Amaretto Eton Mess

Amaretto Eton Mess

This dessert is a mild twist on an English classic, originating from the Eton College's annual cricket game against the pupils of Harrow School. But this is a pavlova dressing up as a layer cake. 

A great easy to make dessert, perfect for the summer parties.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

Meringue:

• 6 egg whites

• 300 g sugar

• 1½ teaspoon lemon juice

• 50-75 g almond slivers

Filling:

• 500 ml heavy whipping cream

• 500 g fresh strawberries, rinsed and sliced.

• 50 ml Ameretto (Italian almond liqueur)

• 1 tablespoon confectionary (powdered) sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250*F (120℃).

Draw 3 x 9-inch (23 cm) circles about 2-inch (5 cm) apart on a parchment paper, and turn the parchment paper upside down, so you don't get any pencil on the meringues.

In the bowl for the stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks. Add the sugar gradually, a couple tablespoons at a time, while still beating the egg whites. The egg whites/meringue will become thick and glossy. Gently fold in lemon juice.

Spoon the meringue inside the drawn circles on the parchment paper. Spread the meringue working from the center towards the edge. Sprinkle with the almond slivers

Bake the meringues for about 60 minutes. Then turn off the oven, and leave the meringues in the oven for another 30-45 minutes, until the oven is cooled. I became a little impatient, so I pulled the meringues out before they were cooled completely, and that is why the meringue traced a bit.

Fold in half the confectionary sugar in the sliced strawberries, set aside.

Whip the cream until medium stiff peaks. Gently fold in some confectionary sugar and amaretto. 

Place the least pretty meringue on a cake stand, and spread ⅓ of the cream topping it with some strawberries. Repeat layering the rest of the meringues, cream, and fruit. Finishing the top layer with a few whole strawberries.

Enjoy!

Croissants

Croissants are made from a yeasted dough laminated with butter. It is so so good.

The trick is to keep the dough and the butter at the same temperature and texture, to prevent soft butter bleeding out of the dough. A too cold dough will crack a bit, so you are looking for a firm but yet soft dough.

There are different kinds of folding/turning when it comes to pastry and croissant dough. 

Letter fold or Single turn: Dough folded in thirds, like you would do a letter going into an envelope. (I did that for this recipe.)

1. Turn: makes 3 layers of butter

2. Turn: makes 9 layers of butter

3. Turn: makes 27 layers of butter.

Book fold or double turn: Dough folded to the middle and folded again on the middle like a book. This makes 4 layers per fold or turn as they are called.

1. Turn: makes 4 layers of butter

2. Turn: makes 16 layers of butter

3. Turn: makes 64 layers of butter

You can mix the folding methods to get the amount of layer you want. Theoretically you can make how many layers you want, but making too many layers makes you end up with a brioche dough, made the hardest way possible 😉.   

At the croissant class I attended I learned that Manresa Bread use 2 double turns (16 layers) for regular croissants, and 3 single turns (27 layers) for chocolate croissants. For traditional Danish pastry you normally use 3 single turns, giving the desired 27 layers of butter. If you are looking for a traditional puff pastry, you need 144 layers

Makes this 20-24 croissants. 

Ingredients:

Dough/Détrempe:

• 750 g bread flour

• 200 g water, lukewarm

• 187.5 g milk

• 90 g sugar

• 22.5 g salt

• 65 g live yeast (15 g dry yeast)

• 7.5 g malt powder

• 37.5 g butter, room temperature

Beurrage (butter):

• 450 g cold butter

• all-purpose flour for dusting

Directions:

Dough/Détrempe:

Mix the milk with the water, dissolve the yeast in this mixture. Add the sugar. If using dry yeast, let the yeast wake up for about 5-10 minutes, until creating a foam on top. 

Mix in half of the flour and malt powder, forming a sticky dough. Mix in the softened butter. Finally mix in the rest of the flour and knead the dough until you have a shiny, slightly sticky and elastic dough, for about 3-5 minutes. The dough will be a bit on the dry/tough side.
Shape dough into a ball and place it in a dough rising bucket, or another large covered container. Let the dough fermented overnight, this will give you a good flavor.

Beurrage (butter):

Place the cold butter on a well floured surface. With your palms press the butter a little flat. Using a rolling pin pound on the butter to flatten it. Fold the butter into it self, and keep pounding and folding until the butter has the same consistency as the dough. You want to end up with a 30x32 cm (11x12.5 inch) sheet of soft but still cold butter. If the butter is too warm or too hard, it will be hard to roll it out in the dough, and it might make holes in the dough, instead of the lamination.
If you don't want to add any flour to your butter, you can pound and roll out the butter between sheets of parchment paper. Chill the butter while you roll out the dough. 

Laminating:

Place dough on a lightly floured surface, roll it out to 62x32 cm (24.5x12.5 inch), so the dough is the width of the butter, but a little over double in length. Clearly I rolled my dough longer than necessary, but it worked fine anyway. Place the butter on the dough, and wrap it with the dough, pinching the edges, meeting in the middle of the dough, together. Chill the dough package covered in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes, before starting the folding/turning.

Roll the dough to a rectangle, 3-4 times as long as the height. Keep it lightly floured so the dough do not stick to the surface. Make sure to roll the dough with straightedges. This will ease the folding.

Fold the far edges into the middle and fold again on the middle like a book. Now you have 4 layers of butter. Place the covered dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes to cool the butter again, and to relax the gluten.

Repeat this one more time, making 2 double (book) turns and ending up with 16 layers of butter. If you want to use this dough for Danish pastry or chocolate croissants, I would make 3 single turns, so you end up with 27 layers.

Before shaping the croissants you want the dough to rest covered in the refrigerator for at least 45-60 minutes. And letting it sit covered for 5 minutes on the kitchen counter, letting the butter to soften up a bit.

Shaping the croissants:

Roll half the dough out to a 20x40 cm (8x16 inch) rectangle. Using a knife or pizza slicer to cut the dough. Cut the croissant triangles as shown in the picture. (you get 7, not 5 croissants from the dough, I missed the last 2 in the picture, sorry). Let the dough rest covered 5 minutes to relax the gluten a bit. 
Stretch the triangle, so you elongate it, be careful not to rip the dough. Roll the dough towards the tip of the triangle, making sure that the tip is on the underside of the croissant.Place the croissant on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spaced at least 5 cm (2 inch) apart.

Proof the croissant covered at maximum 85℉ (29.5℃) for 45-60 minutes until doubled in size. I have a proof setting on my oven, so I can use that, with a cup of boiling water sitting next to the baking sheet. But you can also proof the croissant on the kitchen counter, in a large air filled plastic bag.

Presheat oven to 350℉  (177℃) convection or 375℉ (190℃) foer non-convection.

Gently brush the croissants with egg wash, covering the exposed surfaces not allowing the egg wash to drip or pool.

Bake the croissants for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Let the croissants on the baking sheet on the kitchen counter. 

Serve the croissants within a day. 

Enjoy!

Tip:

The unbaked pastry can be frozen just, after shaping, individually, and can be baked straight out of the freezer, just add about 5 more minutes to the baking time.

Tip:

Leftover croissants can be used for almond croissants. Make some frangipan (125 g almond flour, 125 g butter, 125 g powdered sugar, 12 g all-purpose flour and 1 large egg, all mixed together) and smear it inside the croissant, and on top, before baking it for xx minutes.

Bourbon Apple Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream

Bourbon Apple Pie

Most people like Apple pie, but adding bourbon, just makes the pie a little better. It's not like you get drunk by having a piece of pie. The pie filling get so hot, that the liquor from the bourbon evaporate in the oven. But off course having the bourbon whipped cream will be classified as an adult dessert. This pie is a serious contender in any Thanksgiving pie-off.

Makes 1 pie (9 inch).

INGREDIENTS:

Pie Crust:

• 260 g butter, salted and cold

• 360 g all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

• 75 ml water, ice-cold

Filling:

• 6-7 apples*,

• 100 g butter

• 120 g sugar

• 75 g brown sugar

• 50 g water

• 3 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 3 tablespoons bourbon

• 30 g all-purpose flour

• 1½ tsk cinnamon

• 1 egg yolk for brushing the crust

Bourbon Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup (2½ dl) heavy whipping cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 2-3 tablespoons confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

• 2 tablespoons bourbon

DIRECTIONS: 

Crust:

Cube the butter and place it in the refrigerator.

Put the flour and sugar in the food processor and pulse just until combined. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse until the mixture looks like small coarse crumbs. Drizzle the water over the flour and pulse again until the dough just comes together.

Divide the dough in two discs and wrap them separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours.

On a floured work surface roll the dough out to about ⅒ inch thickness. You want the dough yo be larger than your pie pan, so you end up with a ⅓ inch overhang on a 9 inch pan. Place the pan with the dough in the refrigerator, until ready to fill.

Preheat the oven to 430℉ (220℃).

Filling:

Mix flour, cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter, sugars in a saucepan. Mix the water with the cornstarch, and pour it in the butter/sugar mixture. Add vanilla and the flour/cinnamon, stir the mixture while the sauce thickens. Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the bourbon.

Peel, core and slice the apples in thin slices. Do not soak the apples in water, this will make the filling to watery. Place the apple slices in the pie pan, and pour the sauce over the apples.

Brush the edges with egg wash. Roll out the rest of the dough for the lid, as thin as the other part. Place the lid on top, and firmly press the edges together to seal them. you can do this by hand or with a fork. Use the excess dough to cut out decorations for the pie. 

Optional: brush the lid with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar on top.

Cut 4-8 slids in the dough lid, to allow the steam to escape during baking. 

Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 360℉ (180℃) and bake it for another 50 minutes until the pie is a deep golden brown. 

Let the pie cool completely, before slicing. This part is the hardest. The smell of this delicious apple pie, makes you want to dive in immediately. But if you let it cool first, and then reheat, it will make the slicing so much easier. 

Bourbon Whipped Cream:

Whip the cold cream to soft peaks. Whisk in vanilla, sugar and bourbon.

Serve the pie with bourbon whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

American cookies are soft and chewy...... but I like them more on the crispy side. So I bake my cookies on lower heat, and maybe a little longer than normally. Resulting in a thinner and crispier cookie, just the way I like them.

I hope you will like these cookies too. 

Makes 12-15 cookies 

Ingredients:

• 113 g (1 stick) butter, salted and room temperature 
• 175 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, I use vanilla bean paste
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅛ teaspoon salt (fine)
• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 50-100 g semisweet chocolate chips (I tend to like less chips in my cookies, than most people)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 370℉ 8190℃). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

Cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3-inches apart. I use a ice cream scooper. Bake the cookies until brown around the edges, about 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wirerack to cool. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

ice cream sandwich

If you do not need all the cookies at once. You can scoop the dough on to a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze them. Place the frozen cookie dough in a freezer bag. Bake the cookies directly from the freezer, when you need them. Just add a couple of minuts to the baking time. 

You can use your fresh baked and cooled cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with your favorite ice cream. 

Enjoy!

Homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream

Homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream

Growing up we called Neapolitan Ice Cream for rainbow ice cream or regnbue is in Danish. And this were the go-to ice cream for children's birthdays. Rainbow ice cream and meringue tops and you have the start for a great party. Of course, back in the days most parents woulds buy the ice cream and not even attempt to make their own. But when you have seen how little the ice cream would change shape after 30 minutes on the kitchen counter, you might think a little about what you and your kids puts in their mouths, even when you are snacking. Nowadays you can get an affordable ice cream maker, and make the perfect ice cream without adding any thickness and additives.

Makes a pint + some leftovers (they evaporated quickly here 😳)

Ingredients:

Strawberry Ice Cream:

• 450 g fresh strawberries

• 150 g sugar

• 5 egg yolks

• 200 ml heavy whipping cream

• 400 ml whole milk

Chocolate Ice Cream:

• 100 g milk chocolate

• 1½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

• 200 g sugar

• 5 egg yolks

• 200 ml heavy whipping cream

• 400 ml whole milk

Vanilla Ice Cream

• 200 g sugar

• 5 egg yolk

• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla paste

• 200 ml heavy whipping cream

• 400 ml whole milk

Directions:

Strawberry Ice Cream:

Rinse and cut up the strawberries. Heat the strawberries with half the sugar until boiling, turn off the heat, and let it cool for a few minutes. Blend the strawberries, and run the mixture through a strainer, to get rid of the seeds. Cool the mixture.

Warm milk and ⅓ of the cream in a saucepan. Pour the rest of the cream into a bowl over an ice bath. 

Whisk the egg yolks pale with the rest of the sugar. Add the hot milk in a little at a time, while whisking. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan. Slowly heat the mixture over medium heat while constantly stirring. You want the mixture to thicken slightly, but you don't want the mixture to come to a boil, this will coagulate the egg yolks. You do not want the mixture to exceed 174℉ or 79℃. 

Pour the hot mixture through a strainer into the cool cream. Stir until the custard is cooled completely. Stir in the strawberry mixture.

Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

Pour/scoop the ice cream into a lined loaf pan, filling it a about ⅓. Freeze the ice cream, while making the vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream:

Warm milk and ⅓ of the cream in a saucepan. Pour the rest of the cream into a bowl over an ice bath. 

Whisk the egg yolks pale with the rest of the sugar, then whisk in the vanilla. Add the hot milk in a little at a time, while whisking. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan. Slowly heat the mixture over medium heat while constantly stirring. You want the mixture to thicken slightly, but you don't want the mixture to come to a boil, this will coagulate the egg yolks. You do not want the mixture to exceed 174℉ or 79℃. 

Pour the hot mixture through a strainer into the cool cream. Stir until the custard is cooled completely. 

Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

Pour/scoop the ice cream on top of the strawberry ice cream, filling up another ⅓. Freeze the ice cream, while making the chocolate ice cream

Chocolate Ice Cream:

Gently melt the chocolate with a splash of the milk, stir in the cocoa powder. Warm milk and ⅓ of the cream in a saucepan. Pour the rest of the cream into a bowl over an ice bath. 

Whisk the egg yolks pale with the rest of the sugar. Add the hot milk in a little at a time, while whisking. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan. Slowly heat the mixture over medium heat while constantly stirring. You want the mixture to thicken slightly, but you don't want the mixture to come to a boil, this will coagulate the egg yolks. You do not want the mixture to exceed 174℉ or 79℃. 

Mix the hot milk with the chocolate and pour it through a strainer into the cool cream. Stir until the custard is cooled completely. 

Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Top of the loaf pan with the chocolate ice cream. Freeze the now finished Neapolitan ice cream at least overnight before serving.

Enjoy!