Grand Marnier Cupcakes

Grand Marnier Cupcakes

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Line 2 cupcake baking pan (24 cupcakes) with paper baking cups.

Dry Ingredients

2 cups unbleached cake flour (e.g. King Arthur Flour)

1 cup almond meal (e.g. Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup cane sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Combine all dry ingredients on large bowl.

2. Whisk by hand until thoroughly mixed.

Moist Ingredients

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

3 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup orange liquor, such as Grand Marnier or Contreau

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Whisk together milk and sour cream until well blended.

2. Add beaten eggs and whisk until combined.

3. Add orange liquor and whisk until combined.

4. Add melted butter and whisk until all liquid ingredients are well blended.

Cupcakes right out of the oven

Finish

1. Pour moist ingredients into dry ingredients.

2. Whisk by hand vigorously for about 2 minutes (120-200 whisks).

3. Pour with a large spoon into cupcake molds, filling to about 3/4 full. You should have enough batter for exactly 24 cupcakes.

4. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched.

5. Let cool in baking pans on top of a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup of heavy cream

8 oz high quality bittersweet chocolate

1. Heat milk until it starts simmering. Pour into chocolate and let rest until chocolate is melted.

2. Mix until combined and let rest until it cools to room temperature.

3. Whisk by hand until it lightens and is fluffy.

The End Result!

Finish

1. Pipe or frost ganache into cupcake tops.

2. Decorate tops w/ anything you like to make it festive.

2. Enjoy!

Pâte Brisée

Pâte Brisée Recipe

Makes enough for an open-shell 9" tart or at least 24-36 mini muffin-sized tartlets. Double for a double-crust pie or for lattice work on top.

1 1/4 cups flour
4 oz COLD unsalted butter (1 stick), cut in ~8 pieces
1/2 tsp KOSHER salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
1 tsp sugar
1/4-1/3 cup cold water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a stainless steel bowl. Add the cold butter (cut into 1/2" blocks). Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse meal (the butter chunks are pea size). You can also use a food processor using the pulse feature to get the same effect. Do not overmix! The key here is to keep the butter and flour from blending or you'll end up with doughy, elastic crust.

Add just enough cold water (and no more) and blend quickly with a few strokes using the pastry cutter. The key here is to get the flour mixture to just come together slightly. The dough will seem like it doesn't come together but it will later, trust me!

Turn onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 hr or more. The colder the dough the easier it is to roll.

Turn onto a floured table and roll out.

Remember to work the dough the LEAST possible; the more you work the dough, the less flaky and more doughy the crust will be! 

Dulce de leche

The dulce de leche people know of in the US is either the pasty Argentinian version or simply caramel with a fancier name, most likely swirled in vanilla ice cream. There is nothing wrong with these, but what I grew up knowing by that name is something totally different. It might have the same ingredients, sugar and milk, but the addition of one key ingredient makes all the difference: rennet.

To make it, simply warm 2 gallons of whole milk (you can also add a few cups of heavy cream) and one rennet pill in a huge pot, very slowly until the cream separates from the water.This process was done at room temperature by my grandmother (which is about 85 degrees and 80% humidity in Puerto Rico, by the way) but I find using the stove a much quicker process. Strain most of the water out (at least half), reserving it just in case it dries out during cooking, add 5 lb bag of sugar, and cook on low medium heat without stirring much until you see what's on the picture. It takes several hours (4-6) to make so get a bottle of wine, a good movie, and relax.

Yet another great brownie recipe

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3-5 oz (~1 cup) chopped walnuts

3-5 oz (~1 cup) chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut a piece of parchment paper (NOT wax) on the bottom of a 9-13" pan (use straight edged aluminum or glass, not those nonstick ones which will burn the brownies).

Melt butter on stove top or microwave. Once melted, remove from heat and add chopped chocolate. Let it rest off the heat until the chocolate is melted, around 10 minutes. If it doesn't melt, heat on low or microwave at 50% power until it does watching VERY carefully NOT to overcook or the chocolate will burn! Add sugar and vanilla and mix with spatula until blended. Whisk/mix in 4 eggs until thoroughly combined.

Mix dry ingredients together (flour, salt, baking powder) then mix/fold into chocolate mixture. Fold in nuts.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Let cool. To cut, chill in refrigerator overnight or freeze and they will be easier to cut.

Chocolate Chestnut Cake

Ingredients

1/4 dark rum (3 star Ron del Barrilito is a great choice)

1/2 cup simple syrup (recipe follows)

1 8" chocolate genoise cake (recipe follows)

1 recipe chestnut buttercream (

recipe follows)

1 recipe chocolate glaze (

recipe follows

)

Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

pinch cream of tartar

Mix in saucepan, bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Chocolate Genoise Cake

4 tablespoon melted unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (real)

1/2 cup (2 oz) sifted cake flour

1/3 cup ( 1.5 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli's)

4 eggs

2/3 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter and flour an 8-9" straight edged (2" height) cake pan and line with parchment paper (NOT wax paper).

Mix vanilla and butter and keep hot.

Sift flour and cocoa powder together and set aside.

Heat eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl over a water bath whisking constantly with a hand-held whisk until eggs are hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves into the egg. Be careful NOT to cook/scramble the eggs! Immediate transfer the eggs to a mixer and beat at medium=-high speed until eggs double to triple in volume and are cool/room temperature (10 minutes?).

Fold flour mixture into eggs using a large spatula.

Fold hot butter mix.

Bake on prepared pan for ~25 minutes.

Chestnut Buttercream

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 pinches cream of tartar

1 large egg

6 oz unsalted butter, room temperature.

1/2 canned sweetened chestnut puree

Cook sugar, water and cream of tartar in saucepan until temperature reaches 242F. Meanwhile, in mixer, beat eggs at medium speed until frothy. When syrup reaches temperature, poor onto eggs while mixer is on. Make sure you poor through the side so you don't hit the beaters to avoid splashing. Continue mixing until the egg mixture has cooled to room temperature and doubled in volume. Add butter in 1-tablespoon lumps while mixing until incorporated and the buttercream looks smooth and spreadable. Mix the chestnut puree.

Chocolate Glaze

Prepare AFTER the cake is assembled and is chilling.

8 oz bittersweet chocolate

6 oz unsalted butter

1 tablespoon corn syrup

Melt on microwave (50% power) 1-3 minutes (one minute batches). Be careful NOT to burn it. Cool until temperature reaches 88-90F.

Assembly

Slice cake horizontally into 3 layers.

Mix simple syrup and rum together.

Place top layer upside down and brush with syrup. Spread 1/2 cup of chestnut buttercream. Brush second layer with syrup and then place, moist side down, on top of the buttercream of the first layer. Bursh dry side with more syrup. Repeat with last layer until you have three moist layers of cake with 2 buttercream layer in between. Make sure the layers are symmetrical and even.

Spread remaining buttercream smoothly over the top and sides of teh cake. Don't worry about crumbs sicne you are going to glaze the cake.

Chill the cake for AT LEAST 1 hour before glazing.

Prepare glaze and glaze cake by slowly and evenly pouring and carefully spreading glaze on top and sides. See the following video for glazing cakes. It is difficult but practice makes perfect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNEScRQePDA

Credit: Alice Medrich

Pecan Tarts/Tartlets

Pâte Brisée Recipe

Makes enough for an open-shell 9" tart or at least 24-36 mini muffin-sized tartlets. Double for a double-crust pie or for lattice work on top.

1 1/4 cups flour
4 oz COLD unsalted butter (1 stick), cut in ~8 pieces
1/2 tsp KOSHER salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
1 tsp sugar
1/4-1/3 cup cold water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a stainless steel bowl. Add the cold butter (cut into 1/2" blocks). Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse meal (the butter chunks are pea size). You can also use a food processor using the pulse feature to get the same effect. Do not overmix! The key here is to keep the butter and flour from blending or you'll end up with doughy, elastic crust.

Add just enough cold water (and no more) and blend quickly with a few strokes using the pastry cutter. The key here is to get the flour mixture to just come together slightly. The dough will seem like it doesn't come together but it will later, trust me!

Turn onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 hr or more. The colder the dough the easier it is to roll.

Turn onto a floured table and roll out.

Remember to work the dough the LEAST possible; the more you work the dough, the less flaky and more doughy the crust will be! 

Chocolate FillingAdapted from a recipe from Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts Book4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick), cut in ~8 pieces1 cup granulated sugar1 cup light corn syrup4 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla1 cup chopped pecans

1. Melt the butter in the microwave (2 minutes @50% power). Add chocolate to the melted butter and let sit for 10-15 minutes undisturbed until chocolate is melted. If the chocolate doesn't completely melt, finish in microwave for 30-60 seconds @50% power.
2. In a medium-size saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup and stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Stir in the chocolate-butter mixture until blended. Then whisk in the syrup until well blended. Stir in vanilla and chopped pecans and set aside to cool.

Regular FillingAdapted from Karo Syrup's Classic Pecan Pie Recipe1 cup granulated sugar1 cup light corn syrup3 eggs2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted1 teaspoon vanilla1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1. Whisk together sugar, syrup and eggs until well blended.
2. Whisk in melted butter.
3. Whisk in vanilla and chopped pecans.

Finishing

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Roll out pie dough (pâte brisée) onto tart pan, pie plate. If doing mini tartlets, use a mini-muffin pan and use a round cookie cutter (~2-2.5") to cut dough into small round shells you can put in each mini-muffin hole.
3. Fill pie(s)/tart(s) with desired filling to near top and bake for ~60 minutes or until filling is set for regular pie or tart (9-11" diameter). For mini-muffin sized, bake for 18-20 minutes.

Peach Amaretto Tart

I made this tart for myself on fathers day because I was craving pie with vanilla ice cream. Since southern peaches are starting to creep up to the northeast I figure I make a peach tart.

To keep the crust from getting soggy, I baked the crust by itself and cooked the peaches on a 12" frying pan. I then assembled the tart before service after everything is cool.

Make sure to read the recipes before using them and have all of your ingredients measured and ready to go before starting.

To Make the Sweet Tart Crust

1 1/4 cups of all purpose unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (cut to 1/4 if using already grated, which is, IMO, not worth using)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup very cold water

Put the flour, salt, sugar, and spices in a Cuisinart food processor and pulse until combined. Cut the butter into tablespoon sizes (into 8 pieces) and add to the flour. Pulse 15-18 times until the mixture resembles very coarse meal (don't overdo it). Whisk the yolk into the water and add through the food processor shoot while pulsing until the dough comes together slightly.

Put the mixture in a gallon sized plastic bag and briefly press together with your hands from the outside. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Remember that you want to work the dough the least possible. The more you work the dough, the less flaky and more doughy it will be. This is because as you knead, you promote the formation of gluten strands. This is why you want to do the opposite when making bread (you WANT to knead your bread dough).

When the dough is cold, roll to 1/8" inch and put in a french tart pan (removable bottom). Put a piece of foil on top and pie weights (or beans) and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 40 minutes. Remove the pie weights and foil, pierce the bottom with a fork a few times (to allow bottom steam to come out and not create bubbles) and bake an additional 10-20 minutes until slightly brown. Watch out, don't burn it!

Cool on wire rack and remove from tart pan when cool.

Reference: http://bakingjournal.blogspot.com/2004/08/pte-brise-recipe.html

To Make the Peaches

3 lb ripe but firm peaches (make sure the stem area does not have a green tinge)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup Amaretto liqueor (Disaronno)

Peel and slice the peaches into wedges. Mix with sugar and cinnamon and cook on 12" frying pan on medium heat. When peach wedges are soft (but not falling apart), strain from the cooking syrup. Add the Amaretto liqueor and continue cooking the syrup until thickens. This might take 20 more minutes. It might bubble so watch it. Also, you don't want it to cook over 240F or it will burn quickly. You don't need a thermometer, just watch it.

Let the peaches and teh syrup cool to room temperature separately.

To Assemble the Tart

Arrange each peach wedge in whatever fashion you like on the tart and the pour (or brush) some of the syrup on top. You migth have to warm the syrup a little if it is too thick to pour or brush. Enjoy with vanilla ice cream.