Know Your Numbers

I made these adorable tuiles for a cake to celebrate a great guy who is going to school to become a teacher. Part of his course requirements was to work in a third grade class, which is were you learn the multiplication table. Every time I think about the multiplication table, which in Italian we call it the Pythagoras table, I think about one of my oldest friends, Anna B. In elementary school Anna had the misfortune of having a teacher who didn't believe in getting the kids to memorize the multiplication table so she never learned it. By the time we became best friends in middle school, she hated math, mainly because she was handicapped by the numbers she didn't know how to multiply. I felt really bad for her, especially because I loved math and couldn't make her love it too. According to Wikipedia, Pythagoras and his students believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality and, through mathematics, everything could be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles. Not bad for someone who lived around 500 B.C.

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes cookbooks and it works so beautifully. I have not one but two copies of this book, and not because I am a cookbook junkie, but because a great friend send it to me as a gift not knowing that I already had it.

The trick is to have two tuile batters, a plain one and a chocolate one. The desired shape is first stenciled with the plain batter and then a message is written with the chocolate batter. When the tuiles bake, the two batters melt together and they look awesome. Imagine the possibilities!

Tuile Banners
adapted from MS Wedding Cakes

White tuile batter
5 tablespoons of butter, melted
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoon of heavy cream

Beat the egg whites and the sugar on medium until combined, 30 seconds. Add the flour and the salt, and mix well. Add the melted butter and the cream and beat until combined. Refrigerate until chilled, 15 minutes.

Chocolate batter
2 1/2 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cocoa powder
2 tablespoon of heavy cream

Beat the egg whites and the sugar on medium until combined, 30 seconds. Add the flour and the cocoa powder, mix well. Add the melted butter and the cream and beat until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a fine-holed round tip (#1 or #2). Set aside.

Pre-heat the oven at 350F. Line a baking pan with a Silpat. Cut the desired shape out of a plastic lid. Using a small offset spatula spread the chilled bater inside the stencil, on the Silpat. Pipe the desired words with the chocolate batter directly onto the stenciled shapes. Bake at 350F until just set and the edges begin to brown. Remove when still warm and let cool. Store in a airtight containers.

Anticipation

For the Love of Green

Not that I celebrate St. Patrick's day, or that I have Irish blood (I have been to Ireland if that counts), but I had some cooked nettles in my fridge so I made a nettle frittata for lunch. I got my greens for the day and loads of minerals, Yum!


Nettle Frittata

1/2 to 3/4 cup cooked nettles*
4 eggs
pinch of salt
EV olive oil

Whisk the eggs then add the nettles and the salt. Mix well then cook in a hot non-stick pan. After few minutes turn the frittata and cook on the other side until golden.
*I cooked a shallot in olive oil and then added the nettles until cooked through, 5-8 minutes.

Bread Baking Buddy-Pane Francese

This month's Bread Baking Babes' challenge is brought by Sara at I like to cook. She chose a Pane Francese recipe from the King Arthur Bakers' Banter site, and wrote a very detailed post about it (go check her site). I wanted to participate as a Bread Baking Buddy so I rolled up my sleeves and started the process Sunday morning.

The recipe calls for a chef, a small amount of old dough as the source of yeast. Since I didn't have any old dough I defrosted some pizza dough I had made two days before and used that as the "chef". The dough has some rye flour and olive oil but it will all get diluted in the final dough. I only found King Arthur Bread Flour at the store, not the special one Sara mentioned, not sure it makes a difference. The first dough took about 5 hours to double and it looked nice and soft. The second dough didn't quite doubled in 4 hours, but since I was going to bed I fed it for the third time, or final dough, and let it rise overnight at room temperature. I decided to use my mixer to knead the final dough since it was getting impossible not to add more flour by kneading by hand. It was quite cold in my house, so I was curious to see the dough after the overnight raising. This morning the dough had doubled nicely so I shaped it in two long loaves, and let them proof in the oven with the light on. It took the loaves about 2 1/2 hours to rise to almost double, despite the oven light. I sprayed one loaf with water and sprinkled some mixed seeds on it, 10 minutes later I slashed it in 4 places (I know, I know, the recipe calls for not slashing, but I wouldn't be me is I didn't beg to differ).

I baked the loaves at 45oF creating steam on a baking pan underneath. After 15 minutes the loaves had sprung and started to color so I rotated the pan and lowered the oven temperature to 400F. Fifteen minutes later I notice that the loaves were still really heavy but started to get too dark so I turned them up-side down, lowered the temperature to 350F. Ten minutes later they felt hollow and much lighter so I took them out and cooled on a rack. The bread looked fantastic as I came out of the oven, nicely browned, almost reddish in tint, and I had to resist the urge to eat a piece and instead let it cool 10 minutes.


After taking some pictures I finally tasted both versions and I was really happy with the results. The bread tasted very faintly sour, had a superb crunchy crust, and passed the bread and jam test.

In all the recipe was easy to follow, and because of the slow rising it can be done without rushing, and the flavor of the bread was worth the effort. After eating half of the regular loaf I realized that it had some major bubbles under the top crust, while the one I slashed didn't. I would think that the slashing allows the dough to evenly expand during the final rise in the oven so the gas bubbles are more evenly distributed. Thanks Bread Baking Babes for inspiring us with your monthly challenge!

Creating the Levain
chef (1/4 cup leftover dough, or 1/4 cup sourdough starter, unfed)
1/4 cup warm, chlorine-free water
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

Let the chef soften in the warm water, then whisk out any lumps. Mix in the flour until you've formed a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead it for 5 to 8 minutes. The chef (now called a levain) should be moist but firm. Place the levain in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place till doubled. This will take 5 to 6 hours.

Second-Stage Levain
All of the levain (from above)
1/2 cup warm, chlorine-free water
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

"Refresh" the levain by placing it in a medium-sized bowl, chopping it into small pieces, and adding the water and 1/2 cup of the flour, stirring till smooth. Add the remaining flour gradually to create a stiff dough. Knead the dough for several minutes, then return it to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise for 3 to 5 hours, till it doubles in size. Punch down the risen levain, and reserve 1/4 cup as your next chef. (Let the piece ferment at room temperature for 3 hours, then wrap it in plastic and store it in the fridge. It'll develop a hard crust; that's OK.)

Dough
all of the second-stage levain (from above)
3/4 cup warm, chlorine-free water
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

Chop the levain into small pieces, and mix them with the water, stirring till they begin to dissolve. Add the salt, then 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured or lightly greased work surface, and knead until the dough is smooth and satiny, adding only enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking unbearably. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place for 8 to 10 hours.

Shaping: Cut the dough into 2 pieces, and shape each piece into a round or oval. Transfer the loaves to a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or to a floured banneton; cover with a heavily floured cloth, and allow them to rise for 2 to 3 hours, or until they're almost doubled in bulk.

Don't slash or glaze the loaves. Bake the bread in a preheated 450°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they're a deep, golden brown. Yield: 2 loaves.

Yippie! Thank you Sara for the batch!

Heart of the Matter-Monthly Challenge

This month's challenge of the group The Heart of the Matter-Eating for Life is finger food. Ilva from Lucullian Delights and Michelle of The Accidental Scientist had the inspiration of having a monthly blog event dedicated to heart-healthy eating. Two years ago they created a web site with the help of Joanna of Joanna's Food. HotM is turning two and the founders had the brilliant idea to make a big birthday bash with prices! This month I decided to participate with a super easy and tasty appetizer dish (it is great to have an excuse to cook something new!). The recipe was adapted by a recipe from Gourmet magazine which had chicken and fish sauce as ingredients. Shrimp works very well too and is a more heart friendly ingredient.

Shrimp Marinated with Lime and Herbs

1 pound shrimp (preferably wild)
1 large garlic glove, minced
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extravergin olive oil
1/4 freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix all the ingredient to make a marinade. Marinate the shrimp for few hours to overnight. Pre-heat the broiler on high and broil the shrimp for 5 minutes. Serve as finger food or on steamed basmati rice or even 0n the more heart-friendly wild rice (reserve the juice if served with rice).

Buon Appetito!

For the Love of Red

Cookbook Review

If you live in the Bay Area, are passionate about baking, and have to add to your cookbook collection, this is a great chance not only to buy a brand new baking book, but to have it signed by the author, Flo Braker, an amazingly talented baker and cookbook author.

Flo Braker will be signing her new book Baking for All Occasions at a new bookstore devoted to books about cooking and gastronomy, Omnivore Books on Food in SF, on Saturday, March 14, from 3 to 4 PM. She will be joined by special guest Amy Pressman of Los Angeles, one of the founders of Bakers' Dozen.

Flo has a great eye and palate for delicious recipes, she has written many cookbooks and is a teaching instructor. Baking for All Occasions has lots of wonderful recipes, from simple cookies to scrumptious cakes like the one on the cover, Eggnog Pound Cake with Crystal Rum Glaze (can I say YUMMY!). The recipes are explained in every detail to set you up for success. I have tried many of her recipes (my favorite of all is her Panforte recipe from Sweet Miniatures), they are well written and easy to follow, and they always turned out perfect, like these Congo Brownies.

Congo Brownies
from Baking for All Occasions

Congo layer
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 ounces butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, egg white, and vanilla until just blended. Stir in the flour mixture just until the batter is smooth. Spread the batter onto a lightly buttered and floured quarter sheet pan (13x9" pan). Sprinkle the walnuts evenly on top and gently press them into the batter. Partially bake at 350F until the layer is no longer shiny and is beginning to come away from the sides of the pan, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while you make the brownie layer.

Brownie Layer
1 cup plus 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring with a silicone spatula until smooth. Let cool 5 minuted. Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture until incorporated. Add the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture just until the batter is smooth. Scoop the tick batter onto 8 or 9 different areas of the still warm Congo Layer. With the offset spatula, spread the batter as evenly as possible. Bake until the brownie layer top is no longer shiny; appears set; feels firm rather than soft; and a round wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist chocolate crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack completely. The top layer will set as it cools.

Flo decorated the brownies with a chocolate glaze made of 3 ounces of chocolate (semisweet or bittersweet), and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. I simply melted some chocolate, put it into a paper cone and drizzled it on the brownies.