Perfect Panna Cotta

In these hot and humid summer months of the Midwest, there is only a couple things that I crave dessert wise. One is just a good old chocolate and vanilla swirl cake cone with rainbow sprinkles, and the second is anything with juicy fresh fruits of the season. I am not a fan of eating hot desserts in the summer, give me something light and refreshing! This simple to make dessert is perfect for a hot summer night, it's cool, creamy, just a little sweet, and oh so delicious. Panna Cotta is a cream custard that's usually paired with a simple sauce and fresh fruit. I love to pair mine with fresh peaches soaked in a little Brandy and brown sugar.





Perfect Panna Cotta - serves 6-8

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 envelope powdered gelatin (about 1 Tbs)
4 ounces cream cheese (room temp)
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar

In small sauce pan heat your heavy cream and sugar. Bring to a low simmer. Pour your envelope of gelatin over your cup of cold milk and let set for about 2 minutes, then pour into hot cream. Let your cream and milk simmer for a couple more minutes. You want to make sure your gelatin is fully dissolved. Have your cream cheese ready in a bowl along with your 1tsp of vanilla. Pour your hot cream over your cream cheese and let sit for 2-3minutes. Using an emersion blender(hand blender), blend together the mixture until it is smooth. If you don't have a hand blender you can use a regular blender but be careful when blending the hot cream.
Pour your mixture into ramekins and place in the refrigerator until set, about 2-4 hours.

For the topping peel, pit, and dice 4 ripe peaches. Mix with 1Tbs brandy and 1Tbs brown sugar. Let peaches sit until the natural juices start to release. Spoon the peaches over the Panna Cotta and serve.

*Panna Cotta can be served either unmolded onto a plate or left in a parfait dish

Ice Cream Sandwiches - A messy success!

This past weekend my youngest son Jack turned 3! I can't believe how quickly time goes by when your older. I also can't believe I just said that, I am officially turning into my mother! Birthday's are a big deal to me and I always want my kids to know how special they are! I usually go all out and throw a big party with lots of food and I always make some elaborate cake specifically for them! For Jack's 3rd I decided against a huge cake and went with homemade ice cream sandwiches! It turned out to be one beautiful messy success! My boys are always wanting to help me in the kitchen when I am baking, so this dessert was a great way to let them be creative and feel involved. Now these can take you 10 minutes or a couple of hours depending on how much work you want to do. I will give you some ideas for the long version and also let you know the ultimate shortcuts!
First the cookie. I went with homemade chocolate chip. The boys got to get their hands dirty and that's just the thing that my boys love! They rolled up the cookies for mommy and placed them on the cookie sheet.
Short cut: Buy the cookies from the bakery at the grocery store any kind you like, you could even buy mini cookies and make bite size ice cream sandwiches.

Next the ice cream: I made homemade cream cheese ice cream. Yes it's as delicious as it sounds! Here's the recipe (you need an ice cream maker)

8oz cream cheese - room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cups sugar
1 Tbs light corn syrup

Have your cream cheese ready in a large bowl. Bring your milk, sugar, and corn syrup to a simmer. You want to simmer long enough for your sugar to dissolve about 10 min. After your milk is done simmering, pour over your cream cheese and let sit for 2 minutes. Using an emersion blender (use regular blender if you do not have emersion) blend your cream cheese into the milk until smooth and silky. Let cool fully in a refrigerator. Once your ice cream base is chilled all the way through, pour into your ice cream maker and spin until frozen.
Let your ice cream set in the freezer until it's frozen enough to scoop. You do not want your ice cream to be to soft when making your sandwiches.

Shortcut: Just buy the ice cream. Any flavor you want!

Once your cookies have cooled and your ice cream is soft enough to scoop, start to assemble your sandwiches. We had a nice little system down. I would scoop the ice cream onto the bottom cookie and Riley would place the other cookie on top. Then we chose to roll our sandwiches in mini M&M's. That was Jack's favorite part. Just make sure your ice cream is not to soft, this causes the M&M's to melt and fall all over the place. We learned the hard way!
As soon as you finish a sandwich place it directly in the freezer. That's it! You can make these ahead of time!
Also if you don't want to use M&M's you can choose any kind of candy your kids like! Get creative! It's all about spending time with your kids and getting them involved in the kitchen!
As much as I like my desserts or cakes to look beautiful, I had to put that aside and embrace the mess! It was a huge success in the Mandap house! Jack approved!
Happy Eatings!

Baby Shower Cake - Pea in the Pod

It has been a while since I have been able to post on my blog and even longer since I have had the time to sit down and make a cake that I was proud of. Last week I had the pleasure to do just that. A friend of mine asked me if I could make a cake for a baby shower she was throwing. She had sent me a few pictures of what she was thinking and one of the pictures was a cake with a pea in the pod theme. I find those cakes so adorable, so thats what we decided on and I was excited to get started! She chose simple yet elegant flavors for the cake, classic white with raspberry buttercream. I got my cake baked off and chilled, for the buttercream I just made a simple vanilla buttercream and added my raspberry sauce along with some fresh raspberries. Using a fresh raspberry sauce which is mostly just a raspberry puree not only gives the buttercream a bright beautiful color, but also gives it such a fresh and bright flavor as well. I assembled my cake with 3 layers and 2 layers of buttercream. Once assembled I gave it a quick crumb coat with vanilla buttercream and let it chill for about 4 hours so it would set. While the cake was chilling I got started on my little pea pod.

The peas I made out of cake balls. I had some left over cake batter so I baked it off and formed multiple sized balls. I popped them in the freezer and got them all nice and hard. (this blog is not sounding so much like a food blog anymore with all this talk of balls) Once they were frozen enough I wrapped them with a thin layer of colored fondant. For the baby face I just made a thin indentation for the mouth and the eyes. You can use any thin tool you have or you could just use a toothpick. I used a soft pink petal dust for the cheeks and formed the hat with fondant as well. When I made the pod I mixed fondant and gum paste together. That way the pod would be sturdy enough to hold all the peas in place.

When I finished the pea pod I set it aside to harden and pulled out my chilled cake. I covered it in a buttercream fondant. I am self taught when it comes to handling fondant so the way I do things may not be correct, but it works for me. I always make a batch of simple syrup which is equal parts sugar and water. All you do is bring the sugar and water to a boil just until all your sugar is dissolved and then let cool. I brush my cake all over with the cooled simple sugar right before I cover with fondant. This allows the fondant to stick on to the cake. I use a fondant smoothing tool to get all the sides and top of the cake smooth. After I my fondant was on I placed my pea pod on top of the cake and curled it just enough to match up with the edge of the cake. Again I used the simple syrup on the bottom of the pod so it would stick to the cake. Next I started with some of the small details that really just make the cake! I made the leaves and the curly strings at each end of the pod. For the strings I used the gum paste/fondant mixture and I just rolled them out and then started twisting. I put a small yellow flower bud at the end of the pod for a little extra color and to make the babies hat pop. I finished off the cake with a small pearl border to match the peas. I just piped those on with my vanilla buttercream and that was that!
    The cake came out better than I had imagined and it reminded me of why I loved decorating cakes so much. It may take me hours to do but the end result is always so gratifying. Sometimes I even surprise myself.

 

Happy Eatings Everyone!

Krystal

P.S. The mother to be was very happy with her cake and I was told "OMG the cake was amazing...not kidding!"

Butternut Squash - Try something new!

Ever walk into the grocery store during the holidays and see a display full of these, along with many other gourds and squash? Ever wonder what the heck people do with them other than decorate or have them falling out of a huge cornucopia? Well come to find out many of these odd shaped vegetables/fruits are absolutely delicious!
This particular beauty is a butternut squash and it is very popular during the winter months. It has a sweet yet nutty flavor, similar to a pumpkin.  Butternut squash is actually a fruit and it can be prepared in multiple ways from soup, to purees, to roasting. The other night I made a Butternut squash and vanilla bean risotto. Yes it may sound like an odd combination, but fear not this creamy risotto is well worth a try.  Anyways cooking isn't about playing it safe. It's about picking up that odd shaped fruit/vegetable at the grocery store that you have no idea what do with, taking it home and trying something new! I am a working mother and we are all about routine around here so if it seems that I am getting excited about a piece of squash it's because I am! The kitchen is the one place where routine should be thrown out the window! Try something new people, and here it is!!!

Butternut squash and vanilla bean risotto

6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 small yellow onion diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 butternut squash peeled and diced
1 vanilla bean
1 clove garlic minced
4 tbs cold butter (unsalted)
salt and pepper

First peel and dice your butternut squash. You want to cut off the ends then slice it down the middle horizontally. Spoon out the center, just like a pumpkin. Once you have cleaned out the center slice the squash in long strips then slice in half again. then dice in small cubes like so. 

 Once you have your butternut squash diced, dice your onion and garlic as well and have set aside. You will need all of your ingredients out and ready to go, because once you start cooking risotto you won't be able to leave it. People say risotto is hard to cook and that it takes a long time but honestly it's pretty easy, you just need to watch it and give it some love.
Next get your chicken broth ready. Pour your 6 cups of broth into a pot and keep on medium low heat. You will be adding the broth to your risotto ladle by ladle. Keeping your broth warm will help quicken the cooking process. Next heat your saute pan for the risotto. Medium Hi heat and add a couple Tbs olive oil and 1 Tbs butter, toss in your onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt and saute until fragrant and translucent. Then add in your butternut squash and arborio rice. You want to saute your rice for a few minutes before you add in any liquid. After about 5 minutes add in your warm chicken broth only 2 ladles full. If the broth starts boiling rapidly when it hits the pan turn down your heat. Again this is a slow cooking process, you want your liquid to be at a low simmer. After you have added the first of your liquid, split your vanilla bean down the center and scrape out the beans. Place the beans and the pod into the risotto pot. Continue to stir your risotto with a wooden spoon, once the first of your liquid has evaporated add in another ladle and continue to stir. Repeat this process until all of your liquid is gone. Here it is at a glance..

This whole process will take about 20-25 minutes. You will start to see your rice release it's starch and the risotto will get creamy. Just continue to taste it as you go. Arborio rice is actually a pasta so like any pasta you will be able to taste if it is done or not. You want the rice to be smooth and creamy it should not have a bite to it. After your broth is all used up and your risotto is thick, finish it off with about 3 Tbs cold butter cubes. Throw in the butter and stir quickly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You will want to serve immediately.

I paired this risotto with a coffee rubbed steak. It's a perfect compliment to this sweet yet savory dish.

Coffee Rub:
1 Tbs coffee
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs fresh rosemary

I hope you will take a chance on something new this holiday season! Don't be afraid, just go for it! If it doesn't work out you can always try, try, try, again!!!

Happy Eatings!

Last days of summer ~ Lemon Bars

I had these lemon bars as a feature dessert on our menu during the summertime. My favorite thing to cook with is lemon, I love how fresh it tastes. The bright yellow color, the tartness of the juice, and splash of citrus flavor you get from the zest can immediately add sunshine to anything your cooking. These Lemon bars are perfect for parties and make a great finger food dessert. I know I will be adding them to my list of sweets to bring to my sons school parties.
  Making dessert bars is a pretty easy method and once you get started you can play around with different flavors and ingredients.

To start you need to make the bottom layer:

Dough:
1 stick unsalted butter - room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
pinch of kosher salt

Cream together your butter and sugar
*the creaming process is very important when baking anything, but mostly in cakes. (Your butter has to be at room temp and you can not speed up this process by microwaving!)

Once you have creamed your butter and sugar slowly add your flour and pinch of salt until your dough comes together. Turn out your dough on a floured work surface and bring it together with your hands. This should be a quick process.
Line your baking pan with parchment paper or foil and spray lightly with pan spray. You want your parchment paper to over lap the sides so you can easily lift out your bars and cut them. Also use a pan with larger sides, you will be pouring a curd into the dish and you don't want it to run. (I made this mistake)
Take your dough and press it evenly throughout the bottom of the whole pan.

Chill your dough for about 10 min then bake at 350 for about 12 min or until just golden brown.
While your dough is baking get out a mixing bowl and make your lemon curd.

6 eggs
3 egg yolks
3 cups sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs lemon zest
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup heavy cream

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. When your bottom layer has cooled pour your curd over the cookie and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. It is finished when the curd is set so it should not wiggle when you move your pan.
Let cool and top with powdered sugar.

I served mine with a blueberry sauce but any fresh fruit or just by themselves is perfect for me!

Enjoy and Happy Eatings,
Krystal

Cobblers, Tarts, and Pies..oh my! Part 2 - Plum Cobbler

So last post I made a beautiful French Nectarine Tart with a buttery and flaky crust. I hope you all got to enjoy that for yourselves at home. Now we have moved on to part 2 of Cobblers, Tarts, and Pies..oh my! The always unforgettable cobbler. In this case a plum cobbler or crisp I should say because I always make my cobblers with a crispy yet still moist and chewy topping! I absolutely love this dessert! This dessert is perfect for any occasion from early fall all the way through winter and you can use just about any fall and winter fruit you want! Today it's plums.
        I found the plums today nestled in with the nectarines, you almost couldn't tell a difference. These plums aren't the dark purple colored plums from summer they were the red and yellow colored plums and they were perfectly ripe, not to sweet with a tart bite. It was late afternoon here and a humid yet rainy day so it was almost dark out. When I got started on making my cobbler I had just cleaned the kitchen. I had a load of laundry going and I decided to light a candle to help make my house smell better because my mom was coming over to stay with us for the night, so obviously I wanted the appearance of a an up-kept home! In the middle of slicing and pitting my plums it starts to thunder and then comes the rain. I am in my kitchen with the sound of the rain, my kids laughter upstairs, and the smell of this cheap cinnamon candle and that was it....Summer had officially ended for me at that moment, fall is here and the holidays are creeping up on me. I kept getting flashbacks of years past with cozy fires, football on the T.V. and being surrounded by friends and family. Next thing you know I'm getting choked up, yes I know it's totally ridiculous to stand in your kitchen and tear up while making plum cobbler, but what it really did was put me right back in my place. The place of "oh yeah this is why I do this". This is why you quit your job to go after your dream, this is why you put your family under a huge financial strain, and this is why you are 31 and working in a kitchen for an hourly wage and mopping floors at midnight. I did and am currently doing all these things for this exact reason, this exact feeling. Every good heart warming and even some not so heart warming moments have always included food. Sitting around a dinner table, standing around an island in a kitchen, or just being out and about eating (and sometimes drinking), it's all about the moments in life. Food can trigger those moments or make those moments and that's why I have a passion for it. I want be a part of your moments and help make them great. I want to make you get choked up in your kitchen when you are cooking something that has a meaning. Food brings us all together in some way or another and I hope in a small way I can bring people together to.
DANG is this a food blog or my personal therapy session!!! Lets get back to the cobbler people!
   First of all you want to start by pitting your plums and slicing them. Just cut them in half and use a spoon or a small paring knife to cut out the pits then slice them thin.

Place all your sliced plums directly into your baking dish.
To your plums add:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup AP Flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbs champagne (optional)
1 Tbs orange juice

*note if you do not have champagne around your house like me because I love mimosas on Sunday you can just add 2 Tbs orange juice all together

For the crumb topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup AP Flour
zest of 1 orange
1 stick cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 tsp salt (kosher salt)
1/2 cup oats

* note you can substitute pecans or walnuts for the oats or add both

In the bowl of a standing mixer add your flour, sugars, salt, orange zest, and oats. Mix until combined then add your cubed butter. Keeping your mixer on a low speed this process should take about 2 full minutes. You want to mix the topping until it looks moist and can form a ball in your hand when you squeeze it. Here is a look at the process..

cubed butter                                                                     about 1 minute of mixing

      














2 minutes                                                                     Holds together


                               Crumble your topping over the plums..

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the sides are bubbly! I serve mine warm and with vanilla bean ice cream! 

It may not look fancy, but it's a cobbler you will cry over.....

Happy Eatings everyone and I hope this will bring you some sort of special moment!

   

Krystal

Cobblers, Pies, and Tarts..oh my!

It's a beautiful Indian summer here in the mid-west and that makes for some sweet, juicy, and ripe fruits. Since I am now making pastries for a living I figured I might as well start to blog about it! I never really do a lot of baking at my house, but when I do it's always some sort of cobbler or tart. There is nothing better than a warm bubbly cobbler with a crunchy oatmeal topping or crisp fruit tart with a flaky crust.
The other day we were invited over to my dads for dinner with the family. My dad always mans the grill and one thing you always know when your headed to dads for dinner is there is going to be a grilled meat, a fresh vegetable from his garden, and of course cold Bud Lights! My dad always says not to bring anything when we come over but I always like to do my part, so I headed to the local market and when I walked into the produce area all I could smell were these beautiful ripe Nectarines! They were perfect and I decided I would make a quick French Nectarine Tart! I know it sounds fancy but it is so easy to make and so delicious it will be on your Indian Summer menu's every year!

The most work you will do making this dessert is making the tart dough. The dough is the same dough I used when I made my galette in a previous blog with one added ingredient. Since I was making a sweet not savory dish I added 1 Tbs sugar.
Here is what you need for the dough:

1 1/4 Cups Ap flour
1 Tbs Granulated sugaar
8 Tbs Cold butter cut into cubes
1 egg beaten
pinch of salt

In a food processor pulse your flour, sugar, salt, and butter until blended. On low speed add in your beaten egg and mix only until your dough almost comes together. You do not want the dough to form a big ball in the food processor and it get over mixed. Turn your dough out onto a cold work surface and bring it together with your hands. This is a very quick process, bring the dough together just enough for it to form a disc shape, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
While you are waiting for your dough to chill rinse, pit, and slice your nectarines. You want nice even slices about 1/4 of an inch thick if that.
When your dough has chilled for an hour pull it out of the fridge and roll it out into a large rectangular shape. About the shape of of your baking sheet.
Like so..

Make sure you have your flour near by to flour your work space with and your rolling pin. Once you have your dough rolled out place it atop a lined baking sheet. Again you want to work as quickly as possible with this dough. The point is to keep the butter in the dough as cold as possible so when it bakes in the oven the cold butter will disperse all throughout the dough giving it that flaky crisp texture.





After your dough is on the baking sheet line it with your nectarines....

Don't overlap your fruit. You want the look of the nice uniform lines, it just makes it look so much more fancy! Top the nectarines with 6 Tbs of cold butter cut into small cubes. Place the butter cubes all over the tart, then grab a handful of granulated sugar and sprinkle a nice layer over the entire tart.
To finish I also add some brown sugar as well.

This is what it should look like right before you place it in the oven. The butter and sugar should be distributed evenly over the entire top of the tart.
Have your oven preheated to 350 degrees.
Place the tart in the center of the rack and bake for about 25 minutes. You want the fruit to cook down and the sugars to caramelize. Don't worry if some of your edges start to look to dark, it is because of the sugars. Pull out of the oven let cool for 5 minutes and cut into squares. You can serve warm or at room temp!

 A beautiful fancy nectarine tart. Perfect for Indian Summer nights! The edges are crisp and flaky while the dough still has a tender bite to it! This dessert can be thrown together in an hour and baked before hand if needed!

Enjoy the last days of summer and Happy Eatings!!!