Gesine Bullock-Prado's Blog, page 31

The Devil's Cream: An Ode to Bonnie Finn

We'd never have met Bonnie Finn if I'd never made a Devil's Cream Pie.  That glorious and evil confection would never have been named if not for Bonnie Finn.  One day, she gave our little pastry shop a try, took the thick chocolate concoction for a spin and decided it was worth a return trip.  And then she stayed, working her magic behind our counter and into our hearts.  Along the way, she named the pie that brought her to the store.  The two, it seems, were meant for each other.

Today is Bonnie's birthday and in her honor, I give you the Pie that she so aptly named.  The exact recipe is in Confections of a Closet Master Baker aka My Life From Scratch but I thought a quick visual tutorial was called for, along with a few tips and tricks to make this sinful pleasure a staple in your home.


For a 10" Devil's Cream, I used an entire package of Oreos.  I pulverized them to the point of oblivion in my food processor.  It feels like soft sand when it gets this fine.  To make the crust, I melted 2 sticks of butter.  I ended up using only a little over 1 1/2 sticks.  I melt one stick at a time and slowly incorporate into the crumbs until the would be crust just holds together.  You never want the crumb crust to be wet and shiny but should be able to pinch the crumbs together and have them stay stuck.



 Spray your cake form with non-stick spray.  I use a 10" bottomless cake ring.  You can make the crust perfectly even to the top of the ring but I prefer a craggy crust.  The devil wouldn't have it any other way.


Pour the chocolate mixture through a sieve and make sure to use the best chocolate you can get your hands on.  I fill the form and often freeze overnight to set and then finish it off.  Use a blow dryer or a heat gun to get the ring off neatly.
Whip the meringue to very stiff peaks.  Leave the meringue as is or touch it lightly with the flame of a kitchen torch.  Happy Birthday Bonnie Finn!  There'd be no Devil in the Cream Pie without you.

Tunnel Vision

 see that hole?  that's tunneling.  no bueno
Gluten.  It's our baking friend. But she's a high maintenance chum.  If you ignore her, let her mingle with your sugars and fat unsupervised, she'll throw a tantrum in the way of gaping bubbles of ire.  Treat her right, with delicacy and respect, she'll give you a glorious crumb that's compact yet delicate.
I got to thinking about tunneling when someone mentioned not making Golden Eggs because they didn't have the right flour.  I like this attention to detail, someone taking the floured arts seriously enough to forestall a cake binge.  I, however, would not have been so stalwart.  In the throes of a carb crave, I'd have taken my chances with the wrong flour.  Because while some people believe that to make a cake you must use cake flour, I'm all for the AP when no other is to be had.  I have one caveat, you must add the flour until JUST combined and no more.  As a matter of fact, if you want perfection, don't use the mixer for the flour addition.  Instead, sift the flour directly over the bowl and fold gently into the batter.

 the golden egg, uncracked
Here's the deal, different flours have different percentages of gluten, from cake flour with the lowest to bread flours with the highest.  But even though most brands offer a cake, an AP and a bread flour, the average flour mills won't guarantee consistent gluten percentages, they just aim for a range and call it a day.  I'm not going to name any names but they are the usual grocery suspects.  When I hear the baker's lament, "I did everything exactly the same as I always do but it all went to hell," I immediately ask "What kind of flour do you use?" because you could have mixed exactly as you did the last time you made that cake perfectly but this time it came out rubbery and full of holes.  Chances are, the gluten levels in the new bag of flour you just bought are higher.  
But say you have a consistent flour, King Arthur for example, and you manage to tunnel the hell out of a cake, producing gargantuan gaps and rubber texture.  Here's what almost certainly happened:  you overmixed the flour addition to the point that gluten overdevelops and traps air pockets in the batter.  The  cake, for obvious reasons, will rise higher because you've just given the gluten proteins permission to trap air willy nilly.  A proper flour integration will give you moist, delicate and dense crumb.  Even when you use AP instead of cake flour.  

the golden egg, cracked open but not tunneled
This particular conundrum is a cake thing.  Breads require elevated gluten development for proper texture and goodness.  And there are a few recipes where I'd never use AP, Angel Food Cake comes to mind.  But that's why I love baking, there's a magic to how and why you combine ingredients and for how long.  And once you know the rules, you can find a way to break them to cater to your ravenous cravings at a moment's notice.

I may be slightly biased, since they're my neighbor and I teach there now and again, but I never use anything but King Arthur Flour.  They are the only national mill that I know of that guarantees a specific gluten percentage in each bag of flour. The lovely Susan MIller at King Arthur Flour gave me the breakdown of their flour's gluten content for your edification:
All-purpose: 11.7% proteinBread Flour: 12.7% proteinWhole Wheat: 14% proteinSir Lancelot Hi-Gluten: 14.2% proteinPastry: 8% proteinCake: 7% protein
Pretty amazing, right?  So next time you add flour to your batter, pay utmost respect to our friend gluten.  

It's the Great Pumpkin Pudding (Cake), Charlie Brown

"I've learned there are three things you don't discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin."

-Linus


Pumpkin has been a touchy subject, as of late.  There is, it seems, a shortage.  And while my grandmother always said, "The Great Pumpkin will provide," I fear that this year we'll all have to do with a bit less of the good gourd than in the years past.


I do have a secret to share.  In these hard times of scarcity, I have a recipe that stretches a little pumpkin a long way and does it deliciously.






If you've not tried a pudding cake (and please, for the love of the Great Pumpkin, please don't for a minute think I'm speaking of a Gateaux a la JELLO), it is a lovely surprise of a dessert.  It's at once a light and fluffy cake on top, a soufflé really, and a creamy custard on the bottom.  While this is in and of itself is divine, the best part is that the cake batter magically bifurcates itself, splitting into two luscious confections while it bakes.  


gotta keep 'em separated

PUMPKIN PUDDING CAKE
Ingredients:
1/3 cup ap flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup sugar4 eggs, separated1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 cup pumpkin puree (i.e., canned pumpkin)1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and ground cloves (feel free to spice up as you see fit)1 1/4 cups buttermilk1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled (make sure to cool the butter otherwise if it's still hot, it will seize if added to cool buttermilk)
- Preheat to oven to 350º  -Prepare 6 ramekins (approximately 1 cup of batter in each) by buttering the insides and coating with sugar.  I like to use little le Creuset pots if I'm getting precious about it, but anything oven safe and the appropriate size will do.
-  In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour,  salt and spices.
- In a separate container, whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla, pumpkin, and butter.
-Pour the egg mixture into flour mixture and whisk until just combined.  (If you have stubborn lump, pour through a sieve).
-Place egg whites and salt in bowl of electric mixer and whisk until the egg whites are foamy.  Slowly add 1/2 cup sugar and whisk on high until you achieve soft, shiny stiff peaks.  Make sure not to overbeat to the point that the egg whites are dry.
-Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the pumpkin mixture and whisk, to lighten.
-Add remaining egg whites and gently fold until combined.
-Divide the mixture among ramekins that are already placed in a deep hotel pan or pyrex baking dish.  Make a water bath by pouring water into the baking dish so that it reaches about 3/4 up the sides of the ramekins.  Carefully transfer to the preheated oven and bake about 50 - 60 minutes, or until the top of the pudding has puffed and is golden brown and the cake feels set and springs back when you poke it.  My motto is "if in doubt keep it going."  Some recipes are ok with the resulting "pudding" being runny, I'm not.  So poke and prod.  Keep it going 10, 20, 30 minutes longer if you aren't sure.  The water bath does a great job in keeping the stuff from overcooking.  
–Serve warm and may the Great Pumpkin bless you and keep you.

It's the Great Pudding Pumpkin (Cake), Charlie Brown

"I've learned there are three things you don't discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin."

-Linus


Pumpkin has been a touchy subject, as of late.  There is, it seems, a shortage.  And while my grandmother always said, "The Great Pumpkin will provide," I fear that this year we'll all have to do with a bit less of the good gourd than in the years past.


I do have a secret to share.  In these hard times of scarcity, I have a recipe that stretches a little pumpkin a long way and does it deliciously.






If you've not tried a pudding cake (and please, for the love of the Great Pumpkin, please don't for a minute think I'm speaking of a Gateaux a la JELLO), it is a lovely surprise of a dessert.  It's at once a light and fluffy cake on top, a soufflé really, and a creamy custard on the bottom.  While this is in and of itself is divine, the best part is that the cake batter magically bifurcates itself, splitting into two luscious confections while it bakes.  


gotta keep 'em separated

PUMPKIN PUDDING CAKE
Ingredients:
1/3 cup ap flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup sugar4 eggs, separated1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 cup pumpkin puree (i.e., canned pumpkin)1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and ground cloves (feel free to spice up as you see fit)1 1/4 cups buttermilk1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled (make sure to cool the butter otherwise if it's still hot, it will seize if added to cool buttermilk)
- Preheat to oven to 350º  -Prepare 6 ramekins (approximately 1 cup of batter in each) by buttering the insides and coating with sugar.  I like to use little le Creuset pots if I'm getting precious about it, but anything oven safe and the appropriate size will do.
-  In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour,  salt and spices.
- In a separate container, whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla, pumpkin, and butter.
-Pour the egg mixture into flour mixture and whisk until just combined.  (If you have stubborn lump, pour through a sieve).
-Place egg whites and salt in bowl of electric mixer and whisk until the egg whites are foamy.  Slowly add 1/2 cup sugar and whisk on high until you achieve soft, shiny stiff peaks.  Make sure not to overbeat to the point that the egg whites are dry.
-Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the pumpkin mixture and whisk, to lighten.
-Add remaining egg whites and gently fold until combined.
-Divide the mixture among ramekins that are already placed in a deep hotel pan or pyrex baking dish.  Make a water bath by pouring water into the baking dish so that it reaches about 3/4 up the sides of the ramekins.  Carefully transfer to the preheated oven and bake about 50 - 60 minutes, or until the top of the pudding has puffed and is golden brown and the cake feels set and springs back with you poke it.  
–Serve warm and may the Great Pumpkin bless you and keep you.

Sugar Baby Pre-Order!

My BFF Weenie told me that Sugar Baby was available for pre-order last night.  I did not know this!  So I looked and lo and behold, there's a page on Amazon for the little, sticky, sweets filled tome that's being released in April, 2011.  There's no cover picture to entice you on the page, so I took the liberty of taking a snap of the BLAD (basic layout and design) and strategically placed polaroids from the Sugar Baby photo shoot to tempt you!

And last but not least, my favorite atmospheric ...

My Day as a Gnudist

Gnudi.  Translated into Italian:  nude.  Culinary translation:  a luxurious ricotta filling of a ravioli gone rogue, pasta blouse wantonly shed, a dumpling Lady Godiva.  What it most closely resembles is a potato gnocchi.  But what it brings to the table is a fluffiness and buoyancy, ahem, often missing from it's nightshade counterpart.  And while this is a savory dumpling, I couldn't help but imagine these glorious pillows translated into the sweet language of dessert as well.

Gnudi with...

A Thicker Noodle

On our first night out as newly minted residents of the green mountains, Ray and I celebrated by supping at a popular Montpelier eatery.  It was Italian fare loosely defined, a hybrid cuisine where fried chicken fingers creep their way into Tuscany.
I ordered the bolognese.  I always do.  But I had a request, "Is it possible to replace the angel hair pasta with a linguini or a fettucini?  I'll take a pappardelle if you've got it."

The waitress took a moment, sighed a weary waitress sigh, "I'll...

Drawing from Scratch

(the dustcover!)
The cover for Sugar Baby, my cookbook that's coming out Easter 2011 by Stewart, Tabori and Chang (Abrams) seemed to come together in record time.  The brilliant photographer Tina Rupp had a vision very early on of an elegant and whimsical landscape for the main image and she delivered.  The designer took Tina's gorgeous photographs and created a dustcover and interior layout that I love.



The genesis for the cover for Confections of a Closet Master Baker (aka My Life From...

Signing at Omnivore Books in San Francisco, September 21st from 6-7

Tues. Sept. 21 • My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time • Gesine Bullock-Prado • 6-7 p.m.Bullock-Prado recounts the joys and heartbreaks of running her own patisserie in Montpelier, Vermont. Having fled the soul-sucking routine in Los Angeles with her husband, Ray, for the simpler pleasures of a small town near the Green Mountains, the author opened her own bake shop, Gesine Confectionary, in 2004, mostly on the fame of the macaroons she refashioned from...

Extra Value is What You Get, When You Make Cornets

OK, it doesn't really rhyme when you pronounce it correctly (kor-NAY) but it wouldn't make any sense to say "extra value is what you gay when you make cornets."  Or maybe it does make sense to someone, somewhere and then I suspect the meaning would have little to do with baking.

Making cornets, or paper piping tubes, is a valuable addition to your baking and decor repertoire for two reasons that I can currently think of:



(1)  they are terribly easy to make, when you remember how to make them,

(...