flour and sugar. Place bowl of dry ingredients and the butter in the freezer for at least half an hour. Grate frozen butter into the flour mixture (if your kitchen is warm, sticking the grater in the freezer for a few minutes can help keep things neat). Toss mixture to break up any clumps of butter. Sprinkle water over the flour and toss with a fork until it is somewhat evenly distributed. Kneed a time or two to get the dough to stick together, but no more than you have to. Divide in half and shape each piece into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for about half an hour (not super critical, but it makes the dough easier to work with)
Roll half of the dough out on floured surface and place in pie tin.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
From Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters

4-5 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2 pieces (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg ( I omit this, I love nutmeg but not in my fruit pie)
pinch of salt
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 Tbs butter (I omit this as well. I've never thought it made a pie better tasting, and my crusts are fatty enough)

Combine rhubarb, sugar, and flour. Set aside for one hour (I got pulled away from the kitchen and left it for a day and a half. As far as I can tell this had no negative effect on the filling). Preheat oven to 400°F. Strain rhubarb and collect the juice. Pour juice into a saucepan and add nutmeg and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until juice thickens. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Mix together with rhubarb and strawberries.
Add fruit to pie shell and dot with butter. Add top crust, crimp edges and cut decorative slits. Brush with egg wash (I was low on eggs, so I used milk. It works in a pinch)
Bake for 45-50 minutes. Make sure to have a pan beneath the pie as it is a leaky one. I forgot until I heard the drips spattering on the bottom of the oven, so I had a bit of a smoky mess.
This pie is very loose when fresh, but firms up nicely one cold. I however prefer hot messy pie, so I generally cut into mine as soon as they are out of the oven.

Some Late Love

I nearly forgot about my Daring Bakers post for February! Well I guess that is one drawback to finishing the challenge early, by the time the posting date comes around I've forgotten all about the task! The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef who chose a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy.
I had company over for dinner the night I made these, so there really wasn't time or space for fancy photography. I had been looking forward to making my own ice cream for the first time, but it just wasn't in the cards, so I had one of the guest bring some from the store. We had these still slightly warm with vanilla ice cream, and boy were they tasty. I spiced them up a little by tossing in some candied ginger, cinnamon, and another spice or two but in the end the extra flavors weren't very noticeable. This was a fast and easy dessert, and it disappeared in seconds.



Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
1 pound of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment. (I just used ungreased ramekins, I got four moderatly sized and one mini, but four would have work out best)
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick will have moist crumbs clinging to it
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.