Cream Puffs

Cream Puff Collage

So, holiday time is over and hoping that everyone enjoyed theirs.  I had a quiet but nice holiday myself and am thankful for all my friends who made it special while I wait for my children to return from Florida!

First let me begin by saying that this was so very simple and easy to make that I could kick myself for not doing it sooner and for letting it intimidate me.  NEVER EVER let anything intimidate you! You are in control and if you don't get it  right the first time there is always a second, a third a fourth, a fiftieth; the important thing is to try it and then see if it is even worth your while to try to perfect it.  That being said I will begin by saying this; there is a french term called mis en place and translates as "everything in its place" meaning to get your items out and all together before hand.  I did not! The result was that I was scrambling around like a crazy person because I thought i put something out and did not!  So this time around I definitely will get everything out first, I might even measure it out and put it in little dishes like they do on television!  And that is exactly what I did this past weekend, I applied the mis en place technique and was quite pleased to feel much more in charge for my cooking rather then it in charge of me

I looked up and read over and over several various recipes for the puffs and they all pretty much said the same thing but  Emeril Lagasse made it the easiest to understand, he simplified it and I needed that, being a first time puff maker.  It is actually called Pate a Choux (patay ah shoo) but I like to refer to them as puffs and here is the recipe I used.  This recipe is for MINI SIZED, something I forgot when I was piping them because I was so excited over the ease of this recipe.  Next time my focused goal will be the shape and the fact that if I want more then 12 I must make a double batch.  No need for that, I just need to perfect the puff and can always make more later.  The important thing is to use what you have right away, the ingredients do not lend to the fact that it will deflate but it must say to use immediately for a reason, so we follow that direction.

    1 cup water
    1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
    1 tablespoon sugar
    1/4 tsp. salt
    1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bread flour
    4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used wax paper and stuck it to the pan with butter in the corners). Set aside.

In a heavy bottomed 1-quart saucepan-combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour, all at once, to the pan and quickly stir vigorously to incorporate the flour into the liquid.

Return the pan to the stove, and over a medium-low heat, continue to cook and stir the dough over the fire. Do this until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove the dough from the saucepan, and place in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Mix the dough on low speed until the dough is cooled down to about 140 degrees F, which is still quite warm to the touch, but cool enough to prevent the eggs from cooking if added to the dough.

Raise the speed of the mixer to medium, and add 1 of the eggs to the dough and mix until completely incorporated. Continue adding the remaining eggs, 1 at a time, waiting until each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg.

Immediately transfer the dough to a piping bag with a large, round tip. Pipe round circles or whatever shape you desire onto the pan.  However, if you are looking to fill cream puffs or eclairs you have to follow the instructions for those recipes, this is just your basic pate a choux recipe that can be used for many desserts and savory treats.

Do not pipe them too closely together as they will need space to expand as they bake. Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and continue to bake until they are dried out, about 22 minutes longer. Turn the oven off and remove from the oven. Using the tip of a pairing knife, cut a small slit in the side of each puff near the bottom. Place the puffs back on the baking sheet and place back in the oven, propping the oven door open so they can dry out as they cool, about 1 hour or until the oven is cool.

This recipe was SO DAUNTING because only the "professionals" can take on something this difficult...PISH POSH to all that nonesense!!!  if you can BOIL WATER you can make cream puffs, if you have made mac and cheese for your kids you can make cream puffs! if you have melted butter for shrimp you can make cream puffs.  I hope my step by step instructions have helped you to see that! it is after all the reason for this blog!  To let the ordinary average every day cook know that all these terms that chefs use, when broken down are just so simple...so don't be intimidated...GET IN THAT KITCHEN and do something crazy!!!!

Storage tips below are from http://www.baking911.com/pastry/pateachoux.htm and I have not tried it yet, I would prefer to serve mine the same day, fresh and hot but when you have parties or special events, sometimes storage is the better option!

Refrigerator: If thoroughly baked, unfilled cream puffs may be refrigerated for a couple of days, but it does stale quickly, so I recommend freezing, instead.Before refrigerating, you'll first want to cut them open and remove the strands of dough to prevent sogginess. Wrap all puffs individually after they have cooled and before freezing. Place them is a resealable plastic bag being careful not to put too many in at once.

Freezer: If you have more dough than you need or want to make them in advance, bake all of it and freeze the finished puffs for up to 3 months (best at one month) and an airtight container and keep away from freezer odors. There's no need to cut cream puffs open or remove the strands of dough before freezing. Thaw at room temperature. To crisp, unwrap and place in a 325 degree F oven until warm. Let cool and fill as desired.

INTERESTING FACT ON THE ORIGINAL PATE A CHOUX:  A note about Pâte à choux in the 1760's: "Cooked potatoes were mashed. Eggs were added, and the mixture was shaped with a spoon into balls that vaguely resembled little cabbages. This potato batter was replaced by a more modern version that used a white roux instead of potatoes. This version was perfected in 1760 by the famous Pastry Chef Avice..." From The Professional French Pastry Series Book.

I remember now that if we had leftover potatoes in my house, my dad would add an uncooked egg to the mashed potatoes and put it in a skillet and cook it until i don't know when he assumed it was through, but it was quite tasty so he might have gotten this idea from his mother, who got it from hers.

Happy Eating from the Kitchen Gypsy

Linzer Cookies

Christmas - the most beautiful and tasty time of the year!

The Linzer Cookie or Linzer Eyes are a traditional Christmas Cookie dating back to the 1800’s that has its origin in Linz, Austria, also home to the infamous PEZ candy and its beloved dispenser, two great inventions by our Austrian brothers

I tried making this cookie about 7 years ago and found myself VERY frustrated, so I employed the help this time of my good friend, Leah Gore.  Now two people share the same frustration.  The cookie recipe itself is not difficult to make, but a few years ago when I attempted to make the cookie I bought a Linzer cookie mold that supposedly made it easier to form the cookies.  The cookies are primarily butter, sugar, ground almonds and flour, but mostly butter.  As this is a cookie rich in butter, I chose Plugra Butter because it is higher in butterfat content – about 3% more then your average butter, making it perfect for baking.  Plugra is a European butter you can find in most markets, I found mine at the local Food Lion in Myrtle Beach, its about $2.50 for 2 sticks but the outcome is far worth the price!

Back to the cookies; our frustration rested in the cutting of the cookie, everything stuck to the mold and we had to put it in the refrigerator quite a few times so that it would harden again so we could cut it.  If you have the patience, the taste is phenomenal  NEW NOTE:  Now that I had an entire night to think about it and some of the morning after 5:30 a.m. to think some more...you COULD just use one standard cookie cutter, cut out twice the amount and make sandwich cookies without holes, but you would not see the raspberry jam, however it would be slightly less frustrating then trying to use the Linzer contraption that we used, sometimes the old fashioned way is just best!    However if you are feeling incredibly patient, then the link to the original cutter I bought 7 years ago is amazingly still working for someone because they are still selling it, I have posted he link as well as the link to the Plugra butter

One thing Leah and I both agree on after tasting them, these cookies are well worth the frustration as they melt in your mouth and are hands down one of the most delectable cookies I have EVER tasted!

Enjoy!

Linzer Cookie Recipe

1 ¼ cups of whole almonds

1 cup of Plugra butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp salt – omit if using salted butter

Two different sized cookie cutters, one for base, one for inset

Confectioners Sugar for dusting

1 cup seedless raspberry jam

Toast almonds in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes, set aside and let cool.

After they are cooled, place the nuts in a food processor or chop by hand (a blender would work well but watch to make sure it does not liquefy)

Line baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper (put butter on the corners on the pan to make sure it adheres to the waxed paper.

Beat butter and sugar together until pale in color and creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl add sifted flour, baking powder and cinnamon.  Mix together and then incorporate into the butter mixture and mix well.  Separate dough into two balls, put each one between two sheets of wax paper, smash down with your hand and refrigerate for an hour.

After an hour take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and roll while still in the waxed paper until thin, about a quarter inch. Now that you have worked the dough, the butter will have softened so put it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes before attempting to use the cutters for the top row.

Use the larger cookie cutter and cut out as many as you can, stopping in-between if they start to stick, to put them in the refrigerator.  Bake these cookies for about 8 or 9 minutes, I use my “nose method”,  as soon as I start to SMELL the cookies I take them out, touch them and they should be a little doughy, not much, because they will continue to cook while cooling on the pan.

While the cookies are cooling roll out the other portion of cookie dough that is in the refrigerator; again, it will have softened so put it back in the refrigerator before attempting to cut again.  Using the smaller cookie cutter, with a hole in it, cut the top layer for the cookie out.  Remove the other cooled cookies from the pan; they should easily peel off the waxed paper, set aside on a plate.

Put your top layer cookie with the cutout on them into the oven, cook 8 or 9 minutes once again.  Take out and cool, after they are cool dust generously with powdered sugar.  If you do not wait until they have cooled to add the powdered sugar, the sugar will melt right into the cookie

Assembly time:

Put one tsp of raspberry jam on the bottom layer, put the cutout cookie lid on top and press together.  You must taste the first one, sorry, I know you don’t want to eat it after baking all this time but it is your duty to taste your food before it leaves the kitchen.  Leah and I had to taste several to make sure they were good enough for others!

Your cookies are done! I hope this was helpful and not confusing in any way, but if it was feel free to comment and contact me and I will make necessary revisions so that this cookie is not as frustrating for you as it was for us.  Your final result should look something like this.

Happy Eating from the Kitchen Gypsy!

http://plugra.com/product-information#productInfo8oz
http://www.surlatable.com/product/linzer+cookie+cutter+set.do?keyword=kaiser&sortby=ourPicks

Diaper Cake

Diaper Cake for a friend (January 2005)

Pictured above is a diaper cake I made back in 2005 for my friend who was pregnant with a little girl.  I wanted it to be special, unique, feminine and functional.  It was all of the above and I think people were afraid to touch it.  Rumor has it that the mother in questions waited until she was completely out of diapers before she started to disassemble this monstrosity.  That made me smile!

I know what you are thinking! "A 5-tier diaper cake???" but if you have children you understand and if you don't, well you will.  I started with the bigger size on the bottom and worked my way up leaving the newborn on the top two layers because babies can go through some diapers in the first few weeks of birth.  So, are we ready to get started?

DIAPER CAKE NEEDS
circular foam (for bottom)
triangular foam (looks like a tree)
250 Pampers (Costco or Sam's are VERY reasonable, even if you use Pampers Like I did)
rubber bands (color does not matter, they will be covered)
ribbons with bread ties on them to attach (Walmart or any craft store; )
mini silk flowers with bread ties to attach (Walmart or any craft store)
stuffed animal for top (a Gund Lamb cost me $20 at Belk)
large ribbon (on a roll, usually found in the party or sewing aisle)
Hot glue gun

the color choice is yours, if you do not know the sex of the baby I suggest pastel yellow or green, and you can alternate them, it is really up to you.  Let me make this next note perfectly clear DO NOT HOT GLUE THE DIAPERS TOGETHER, I had someone tell me before I made it how hard it was to separate the diapers and although it was a wonderful gift, she had to throw away most of the diapers because they had ripped

TIME CONSUMING but worth it.  have a rolling party or enlist the help of your children.  This actually would be a GREAT idea for a youth group to do and give to a local Women's Shelter or any place in town where pregnant women go to receive care.  What a nice gift this would make for a young mother!  

Roll all 250 diapers as tight as you can and put a rubber band around the middle, do not worry, it will be covered with ribbon later and you will not see the rubber bands

INSTRUCTIONS

hot glue the circular piece with the cylindrical piece (if you do not have hot glue use super glue or something to make it stay

ASSEMBLY

take the rolled diapers and place them on the round peice standing up like the picture shown below. Start at the inside of the "tower" as you will probably have two circular rows After you have done that place the large ribbon color of your choice around it tightly, don't worry about tying the bow right now, just secure it in a knot so the diapers do not come loose.

Repeat these steps going all the way to the top until you have a finished product, the diapers will stack easily on top of each other as shown in the following picture

First Row Completed

Second Row done!!

After you have successfully completed the final row then it is time to decorate, I personally chose to keep it simple, just bows and silk flowers, the little bows and silk flowers came from Walmart in the craft department and were very inexpensive, they also have little "bread ties" on them so you don't need to hot glue them to the surface and you can easily move them if it doesn't look symmetrical, then I bought a $20 Gund bear that I got from Belk.  However you can put plastic rattles, teething rings, baby blocks ANYTHING you want that says baby! it does not have to look like mine.  However I will tell you this, this cost me about $75 to $100 to make and when I looked on line, you can ONLY get a diaper cake like this NO WHERE, every where they have it in a basket and it just looks like they threw diapers into a container, the ones that did have structure where very small and around $200!!!!

You could make quite a living doing something like this if you could find some way to market the product and people who wanted to buy it.  Me? I just did it because I was so happy that my sister in law was pregnant AGAIN and that I got to be part of the experience, but most of all, I did it because it was a LOT of fun!