Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Espresso Profiteroles


This was a three in one recipe.  Yes the recipe states espresso profiteroles only, but embedded in it are three separate recipes: the profiterole itself, cinnamon ice cream and chocolate sauce.   I did by chance happen to read this recipe ahead of time, so I was not left with a trifecta of recipes to do the day before our posts.  Phew.

I made the chocolate sauce a week ahead of time (and snacked on it all week).  This was by far, my favorite part of the three-part-recipe and so easy to make.  I will stash the recipe away as a stand-by chocolate sauce, although I would use less sweetener than called for, as I like the chocolate to come through a bit more than it did.  

I simplified when it came to the ice cream part.  As I do not have an ice cream maker, I simply softened some vanilla ice cream I had and added a teaspoon or so of cinnamon and refroze it.

The profiteroles were surprisingly easy to whip up.  They are made by first making a paste called pate a choux.  I have never made anything quite like it.  It requires heating up milk with sugar, butter to a boil, adding flour and then whipping in eggs one at a time.  And every time an egg is added it all falls apart, but with mixing it comes back together just in time to add another egg.  This paste is then piped warm onto a sheet and baked, making profiteroles.  Now these are petite profiteroles and I wonder what method is use to make the larger ones that I am more familiar with?  Or it's cousin (I am assuming they are related) the cream puff? (Wisconsin State Fair anyone?)  And these profiteroles had a hint of espresso flavor due to a touch of coffee and instant espresso added to the heated milk mixture.

To put all three recipes together was simple.  Slice a profiterole, sandwich ice cream in between top and bottom and drizzle all with warm chocolate sauce.   It was quite delicious all put together: cinnamon, coffee, chocolate.  Seriously difficult to mess up with that combination.

And despite my efforts at being on top of things with this three part recipe, I only managed to take a few not-so-great late night pictures of the whole thing put together.

This post participates in Tuesdays with Dorie.  


Rhiannon almost 2!


Monday, September 2, 2013

Blueberry Muffins



Awhile ago, we lived in Telluride, CO, and living near us were two of our dearest friends.  They were the reason we moved to the boxed in canyon, dead end street town.  Not to say anything disparaging about Telluride, as it is indisputably one of the most beautiful towns in the lower 48.  But food is difficult to come by there.  We traveled to not so nearby Montrose every other week to stock up on goods.  Despite this, our friends never seemed to be short on food, delicious food at that.  If we stopped by their house in the morning, it was par for the course to have fresh waffles or my favorite, fresh, huge blueberry muffins.  

Within a year of our arrival, both couples soon moved from Telluride, we to Portland and they to Austin.   But I have never forgotten those muffins.  I got the recipe and even bought oversized muffin tins to replicate them exactly.  They are nothing extravagant but just right.  They have the perfect crumb and density that I crave in a muffin. 

So, looking at the blueberry muffin recipe in Baking with Julia, I was reluctant to even try it.  It requires a few more steps than the normal muffin recipe and it even states the muffins turn out with a flat top, not at all like my giant overstuffed muffins of Telluride.  

I tried it anyway.  It turned out just fine.  But that's just it, fine.  The crumb is light and cake-like, maybe too light for me, as I am not a big cake fan.  So for cake lovers these may be the perfect recipe.  

As for me I will stick with my friends' recipe.  



Rhiannon on a BC Ferry


This blog participates in Tuesday with Dorie baking group.  See the link for others' experience with this week's recipe.