Celery: The Next Evolution

Celery gelatin wrapped around white chocolate ganache surrounding dried olives (binded with cocoa butter). Surprisingly good. I'm tellin' ya...celery is the perfect dessert companion to any ultra sweet item like white chocolate.

However, not everyone liked it. Here's our host:

Lemon Macaron

Lemon macaron filled with dark chocolate ganache and three fresh blueberries. Just a snack for you while you wait for the next post...

Missing the Tiramisu

I know that in some circles tiramisu is out of fashion. And I know that my regular readers expect something a bit more challenging in my desserts. But there is something to be said for the classics. I also recently learned that our readers want recipes...so here is a traditional tiramisu, gussied up for individual summertime serving!


Let's start with the ingredients:

• 16-20 Lady fingers
• 500 g Mascarapone, room temp (I use Igor because its much higher quality than Belgioso)
• 1/2 C. Brandy, split (If you won't drink it, don't cook with it)
• 4 Eggs, Separated and at room temp
• 10-12 oz. Espresso (Cafe Bustelo is the closest thing I've found to Italian espresso - on the recommendation of John, our crack employee at the store), cooled to room temp
• 4 T. Sugar (for egg whites) & 2 T. Sugar (for espresso)
• Cocoa for dusting
• Cacao Nibs for decorating

This whole process takes less than 10 minutes if you have all of your ingredients ready to go. Start by whisking the sugar in with the yolks. Next, cut in the mascarapone. And finally half of the brandy.

You'll end up with this:


Now you'll learn one of my deep, dark secrets...In search for a food safe tiramisu (non-raw egg), I essentially made an Italian meringue and incorporated it into the tiramisu. What I ended up with may not please the food police (I make no claims to the safety of this recipe), but it really improved the texture of the tiramisu. So here we go:

Start by whipping your whites until peaks begin to form. Then take your sugar and add it to 2 T. of water in a small saucepan on a medium flame. If you understand the term "softball," take the sugar to softball. If you don't, just boil until your bubbles seem to thicken a bit. Pour the boiling sugar into your whites and continue to whip. They will get thick and glossy.


Next, fold the whites into the cheese mixture. Don't worry about being too delicate here, simply fold, fold, fold until full incorporated.



Okay, set up your mis en place:


Since I make mine in individual cups, you'll see that I've trimmed the lady fingers to fit. Depending on what you put your tiramisu in, you may or may not want to trim. Whisk your 2 T. Sugar into the espresso, and add the remaining brandy. Feel free to play around with other liquors - Amoretto, Kahlúa, etc. Dip the lady fingers into the espresso and immediately pull them out. Those little suckers will suck a lot of coffee very, very quickly and you don't want a soggy mess, so dip and pull, don't think! Line your cup however will look best in your serving container. Then a dollop of the cheese mixture goes into/onto your lady fingers.


I'll then add another piece of soaked lady finger (my trimmings), dust with cocoa and more cheese mixture.


And last, but not least, a few crushed cacao nibs on top. Chocolate covered coffee beans would be very nice as well, or if you're a cheap, lazy, bum, a dusting of cocoa still does the job :P

Let sit up over night in the fridge and enjoy on your porch with a glass of Rustico Prosecco or a fresh espresso. I think you'll find the texture on this version to be very nice, not dense, and very enjoyable on a hot summer night. Let me know what you think.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

As I mentioned a few entries ago, we had a few varieties of Gooey Butter Cake while we were in St. Louis. I don't think I've seen this pastry anywhere else, and I have no doubt that its origins are in a mistake. Today I made it for the cafe and it was a huge hit! Here's how its made:

Make the dough
Mix 1/4 C. Sugar, 1/4 C. Shortening, and 1/4 t. Salt in a mixer or food processor. Add one egg and beat for 1 minute or until well blended.

Dissolve one packet of yeast in 1/2 C. warm milk. Add the flour to the mixer, then the milk/yeast. Mix for 3 minutes using a dough hook if you have it. Lightly knead the dough for 1 minute and cover. Let it sit for 1 hour. Uncover and voila:


Make the filling
Combine 2 1/2 C. Sugar, 1 C. (2 sticks) softened butter, and a pinch of salt. Add 1 egg, and 1/4 C. Light Corn Syrup. Mix just until incorporated. Add 2 1/4 C. Flour, 1/4 C. Water and 1 T. Vanilla.




Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Roll or spread into two well buttered 9x9x2 pans (I used my 9" springform as you'll see.) Press the dough half way up the pan side. Prick with a fork along the bottom.

Divide the filling into two and pour into each crust. Don't worry about making it to pretty. You'll see why.


Then bake in a preheated oven at 375F. Bake for 30 minutes and DON'T over bake or you won't have "gooey." Here are mine at 15 minutes. I'll need to do an altitude adjustment next time as you can see:


And finally at 30 minutes:

Morning Pearls

Not much to say except I love Jasmine Pearl tea...possibly more than I love Zyllis' Julienne Peeler.

Coming right up!

So, I'm working in the cafe kitchen today and Martyn (the cook) says, "I need some carrots cut for sushi. I said, "No problem." Seconds later...

He was duly impressed with a time consuming job being knocked into seconds, and the precision of the cuts. I love the Zyllis julienne peeler. (Pardon the shameless plug).

Sometimes...

I just don't get people. Today was my first day staging at our café and I did my usual in at 6 am thing to make some sweets. I made a lemon mousse: Lemon curd folded into an Italian meringue, folded into whipped cream, set on top of lady fingers soaked in amoretto and caramel. As far as taste goes, it was probably the best thing I've made in months. I sold one. I ate two. I'm not sure how to get people to buy things that aren't chocolate chip cookies or tiramisu. It looked pretty. I described it clearly. Yet, people still didn't try it. We'll see what happens tomorrow. My money is on whomever bought the first one, coming back to buy another.