Dessert « YouCook.ca – bringing recipes into your home.

Dessert

Bal Arneson / Chef / Cookbook / Dessert / Indian / Ingredient / Recipe — View Comments
11
Apr 11

Mango Lassi

Rating: 4.8/5 (4 votes cast)

Mango Lassi

Lassi is a popular yogurt-based drink originating in India. There are salty versions that use salt and spices such as cumin and mint and there are sweet versions that use fruits or a combination of sugar and spices such as cardamom or saffron. The popular kind most often served in restaurants here is the fruity mango lassi. Here’s a quick recipe you can try at home taken from Bal’s Quick & Healthy Indian cookbook by Spice Goddess, Bal Arneson.

Summary

Preparation Time: 5 min
Total Time: 10 min
Servings: 4 portions
Meal type: Drink
Cost: $6.25

Ingredients

3 mangoes, medium ripe; $5
1 cup plain yogurt; $1
1 tbsp pistachios;
4 drops rosewater; We found our bottle in a Persian grocery store $3.00 for one 250ml bottle
1 cup cold water
1 cup crushed ice

Instructions

1. Peel, pit, and cube mangoes.

Mashing Pistachios
2. Shell pistachios if they aren’t already shelled. Crush pistachios into pieces. We used a potato masher!

Shelled Pistachios

Crushed Pistachios
3. Mix all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Processing the ingredients

Results

Mango Lassi

It was simple and doesn’t get much easier to make than this. We added a few more drops of the fragrant rosewater and crushed some extra pistachios to sprinkle on top. Enjoy!

Rating: 4.8/5 (4 votes cast)

Dessert / Vancouver Dine Out — View Comments
28
Apr 10

White Chocolate and Red Bean Steam Buns at Wild Rice

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

red bean and chocolate steam bun
I spent some time with Chef Todd Bright in the Wild Rice kitchen learning about how creative his desserts are for Vancouver Dine Out this week. The restaurant takes pride in using local sustainable meats and high quality ingredients. I’m not sure there’s anywhere else in town that you could fresh coho salmon wontons or sloping hill pork made into char siu in-house.

Chef Todd is from Australia where he worked at a Cantonese restaurant. He’s obviously passionate about food and finds creative ways to use all the ingredients he’s working with.
todd bright

Two of the desserts on the $18 Dine Out menu are the white chocolate and red bean steam buns (which we’ll show you how to make) and the teacup chocolate pudding (which is vegan – tofu instead of gelatin!). I was lucky enough to try both and they were both decadently good.

Summary

Preparation Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 10 min
Servings: 20 bite sized pieces
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients

1.5 cups warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 Tbsp yeast
3.25 cups flour
4 oz (3/4 cup) Callebaut white chocolate
6 oz (1 cup) Red bean paste

* Wild Rice uses this brand – this one can be found in T&T for $2.17

Instructions for the White chocolate and red bean filling

1. Put a pot on low heat.
2. Combine the white chocolate and red bean paste until the chocolate is melted.
3. Cool in the fridge until the mixture slightly hardens and the mix is ready to use.

Instructions for the Steam Bun Dough

1. Add yeast to a bowl of warm water.
yeast to bowl
2. Add sugar and leave it sitting for about 15 minutes.
3. Once activated you’ll see the mixture bubble.
bubble
4. Put the flour in a bowl and add the yeast mixture to form the dough.
5. Let the dough sit for about 30 to 45 minutes depending on the temperature of the kitchen. A warmer kitchen is ideal – a cold kitchen could take longer.
Chef’s tip: Be sure to cover the dough with saran wrap. Air will make the outside crust of the dough harden and you don’t want that.
6. Once the dough has doubled in size it is ready.
dough double
7. Roll out the dough to get it about 7mm thick or as thin as you prefer.
rolling pin
8. Sprinkle with baking powder and fold the dough as if you were making a puff pastry. Leave it sitting for a few minutes.
roll dough
9. Once again roll out the dough to 7mm thick and use a pastry cutter to cut out rounds. You can decide if you want small buns or bigger sized ones, so pick the size that you prefer.

10. Stuff with the white chocolate and red bean mixture and make sure the bottom is well sealed. See the series of pictures to learn how it’s done.

bun1

bun2

bun3

bun4

bun5

bun6

bun7

bun8

bun9

11. Steam the bun for 4 minutes.
Unfortunately at home we don’t have a dedicated steamer, so I usually heat up a wok to boil then use a bamboo steamer or just a plate balanced on the wok with a metal stand.
steamed bun

steamed bun

12.Plate and enjoy it fresh with some raspberry coulis.

Results

Finished
I didn’t realize how easy it was to make your own steamed buns. As for the filling, red bean is such a typical filling for Asian desserts but the addition of white chocolate makes it even better!! The white chocolate really compliments the red bean – kudos to Chef Todd for coming up with this great combo. Also with the thickness of the dough you can control how thick you want your buns to be. The frozen ones in stores always tend to have a lot of dough and not too much filling – the advantage of making it yourself means you can control the thickness.

I’m sure this will become a YouCook favourite.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Chef / Dessert / Olympics / Recipe / Swiss — View Comments
2
Mar 10

House of Switzerland National Chocolate Contest: L’Ephemeres Chocolate aux Poires

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This wonderfully decadent recipe comes from the National Chocolate Contest held at the House of Switzerland during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. One of the top three mentions was Julie Blanchard St-Jacques’ recipe for “L’Ephemeres Chocolate aux Poires”. It is essentially a chocolate macaron with a rich dark chocolate ganache and roasted pear filling.

Despite sounding quite intimidating, this recipe is actually quite simple to make and the results are amazing! I have included a number of extra steps and comments throughout as the original recipe was intended for a chef’s use.

Bon appetit!!

Summary

For the Chocolate Macaron Shells:
Preparation Time: 45 min
Wait Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 20 min

For the Dark Chocolate Ganache:
Preparation Time: 5 min
Wait Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 5 min

For the Roasted Pear Filling:
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 10 min

Servings: 15 macarons
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients for Chocolate Macaron Shells

100 g Egg Whites
40 g Granulated Sugar
120g Almond Flour
200 g Icing Sugar
20g Cocoa Powder, 90% Lindt
Since I did not have Lindt Cocoa Powder, I used Fry’s cocoa powder, which is always available in your local grocery store.

Ingredients for Dark Chocolate Ganache

200g Dark Couverture Chocolate or 70% Lindt Dark Chocolate
I used Dark Couverture Chocolate (Lindt) for my ganache
100g Whipping Cream (35%)
3-4 drops of Vanilla Extract
Approximately 1 tbsp
60 g Unsalted Butter
It is easiest when your butter is at room temperature

Ingredients for Roasted Pear Filling

200g Pears (peeled, cored, and cubed)
I used an almost ripe Bosc pear for this as I really like how the flavour develops as it ripens. I then cut the pear into very tiny pieces since this will need to be sandwiched between your macaron shells. My pear was originally about 250g, so it worked out perfectly that I only needed to use 1 pear after peeling and coring it.
25g Unsalted Butter
50g Granulated Sugar
1tsp corn starch (optional)
Corn starch was not part of the original recipe. However, I found the pear mixture to be quite liquid after cooking it down, so I added some corn starch to allow it to thicken. This resulted in a consistency similar to a chutney, which was perfect for filling the macarons with.

Instructions for Chocolate Macaron Shells

1. With your whisk attachment, beat your egg whites with a little bit of granulated sugar.
2. Add the remaining sugar slowly as your egg whites are beating.
Your egg whites should triple in volume. Once it creates stiff peaks (but not too stiff), your egg whites are ready. This process takes about 5-6 minutes.
3. While your egg whites are beating, sift together the almond flour, icing sugar, and cocoa powder in a separate bowl.
4. Once your egg whites have reached the stiff peak stage, add the dry ingredients to the mixture. I like to sift the dry ingredients again at this point.

5. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites and dry ingredients together until it is homogeneous.
L'Ephemeres Chocolate aux Poires

6. Since the original recipe was meant for Valentine’s Day, it recommends shaping your macaron shells into heart shapes. I prefer the traditional look of a macaron, so I stuck with the round shape. In order to achieve uniform shells, I drew circles with a pencil on the back side of a sheet of parchment paper cut to the size of my baking sheet. Line your baking sheet with this sheet of parchment paper, pencil side down.
7. Using a large round pastry tip, fill a pastry bag with the macaron batter.

8. Pipe the batter onto the parchment, using your circles as a guide.

9. Allow your macaron circles to rest in the open air for 20 minutes (I left it out for 30 minutes). During this time, you can preheat your oven to 320F.

10. Before baking, place another baking sheet (of the same size) underneath so that it is double lined.
11. Bake for 20 minutes.

12. Once the macarons have cooled, carefully unstick them from the parchment paper.

Instructions for Dark Chocolate Ganache

1. Chop the chocolate and place into a heat safe bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the cream and vanilla to a boil.
Stir occasionally, and keep a watchful eye on your cream so that it doesn’t boil over.

3. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate. Ensure the chocolate is submersed in the cream. Allow to sit for approximately 5 minutes.

4. Mix the melted chocolate and cream together until it becomes homogeneous.

5. Soften the butter and add it to the ganache. Mix until fully combined.
The addition of butter adds a sheen to the ganache

6. Place your ganache (still in its bowl) into an ice bath. Once cooled, the ganache will be a nice consistency for spreading onto your macaron shells.

Instructions for Roasted Pear Filling

1. In a small saucepan, brown the butter and sugar on medium heat. The mixture will come together and resembles a roux.

2. Add the pears and cook until transparent.

3. At this point, I added the corn starch and brought the mixture to a boil. You will notice the mixture thickening.

4. Allow pear filling to cool. The cooled mixture looks like a thick chutney or jam.

Instructions for Final Assembly

1. For each macaron, you will require 2 macaron shells. On one half, spread a layer of ganache. I used an offset spatula for this.
2. One the other half, spoon some of the roasted pear filling evenly.

3. Put these two halves together, et voila!

Results

These macarons are classy and something different from your everyday dessert. They are beautiful to look at and absolutely divine when you have a taste! The couverture chocolate makes the entire dessert rich and decadent.

I will definitely be making these again!!

Notes on Chocolate

Although the cost of a higher quality chocolate is usually considerably more than the regular chocolate baking bars found in the grocery store, it makes a HUGE difference in the taste of your final product. Something I have learned over the years is that it is very important to bake with a chocolate that I would enjoy eating out of hand.

Couverture chocolate is defined to contain between 32% and 39% cocoa butter. For this particular recipe, the couverture chocolate produces a thicker, firmer ganache.

I also love making hot chocolate with couverture chocolate. It results in a VERY creamy, smooth, and semi-sweet drink.

A Tribute to Chocolate – In the words of the Chef

As a final note, I would like to include a few words from the Chef and creator of this recipe:

“ J’adore le chocolat tout d’abord pour son goût riche, onctueux et puissant. Non seulement le chocolat à lui seul possède un goût remarquable, mais la majorité des recettes agrémentées de cet ingrédient s’en retrouvent décuplées de saveur. En plus d’être d’une saveur exquise, le chocolat est une matière qui permet la créativité tant ses utilités et ses propriétés sont grandes. Que ce soit en pièces montées ou pour de simples éléments de décor, le chocolat doit se travailler avec patience et délicatesse pour donner des résultats surprenants. À mon avis, c’est la noblesse et la complexité de cet ingrédient qui lui donnent tout son charme”

This could not have been more elegantly put, so I will just leave you with that. I hope you all have a chance to try this and to explore the exotic world of chocolate.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Chef / Dessert / Special Event — View Comments
1
Mar 10

International Pig Day Dessert: Candied Bacon Ice Cream

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Bacon Ice Cream
It’s March 1st ! In the American Southwest today is known as National Pig Day. But Prince Edward County in Ontario (where Jamie Kennedy resides) has adopted this tradition into International Pig Day and the entire month of March focused on Pigs.

Ok, I never knew there was such a day existed where pigs are recognized as one of man’s most intellectual and domesticated animals but it has started since 1972. I found out about it at the Ontario Pavilion during the Olympics in a presentation with Jamie Kennedy where he let us sample his Crisp Pork Belly Confit with an Apple Compote while talking about International Pig Day. I didn’t manage to get the recipe, but here are similar recipes from London: BBC Smoked eel and crisp pork belly confit, BBC Good Food Individual Roast Pork Belly with Apple Confit

Prince Edward County has a variety of pig farmers with different breeds of pigs on small family farms and could benefit from increase of demand for local foods. The day brings awareness to pig farmers and the businesses and people involved in producing, cooking, and of course eating pig.

We have a treat for you! Bacon is appearing in many foods as of late. I even had Bacon in a Caesar the other day. Well, YouCook decided to try putting bacon where its not supposed to go – Ice Cream. We made a Candied Bacon Ice Cream, a recipe from David Lebovitz (author of The Perfect Scoop) with modifications by SomethingLemon.

Summary

Preparation Time for Day 1: Candying bacon and making the custard for the ice cream takes approximately one hour. That is including time in the oven and time on the cooling rack.
Preparating Time for Day 2: Ice Cream Machine: 25 minutes
Servings: 3/4 quart
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients for Candied Bacon

5 strips bacon
around ¼-inch or ½ centimeter
2Tbsp light brown sugar

Ingredients for Ice Cream Custard

3 tablespoons (45g) salted butter
¾ cup (packed) brown sugar (170g), light or dark (you can use either)
2¾ (675ml) cup half-and-half
5 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons dark rum or whiskey
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions for Candied Bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down.
3. Sprinkle 1½-2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon, depending on length.
4. Bake for 12-16 minutes.
5. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet.
6. Continue to bake until as dark as mahogany. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack.
7. Once crisp and cool, chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice.
Candied Bacon
Note: Bacon bits can be stored in an airtight container and chilled for a day or so, or stored in the freezer a few weeks ahead.

Instructions for Ice Cream Custard

1. Melt the butter in a heavy, medium-size saucepan.
2. Stir in the brown sugar and half of the half-and-half.
3. Pour the remaining half-and-half into a bowl set in an ice bath and set a mesh strainer over the top.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm brown sugar mixture to them, whisking the yolks constantly as you pour.
5. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Using brown sugar and half-and-half as opposed to cream gives a healthy allure to this ice cream — makes me forget the contrasting allure of candied bacon!
6. Cook over low heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
I would say it’s best to stick to low heat as it is important not to let the mixture boil because that results in the eggs being cooks and that’s just not cool. On lower heat you will have to stir for longer, but then you also don’t have to worry about whether the temperature is going to cause your mixture to boil any second. Like David says, you know your custard has thickened enough when it coats the back of a spatula. Another sign is when a trail is formed behind the spatula as your are stirring.
7. Strain the custard into the half-and-half, stirring over the ice bath, until cool. Add liquor, vanilla and cinnamon, if using.
I opted to use the cinnamon and also decided to add half a cup of cream to the custard prior to adding the liquor, vanilla, and cinnamon. For the liquor portion I used Bourbon. The smoky aftertaste of the Bourbon combined with the marriage of the salty bacon and the sweet brown sugar may seem an unlikely union, but in your mouth it will be a festival of flavours!
8. Refrigerate the mixture.
I find that refrigerating over night is best. End of Day 1.
9. On Day 2, once thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Approximately 25 minutes.

10. Add the bacon bits during the last moment of churning, or stir them in when you remove the ice cream from the machine.
11. At this point the ice cream is ready to be devoured, if you like. Although I find that I like my ice cream a bit firmer, and so I usually leave in freezer for at least 2 hours prior to consumption.

Results

The bacon ice cream usually expects cringes and reactions of confusion and disgust. But let me tell you, it is amazing! You would have bacon, eggs, and cream if not in frozen form, no questions asked. So why not embrace this “breakfast” ice cream and while you’re at it, have some Bourbon too.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Dessert / Olympics / Special Event / Timothy Tejuco — View Comments
26
Feb 10

House of Switzerland National Chocolate Contest: Crispy Pecan Chocolate Bars

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

“Basically what I love about chocolate is that it brings people together and is an immediate morale booster, whether it is a cup of hot chocolate on a cold night, or a pack of Lindt shared amongst friends. I love cooking with chocolate and I believe it is a versatile product whether in desserts or even in savory dishes.” That’s why Timothy Nathan Tejuco, the winner of the House of Switzerland Canada 2010 – National Chocolate Contest, loves chocolate. I love chocolate too so I was really eager to try Timothy’s award-winning recipe. It actually looked quite simple compared to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the contest – the simpler, the better!

However, I found his instructions deceptively simple – it assumes that you have knowledge on how to make “sabayons” and “ganaches” – which is understandable if you’re a chocolatier or baker, but not to me! I’ve modified the recipe in terms of portion size (his original one made A LOT and would’ve cost me about $40 in chocolate), and also have some comments on proportions. Unless Timothy has some secret trick to holding together rice krispies and crushed pecans with a tiny bit of chocolate, I really don’t see how his amount of chocolate for the base would work, so I’ve doubled the amount of chocolate in the base. I even tried both methods – his original proportions, and then with my doubling of the chocolate. His original proportions just didn’t hold the base together and ended up half the base flaking off. I’ve posted the original recipe in case you want to see his original.

This was a great learning experience for me, so I’ve shared my many tips (as a result of my mistakes) so I hope you find this educational and also have a great dessert in your arsenal of recipes! It turned out delicious, despite my trial and error!

Summary

Preparation Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Servings: 30 servings (depends on how big you slice these bars)
Meal type: Dessert
Grocery Cost: $19.39 (~$0.65 per serving)

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients

For the base:

170g Pureed Toasted Pecans ~ $1.99
100g Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate ~ $1.76
100g Lindt White Chocolate ~ $1.76
126g Crushed Rice Crispies ~ $1.77

For the top:

80g Cream ~ $2.69
210g Lindt Excellence 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate ~ $6.98
80g Egg Yolks (about 3 large eggs) ~ $0.62
60g Icing Sugar ~ $0.10
50g Soft Butter ~ $1.71
10g Water

Instructions

For the base:
1. Melt the chocolate, stir in the pecans and the rice crispies.

Note: If you can’t find crushed toasted pecans, you can buy whole pecans and roast and crush them yourself, which is what I did. This added a good 15 minutes to my prep time. To toast, I laid out my pecans in a single layer, brushed them with oil, and baked them in the oven at 350F for 4.5 minutes on both sides. Season with salt. See the following link for the method I used.

To crush them, place the roasted pecans in a ziplock bag and close it tightly. Use a rolling pin to roll over the pecans to crush them. If you don’t have a rolling pin, like me, you can use any round glass bottle (i.e.soy sauce bottle).

To melt the chocolate, use a double boiler. You can make-shift a double boiler like I did using a metal bowl over the top of a pot of boiling water.

2. Place this on the base of a non-stick sheet pan. Chill in fridge for 1 hour.

For the top (ganache):
3. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar in a double boiler over very low heat to create a sabayon.

Note: A sabayon is a dessert sauce usually made with whipping eggs with sugar and alcohol. In this case, we are only using egg yolk and icing sugar. See the following link on more details on the technique of how to make a sabayon.

4. Melt the chocolate and combine with cream to form a ganache.

Note:This was the hardest part of the recipe. A ganache is pretty complex – pay careful attention to the temperature of the ganache and how hard you’re beating it (don’t overbeat!). See my notes in the “Quick Notes” section below on more detailed steps on how to make a ganache and how to avoid my mistakes and how I fixed them.

5. Slowly add butter and water to the mixture until fully incorporated.

6. Place the mixture on top of the base and spread evenly.

7. Chill in fridge for about 4 hours.
8. Slice into 1 inch, by 2 cm bars and serve just under room temperature! Enjoy!

Quick Notes

My first attempt at ganache was an absolute mess. Every mistake you can make – I made it! My ganache turned grainy and it separated. Luckily, the fix for both is to add a teaspoon of cold cream and stir. This helped a bit but it was still grainy and a bit oily. In the end, I just gave up and scraping off the oil and spread my grainy ganache over the base. It actually turned out well, and no one seemed to notice my grainy, separated ganache. Imagine how much BETTER it would’ve tasted if I had made it properly! I will definitely try this recipe again to perfect my ganache.

I recommend reading up on ganache techniques before attempting to make this. Making a ganache is VERY precise because it is an emulsion. Emulsifying is the process of mixing 2 ingredients that typically do not combine (i.e. a liquid and a fat) into a stable homogenous mixture. The ingredients are forced together and held in suspension through the manual or mechanical action of beating, whisking, or mixing. In a chocolate emulsion, the cocoa butter is the fat and the cream is the liquid. Thus, they are very prone to separation. The 2 most common mistakes are: (a) the improper ratio of cocoa butter to cream or too much sugar; and (b) incorrect temperature. The temperature should be, at all times during the process, above 35C, ideally between 35C to 40C. Another suggestion I read is to use an immersion blender instead of mixing. Check out Elaine’s post on L’Ephemeres Chocolate aux Poires for her tips and simple method on making ganache.

As I bake more, I find a lot of recipes use weight. I do have a scale, but it’s not very accurate. If you plan on baking a lot, I would recommend investing in a good scale – it makes for much more consistent results. I had to estimate a lot, especially with the lighter ingredients, so that may have contributed to me having to adjust the proportions as I went along, or my mess with the ganache!

Variations

The recipe calls for Lindt chocolate because it was for a Lindt chocolate recipe. I found the cost of this recipe to be quite a lot, so to save on costs, you can use baking chocolate instead. Just remember to keep it to the same mix of dark, milk and white chocolate.

Results

Despite my many mistakes with the ganache, the Crispy Pecan Chocolate Bars turned out really well! I really love the mix of roasted pecans with the rice krispies. I brought these bars to work and they were a hit, with many coming back for seconds. I think that is a true sign of what’s good. I will definitely add this to my arsenal of desserts, and it is great for taking to a party. Enjoy and thanks to Timothy Nathan Tejuco and the House of Switzerland for providing this recipe!

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Dessert / Matthias Groschupf / Olympics — View Comments
23
Feb 10

Saxony House – Potato Patties with Wild Berry and Apple Puree

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Potato Patties
I had the pleasure of talking to Chef Matthias Groschupf at the German Saxony House in Stanley Park. The Saxony House is located at the Vancouver Rowing Club in Stanley Park. The location itself is beautiful, with an amazing view of coal harbour.
Saxle
Saxony is a region in Germany where many of the athletes are from, hence they have their own house to promote the Saxony region, as well as supporting their athletes. At the time of my visit, Tatjana Hüfner from Saxony had just won gold in the Luge event.

After tasting Thuringian bratwurst, I had to try the Saxony bratwurst too. Sure enough, the chef informed me that it was a SECRET recipe of local herbs and spices that is not known and cannot be revealed. I find it intriguing how closely guarded this formula to marinating sausages is.

The taste of the Saxony Bratwurst was distinct and different from the Thuringian bratwurst. It was spicier and had no garlic. But more importantly it was very delicious. I am now very tempted to go get some bratwurst and experiment with the spices. I asked if there was a competition of who has the best bratwurst in Germany. To this, the chef answered no – Saxony and Thuringia already both have one of the best tasting sausages of the country.

I asked about the Saxony menu and they do reflect typical Saxony Winter cuisine – lots of sauerkraut and potatoes. He mentioned that roast pork is a favourite home cooked meal. Pork, in general, is the most popular meat. As a side dish to the meat, families usually make jelly or jam out of the various wildberries found in the country – blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and blackberries. While looking through the menu, I saw Potato Patties listed as a dessert. I was intrigued since I’m not used to savoury desserts and imagined that I’d like it!

Chef Groschupf went into the kitchen and returned with dessert!
Potato Patties
He has also given us the recipe which we’re sharing with you in this post. As the Chef went through the ingredients and steps, I just imagined a hashbrown and wondered how well it’d go with the sweet jelly. It wasn’t as salty, oily or deep fried as I had imagined and actually did work well as a dessert.

When asked on what advice Chef Matthias Groschupf would give our readers who are just starting out their culinary adventures at home, he responded, Cook with love. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing and love it, you have fun in the process and want to keep cooking. Thank you Chef Groschupf! Check out the Saxony House this week if you are in Vancouver – the food is delicious and made with love.

Summary

Preparation Time: 15 min prep
Cook Time: 10 min
Servings: 4
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients

400g Grated potatoes
2 egg yolks
50g onion
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Wash and grate potatoes.
2. Cut and grate onion.
3. Mix egg yolk with the potatoes and onions.
4. Add in salt and pepper to taste. (We’re aiming for a sweet dish, so very little salt, just a pinch)
5. Make patties that are about 10cm in diameter and 1cm thick.
6. Fry the patties on a pan.
7. Serve with an apple puree or wildberry jelly.

Results

This is a quick and easy savoury dessert. I didn’t notice the onion at all. I noticed that it was seasoned very very lightly. It complimented the sweet apple and wild berries very well. Try it at Saxony House or at home!
Final

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Dessert / Olympics — View Comments
13
Feb 10

Switzerland House and YouCook present Exclusive Valentines Lindt Chocolate Recipes

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Lindt Chocolate from Switzerland House

The girls of YouCook are sooooooo excited that Switzerland House has provided the recipe to their Lindt Chocolate Variations dessert they are serving at the Switzerland House on Granville Island right now!!! How romantic is it if you make …not only one chocolate recipe for Valentines, butt two rich delicious Lindt chocolate desserts for your loved ones.

So, we will show you how to to make:
1. Chocolate Cake with Passion fruit
2. Frozen Chocolate Parfait

Chocolate Cake with Passion Fruit

Preparation Time: 20 min (filling the ganache truffles will take time)
Cook Time: 20 min.
Servings: 12 bite sized cakes
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients For Chocolate Cake

270g Butter
270g Dark Lindt chocolate
270g Egg
216g Sugar
108g Flour

Truffle ganache for the filling

20ml Heavy cream
3g Glucose
liquid glucose can be replaced by liquid corn syrup (equal amounts). You can find liquid glucose in the baking aisle of some grocery stores.
50g White Lindt chocolate
10ml Passion fruit pulp
5ml Passion fruit alcohol
0.5 leaves of Gelatine
12 pieces of empty truffle shell
Lindt sells these empty truffle shells in bulk. If you know where, let us know!

Instructions For Chocolate Cake

To make the Truffle ganache,
1. Heat the heavy cream and glucose.
2. Add in the white chocolate until melted.
3. Add in passion fruit pulp and passion fruit alcohol.
4. Cool mixture under 25 degrees Celsius.
5. Fill the mixture into each empty truffle shell.

To make the chocolate cake,
1. Melt the butter in a pot under low heat
2. Melt chocolate in the butter.
Note that you can also do it in a double broiler where you put butter/chocolate in heatproof bowl and place it over a pot of simmering hot water.
You can event melt them in the microwave but be careful and do it only a few seconds at a time.

3. Mix the egg and sugar together.
4. Add the chocolate mixture and the egg mixture together.
5. Add flour to the mix.
6. Half fill your muffin tin with chocolate cake batter. The Switzerland house uses metal cornets to make the cone shaped cakes but you can also use a muffin tin.
7. Add the truffle shells in the half filled muffin tin with the hole facing upwards.
8. Cover the truffle with cake mixture.
9. Bake approximately 11 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
10. Once baked, put into freezer until half frozen to serve.

Frozen Chocolate Parfait

Preparation Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 15 min (+ freeze time)
Servings: 32 shot glasses
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients for Frozen Chocolate Parfait

35g Egg Yolk
1 large egg yolk is approximately 17g yolk, 2 eggs
87g Egg
175g White Chocolate
375ml Heavy cream
30ml Cream de cacao white
100g Chocolate splitters
Chocolate splitters are fine chocolate flakes for decoration

Instructions for Frozen Chocolate Parfait

1. Whip egg yolks and eggs until fluffy and pale. This usually takes 3 to 4 minutes on your stand mixer on medium (using your whisk attachment).
2. Melt the white chocolate (not too hot) and mix with the egg
3. Mix in the whipped heavy cream, cream de cacao and chocolate splitters.
Use cold, clean mixing bowl & whisk attachment. The cream should also be cold. Fold in the cream de cacao and chocolate splitters. You want to gently mix the ingredients together until it is homogeneous, but without overworking it.
4. Cool mixture and fill shot glasses.
5. Freeze shot glasses and serve frozen.

Results

I really enjoyed both the chocolate cake and the frozen parfait at the Switzerland house. In terms of ease, I can see myself making the frozen chocolate parfait instead of making my own chocolate truffle ganache. These two recipe will definitely impress your significant other!! Happy Valentines Day from Vancouver and Switzerland!!!
Lindt Chocolate from Switzerland House

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Dessert / Olympics — View Comments
12
Feb 10

Maple Syrup Snow Candy at La Maison du Québec

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I had the pleasure of visiting La Maison Du Québec!! It is open to the public starting today – with live shows and great food! We will be featuring an interview with Executive Chef Heinrich Meesen from Hôtel Château Laurier Québec and a special recipe from their menu which will be available during the Olympics. It will be Ragoût de boulette de Grand-Mère & porc de Nagano purée de pommes de terre muscade & persil (Grand-Ma’s meat ball & Nagano pork ragout nutmeg & parsley mash potatoes, grilled & Archibald beer flavoured flour).

In the mean time, enjoy the video of a popular snack for kids in the Quebec winter – Maple Syrup with Snow! I have NEVER seen this before and didn’t realize how simple it was! If you’re up in Whistler or anywhere in Canada with snow, go outside and try this out! It’s sooooooooo goood.

The Olympics Ceremony is today at 6pm PST! GO CANADA!

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Dessert / Special Event — View Comments
12
Feb 10

Reds Bistro and Wine Bar – Valentine Soufflé

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We got this recipe from Reds Bistro and Wine Bar for a valentine’s soufflé. Soufflé is one of those dishes that requires some precision and good timing to make properly, qualities that I don’t normally have in the kitchen. Ever since I saw the remake of Charlie’s Angels though, when I think of soufflé I think of that scene where Lucy Liu’s character (Alex) is trying to keep her soufflé from deflating while her trailer is getting shot up by a machine gun. So when I saw this recipe I immediately decided I HAD to make it – picturing myself as Lucy Liu the whole time, of course. I think she did a better job with her soufflé than I did, sans bullets, but I had fun making it and it was quite delicious although not quite as puffy as I think it should have been. I also like how this dessert requires minimal ingredients, ones which I always have lying around the kitchen.

Summary

Preparation Time: 30 mins.
Cook Time: 20 mins.
Servings: 2
Meal type: Dessert
Grocery Cost: $19.50 (If you have to buy every ingredient from scratch – but you only use a tiny bit of the butter, sugar, and tartar)

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients

1/2 cup bitter sweet chocolate ($4.00)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp butter ($3.00)
2 tbsp + 1 tsp 35% cream ($3.00)
2 egg yolks ($3.50)
3 egg whites
2 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar ($2.00)
Dash of cream of tartar ($4.00)

The sugar, chocolate, and butter. 1/2 cup of chocolate chips = 76g, so what you see there is 76g of various chocolate bars I was trying to use up. I don’t think you have to be too exact with the amount of chocolate.

A dash of cream of tartar – the tartar is to add acidity to the eggs whites so they fluff up when you beat them. If you don’t have cream of tartar you can also substitute with lemon juice (1/4 tsp per egg white) or salt (a few pinches) – in that order of preference. You should use around 1/8 tsp of tartar per egg white. Also apparently you can beat egg whites in a copper bowl and then you don’t have to use any acid in it…but who has a copper bowl lying around? Not me!

Eggs should be room temperature. If you try to beat cold eggs they don’t fluff up as nice. Here I put my eggs in warm water to get them to room temp quicker.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Combine butter, cream, and chocolate and melt in a stainless steel bowl over simmering water. Once melted, take mixture off heat, add egg yolks and mix with a whisk and set aside

Here is the second batch of melted chocolate – the first one didn’t work out because I forgot to turn down the boiling water from MAX to medium – if chocolate gets too hot, the solids separate from the fat, making it lumpy and unusable.

Adding in the egg yolks.
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed. Add sugar and whisk until peaks become stiff

This is an example of a soft peak. When you lift the beaters out of the egg whites, the whites form a peak but the top droops down instead of standing up straight.

These are stiff peaks – note how the top of the peak is straight and no longer droops down.
4. Slowly fold egg whites into chocolate. Do this in three parts so egg whites don’t deflate

Always spoon the eggs whites into the chocolate, so the heavier chocolate doesn’t deflate the egg whites.

To fold the two together, you use a spatula to move the chocolate from the bottom of the bowl over the egg whites. Do this gently and don’t over mix!

After everything has been folded together, it looks like the above.
5. Pour mixture into a 60 oz. ceramic ramekin. The mixture should reach just below the rim of the ramekin

I guess my egg whites didn’t fluff up enough, because this is only a 30oz ramekin.
6. Place soufflé on a baking tray on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20-25 min or until soufflé is puffed up but still jiggles in the centre

The soufflé puffs up while it’s baking…careful, it deflates very quickly!
7. Serve immediately

Serving Tips:

Tip #1: Serve with ice cream and fresh berries as an accompaniment
Tip #2: Add a splash of brandy or orange liqueur for extra flavour

Results

Reds Bistro & Wine bar, located on Adelaide Street West, Executive Chef Michael Steh is offering a special 6-course His and Her Tasting menu, available on Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13. The menu is designed for sharing and features several unique and delicious offerings such as Duck Confit Poutine, Slow Roasted Beef Tenderloin and Hot Smoked B.C. Steelhead Trout. The menu is available for just $69 person (suggested wine pairings are an additional $30 per person). Diners can also look forward to sweetening the night by sampling Ontario Ice Wine from reds’ award winning wine cellar paired with items from the restaurant’s dessert or cheese menus.

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Anna Olsen / Cookbook / Dessert — View Comments
7
Feb 10

Anna Olson’s Blueberry Sticky Buns Recipe

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Over the weekend, I hosted our first YouCook Cooking Night at my place, and the featured dessert was Anna Olson’s Blueberry Sticky Buns. The recipe can be found in her newest cookbook, “Fresh”. They were warm and gooey, and soooooooooo satisfying!! I had never attempted to make anything that even resembled cinnamon rolls (NOT because I don’t love them!) because they look so complex. But I followed Anna’s instructions step-by-step and they turned out perfectly. And really, they’re not as difficult as they look. Try it for yourself!

Summary

Preparation Time: 30 min
Wait Time: 1.5 hours
Cook Time: 30 min
Servings: 12 Sticky Buns
Meal type: Dessert
Cost: $17.15 per batch, or $1.43 per sticky bun

Recipe Rating:

Ingredients for Dough

2 tsp instant dry yeast ~$1.00
1 egg, at room temperature ~$0.30
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature ~$0.35
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ~$1.00
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature ~$1.25
1/2 cup of cream cheese, at room temperature ~$2.00

Ingredients for Sticky Bun Filling

1 cup packed brown sugar ~$1.00
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature ~$1.25
3 tbsp pure maple syrup ~$3.00
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed ~$6

Instructions for the Sticky Bun Dough

1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup (60 mL) of warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook (or with electric beaters fitted with dough hooks). Allow to sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the egg, milk, and sugar and blend. (I used a whisk to blend these ingredients together by hand.)

3. Add the flour, salt, and nutmeg and mix for 1 minute, with stand mixer or electric beater, to combine.

4. Add the butter and cream cheese and knead for 5 minutes on medium speed.

5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl; cover, and let rest for 1 hour.

This is how it looked after it rested:

Instructions for the Sticky Bun Filling

1. Combine the sugar, butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon.

Instructions for Assembling the Sticky Bun

1. Grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Spoon a tablespoonful (15mL) of filling into the bottom of each cup of the prepared muffin tin.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle 1/2-inch (1 cm) thick.

4. Spread the remaining filling over the dough, sprinkle with blueberries, and roll the dough up lengthwise.

5. Slice it into 12 equal portions and arrange 1 portion in each muffin cup. Allow the dough to rise for half an hour, loosely covered by a clean tea towel.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).

7. Bake the buns for 30 minutes, and turn out onto a plate while still warm.

Anna Olson’s “Fresh Take”

Anna Olson’s tips for all of us bakers at home:

“That little bit of nutmeg is my secret to a great sticky bun dough—it adds that familiar “donut” element that takes these to the next level.”

“To make these for breakfast or brunch without waking at five a.m., make the dough and assemble the sticky buns, filled and in the pan, and pop the pan in the fridge the night before. In the morning, pull them out while you preheat the oven and get the coffee going, and before you know it, the buns are baking.”

Variations

Anna Olson also recommends using different fruits to produce different flavour combinations:

“Don’t limit the fruit filling to mere blueberries. Raspberries, sliced peaches, apples, or even fresh or frozen cranberries make these sticky buns seasonal and delectable.”

I took this recommendation to heart and used a combination of frozen wild blueberries and mangoes. Since thawing frozen fruits produces a lot of extra liquid, I made sure to drain the liquid prior to spreading the fruits onto my dough. Even then, it was a bit wetter than I would have liked. This didn’t affect the results at all though!

Results

I was very surprised at how great these Sticky Buns tasted. Not because I didn’t trust the recipe (it IS Anna Olson’s, after all), but because I didn’t trust myself in the execution of this particular dessert. This is no more complex than making your own apple pie, so I really recommend this one for everyone out there. You will LOVE the results!

These sticky buns are perfect served fresh out of the oven. Just give them a chance to cool a little bit. I burned my tongue in my excitement to try my new creation… I am definitely going to be making these again at my next brunch party! Thanks Anna!!

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