The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Ah, the deep fry. Producing deliciously tasty treats and requiring all the oil in your house, all the patience you can muster, all the 409 under the sink (for clean up) and all the calories left in your day (for eating)…

This was another fun recipe challenge put forth by the lovely Lisa Michele, (who writes the blog Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives – and I must say, LM is a swell gal, and I covet her food photography) and it was easy to make…sort of. While I like my hip hop and my sitcoms old school, I should have remembered my mentor J. Child’s take on modernization (it’s good) and ponied up the cash for some metal cannoli forms. Instead, I made them from a 1 inch wooden dowel, like they did in the old country. I eventually got it right with these things, but if you go for the old world charm (or are just cheap like me), get the right size (7/8 inch) and get out the spray oil, because you’ll need to spray the wood down each time you use it (you don’t need to do this with the metal forms). It’s possible that I just didn’t season the forms enough, but mid-fry, I wasn’t going to try to correct that problem. Once I figured out that I needed the extra oil, frying the shells was fairly simple – keeping the oil at temperature (not too hot and not too cool) was a little tricky, but that could have been me being, uh…economical… and not wanting to use a whole additional container of oil to get to a depth of over 3 inches. So the fry is a little uneven – some are a bit too dark. But they all taste quite nice.

The filling I altered a bit – mixed in mascarpone cheese with the ricotta and its texture is a little strange, but tasty. Chocolate, of course, is always nice. For a second filling, I tried to find a crab puff filling recipe, which I did, but I don’t recommend it, so it’s not included here. With a little finesse (mostly adding way more crab to cut the cream cheese) I had a savory version of the cannoli to go with the sweet (which is what is pictured above – the sweet ones were tasty, but didn’t photograph well).

Two notes from my experience – one, I used the pasta machine method, rolled out the dough to the thinnest setting, and got really nice blistery shells, no matter how much I worked the dough. See? Modern=good. I also used the links at the very bottom of this (very extensive) recipe and made my own mascarpone and ricotta cheese. Oh. My. God. Never again will commercially manufactured versions of either pass our threshold. I highly recommend making both from scratch – way better, not hard and a little cheaper. Score.

I’m not sure I’ll be doing these again. I was pleased enough with the results, but until we have a proper kitchen with enough space to do deep frying projects without permeating the whole house with frying oil and its smell, cannoli will probably go into that “oh, yeah, I made those once!” category. But if you love the little fried tubes madly, know that they are not that hard to make and be sure to check out some other fantastic fried creations formulated by other fabulous daring bakers.

And if you do try this one, be sure to have a full bottle of 409 on hand.

Cheers.

Cannoli a la Lidisano

Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

CANNOLI SHELLS

2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

Note – If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

CANNOLI FILLING

2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill

Pasta Machine method:

1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:

1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 – 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:

1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

PUMPKIN FILLING

1/2 cup (123 grams/4.34 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 cup (113 grams/4.04 ounces) mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup (122.5 grams/4.32 ounces) canned pumpkin, drained like ricotta
3/4 cup (75 grams/2.65 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 to 1 teaspoon (approx. 1.7 grams/approx. 0.06 ounces) pumpkin pie spice (taste)
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 2 grams/approx. 0.08 ounces) pure vanilla extract
6-8 cannoli shells

1. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta and mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl, cover and chill until it firms up a bit. (The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

2. Fill the shells as directed above. I dipped the ends of the shells in caramelized sugar and rolled them in toasted, chopped pecans.

TIPS AND NOTES:

- Dough must be stiff and well kneaded

- Rolling the dough to paper thinness, using either a rolling pin or pasta machine, is very important. If the dough is not rolled thin enough, it will not blister, and good cannoli should have a blistered surface.

- Initially, this dough is VERY stubborn, but keep rolling, it eventually gives in. Before cutting the shapes, let the dough rest a bit, covered, as it tends to spring back into a smaller shapes once cut. Then again, you can also roll circles larger after they’re cut, and/or into ovals, which gives you more space for filling.

- Your basic set of round cutters usually doesn’t contain a 5-inch cutter. Try a plastic container top, bowl etc, or just roll each circle to 5 inches. There will always be something in your kitchen that’s round and 5-inches if you want large cannoli.

- Oil should be at least 3 inches deep and hot – 360°F-375°F, or you’ll end up with greasy shells. I prefer 350°F – 360°F because I felt the shells darkened too quickly at 375°F.

- If using the cannoli forms, when you drop the dough on the form into the oil, they tend to sink to the bottom, resulting in one side darkening more. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to gently lift and roll them while frying.

- DO NOT crowd the pan. Cannoli should be fried 2-4 at a time, depending on the width of your saucepan or deep fryer. Turn them once, and lift them out gently with a slotted spoon/wire skimmer and tongs. Just use a wire strainer or slotted spoon for flat cannoli shapes.

- When the cannoli turns light brown – uniform in color, watch it closely or remove it. If it’s already a deep brown when you remove it, you might end up with a really dark or slightly burnt shell.

- Depending on how much scrap you have left after cutting out all of your cannoli shapes, you can either fry them up and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar for a crispy treat, or let the scraps rest under plastic wrap and a towel, then re-roll and cut more cannoli shapes.

- Push forms out of cannoli very gently, being careful not to break the shells as they are very delicate. DO NOT let the cannoli cool on the form, or you may never get it off without it breaking. Try to take it off while still hot. Hold it with a cloth in the center, and push the form out with a butter knife or the back of a spoon.

- When adding the confectioner’s sugar to the filling..TASTE. You may like it sweeter than what the recipe calls for, or less sweet, so add in increments.

- Fill cannoli right before serving! If you fill them an hour or so prior, you’ll end up with soggy cannoli shells.

- If you want to prepare the shells ahead of time, store them in an airtight container, then re-crisp in a 350°F (176 °C) oven for a few minutes, before filling.

- Practice makes perfect. My first batch of shells came out less than spectacular, and that’s an understatement. As you go along, you’ll see what will make them more aesthetically pleasing, and adjust accordingly when rolling. My next several batches turned out great. Don’t give up!!

Bonus option:

Make your own ricotta and/or mascarpone cheese! http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/eating-my-curds-and-ditching…
http://www.bakingobsession.com/2009/05/02/homemade-mascarpone-cheese/

We love puff pastry and I’d guess we make it more than your average American household. Several years back, I found a great recipe for “mock” puff pastry, which involves grating frozen butter into flour and proceeding with rolling and turning more or less the way the recipe here does. The mock stuff isn’t quite as nice as the “real” deal, but it turns out a good puffy light butter pastry that tastes fantastic with some onions and anchovies baked in. When I saw that scrumptious Step of A Whisk And A Spoon had chosen classic puff pastry as this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge, I was pretty excited to have an excuse to really make puff pastry the proper way*.

Oh Los Angeles, how you thwart me! If it’s not parking-lot freeway traffic keeping me from appointments across town (and melting what little I might have of a hairdo) then it’s mile-long lines at grocery stores that turn out not to have bamboo shoots after all (what kind of world market doesn’t carry bamboo shoots? The sign says “world market!” Really?). This month it was 100+ degree weather that conspired to melt the ice cold leaflettes of butter straight into the flour-water pastry. By the time I realized what was happening – namely, that the refrigerator was not cooling the pastry enough between turns and that it really needed to be put in the freezer – it was too late. I had something between a mock puff pastry and a very buttery pate brisee – which tasted quite nice (c’mon, it’s butter! With flour!) but puff it did not.

The photo is fine (and nicely lit by the genius photographer in our two-person house, who does not happen to be me), and even looks kind of puffy – but there are FOUR RINGS OF PASTRY on that guy! FOUR! Anyone who did the challenge this month knows that four rings of pastry should have produced a puff as high as the ceiling.

Alas.

The results still tasted great and the filling was quite good – it’s a variation on Cook’s Illustrated’s Waldorf Chicken Salad, made with grapes instead of apples (because of allergies) and hazelnuts instead of walnuts (because they were in the freezer). The chicken salad is really simple and consists of shredded chicken, green onion, toasted nuts (I think we’ve used almonds too – any nuts except maybe peanuts (or maybe peanuts too, never tried) would work), and apples (if you’re doing the real deal). Enough mayonnaise so that you like it and a little salt and pepper and you’re done.

Thanks to Steph for a fun (if somewhat frustrating) challenge. It was great to have a reason to make pastry from scratch and I like the updates on the more classic recipe from Julia Child’s The Way To Cook, which was the first puff pastry I ever made. This recipe is much easier, using a food processor**, and takes enough of the fussiness out of the recipe that I think you could even call this one “pretty easy.” Unless, of course, it’s 100+ degrees out.

Come play with the Daring Bakers and see some other truly amazing puffy creations (no specific links this month as I’m in the UAE until the end of October and by the time this posts, I’ll be up to my eyeballs with work. I don’t think I’ll be able to play in October either, as this hotel room has only a “kitchenette” – and by that they mean a two burner hot plate stove top and a mini bar fridge! But there’s always November…).

Cheers.

*There are (very wise and usually correct) people (in our two-person household) who think I’m a recipe Nazi because I always insist on doing it the “right” way (i.e. following the recipe exactly). So when the control-freak in me can stand it, I compromise. With puff pastry, the compromise is making the mock stuff, which is much easier and less fussy, as opposed to just buying frozen store bought. We get a better pastry, but it doesn’t take me all day and every utensil in the kitchen to make it. Compromise is a very good thing, but every once in a while it’s nice for a type-A baking ninja to have a reason to do it the right way damn it!“right.”

**One of the best things about Madame Child is that she had her priorities sorted. The first priority was that food should be delicious, wholesome and beautifully presented. The second was that it should be as easy as possible. Corners were cut when there was no compromise in the result and they were absolutely not cut when it would make a difference. That’s why it’s so wonderful that Dorrie Greenspan’s Baking With Julia includes this recipe for puff that uses a food processor, while the first recipe I used from Julia’s The Way To Cook is all by hand. Julia understood and embraced progress. She just wouldn’t compromise taste. Smart woman.

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d’oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to “glue”). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).
Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Steph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that’s about 1″ thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10″ square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with “ears,” or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don’t just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8″ square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24″ (don’t worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24″, everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24″ and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you’ve completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Goodness – it’s time for Daring Bakers again!

This month we have the world-famous Dobos Torta, brought to us by the sweet Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and luscious Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. This particular version of the torta is based on Rick Rodger’s recipe out of his book Kaffeehaus:Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

What? You’ve never heard of the world-famous Dobos Torta? Well, I hadn’t either. Here are our lovely hostesses with a little background information:

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners’ and Gingerbread Makers’ Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

How do you like that? Creative Commons pastry! And yummy pastry too. This torta is a little tricky, but not too complicated, and came together almost as quickly as the recipe promised. It includes a cake that is frighteningly similar to the Génoise, my nemesis cake, otherwise known as “the only cake that has ever made me cry.” It involves making the dreaded “ribbon” with egg yolks and sugar. I’m pleased to report that this time, however, not only did the “ribbon” arrive right on cue, but it arrived by hand!

The second challenge was whipping up the egg whites by hand as well. This proved to be even easier the egg yolks.

“But Kathlyn” I can hear you protest “why are you beating eggs by hand when I know very well that you have a stand mixer?” Oh friend, right you are, I do have a stand mixer, but I am on a quest to make only food that we eat and to eat all the food that we make. Because the ever-resourceful-and-helpful Adaux posted first and told tale of making 1/6 of the recipe to get a cake for two, I knew that’s what we needed here. The stand mixer won’t beat only one egg yolk or white properly, so hand beating it was. Which was really quite easy, and that was great news as it wasn’t the cake batter that foiled me this time…but the parchment paper!

I live in Los Angeles where, apparently, the only parchment paper available is at Whole Foods and as such, has to be all environmentally okey dokey. Which is fine. I love the environment. What I don’t love is that the paper is awful and sticks to everything. Including the beautiful cake. So into the trash the first one went (sorry to say there are no photos – I was too pissed off) and back I went to the whisk and the bowl and whipped up another cake…which also stuck! I managed to scrape it off the paper this time, so in the end, we did have cake, but jeeze…

Everything else in the recipe worked just fine. My layers didn’t turn out exactly even, so the cake is slightly lopsided, but still cute. The caramel turned out well, but thinking that there should be a really nice dark coating of it, I kept layering it back on the top piece of cake, so that the decoration turned out to be more like a jawbreaker than a delicate caramel-infused piece of cake. The last note I have – if you decide to use a syrup on the cake (which is quite nice – I used rum, water and sugar boiled together) and your layers are thin, don’t overdo the syrup. It makes the cake nicely flavored, but a bit soggy and I think that’s why I lost the definition in the layers when the cake is cut (there are five and it looks like three). It’s still delicious but the presentation isn’t as beautiful as it should be for all that damn work.

Thanks again to Angela and Lorraine for helping me to get past my Génoise fear and giving us yet another lovely challenge that I would not have made on my own!

To see some great notes on how to get your cake super thin, visit Adaux here (go to about halfway down to see the tips on getting the cake thin and even). To join the Daring Bakers, go here. And be sure to stop by and see some other daring dobos tortas!

Cheers.

Dobros Torta from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague

Equipment

* 2 baking sheets
* 9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
* mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
* a sieve
* a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
* a small saucepan
* a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
* metal offset spatula
* sharp knife
* a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
* piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

* Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
* Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
* Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
* Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

Sponge cake layers

* 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
* 1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar, divided
* 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
* pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

* 4 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
* 4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
* 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping

* 1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
* 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
* 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

* a 7” cardboard round
* 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
* ½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:

NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn’t touch the cake batter.)
3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner’s (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don’t have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner’s (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8″ springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Lorraine’s note: If you’re in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Male sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you’ll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Directions for the caramel topping:

1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn’t just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela’s note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

Storage

I (Angela) am quite happy to store this cake at room temperature under a glass dome, but your mileage may vary. If you do decide to chill it, then I would advise also using a glass dome if you have done. I should also note that the cake will cut more cleanly when chilled.

Variations

Shape: The traditional shape of a Dobos Torta is a circular cake, but you can vary the shape and size if you want. Sherry Yard in Desserts By The Yard makes a skyscraper Dobos by cutting a full-size cake into four wedges and stacking them to create a tall, sail-shaped cake. Mini Dobos would be very cute, and you could perch a little disc of caramel on top.

Flavour: While we both love the dark chocolate buttercream and this is traditional, we think it would be fun to see what fun buttercreams you all come up with! So, go wild! Or, you could brush each layer with a flavoured syrup if you just want a hint of a second flavour. Cointreau syrup would be divine!

Nuts: These are optional for decoration, so no worries if you’re allergic to them. If you don’t like hazelnuts, then substitute for another variety that you like.

Egg concerns

The cooking process for the buttercream will produce lightly cooked eggs. If you fall into a vulnerable health group then you may wish to use an egg-less buttercream.

Resources

http://cafechocolada.blogspot.com/2008/04/dobos-torte.html

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4VHMjIfxfYcC&pg=PA240&lpg=PA240&dq=%22dobos+torte%22&source=bl&ots=tcE2j8dTLl&sig=QoPANOL_MJnfi_vmHm5rW2ncC60&hl=en&ei=jidySrbpKeG2jAec58mODA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

http://paulaerbay2.wordpress.com/2007/07/24/dobos-torte-recipe/

Pictures

First, a few words for the bots!

The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Now, on to our story…

Which is a tale of two cookies. Two store-bought cookies. Two beloved store bought cookies. Specifically, Mallomars and Pepperidge Farm Milanos. Gone are the days when my metabolism could survive downing a whole pack of these lovelies in a sitting (although my squirrel brain still thinks it’s a good idea, so we skip the cookie aisle at the grocery), but every once in a while the Daring Bakers give me an excuse (cough) to make some cookies, which is what we have here for July. I’m not the hugest fan of Mallomars, but I’ve been known to knock back a few Milanos in my youth, and given the simple yet unusual (for me) elements of both these recipes, I was excited to try them…

Milans

These are the oblong, oval shaped, short-bread-like, chocolate-filled treats that come in tall packages of 16 (I wasn’t kidding when I said I had eaten a few!) and can be found in almost any grocery store. I loved these cookies in college (although not quite as much as some of the other Pepperidge Farm offerings that had slightly more chocolate), so they felt like an obvious choice to start the cookie indulgence extravaganza. As I’ve been doing for the past couple of months with all dessert recipes, I chose to halve this one, which may have been a mistake. Not the halving so much as trying to do it in my head without writing down the quantities on the recipe. I’ve warned others against doing this in posts before and didn’t heed my own advice. What I ended up with was not quite an epic FAIL, but more of a gentle, “whoops” fail.

The cookies were…well, one cookie really, to begin with. But they were also limp, sticky, way too lemony and not anything like Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. I’m usually all about forging ahead and seeing things through to the end, but these were bad enough that I had to cut my losses and toss them – there was no way perfectly good chocolate was going anywhere near them. I’m convinced, based on the many other lovely Milan cookies posted by other Daring Bakers that this is something I did and has nothing to do with the recipe. Maybe next time.

Mallows

This is a well-known cookie in my family. I believe the real lover of these gooey chocolate covered marshmallow bombs is my mother’s husband, but I’ve noticed that they seem to disappear at rapid clip early in the morning, before he’s out of bed (I think my mother may have gotten them confused with breakfast bars, which is completely understandable if you ask me). Even though I’m not a huge marshmallow fan, I was excited to take a stab at making it from scratch (fun!).

I was also interested in seeing if there was any improvement on these things when “homemade.” Turns out there is…and there isn’t. Using better chocolate is definitely an improvement, and I prefer the homemade marshmallow to the store-bought. However, in spite of the fact that several other Daring Bakers had no problem setting up their chocolate, mine won’t stay solid outside of the fridge. I’m convinced this is also something I did, although the instructions for making the chocolate glaze were pretty sparse and didn’t include any detailed info on tempering (extensive chocolate tempering info courtesy of Audax Artifex (whose cookies rock!) is included after the recipes).

I must say, even though they require cold storage (and a napkin when eating), these things are hellishly good.

This was a fun challenge and something I definitely would not have tried myself. It’s also something I could very well try again, especially as a way to learn how to properly temper chocolate (a girl has to pick up some skills now and then, right?).

Thanks to Nicole at Sweet Tooth for putting up a fun challenge – looking forward to making these again for the family…if I can ever figure out how to temper chocolate!

Cheers.

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Milan Cookies

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Milan Cookies
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Notes on how to temper chocolate (courtesy of Audax Artifex):
The First thing to discuss
Blooming Problems – What blooming?
Sugar bloom is normally caused by surface moisture. The moisture causes the sugar in the chocolate to dissolve. Once the moisture evaporates, sugar crystals remain on the surface. If this process is repeated, the surface can become sticky and even more discolored. Although sugar bloom is most often the result of overly humid storage, it can happen when the chocolate has been stored at a relatively cool temperature and is then moved too quickly into much warmer surroundings. When this happens, the chocolate sweats, producing surface moisture.

Fat bloom is similar to sugar bloom, except that it is fat or cocoa butter that is separating from the chocolate and depositing itself on the outside of the candy. As with sugar bloom, the most common causes of fat bloom are quick temperature changes and overly-warm storage.

First question did you notice if the bloom felt grainy (like sugar) when you bit into it. If it was then most likely it was sugar bloom.
2nd question did you place the coated mallows in the fridge to cool overnight? Don’t put your tempered chocolate items in the refrigerator to help them set faster; they won’t set up correctly. Room temperature is the way to go. If you did then most likely it was fat bloom that caused the problem.

The Second thing to discuss
You used the seed method and it sounds like you did it correctly more or less.
The seed method (as described in The Professional Chef). Since almost all the chocolate that is sold is already tempered, we can use a piece of this already tempered chocolate as a plentiful source of stable seed crystals.

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler while stirring to ensure unform temperature.
2. Once the chocolate has fully melted and reached a temperature of over 105°F (41°C), remove it from the heat. At this temperature, all the crystals, loose or stable, should be melted. Add a piece of unmelted chocolate to provide the seed crystals. This piece can be as big as 2 ounces (if you’re melting a sizeable amount of chocolate) or can be chopped up into a few smaller pieces.
3. Stir until the chocolate’s temperature enters the tempering range, 88-90°F (31-32°C). The chocolate should be kept at this temperature and stirred until used.

3rd question did you heat the chocolate and butter at the same time and stir all the time? If not you can get fat blooming because the clarified butter did not coat each crystal evenly.
4th question – did you stir the tempered chocolate while you where coating the cookies – stirring helps keeps the stable crystals stable and inhibits the formation of the unstable crystals.
5th question – did you keep the melted chocolate in it’s tempering range throughout the coating process? If not you could of caused unstable crystals to form therefore losing temper. And untempered chocolate easily forms fat bloom.

The third thing to discuss
Now to the full details about melting chocolate – this is long but does have a point (info from Wikipeadia)

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization). The primary purpose of tempering is to assure that only the best form is present. The six different crystal forms have different properties.

Crystal Melting Temperature Notes
I 17⁰C (63⁰F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
II 21⁰C (70⁰F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
III 26⁰C (78⁰F) Firm, poor snap, melts too easily.
IV 28⁰C (82⁰F) Firm, good snap, melts too easily.
V 34⁰C (94⁰F) Glossy, firm, best snap, melts near body temp (37⁰C).
VI 36⁰C (97⁰F) Hard, takes weeks to form.

Making good chocolate is about forming the most of the type V crystals. This provides the best appearance and mouth feel and creates the most stable crystals so the texture and appearance will not degrade over time. To accomplish this, the temperature is carefully manipulated during the crystallization.

Generally, the chocolate is first heated to 45⁰C (113⁰F) to melt all six forms of crystals. Then the chocolate is cooled to about 27⁰C (80⁰F), which will allow crystal types IV and V to form (VI takes too long to form). At this temperature, the chocolate is agitated to create many small crystal “seeds” which will serve as nuclei to create small crystals in the chocolate. The chocolate is then heated to about 31⁰C (88⁰F) to eliminate any type IV crystals, leaving just the type V. After this point, any excessive heating of the chocolate will destroy the temper and this process will have to be repeated. However, there are other methods of chocolate tempering used– the most common variant is introducing already tempered, solid “seed” chocolate.

6th question did you overheat the chocolate once it was tempered to over 34⁰C (94⁰F)? Which causes melting of the type V crystals which can lead to the formation of the other unstable crystals types to form therefore losing the temper of the chocolate and if you use untempered chocolate to glaze you will have a grayish, powdery surface on the chocolate. Untempered chocolate develops serious bloom in 24-48 hours, and it never gets the beautiful shine of tempered chocolate.

7th question if it was losing temper that caused the blooming which type of unstable crystal form did you get? You said that it did set to a hard crust so most likely you got type III or IV. Looking at the above list if the coating had a soft snap it was type III and if it had a hard snap it was IV.

The Last thing to discuss
Last important point – tempered chocolate cannot be used for retempering if ingredients have been added to it, such as oil or cream or has been used to dip fruits. That is once you lost temper on the clarified-butter-tempered-chocolate you created you cannot recovery the temper you can only use this chocolate for ganache or in baking recipes.

Specific Tempering Temperatures
Depending on the cocoa butter content of the chocolate and introduction of other ingredients, the tempering temperature of chocolate varies. Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking provides these values for the three broad categories of chocolate:

Type of Chocolate
Tempering Temperature
Dark (no milk content) 88-90°F (31-32°C)
Milk 86-88°F (30-31°C)
White 80-82°F (27-28°C)

Sorry for this very long and complex posting. Yikes who would of thought melting chocolate and keeping its temper was so technical. All I normally do (my mum taught me this) is get some chopped chocolate place in a very heavy ceramic bowl (which keeps a stable temperature for a long time) over some med-hot water wait until it starts to melt a bit then stir constantly and always have a few small bits of unmelted chocolate in it (add more if needed) and then coat I never realized I was doing all the above until I asked a few of my chef friends. Of course what I’m really doing is the seed method since I have a source of stable crystals from the unmelted chocolate that is stabilizing the melted chocolate and keeping its temper. Girl I don’t think I want to know anymore about melting chocolate I think my brain is full!!!

~This is the twenty-third post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh – how did it get to be June 27th already???

Well, just eeking in at the 11th hour, here is my Bakewell Tart for the Daring Bakers June 2009 challenge!

The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.  If you want to learn more about the Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, consider joining The Daring Bakers and get access to this challenge, which includes all kinds of wonderful stories about where this interesting dessert comes from.

We’re short and sweet this month – this challenge turned out quite well and I liked it much more than I thought I would.  I ground my own almonds in the blender, which worked out well and the frangipane was lovely.  The jam I used was whipped up from a jar of “fresh” cherries from Trader Joe’s that had been sitting in the fridge for ages (hooray for getting rid of stuff!) and it worked out quite nicely.  I made small individual tarts in a cupcake pan (I’m loving the single serving dessert!), which also worked well, but next time, I’ll mound the frangipane up over the top of the crust so you can’t see the craggy edges.

Thanks to our lovely and amazing hosts Jasmine and Annemarie – the Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding will definitely go in the “never thought I would like this or make it but so glad I did!” recipe book.

Cheers.

Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding!

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.