The Baking Wizard | Greg Patent

Gingered Rhubarb Cobbler

June 13, 2013

It took me a long time and a lot of persistence on my wife’s part to get me to try and ultimately like rhubarb. Such a strange plant. Edible stalks supporting poisonous leaves, and tart beyond belief. What finally made me a convert was a dish of stewed sweetened rhubarb. The complex flavors were completely in balance, and I actually asked, “May I have some more, please.” Every time I make a dessert with rhubarb I strive for that special sweet-tart balance, and this cobbler is a happy result of my experiments. [...Read More]

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GIVEAWAY: Oxo Egg Beater makes a Dutch Baby

May 31, 2013

in Baking equipment,Eggs,Pancakes,Recipes

A Dutch Baby is neither Dutch nor a baby. It is essentially a pancake batter baked in a skillet. As it bakes, the sides of the pancake rise dramatically and become crusty, contrasting with the tender center. It looks spectacular. Originally the batter was baked in smaller pans, hence the word “baby.” The word Dutch likely refers to the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were German immigrants, with Dutch being a corruption of the German deutsch. [...Read More]

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Chocolate Mousse Tart

May 20, 2013

in Chocolate,Pastry,Pies and Tarts,Recipes

Every so often I get a certain dessert idea into my head and start scribbling down possibilities on a piece of paper. No, I don’t run to my computer to type. I find that writing things down on paper takes longer and gives me enough of a window that specifics start to take shape.

The idea I had last week was for a chocolate mousse served in a shortbread-like tart shell. I didn’t want a pie, I wanted a tart. And a tart shell is very different from a pie crust.

For this tart shell, I creamed butter with sugar and salt then gradually added a beaten egg with some vanilla and beat everything together until smooth and creamy.

I added the flour all at once and mixed on low speed until the dough gathered into several masses.

Gather all the pieces together, knead them together briefly to form a lump of dough, then flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate briefly to make the dough easy to roll.

Sugary crusts can be temperamental. Often they like to fall apart during rolling or show faint lines of cracking after they’re baked. Adding just enough, but not too much, sugar makes the chilled dough easy to roll. The trick here is to have the dough just cold enough but not too cold. Cold enough means that the dough is malleable but not so firm that it falls apart when you try to roll it. But have no fear. Even if the dough does fall apart, this tart dough—unlike a pie dough—will not get tough when you rework it into a disk and begin rolling it again.

Once you’ve rolled the dough and fit it into the tart pan (see recipe), if the dough breaks at any point, you can “heal” it simply by pressing the pieces together. The thing to remember when fitting the dough into the tart pan is to make the thickness as even as possible on the sides and bottom. And you don’t have to rush the process.

Once the dough is shaped, cover it loosely with plastic and refrigerate to firm it up. Then it’s ready to bake. You don’t need to line the pastry shell with foil and pie weights or beans, something I always do when baking a pie crust. Here’s what the baked crust looks like.

The mousse filling is light and airy and contrasts perfectly with the tart crust. Although I just use vanilla as the flavoring, feel free to use a liqueur such as Kahlua, Tia Maria, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau, or any other flavoring that pairs well with chocolate. Here is the mousse with the whipped cream ready to be folded in.

You can make the crust a day ahead and leave it at room temperature, loosely wrapped. You can even fill the crust with the mousse and refrigerate it overnight. On serving day, just make the topping and decorate the pie with the grated chocolate.

Chocolate Mousse Tart

You’ll need a 9- to 10-inch tart pan with fluted sides and a removable bottom.

Pastry

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and slightly softened

¼ cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 ounces (1 ½ cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, measured by spooning flour into dry measuring cups to overflowing and sweeping off excess with a straight edge

Chocolate Mousse Filling

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

5 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, separated

1/4 teaspoon salt

¼ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup heavy cream

Topping

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Grated bittersweet chocolate for decorating

Making the Pastry

1. Put the butter into a medium-size bowl and add the sugar and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. If you have a stand mixer with a flat beater, use it to do the job. Scrape the bowl and beater.

2. Combine the egg and vanilla in a small cup. Add to the butter and sugar gradually while beating on low; beat until each addition is incorporated before adding the next. When all the egg has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat 1 to 2 minutes more, or until smooth.

3. Add the flour and beat on low until the flour is completely incorporated and the dough gathers into several large masses. Dough may be slightly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press together to form one lump. Knead briefly—just a few strokes—incorporating as little flour as possible, until the dough is completely smooth.

4. Flatten the dough into a ½-inch-thick disk, wrap securely in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the dough a bit.

Shaping and Baking the Crust

1. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a circle measuring 12- to 13-inches in diameter. Fold the dough in half and center it over the tart pan. Set the dough down gently onto the rim of the pan, and carefully unfold the dough. Lift an edge of the dough and push some of the excess down into the pan making the sides of the dough a tad thicker than the bottom. Repeat as you work your way all around the pan. Run a rolling pin across the tart pan to cut away excess dough. With your fingertips, smooth the dough all around the sides and bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic from the chilled dough and prick the bottom all over with a fork. Don’t be concerned if the fork doesn’t penetrate the chilled dough completely. Set the tart pan on a baking sheet and put into the oven.

3. Bake about 20 minutes total, until the tart shell is completely cooked and golden brown with the edges a bit darker than the bottom. Check the shell after 10 minutes of baking to see if it is puffing up. If it is, remove the pan from the oven and re-prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork. Return to the oven to finish baking. When baked, remove from the oven and cool completely.

4. To remove the tart shell from the pan, set the pan onto a surface slightly smaller than the bottom of the pan, such as a can or small bowl, and the sides of the pan should fall away from the tart. Use a large metal spatula to release the shell from the pan bottom and slide it onto a dessert platter.

To Make the Filling

1. Melt the chocolate with the water in a medium bowl set over a larger bowl with simmering water. Do not allow the water to reach the bottom of the bowl. Stir occasionally with a whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from above the water and whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Add the vanilla and whisk until smooth.

2. In a clean bowl with clean beaters, whip the egg whites with the salt on medium-low speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until the whites form soft peaks that droop at their tips when the beater is raised. Sprinkle in the sugar in a thin stream and continue beating until the whites are shiny and form stiff, slightly quavering peaks, when the beater is raised.

3. Stir about one-fourth of the whites into the chocolate to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites carefully and gently until just a few streaks of white show. Whip the cream until it holds a soft shape, not until stiff. Fold it into the mousse carefully until no streaks of white remain. Transfer the mousse to the cooled tart shell set on a dessert platter. If all of the filling won’t fit, refrigerate the tart for 15 minutes to allow the filling to set a bit, but keep the remaining filling at room temperature. Once the filling in the tart shell is slightly firm, you can spoon the remaining filling on top. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.

To Make the Topping

1. In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla until the cream is stiff enough to hold its shape and is spreadable. Spread the cream over the filling and sprinkle with the grated chocolate. Refrigerate until serving time. Cut into portions with a sharp knife. This tart keeps well, refrigerated, for 3 or 4 days.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

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Gingered Pear, Strawberry, and Walnut Crisp

May 5, 2013

in Fruit,Nuts,Pears,Recipes,Strawberry

Perhaps what I love most about teaching at Rancho La Puerta is discovering what’s growing in the cooking school’s six acre organic garden. Last month it was strawberries, and lots of them. So I decided they’d go into the pear crisp I’d planned for dessert. Another place for discovery is the school’s pantry. A bag of crystallized ginger practically leapt into my hands, so naturally I had to add some to the dessert as well. It’s these unpredictable moments that astonish me and lead to variations in a recipe I hadn’t originally contemplated.

You can make this a gluten-free dessert by substituting a gluten-free baking mix for the flour.

This crisp comes together very quickly and makes an ideal impromptu dessert. Serve it plain or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Gingered Pear, Strawberry, and Walnut Crisp

Filling

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

1⁄2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1⁄8 teaspoon mace

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1⁄2 pound ripe, juicy strawberries

1 1⁄2 pounds firm, ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks

½ cup finely diced crystallized ginger

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping

1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1⁄3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

1⁄2 cup walnut halves or large pieces

1. Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine both sugars, the cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and flour. Use your fingertips to break up any lumps of brown sugar. Rinse the strawberries and pat them dry on paper towels. Remove the hulls and cut the berries into 1⁄4- to 1⁄2-inch-thick slices. (You should have about 2 cups.) Add the pears, strawberries, ginger, and vanilla to the sugar mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is well moistened. Turn into an ungreased 9x9x2-inch baking pan or a 10-inch round baking dish 2 inches deep.

3.To make the topping in a food processor, place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add both sugars, the cinnamon, and butter. Pulse 3 or 4 times to begin cutting the butter into smaller pieces. Add the walnuts and pulse rapidly about 10 times until both the butter and the nuts are finely chopped.

4.To make topping by hand, combine the flour, both sugars, and the cinnamon in a large bowl. Use your fingertips to break up any lumps in the brown sugar. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender until the particles resemble small peas. Chop the walnuts medium-fine with a large knife and stir them in.

5.Turn mixture over the filling and spread it gently with your hands, without packing it down, to cover the filling completely. Place the pan in the oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is very bubbly and the topping is a rich brown color. Remove from the oven, cool, and serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8 servings.

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Pear and Almond Galette

April 21, 2013

in Food processor recipes,Pastry,Pears,Pies and Tarts,Recipes

Teaching at Rancho La Puerta is always full of surprises. The guests who sign up for my classes are a diverse group of extremely accomplished people from all walks of life. But in the kitchen, we’re all equals, because in the time we have together there is one aim: to cook a menu of seven recipes in two hours and to sit and enjoy the meal together. Cooking is all about the pleasures of the table and the sense of community it fosters.

At my first class, Dana Shaltry, a pediatric orthodontist, volunteered to make the dessert, a rustic French pear galette. I had demonstrated how to make the ground almond bases and pastry with a food processor, and Dana took it from there. He rolled the dough into a rough circle, cut the pears into thin slices, and arranged the fruit beautifully over the ground almonds.

Once the fruit is arranged, he sprinkled on some sugar, scattered dots of butter on top, and folded the sides of the dough around the pears, pressing firmly to adhere.

After baking, we served wedges of the galette with a spoonful of creme fraiche.

Here’s the recipe.

Pear and Almond Galette

You’ll need a 14-inch pizza pan or large rimmed baking sheet for baking the galette.

Pastry

1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably organic

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter

3 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

Ground Almond Base

¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pear Filling

3 large ripe pears, Bosc or d’Anjou

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

4 tablespoons sugar

1. To make the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Slice the cold butter and add to the bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into smaller pieces, about ½ inch or so. Then reach into the bowl, and with your fingertips, rapidly press and flatten the butter pieces into flakes. Work quickly so the butter doesn’t soften and don’t be concerned about flattening every piece of butter. Add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, and stir and toss with a fork to combine. Stir just until the dough comes together in one mass. If the dough seems dry, add only enough additional water to make it cohere. Shape the dough into a ¾-inch-thick disc—you’ll see large flakes of butter in the dough—and enclose with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to firm the dough.

2. To make the ground almond base, process the almonds, flour, sugar, and cinnamon with a food processor for a few seconds until the nuts are finely ground.

3. If you have a baking stone, set it on the center shelf of your oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you don’t have a baking stone, just preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

4. To shape the galette, roll the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface into a very thin, roughly shaped circle, 14 inches in diameter. If the dough is very firm, let it sit at room temperature about 10 minutes or tap the pastry all over with the rolling pin to flatten it a bit, then roll it out. You may not think the dough will be able to become 14 inches in diameter, but it will. (If the dough feels too soft, fold it in half, transfer it to the pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet, unfold it, and refrigerate a few minutes.) Do not be concerned about rough edges of dough or if your circle is perfect. This is rustic. What’s important is that the dough is thin, thin, thin. The butter flakes melt during baking and the pockets of air that are formed make the pastry flaky.

5. Transfer the dough to the pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the ground almonds and flour onto the center of the dough and distribute with your fingers into a thin powdery circle about 11-inches in diameter.

6. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Slice each quarter lengthwise into 5 thin wedges. Arrange all but 6 of the pear wedges on the dough in a spoke pattern, overlapping them slightly. Cut the remaining pear wedges and arrange them in the center of the tart to form a decorative rose. Dot the pear slices with the pieces of butter and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Bring up edges of the pastry to cover the outer edge of pears and press gently to adhere. Brush the pastry with water and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

7. Put the galette into the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or maybe even longer, until the pear juices bubble thickly, like a syrup, and the pastry is well-browned with random darker spots. The sugar must be well caramelized.

8. Cool the galette on its pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then transfer with a wide metal spatula to a wire cooling rack. Sometimes juices leak onto the pan during baking causing the galette to stick, so loosen the galette carefully to avoid tearing the pastry. The galette is best when very fresh. Serve it plain. It needs nothing extra.

Makes 8 servings.

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Yeasty Cheese Buns

April 9, 2013

in Cheese,Recipes,Yeast breads

I was in the mood for something yeasty and cheesy and easy, and I remembered a recipe I included in my book, Baking in America. I had beaten a soft blue cheese into a thick yeast batter, spooned it into muffin cups, and after one hour-long rise, the rolls were ready to bake. The result? A fine-crumbed exceedingly tender bun loaded with cheese flavor. The dough takes only minutes to make with a heavy-duty mixer. And although I haven’t tried it, I’m sure the food processor would make even quicker work of it. If you start this a couple of hours before dinner, the buns’ll be ready when you are. [...Read More]

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