{Pate a Choux} Pastry Swans

If I've learned anything from my travels this last fall, its that everyone pretty much everywhere appreciates a good dessert. I found some great ones (belgian waffles anyone?) and others that were interesting, to put it nicely (looking at you and your puddings England). But I decided it would be appropriate to break my baking sabbatical with a nod towards the country I miss so much. So I cracked open my Great British Bake Off cookbook my aunt had given me for Diwali, and decided to make the first thing I saw. Tah-da! Pastry Swans! And aren't they a beaut?

I love these just because they hit all the criteria for my favorite kinds of dessert: simple ingredients and simple steps but visually stunning. And the best part that you get to be creative with it and its fun to eat. (Well, sort of. Do you take it apart? Use your hands? I don't think it's possible to be graceful with these)






























I've stayed away from making these for a while because the pasty seems like it would be delicate and easy to mess up, but since the pate a choux is essentially a cooked dough, it stays sturdy enough to withstand all the carving and filling. 

The dough is super easy to make and once you've beaten in the eggs, all that's left is to pipe the swan head and bodies onto the parchment. As a general guide, I cut a piping bag to make a 5mm hole, then traced half of a 4" heart shape I drew on printer paper that I placed underneath the parchment sheet on the tray. For piping the bodies, I cut a piping back to make a 1" hole, and then piped a tapered zig-zag about 4" long. 

After they baked, I cut the bodies in half horizontally, and then cut the top half in half again length-wise. And then you fill the bottom with the cream, place the base of the swan neck into the front, and then place each half back on top. And wah-lah! I might've confused you there, but I swear, its simple.

I filled these with chantilly cream (otherwise just known as sweetened whipped cream), but you can do anything you'd like with these. Next time I'd probably add chocolate or berries in, and you could even substitute the whipped cream for pastry cream or mousse - the options are endless. I finished them off with a dusting of powdered sugar and placed them on a raspberry dark chocolate marsala sauce to spice it up a bit (ignore the plating, I was trying too hard to be fancy). Hope you give these a try! Recipes for everything are down below

Pastry Swans (Barbara Bakes)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs


1) Preheat the oven to 425º. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2) In a small saucepan, bring butter, water, salt and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove pan from the heat and beat in flour with a wooden spoon. Stir quickly until all the flour is incorporated. Return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute or two, until it pulls away from the sides and becomes one big ball. 

3) Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed for 1 minute to cool the dough down a little.

4) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat until the dough loses its “slimy” look, and each egg is incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl.

5) Using a pastry bag fitted with either a 1/2" tip or cut with a 5mm slit, pipe out 12 swan heads. (Using a heart shape as a general guide, pipe out half a heart, and then add a curved "tail" at the base to create an "S" shape, and add a blob on the other end to resemble a head)

6) Using another piping bag, this time with a 1" slit or tip, pipe out 12 swan bodies. These will be about 4” long, and about 2-3” wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other. Giving it a pointy end will also make it look more graceful.

7) Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375º and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. For the swan heads, bake a 375 for 10 minutes, keeping a close eye to make sure that they don't brown

8)Let cool on the baking sheet. Poke a small hole into each body to allow the steam to escape

9) Assembly: Take a swan body and use a very sharp or serrated knife to cut off the top 1/3rd or 1/2. Cut the removed top lengthwise down the center to make two wings. Fill by piping cream into the body, insert head, and then add wings on the sides. Garnish with berries and powdered sugar

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Marsala Sauce

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 cup dark and/or milk chocolate 

1 tablespoon Marsala wine (or any red wine)

1) In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate, whisking constantly to prevent burning

2) Once half melted, add in raspberries, mashing them using the whisk

3) After the chocolate and raspberries are incorporated, pour in wine and allow mixture to warm. 

4)Spoon and spread onto plates before plating swans. 

Alfajores {and my time in the Forgotten Continent}

Way back in January, one of my best friends and I booked a trip to South America (Peru first, and then we added Chile a few months later). I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but going off of the ravings of my girlfriends in college who went to South America for study abroad, all I knew to expect was lots of Spanish, that I was going to love it, and alfajores.

I did end up absolutely loving it there and and got inundated with more Spanish than I knew what to do with. But what about the alfajores? Although it is kind of weird that most of us have never heard about a cookie so popular in so many countries, fear not, I am here to enlighten you. Alfajores (pronounced  ahl-fah-HOH-rehs. Don't forget to roll that "r") are two cornstarch shortbread cookies filled with dulce de leche. Even though that's the most simple definition, it can get pretty crazy because there are so many different varieties. *Shout out to my fave, Alyssa, for making me my first one ;)*

For example, while most American renditions are of a small bite-sized cookie, the alfajores I saw in coastal Chilean panaderias were puffy cookies the size of saucers, had 1-inch tall layers of dulce de leche in the middle, and were rolled in coconut . But we got to try local, authentic Chilean alfajores and those were thin, crispy shortbread the size of my palm, with lots of dulce de leche and completely covered in chocolate. The one I tried in a Peruvian Starbucks (don't judge me) was panaderia-sized, but doused in powdered sugar. (I'd like to take the time right now to apologize to my travel buddy, who by the end of the trip, was probably sick of me hunting these down in every town we went to).

As my roomate had correctly told me, these are usually eaten with cafe con leche which is not simply "coffee with milk" - it's actually just a cup of hot milk with a couple spoons of Nescafe instant coffee and tons of sugar. The richness of that, paralleled in this dulce de leche cookie, is generally hard for the American palate to handle. Two soft buttery cookies with milky caramel in the middle and no variety in texture? But few days in any South American country will transform your palate, and I wound up loving these and their "coffee" more than I ever expected. And after trying these for a second time, my family is hooked too. They're just so good.

Of course I know most of you aren't planning on wasting most of your savings on a trip south of the equator, so just trust me and try these on a day when you have a sweet tooth! And possibly some stretchy pants. For some complexity of flavor try adding orange zest; some people even add guava paste to the center- there are so many possibilities! I didn't like them completely covered in chocolate, but they're perfect with some drizzled bittersweet.

I wish this was a travel blog because then I could go on and on about how much I absolutely loved my week in Latin America, but instead I'll introduce you to Rico, my Peruvian llama. Isn't he adorable?

Oh and I almost forgot! In case you're unable to find a can of dulce de leche, I have an super easy (but time consuming) recipe on how to make your own. In San Diego, the La Lechera cans were right in the baking aisle and as cheap as condensed milk, but I couldn't even find it in the Mexican grocery store here. If you're having a tough time, check Safeway/Vons or Target maybe. Trust me, it's well worth the hunt! And I can't resist, so here are some pictures. Take me back! D:

Alfajores

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup room temperature butter
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 X 13.4 can Dulce de Leche (you'll use almost the entire can)
flour for dusting

1)Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes
2)Add the egg yolks and vanilla, scraping with a spatula as needed.
3)On low speed, gradually add the cornstarch, flour, salt, baking powder and soda and mix until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or the cookies will lose their soft texture.
4)Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, flattening it into a disk, and then wrap it tightly. Chill for at least an hour.
5)Preheat the oven to 350F.
6)Unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly floured cutting board. The dough will be sticky and crack due to the cornstarch, but don't worry, its easy to mold back into shape. The standard thickness is 1/4 inch, but you can make them as thin or as thick as you want! Remember, thick=soft & cakey while thin=firm & crispier
6)You can use any size cookie cutter, but I used a 2-inch one and was able to make about 20-24 rounds
7)Place the cookies on lined baking sheets and bake them in preheated oven for 11-13 minutes. Time in there also has an effect on texture, so eye-ball it! These shouldn't brown around the edges.
8)Let cool on wire rack before filling
9)The rest is up to you! Spread, pipe, or spoon whatever amount of dulce de leche you'd like onto a cookie and then sandwich them together. Some people like to mix it with guava paste or add a fruit filling in the center. Go crazy!

Dulce de Leche

One can Condensed Milk

1)Remove the label
2)Place can(s)in a pot of water, making sure that the can is completely submerged
3)Turn the heat on medium-high until it reaches a simmer
4)Keep it simmering from 3-4 hours depending on how firm you want it (the firmer the better for this cookie). Be sure to keep filling up the pot when the water levels go down or the can will explode.
5) Let it cool completely before opening (or it will explode) and enjoy!

Happy Hunting!

- Neha x

Minnie Mouse {Red Velvet} Cupcakes

When a friend ordered some Minnie Mouse cupcakes, and gave me a few photos for reference, I got really excited! It had been a while since I had a chance to do something fun and whimsical with something as straightforward as cupcakes.

The end result was highly minimalist, but I love that classy, simple aesthetic. I made the ears out of chocolate with black gel food coloring, which *warning* made it oddly limp even though I tempered it. But yay for finally getting to use fondant again! I'm super late on this bandwagon, but it's incredible how useful this stuff is! It's mold-able, edible, play-doh. It's all of our childhood dreams realized. It's fantastic. 

Also, this cupcake extremely un-photogenic for some reason. But how do you like the chalkboard in the back? Just thought I'd try out something new ;)

Happy Hunting!

- Neha x

My 21st

Now there are two ways to celebrate your 21st birthday. The first? College style, complete with many shots of cheap alcohol,making memories, and staying in bed for most of the next day. The second? A very adult night with family and a couple glasses of something expensive.

As much as I wanted to do the crazy, reckless thing with my friends in San Diego, I was going to be in Fremont with my parents - which for most people, would result in a birthday night similar to their 18th. But lucky me, I have such a fantastic group of friends and family here that I got to have the best of both worlds!

But I decided to take the morning for myself and deliver an order of dark chocolate and salted caramel macarons to an old friend's sister for her birthday. Baking isn't a very profitable business model, but for me, its a way of experimenting with techniques and flavors while breaking even. And delivering this gift for my friends family since she couldn't be there? Priceless.

After that, the first stop was at BevMo where I pretended to be picky but ended up just chosing the cheapest bottle {Noble Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 337}, which was actually pretty good! I used it to make Chocolate Cabernet Cupcakes, a slightly dense but delicious chocolate chunk cupcake, with the wine and some cinnamon. It wasn't enough for me so I added a tablespoon to some vanilla ermine frosting, and then a few tablespoons to melted chocolate and drizzled it on top. So lots of wine overall basically.

I'd say that these cupcakes were the highlight of my Monday birthday, but between seeing my friends, some crazy voicemails, my first lemon drop martini, and *ahem* Justin Timberlake singing happy birthday to me (and to everyone else in the auditorium) it was just great overall. Thanks you guys, I'm so lucky to have all of you.

Chocolate Cabernet Cupcakes

8 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
3/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

3) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Then add in the egg and egg yolk, as well as the vanilla, beat well until combined.

4) Add in 1/2 of the dry ingredients, followed by the wine, then the remainder of the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl if necessary.

5) Divide batter evenly into lined muffin pan. Bake for 18 minutes then remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Ermine Buttercream Frosting (w/ Red Wine)

2 sticks (1 cup) organic unsalted butter, softened

1 cup organic cane sugar

1 cup organic whole milk or skim milk with 2tbs melted butter

1/4 cup sifted organic all-purpose flour

1/2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract

1 tbs red wine

1) Cream the butter on medium speed, 3 to 5 minutes, in a standing mixer or with a hand mixer until soft, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

2) In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the milk, the flour, and the vanilla extract, and whisk until there are no lumps. Over medium heat, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup milk, whisking constantly, and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil. Then reduce the heat to low and keep whisking for a few more minutes, until the mixture starts to thicken.

3) Immediately remove the pan from the heat, but keep stirring. (After you have removed the pan from the heat, the mixture will continue to cook for a minute or two on its own. If you overheat it and get small lumps, try to whisk vigorously to get them out, or pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.) If necessary, place the pan over a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the mixture to cool.

4) Once the milk mixture has thickened, set it aside to cool to room temperature *important*. You can stick it in the freezer to rush the cooling.

5) With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add vanilla to combine.

Chocolate Red Wine Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup red wine divided

1 cup dark (or milk) chocolate chips

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1) In a pot simmer 1/4 cup wine over low/medium heat

2) Allow it to cook for about 8 minutes, it will reduce some. Turn the heat down and add in the chocolate and corn syrup. Whisk vigorously as things begin to melt, then remove from heat and continue whisking until every thing is well incorporated.

3) Stir in the remaining wine and let cool to desired consistency, then drizzle on top of cupcakes

Happy Hunting,

- Neha x

{Espresso Boston Creme} Crepe Cake

Ladies and gentleman, I'm proud to introduce my first real blog post! Finally, finally. It's a bit overdue, but I wanted this mini milestone to be different. I courted making everything from chocolate cakes to baumkuchens before deciding that nothing beats revamped simplicity. And what better way to accomplish that than with a versatile crepe?

For those of you wondering what a crepe is, it's a thin spongy pancake, with a certain level of taste-bud androgyny. Crepes can be used for savory lunch meals as well as sweet desserts, and this time, I decided to stack them all and make a Crepe Cake! Because, well, why not?

Crepe cakes are generally filled with pastry cream and topped with berries, but I decided to add my own twist. And in classic Boston Cream Pie tradition I filled it with vanilla custard and top it with chocolate ganache! Until I apparently decided that was too boring as well, and threw in some espresso. Let's just say it was a good decision.

Something I didn't realize going into this was that the crepes soak up a lot of the filling, and after a day or so in the fridge, the whole thing was dense and sort of dry. I decided to  improvise by making a chocolate sauce out of the espresso custard just to add moisture. And *important note*! Make sure that you level the filling in all the layers while stacking; once you start, even the slightest angle will become a more pronounced slant.

And a word to the wise, don't wait to let your ganache firm up too much, or it'll be super tough to spread around.  I had to use a spoon to push it over (which is pretty visible) but its dark chocolate, and its delicious, so I didn't mind too much!

You can pretty much stop at this point but because I was still bored (it was a slow Saturday), I melted down some sugar, let it cool and then spun it around a greased wooden handle for the garnish. Sugar is so fascinating to me; how something can turn from a burnt brown glob to shaped gold is a natural wonder in itself. For more on that technique, click here.

But sugar or no spun sugar, I highly recommend making this! It's the easiest way to make an impressive cake without having to pay close attention to detail - and the flavor possibilities are endless! Added bonus: if you mess up halfway through? Just roll up the crepes with some strawberries or nutella, and I promise it'll be just as good!

Crepe Recipe:

2 cups milk
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon butter or oil, to grease the skillet for the crepes

1) Make the crepe batter by mixing all the ingredients in a blender  or just whisk it vigorously
2) Chill the crepe batter at least for 1 hour (I made it the night before). 
3) For an easier fool-proof method, heat 2 nonstick skillets over medium high heat. Brush each with a little bit of butter or oil. 
4) When the skillet is hot, pour in some crepe batter (a little bit more than half of a 1/4 measuring cup for an 8 inch skillet) and tilt the skillet, distributing the batter evenly over the surface of the skillet. 
5) Once one side is cooked (about a minute), flip it onto the second skillet. Let it cook for a minute and then transfer onto a plate. You can always use a spatula, but they're easier to break.
6) You should have 20-30 crepes, if you’re using an 8 or 9 inch skillet.

Espresso Vanilla Custard {Pastry Cream}

3 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp vanilla 
3 tbsp instant espresso
3 tbsp hot water

1) Beat egg yolks well in medium bowl or glass measure; gradually stir in milk until blended. 
2) Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in large heavy saucepan. Gradually stir in a small amount of milk mixture, making a smooth paste. Gradually stir in remaining milk mixture until blended.  
3) Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, 20 to 25 minutes. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat immediately.  
4)Set pan in larger pan of ice water. Stir occasionally and gently for a few minutes to hasten cooling. Stir in vanilla and espresso dissolved in the hot water. Press piece of plastic wrap onto surface of pastry cream to prevent "skin" from forming. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.

*Notes: I would make this a day or two in advance to make life easier. I also avoided the ice bath by just continuing to whisk off heat.

Ganache

4 oz dark chocolate
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp butter

1)Heat the cream and butter until almost boiling
2)Pour over chopped chocolate and stir until smooth
3)Let cool to a thick, yet pour-able consistency 

Happy Hunting!

- Neha x 

The 7 Month Hiatus

All right guys, I thought it was about time to get my elbows dirty and wipe the dust off of this blog! I've been away for a little bit longer than I had originally planned (the break was supposed to last 1 month) and everybody knows that an abandoned project is the hardest to restart. I've already haphazardly documented my body of work, and to rebuild it all over again on here? I've imagined a few better ways to spend my Friday nights.

Of course, when you're being lazy, the negative thought demons always decide to make an appearance too. "I'm just a drop in the ocean of bakers and bloggers" and "Why waste time when no one will read it" have been taking up residency for half a year now. To painfully stretch out this metaphor, I've decided to revoke the lease and evict them for good because I love food photography and conceptualizing desserts way too much not to! 

After much poking and prodding by my family and friends, I went for it and joined all the social media (yay, grammar). And so now this "online presence"-averse chick has a: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and a website: ChocolateMyHeart. All that on top of managing social media for two other companies, although that's another story altogether. 

So what's happened so far in 2014? After selling cakes from January-May in San Diego, I went ahead and "launched" CMH in the Bay Area in June. And it was a mess. And I had a few failed orders. And I basically lost my interest, and was just going through the motions. And when that happens, this happens:

I mean it was a perfectly lovely, Coconut Mango cake, but the icing was wilty, the layers weren't leveled, and by the time I took the photos I didn't care enough to match my props to the dessert, or iron out that lace napkin. I mean it was a decent picture, but so forced and kind of sad. My heart wasn't in it.

But I bit the bullet and just posted it on my Facebook page and Instagram anyway. And the likes just started pouring in! And that's when I realized that I was actually *gasp* allowed to fail. One misstep is never enough to close any operation.

So now I'm going to try really hard and figure out this blog thing. Because besides those cliche revelations, I got some new photography equipment that I'm absolutely stoked about and can't wait to post pictures on here!

But here are the links to the recipes for the Coconut Cake with Mango Curd! A word to the wise, the cake is a bit dense so put in the effort and make one that requires 10 egg whites. The frosting was great, but didn't hold shape too well. The curd though, make it now! I highly recommend it

Coconut Cake

Mango Curd

Cream Cheese Frosting


Happy hunting everyone!

- Neha x

Black and White Truffles

Right around when I really started to get onto my pastry craze, I learned quickly that the only way I would be able to justify the time and resources I spent, was if I made the excuse that I wanted to give them away to other people. So, now, everything's become a reason for celebration. Helped us move some furniture? Have some cookies! End of the school year? Take some brownies! Got a new cat? Have a biscuit! You get the basic idea.

When my Dad told me in January that he would be switching jobs the following July, I almost immediately got him onboard with me giving boxes of truffles to all of his coworkers, and spent the next 4 months leading until I returned home figuring out new designs, flavors, and the basic logistics of who to give what.

These weren't the truffles I ended up giving them, but they're my first experimentation with the truffle exteriors using both dark and white chocolate, which I did shortly after I ripped the truffle molds out of their packaging, after literally waiting on my sofa watching the door for the deliveryman.

These were a bit time intensive, hence there only being four, but its always nice to push yourself to accomplish chocolatier-grade work at home.

Happy Hunting!

- Neha x