photo courtesy Epicurious
photo courtesy Australian Gourmet Traveller
I can’t think of anything more demoralizing than a rainy Christmas Eve. It just seems so wrong, doesn’t it? I’m sitting here and it’s pitch black outside and I can hear it pouring outside. When I went out with the dog over an hour ago, at least it was mixed precipitation and I was heartened that we might have a little snow. As that’s not to be had, the best thing to do on a morning like this is to get into the kitchen and forget what is going on outside! Let’s see what we can do!
Yesterday morning I trundled over to Whole Foods at around 9 am. I didn’t think I’d be stepping into the fray at that particular hour – but, boy was I wrong. The place was packed and people were warming up to the frantic stage. I did my best to get what I needed and leave tout suite! Yikes. This morning I’ll be venturing out once again for the final preparations. Before I do, I’ll be sure to better prepare myself mentally.
When I was carousing around the produce department – the place I seem to be most attracted to, I eyed the fresh cherries and was tempted to grab a few bags. I only took one with yesterday’s recipe in mind. I also grabbed some organic raspberries. You’ll see why in a minute.
Ah, red fruits and chocolate – what a classic combination. At this time of year we can combine them into so many evocative desserts. And, as I found yesterday, even though some of these fruits are not local and are technically out of season here, they’ve been imported and are sitting there in the stores. So,why let them go to waste?
This morning I awoke to Hubert Keller’s special on his Alsatian Christmas. This is a treat to watch so if you can catch it on rerun on the Create Channel, do. While I probably won’t make his Petit Bonhommes today, you should check out this adorable recipe. If I had little kiddos in my house, I’d make it a point of making these for them.
photo courtesy Epicurious
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/petits-bonhommes-51126200
Hubert Keller’s Black Forest Cake – recipe courtesy epicurious
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for buttering cake pan
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting cake pan
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
Pinch of salt
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (4 3/4 ounces) superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) kirsch
Assembly
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup (4 ounces) powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups Spirited Sour Cherries , drained, or a 24-ounce jar sour cherries such as morello or amarena
jar sour cherries such as morello or amarena
8 fresh cherries with stems (optional)
About 2 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao) in a single block
About 1/2 cup ground dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao) or chocolate cookie crumbs
Powdered sugar for dusting
PREPARATION
To Make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan that is 3 inches deep such as a springform mold.
Sift the 1/2 cup flour, the cocoa, and the salt together onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla at high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and is very thick, about 8 minutes. When the whisk is lifted, the batter will form a thick ribbon as it falls back into the bowl.
Lower the speed to stir and carefully tap the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. As soon as all the flour has been added to the eggs, stop the machine. Pour in the melted butter, making sure to leave the white, milky solids behind. With a large rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible, finish folding the flour mixture and butter into the batter until evenly mixed.
Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake until the cake feels just firm to the touch, about 40 minutes. Transfer the cake to a rack and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then turn the cake upside down onto a rack to cool. This will flatten the slightly domed top.
To Make the Syrup:
Place the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the kirsch and remove from the heat. Pour the syrup into a small cup or bowl and set it aside.
To Assemble the Cake:
In a large bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until it holds firm peaks. Do not overbeat; the whipped cream should be smooth and firm. Divide the cream into 4 equal portions and set them aside. (This helps prevent getting to the last bit of decorating and discovering you have run out of cream.) Drain the cherries and divide them into 2 equal piles. Reserve 8 to 12 cherries to garnish the top of the cake if you do not have fresh cherries.
Place the cake on a work surface with its original top up. Trim off any hard crusts. With a long serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Transfer the top layer to a serving plate, arranging it top side down. Brush it liberally with the syrup. With an offset spatula or rubber spatula, smooth on a 1/2-inch layer of whipped cream. Push the cream a little beyond the edge of the cake. (This prevents gaps when you settle the next layer on top.) Nestle half of the cherries into the whipped cream, scattering them evenly over the top.
Place the middle cake layer on top of the cherries, pressing it lightly into the whipped-cream layer. Brush with syrup, spread with whipped cream, and scatter the remaining half of the cherries over the cream.
Finally, add the last cake layer, cut side up, on top of the cherries, again settling it into the whipped-cream layer. Brush with syrup. With an icing spatula or a large rubber spatula, spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the top of the cake. Spread a thicker layer onto the sides.
Pastry shops add a decorative scalloped edge of ground dark chocolate around the base of the cake. Fill your cupped palm with some of the ground chocolate and lift and tilt it onto the base of the cake all around the bottom edge. Rotate the cake between handfulls. It’s the heel of your hand that forms the scalloped edge.
Rotate the edge of a sharp knife against the block of chocolate to make curls or cut shavings with a vegetable peeler. Pile them on top of the cake.
Scoop the remaining whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip. Pipe fat rosettes all around the top edge of the cake. Press a fresh or spirited cherry into the center of each rosette. Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours to let the flavors meld. Just before serving, dust the top with powdered sugar.
Alcohol-Free Variation
Use about 24 ounces of preserved sour cherries in syrup. Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup and cherries separately. In a small saucepan, bring to a boil 1/3 cup espresso or strong coffee, the reserved syrup, and 3/4 cup sugar (or to taste), stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and reserve until needed.
Bûche de Noël de Henri Variation
For our Christmas menu in 2010, we used Black Forest flavors for our bûche de Noël. We baked the génoise as a sheet cake, soaked it with the kirsch syrup, spread it thickly with the whipped cream, and then scattered the cherries over the cream before rolling up the cake. We iced it with the traditional chocolate buttercream. This makes a lighter-than-usual bûche, and our guests cleaned their plates.
Notes:
If using jarred cherries, drain them, reserving both the syrup and the cherries. Measure the amount of syrup and set aside. Macerate the cherries in a glass bowl in 1/2 cup of kirsch for 1 hour, tossing them occasionally. Drain the cherries, reserving them and the kirsch separately. Pour the syrup into a small saucepan with the kirsch and add sugar, if needed, to make a slightly sweet, cherry-flavored syrup. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and set aside until needed. You need about 1 cup of syrup for the cake. Use the rest as a sauce for ice cream.
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So, last night I came upon this version of a Buche de Noel in my favorite international food magazine, Australian Gourmet Traveller. This magazine is virtually impossible to find in this area – I go to Barnes and Noble at Union Square, the only store I can find it in, where they receive literally 2 copies. I run in there every week or so to try to find this needle in a haystack. It’s delivery is completely unpredictable and yet, I keep trying to snag it.
This is an extraordinarily easy version of the Buche and you can do it well ahead. If you don’t make it for this year, keep this on file and make it another time. This recipe reminds me of the Jelly Roll my Mom used to make for us all the time when we were kids. This is a special version however, which will please all the chocoholics at your table and doesn’t require all the fussy buttercream and meringue decorations – not that I think that’s all bad to do if you have the time. This is simple and beautiful and satisfying!
Australian Gourmet Traveller’s Frozen Buche de Noel
FROZEN BÛCHE DE NOËL – recipe courtesy Australian Gourmet Traveller
INGREDIENTS
This can be made three days in advance and kept frozen in an airtight container. Take it out of the freezer half an hour before serving for the best texture.
You’ll need
200 gmraspberries
Icing sugar (optional) and thickened cream, to serve
Chocolate sponge: 3eggs, at room temperature
80 gmcaster sugar
60 gmplain flour, sieved
30 gmDutch-process cocoa, plus extra for dusting
20 gmbutter, melted
Hazelnut semifreddo: 120 gmhazelnuts
130 gmdark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
2eggwhites
120 gmcaster sugar
100 mlthickened cream
70 gmcrème fraîche
Method:
For sponge, preheat oven to 180C and line a 27cm x 37cm oven tray with baking paper.
Whisk eggs in an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (6-8 minutes). Meanwhile, stir sugar and 1½ tbsp water in a small saucepan over high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil without stirring.
With motor running, add hot syrup to eggs and whisk on medium speed until mixture cools and holds a thin ribbon (6 minutes).
Sieve in flour and cocoa, fold to combine, then fold in butter. Spread batter evenly in prepared tray and bake until sponge springs back when gently pressed (8-10 minutes).
Carefully turn out onto a clean tea towel lined with baking paper and dusted with cocoa and peel baking paper off base of sponge. Loosely roll sponge in tea towel, starting from a long edge, and leave to cool (30 minutes).
For hazelnut semifreddo:
Roast hazelnuts on an oven tray at 180C, shaking occasionally, until browned (8-10 minutes). Rub hazelnuts in a tea towel to remove skins, then chop.
Melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water and stirring occasionally until smooth (2-3 minutes).
Whisk eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (1-2 minutes), then add sugar a tablespoonful at a time, and whisk until mixture is thick and glossy (2-3 minutes).
Whisk cream and crème fraîche in a separate bowl to soft peaks.
Fold melted chocolate into eggwhite mixture, then fold in cream mixture, followed by 70gm chopped hazelnuts (reserve remainder for serving).
Unroll sponge, spread evenly with semifreddo, then reroll. Wrap in baking paper, then plastic wrap and freeze until firm (8-10 hours).
To serve:
Remove bûche de Noël from freezer 30 minutes before serving. Dust with cocoa or icing sugar, scatter with raspberries and remaining roasted hazelnuts, and serve with thickened cream.
Have a fun day today! Resist all urges to return to the mall one last time.
I am going to try to recreate a recipe I saw posted yesterday on instagram via The Jam Lab – Ginger-Vanilla Bean Butter Cookies. If these come out well, I’ll post later.
Have a Merry Day!