TBB: Perfect Savory Cream Puffs (p304)

I made the Deluxe version of the choux pastry using bread flour and more egg whites.  I like how fluffy they turned out to be.  

I filled these with different flavor ice cream.. esp. in the hot weather, ice-cream is the best dessert isn't it? :D  Mango, Green Tea with Red Bean, Rum & Raisin flavors..  After the wedding dessert table thingy I did last weekend or was it 2 weekends ago?...my freezer for once was empty and thus I filled it with lots of ice-cream.. hee hee.. 

But since this is Savory cream puffs..I have to attempt to make the liver pate..faux gras.. 

Making of chicken liver faux gras. 

Chicken liver is very cheap here..I got whole lot of liver for only $1 which included 3 hearts that I threw away. 

Saute the onions with butter... then add cream and seasoning and more butter

Add liver and blend... turn into a not very pleasant color.

After I strained into a corning ware and steam bake it for 30 mins. 

Making of Choux Pastry.

I used hand to mix in and made double recipe since one batch of recipe seems too little. 

You need a good arm strength for this... 

Pipe onto floured baking tray.. 

All baked! :D  

So here's the liver faux gras after chilling in the fridge till next day.  I couldn't stand the smell of it after it was baked. During baking, it smells good. But not after. I wonder why?

The color turned even uglier when exposed to air. Seems like it oxidises. I learnt something new!  

When I dig into the pate underneath is pink.. but after 5 mins standing, the area exposed to air will turn grey. 

After chilling, the weird smell seems to have gone away.

I tried and it was a bit too rich for me.  A tiny bit goes a long way.  

Perhaps should mix in whipped cream to lighten it? Or add something?

Since nobody else wanted to try it, I decided not to make the port caramel.

I think this faux gras is good as a sandwich spread but not as a filling.  As sandwich spread you can spread thinly. But as a filling, you need quite substantial amount of it.  Or maybe it's just me..  

I think I need to try with the Foie Gras instead..:D  

TBB: Luscious Apple Pie

This time, I didn't follow the recipe as I should to make a flaky pie crust and as a result my crust wasn't flaky.  The weather was so hot plus I got a bit bored of making and eating pies! When I saw this on schedule, I was like 'Oh no.. not pie again!" So I just mix in the cream cheese and butter into the flour etc and when they got into dough, I asked my helper to just shape into round and place in the fridge for me. I'm not sure how long she took to shape into round, because when I rolled it, I can't find anymore butter or cream cheese pieces I last saw in the dough.. Maybe the hot weather melted both quickly.  

Straining apple juices

microwave juices into caramel 

cider looking like aspic after cooled

mixed altogether, caramel & cider

''

into the pie..  

Baked. 

The pie crust was a bit too thick. I didn't want to waste any crust so I just quickly rolled it to to fit the top of the crust and and seems like it is still doughy inside after 50 mins in the oven.  I should have let it stayed in the oven for 1hr instead.  The apple slices wasn't mushy and was still a bit crunchy in fact.  So I think I should have cooked it longer.

Overall, it is a great pie.. if I had done all the steps right, it would have been awesome apple pie. I like the flavor and esp. the cinnamon flavor - I opted the max cinnamon flavor in the pie. :) 

But like I said, I was kind of pie-out to begin with.  Now after 4 days, this pie is still sitting in my fridge and nobody is eating it except my helper.  See that 3/4 left over.. she managed to eat another 2/3 by herself and I think I would have to throw away the rest soon!  Good thing to have someone who can eat and not gain weight in the family. 

TBB: Flaky Cream Cheese Scones

These are very good. With crisp flaky crust and yet tender on insides.  I love them!  Everyone in my family said these are so good.  Plus these are so easy to make. 

Make the scones by hand.. rubbing in method.

I used orange zest and raisins. 

Press into 9" pan and refrigerate till firm.

After cut into 8 x wedges.

Baked.. and Eat. 

Couldn't wait for it to cool down. Just have to eat right away.

TBB: Perfect Peach Galette

I used frozen peach because there wasn't any peaches yet in stock.  I used 2 packets and they weigh 590g. I wished I had used 3 packets instead. Note to self: Next time used more peaches..the more the merrier..lol!  

Drained the juices. 

Microwaved the syrup juice for 6-7 mins.

Oh no..all hardened like candy.. Rose said not to worry..but I am still bothered by it. So I cut the caramel into tiny pieces..lol!  

Peaches look a lot but after baked..they shrink!  

I rolled the dough to 16" on the same baking paper that I am going to bake with. Easier for me imo...cos I rolled it the night before to 14" and then back in the fridge. The next day just before baking, I rolled it to 16" and then assembled and baked.   

Then wrapped it up like a big dumpling. 

I realised that there's a lot of pastry..and at this point I knew I wanted to have more peaches. But the pastry too thin and too soft to move it. 

I had extra pastry from the mulblueberry pie I made so I cut them up into hearts and put them all over.  Sprinkled 1 tsp of sugar all over too.

All baked. 

I managed to get a slice of photo before I left the house. 

That plate is a free plate - can't remember from where. I think Namiko Chan must be the designer.

And if you are wondering, I like to snack on popcorns..those are lightly salted popcorns :)  

There, another photo of the slice pie with the mulblueberry pie. 

Very yummy pie and pairs perfectly well with ice-cream. However, like I said I wished it had more peaches, at least 2x more imo.  Will definitely make this pie again. 

TBB: MulBlueberry (ElderBlueberry) Pie

I can't find any Elderberries.. in fact I have not seen elderberries before. I was all prepared to just use cranberries and canned gooseberries but when I saw mulberries on sale at the supermarket, I decided to try with mulberries.  My first time tasting mulberries. They didn't taste very good raw though.  I think mulberries have to be cooked to taste good...cos it tasted great in the pie.   

I also made the Peach Galette at the same time, since it's the same pastry, might as well do 2 together - more time efficient. Also I could share the pies with everyone during our district fellowship meeting too. :)   I didn't get a single slice photo, so you can have a sneak peak at my slice peach pie...(ps: I wish it had more peaches.. so fellow bakers who like more fruits, do add more peaches when you make it).  

I mixed the  mulberries and a bit of frozen cranberries I had leftover from ...the cranberries upside-down cake, I think?  

After I cooked it down, I realised it seems dry after cooled, so I added another box (200g?) of frozen blueberries in it.. I was hoping to have blueberries intact.

Roll the pastry etc..  

Baked 

It is not easy to take a good pic under 5 seconds!! 

I didn't even manage to take any good photos. 

Surprisingly mulberry tasted very well with blueberries. I think the mulberries impart a very red color - not so much the cranberries? I really don't know. Somehow I can't see any blueberries..and the tartness from the mulberries makes you think the blueberries are cranberries.  When in fact I only put a handful of cranberries.  Mulberries were crunchy before but after baking, it became soft and not so raw-tasting.

We ate the pie with vanilla ice-cream. Everyone liked the pie. Probably it paired very well the the ice-cream.  And everyone came to my pie counter first for dessert instead of eating the main dishes. lol!  The pies were the centre of attraction.   

My daughter who ate a slice without the ice-cream said it was a bit on the tart side.  

TBB: French Orange Cream Tart

My family loves oranges. We have oranges in our pantry 365 days. Actually, we have apples & grapes too 365 days. That's because these are the only fruits my son eats..and since he hardly eats vegetables (except for cauliflower & carrots which we 'hide' in his rice..anything green he will start spitting out or refuse to eat), I try to include more fruits in his diet.  It's even harder to introduce new food to him esp. he is an adult now and I cannot force him to try new things. But he is gradually maturing and is willing to try similar food. When he was younger, he would eat fried chicken at home but he refused to eat fried chicken anywhere else just because maybe the way it looked.  Even now, he would eat the same packet of potato chips but he will refuse to eat a bigger-sized same design packet. He only wants that 100g bag chip.   His food choice is very limited..and his diet now is still very much like toddler food.  So what we eat when we travel revolves around him. 

I digress..

This orange tart is amazing!  So intense orangey flavor! I can't get enough of it. This is my favorite tart so far.  The tart shell is awesome. Usually tart base will not be as crispy but this was very crisp even the base..all the way. So good! I didn't want to share this tart away. I kept this tart at home so I can as many slices as I can. LOL! 

My son's favorite shopping center is currently renovating their food basement, he is pretty upset that McDonalds and Supermarket is no longer there.  So every Saturday he still insists that we go somewhere else for McDonalds. After his lunch, to go back to the same shopping center to walk around his favorite party shop, toy shops and department store.  After he has to go to another location for that same branch supermarket... Now I spend more time outside than at home...having to travel 3 places with him.   That shopping center better have McDonalds and Supermarket after renovation!!! 

Now I have to bake weekend after work, instead of every Saturday.

I made the crust on Monday night. The weather was so hot - I read it is because of El Nino. Despite the hot weather, somehow I  managed to get the butter blended into the flour quite well and the butter didn't melt. And the pastry came together easily. I used sour cream instead of heavy cream because I had left over sour cream. And it was still a bit dry, so i added a tsp of Vodka and it was just right. Place in fridge overnight.

On Tuesday night, I rolled the dough...and I didn't turn on aircon so I had to roll faster than the butter melting.  

I managed to get into 12" round. But I had a hard time flipping this thin dough over the 8" pan without breaking!! I had the plastic wrap under and when i flip over the 8" pan the sides starts to tear..OMG! I had to quickly flip back over and onto the table again. Then this time I just flip it over to the tart pan directly and it was ok. Slight crack at the sides which was caused by the tear earlier. I just pressed into place. Next time I think I better just flip onto the tart tin directly! 

After I wrapped with plastic wrap and into the fridge to rest overnight.  Oh ya, I didn't have a lot of dough left...just a tiny bit. Maybe I rolled too thick? 

On Wednesday, I took out the chilled tart shell and place the pie weights on it. I can't find my coffee filter...don't know where I kept it..so I just crumpled a piece baking paper instead. 

After I removed the pie weights and bake again, the tart shell shrank..you can see the gap.. (please mind the gap.. recently 2 women accidentally stepped into our subway train station platform gap and had their leg stuck there until help came...must have been quite painful).  Looks a bit over baked....:P

Next to make the filling. I reduced the juices via microwave.  The only thing is I don't know how to gage to reduce it to 86g or 6 tbsp. I stopped once to measure and it was still 140g or there about and then the next 2 mins, it was less than 86g! Thankfully I had little orange juice leftover and I microwaved that to half and added to make 86g. I always thought reduced orange juice will be bitter. In fact it wasn't. This is such a good way to get intense orange flavor! :D  Thanks Rose!  

Added the cream & egg mixture and pour into the tart shell. I was expecting more filling because I thought my pan was around 9" (not 9.5") and the fact that the tart shrank too. But the filling was just right! Yippee! :D

Baked for 40mins and custard all set. The thin baking sheet warped when I placed in oven and the filling was not even..,lopsided slightly to one side.  Place into fridge overnight. 

Thursday night after work, took the orange tart out of the fridge and sprinkled half tablespoon of powdered sugar and the powdered sugar disappeared  immediately. LOL!  I think must be the condensation formed on the cold tart (the cold tart vs the warm room temp..lots of condensation!) that melted the powdered sugar. I sprinkled half more and it was disappearing again... Photo below taken by my helper when I was trying to fix the blow torch to get ready to torch the sugar - by the time I turn around, I can't see any more sugar on it..I tried to torch it..but nothing happened..I wasn't sure if I was cooking my custard or burning the sugar...haha  

Then I sprinkled some granulated sugar. I didn't want to sprinkle lots because I was worried it might be too sweet after all I had 1 tablespoon full of powdered sugar earlier. So you can see the photo below..there were bits of sugar here and there. I tried to caramelize the sugar again but seemed like nothing was happening, more like I was burning my crust and cooking the surface of my custard instead.  Ok..I admit, I am afraid of the fire actually..it's very scary with the fire blowing out like that... I remembered my mom telling me never to play with fire.... 

After 5 mins.... I gave up! LOL!  

I just can't wait to eat the tart!

Tart, half gone!... So good! My helper and I had seconds.. I always cut her a bigger slice..so I think she ate 1/4 of the tart.. After she told me she is very full. LOL!  

My daughter was still at work... and at around 10pm  I posted this photo below to tempt her to return home earlier instead of working till 11+pm every night.  

I managed to get the hard caramelized sugar... (not really caramelized enough..but the hard crunchy texture is there) ..with that 2 shards of round sugar thingy...that must be the area I sprinkled more sugar...

My daughter came home after at 1030pm and tried it and said she liked it too. Creamy, orangey and the tart shell perfectly crisp. She liked the crunchy top sugar on it. She must had the slice with caramelized sugar on it.  My husband said it is very good too and he said he would have liked it better with ice-cream. My daughter and I disagree...we like our orange tart as it is...with just a bit of whipped cream. :) This way you get to taste the orange citrusy flavor.  

The tart was made on Wednesday night. We tasted it on Thursday night and my daughter ate the last piece Saturday. 3 days in the fridge and the tart was still very good...and the crust still crisp, no lost in flavor. And the hard sugar on top was non-existence in my case after the next day which was ok for me.  

I was wondering if Rose has a chocolate tart shell recipe? Orange goes well with chocolate, I wonder how this will pair with chocolate tart base?  

----2 weeks later----

*PS: Today while I was having my duck salad & escargot lunch, I watched a pastry chef torch creme brulee. He took out the creme brulee from fridge and used a paper towel to press the surface of creme brulee for at least 5 mins.  I was wondering why he needed to keep pressing the plate for so long... and then I realised he was trying to keep the surface as dry as possible before he sprinkle sugar on top and torch it.   I should have done that! Next time... wipe the surface very dry first!  And I watched him put a lot of sugar on top of the creme brulee .. no wonder .. I only added a tiny bit of granulated sugar (after the powdered sugar dissolved in the condensation) ...lol! Of course nothing happened! Well, I'm glad that I didn't burn my orange cream instead. LOL!