Tartine's Pastry Cream

Recently, I took someone dinner and dessert.
Unbaked frozen tart dough sure comes in handy.

Last time I made mini tarts, I actually made the full amount of tart dough (Here is a great tutorial on making the tart dough) and pressed the dough that I didn't use into my large tart pan and put it into the freezer. When I needed it, all I had to do was pop it in the oven and bake it.

Since there are so many fruits that are in season right now, I decided that I would make a basic pastry cream and top the tart with fruit.
I remembered that Bridget mentioned Tartine's recipe for pastry cream, which uses whole eggs instead of just egg yolks and I wanted to try it.
I found the recipe here and gave it a try.
This pastry cream was so silky and smooth. Using whole eggs in the pastry cream lightened up the texture. It was still thick, but just lighter than pastry creams made with only egg yolks.

Plus, I didn't have to add to the 13 egg whites I already have in the freezer.

I decorated the tart with kiwis, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
I glazed it with this peach spreadable fruit, which I warmed for a few seconds in the microwave with a splash of water.

Tartine's Pastry Cream
2 cups whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, cut open down the middle, seeded
1/4 tsp of salt
4 Tbls cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
4 Tbls butter, cut in small cubes

Heat the milk, vanilla seeds and salt in a pan and put over medium heat, and bring to a boil.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and eggs until smooth. Slowly add 1/2 of the milk mixture into the egg and whisk constantly to temper them. Add the remaining milk and return the whole thing to the saucepan.
Cook until you get a thick consistency, whisking non-stop.
Remove from heat and pour into a bowl, let cool for 10 minutes and then incorporate the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until smooth .
Cover the surface with plastic wrap, directly touching the cream, let cool completely in the refrigerator.

TWD- Quick Classic Berry Tart and last week's Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

This week's TWD recipe, Quick Classic Berry Tart, was chosen by Cristine- who blogs over at Cooking with Cristine. You can find the recipe on her blog.
When I saw this pick my first thought was - Easy. Wierd, how Dorie's book has completely transformed me into a baker who thinks making pastry cream and a tart crust is a piece of cake. We have done it so many times with TWD that it is easy.

I took my girls to a local farm to pick strawberries, so I knew that strawberries would make an appearance on our tarts. I also found blackberries & blueberries on sale, so we had all three.
I decided to make mini tarts and give them away. I made 1/3 recipe of the pastry cream, using a combination of skim milk and half&half (I didn't have any whole milk) and the whole tart dough recipe. I made 3 mini tarts- pressed the dough into the pans and then pressed the rest of the dough into a larger tart pan. I put them all in the freezer. The next day, I baked the mini tart shells, filled them with cream and decorated them with berries. I used Simply Fruit (raspberry & blackberry) as the glaze on my tarts. The amount of pastry cream I made filled the 3 mini tarts perfectly.

I took one to my neighbor across the street who gives me fresh eggs from his chickens- since I used his eggs. And the other 2 to my in-laws.

Of course all those who tasted the tarts raved about their deliciousness. Who thought anything else would happen?

Go check out the other beautiful tarts that my fellow TWDer's made this week!
Since I had the eggs out and was making a mess in the kitchen anyway, I decided to mix up the custard for the Burnt Sugar Ice Cream that was chosen by Becky last week. It was the most fun I have ever had making ice cream. Watching the caramel seize into a big blob when you add the cold milk/cream (I used 1 cup of skim milk & 1 cup of half&half instead of 2 cups whole milk) and then having it come together into a smooth mixture was so fun to experience. Everyone raved about it last week and rightfully so- It is one of the best ice creams I have ever tasted. My husband was amazed by the silky texture and delicious taste.
The recipe is HERE. If you need more encouragement to make it, check out the links from all the TWD members who made it.

TWD- Toasted Coconut Custard Tart

This week's TWD recipe, Toasted Coconut Custard Tart, was chosen by Beryl, who blogs over at Cinemon Girl.
You can find the recipe for the custard and topping, slightly adapted on her blog- HERE. You can find a great post and the recipe for the Sweet Tart Dough- HERE (minus the lemon zest).
This was the tart that I almost made and then didn't and then did- again and again and again.
I knew that our family couldn't eat the entire tart, so I didn't really want to make the whole thing and then I talked myself out of making it entirely because I am trying to eat less sugar.
Not baking makes the don't-consume-sugar thing a tad bit easier.

But, I really wanted to make it because tarts are so pretty. They might be my favorite thing to make at the moment.
I have made pastry cream/custard a million times. The tart crust- no problem.
I just needed someone who loved coconut that would take the tart off of my hands.

I asked my hubby if his boss liked coconut. He said yes.
Problem solved.

I knew I wanted to use my rectangular tart pan, so I made 2/3 of the custard (also because I only had 5 eggs and needed one for the tart crust).
I made the recipe as is, except for the rum. I omitted it from the custard and the topping.
I added a little bit more vanilla extract instead.

My girls helped me make the custard, crust and topping. We put it all together and took it to my husbands work.
It was much appreciated.
My daughters made sure that we kept a couple of little square pieces for us, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to use this particular tart pan- you can cut lots of smaller squares and it ends up serving more people.

I didn't try the tart or any part of it. But my girls did and they loved it. Hubby's boss loved it.
And I am sure it was good because I have tasted Dorie's pastry creams/custards, crusts and toppings before and they are magnificent.
Check out the TWD Blogroll to see who else loved this tart!

TWD-Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart

I have had my eye on this Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart ever since I got my copy of Baking:from my home to yours.
It just looks so beautiful and the combination of pears and pistachios sounds amazing.
Lauren, who blogs over at I'll Eat You chose this weeks TWD selection. You can find the recipe on her blog or on page 370 of Dorie's book.

I switched a couple of things in this recipe just because of things I had on hand at the moment.
I had candied pepitas and a mini pie crust leftover from this Pumpkin Cream Pie, so I decided I was going to make 1 mini pie, using the pie crust I had and the candied pepitas.
I only poached one pear and I used juice instead of wine. My pear was not turning "rosy", so I decided to add a couple of drops of red food coloring to the poaching liquid.
Bad idea.
My pear was bright red. When I sliced it, it resembled imitation crabmeat. Not a good thing.
Oh well. I used it anyway, because I didn't have another pear.

I made 1/4 recipe of the pistachio pastry cream, which was really delicious. I left the nuts in.
All in all, this was a delicious tart.
I think it would be even better with a tart crust.
Go check out the TWD Blogroll and see what everyone else did with this week's recipe!

Pumpkin Cream Pie

So here is one of the Thanksgiving desserts I wanted to try out before hand to see if it was worthy of making it to the big meal.
I love pumpkin pie, plain and simple, but I wanted to try a couple of other desserts that played around with the pumpkin and the pie, and presented it with a little twist.

This pie is made with a basic pie crust, and then filled with a pumpkin flavored pastry cream. Pastry Cream has the texture of a thick pudding and I have to say that this was a really delicious one.
I made 1/2 of the pastry cream and decided I was going to make mini pies. I made a bunch of mini pie crusts in my muffin tin, you just cut out circles of pie crust with a cookie cutter and bake them for about 10 minutes- watch them close so they don't burn. I made 6 minis and then baked up the rest of my pie crust in small (about 4-in) dishes.

The chilled pastry cream is scooped into the pie crust and chilled in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Then it is topped with sweetened whipped cream and candied pepitas.

This has all the same flavors as traditional pumpkin pie, but the pastry cream is much smoother than a normal pumpkin pie filling. The candied pepitas add a nice little crunch. I used roasted, salted pepitas in my candy and really like the little bit of savory that added to the super sweet candy.
This pie is perfect for Thanksgiving. I definitely think it would keep traditional pumpkin pie lovers happy and also has just a little bit extra to get other people excited too. Yum.
*note- the recipe says that the pastry cream takes 10-15 minutes to thicken up and boil, but mine was ready in 2-3 minutes. Don't overcook it, as soon as it is thick, it is ready.

Recipe for Pumpkin Cream Pie

TWD- Chocolate Cream Tart

Yeah! A photogenic dessert!
This weeks Tuesday's with Dorie selection- Chocolate Cream Tart, was chosen by Kim of Scrumptious Photography. You can find the recipe on her blog and most likely the calorie information for the tart as well, which I discourage you from looking at (jk). Sometimes it is better not to know. You will also find just what you might expect- scrumptious photos of this tart and many other goodies.

This recipe is very straightforward. You make a chocolate tart crust and fill it with chocolate pastry cream.

Then you whip some cream, sweetened with a little sugar (I added more than what was suggested because I like it a little bit sweeter than Dorie does), spread or pipe it on top, and sprinkle it with cocoa powder. Pretty basic.

I stuck to Dorie's recipe and sent this tart off to the same work meeting as the lemon bars from yesterday. I have made the chocolate pastry cream before, so there weren't any surprises about how that was going to turn out. My tart shell didn't hold all the pastry cream, so I made extra whipped cream and some lucky members of my family got to have that for dessert (You are welcome, Jake!).

This was also the first time that I used my new rectangular tart pan and I thought it turned out very nicely. I cut the tart into 16 pieces which will make me feel better for the people who ate it, once I look at the calorie count on Kim's blog.

Actually, it really doesn't count as dessert if it isn't decadent. Right?

I am sure there are going to be some wonderful variations on this tart, so check out the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else did with this very chocolately dessert!

Coming Tomorrow- Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

TWD- Banana Creme Mini Pies

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Banana Creme Pie, was chosen by Amy over at Sing for Your Supper. This pie consists of Dorie's super easy pie crust, pastry cream, sliced bananas, and a whipped cream topping.

My brother-in-law was coming to visit and I knew this would be the perfect dessert to serve while he was here. I made the pastry cream in the morning, used dark brown sugar (that is why my pastry cream is so dark), threw the crust together, baked the mini crusts, and then put all the parts together right before I served the mini pies. Fairly simple if I do say myself.

I made 12 mini crusts by using my muffin tin and a biscuit cutter and then still had pie dough leftover, so I made smaller rounds and had 7 mini-mini crusts, which I baked in a mini-muffin tin. I only had to bake the crust for about 11-13 minutes until it was done.

We all really liked this pie. I don't really know what else to say about it. It was easy, it was delicious and the mini portions made it a not-so-guilty pleasure. Check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see what everyone else thought about this pie!

Coming Tomorrow- 3-Grain Risotto with Asparagus

Tuesday's with Dorie-French Pear Tart- Dorie Greenspan's Personal Pick!!

I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw that Dorie Greenspan herself, had chosen a tart recipe to kick off 2009 for Tuesday's with Dorie. I received 8 mini-tart pans for Christmas and was happy to put them to use so soon.

The first decision- which tart base to make? I couldn't chose just one, so I made Pistachio Sweet Tart Dough and a batch of plain Sweet Tart Dough. Something about pistachios and pears......

Dorie Greenspan chose French Pear Tart for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe. You can find the recipe on Dorie's blog. Tuesday's with Dorie is turning 1 this month. It was started a year ago and to celebrate, Dorie chose the recipe to start off the new year. I can't tell you how amazingly delicious this tart was. Just one bite, was like a taste of heaven.

Dorie said you could use canned pears, fresh pears rubbed with lemon juice, or you could poach fresh pears in a simple syrup. I poached my fresh, just-ripe Bartlett pears and was on my way. The almond cream was interesting to make. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, since it was just butter, sugar, ground almonds, an egg and a few other things. But it worked wonders for this tart. Yum.....

Dorie also said you could glaze the finished tarts with apple jelly or give them a dust of confectioner's sugar. I had a helper with the dusting.

I had enough pears and almond cream to fill 6 mini-tarts (I think they were 4-inch pans). It was tought to get a whole pear half to fit in one tart shell, so I filled a few with too much pear and they over flowed. I decided to put a little less pear in the last few and we just ate the leftover pear pieces. Since I had 2 tart shells left to fill and a bunch of super-tiny-little-mini tart shells (which I made in my mini-muffin tin, since I had so much tart dough), I needed some other kind of filling. There were a bunch of egg yolks leftover from our Gingerbread House and Royal Icing-making fiasco, so I made Dorie's Lemon-Ginger Pastry Cream. I just steeped rounds of ginger and large pieces of lemon zest in the milk (I made it with skim milk) and piped the remaining shells full of it. I sprinkled the leftover ground pistachios and almonds over the pastry cream and we were in heaven, again. The favorite here was the Tart dough made with Pistachios-what a wonderful way to start off 2009! Go check out the Tuesday's with Dorie blogroll to see who else loved this recipe!

Coming Tomorrow- Roasted Vegetable Gratin

Daring Bakers- Pierre Herme's Chocolate Eclairs

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and co-hosted by Tony Tahhan and Meeta at What's for Lunch, Honey. They chose Eclairs.Not just any eclairs though, Pierre Herme's Chocolate Eclairs. We were given a little leeway, as long as we kept either the pastry cream or the glaze chocolate. We also needed to use Pierre's recipe for the pate choux. I have never made eclairs before simply because I don't really love them. My mom on the other hand, loves them. I haven't seen her eyes light up the way they did today, for a long time. I mean she was excited-like little kids on Christmas Day, excited. It was fun to watch.

These came together quickly and didn't give me any trouble. I did have to bake them longer than the 20 minutes called for, because they were not firm or nicely golden after 20 minutes. I was going to make the chocolate pastry cream, but my mom wanted vanilla, so I went with Dorie's Pastry Cream- I added that recipe all the way at the bottom of this post. These were fun to make and they turned out looking good. I made some little puffs, just for fun and I really think the last picture looks like a little monster or something. Maybe I have just been looking at it too long! Anyway, this was a fun challenge. Go see how everyone else did with their eclairs by checking out the Daring Bakers Blogroll. I can't wait to see what we will be up to next month!

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds bypositioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets withwaxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets, top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:

1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)

• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:

1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk

• ½ cup (125g) water

• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

• ¼ teaspoon sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour

• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to mediumand start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time youhave added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:

1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined bakingsheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer thepiped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk

• 4 large egg yolks

• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted

• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted

• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the

tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:

1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream

• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature

• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin

to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1 cup (250 g) water

• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream

• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:

1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.

2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Dorie's Pastry Cream from Baking
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk– this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.Whisk in the vanilla. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly–as I always do–put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes