Chocolate Tart
Yield: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
Almond pastry:
150g cake flour
Salt
100g butter
25g icing sugar
50g almonds, ground
1 jumbo egg yolk or 2 small egg yolks
Tart Filling:
200g dark chocolate, either Bournville or Albany
75ml milk
125ml cream
1 Jumbo egg
Butterscotch sauce:
100g sugar
50ml water
100g butter
125ml cream
A few drops of vanilla essence
A squeeze of lemon or lime juice
Garnish: whipped cream
Icing sugar and cocoa powder
Special equipment: 18cm quiche pan, rolling pin, baking beans
Method
Tart:
- Pastry: Sift flour and a pinch of salt, rub into butter until well distributed. Sift icing sugar and ground almonds together. Blend almond mix thoroughly into the flour. Add egg yolk and bring together to form a pastry. Should the pastry feel too dry to form a dough add an extra egg yolk. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Roll out pastry thinly, line a 18cm tart ring cover and rest for at least an hour in the fridge to ensure the pastry will not shrink.
- Bake at 180°C for approx. 15 minutes, or until all visible pastry is thoroughly cooked. Remove the foil or paper and beans, bake for another 5 minutes. Turn oven down to 130°C
- Filling: Meanwhile, place the chocolate chopped into tiny pieces into a bowl. Bring the milk and cream just to the boil in a saucepan, then pour onto the chocolate, whisking until the chocolate has melted and combined with the milk and cream.
- Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and pour in a little of the hot chocolate mixture, whisking well then add the balance. Strain through a fine sieve to ensure the mixture is smooth.
- Place the quiche pan on the baking sheet and place in the oven. Pour the chocolate mixture into the case, taking the mixture as high up the sides as you can. It should be almost flush with the top.
- Bake: Bake the tart for approx. 25 minutes at 130°C or until the filling has started to set. Turn off the oven, leaving the tart inside for a further 15 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool completely. When cool, push up the base to remove from the tin.
- Butterscotch Sauce: Dissolve the sugar in the water. Add butter and stir gently allowing the sugar to caramelize. Remove from heat, stir in the cream and vanilla. Stir until the caramel dissolves into the cream. Return to the heat for a few minutes. Add lemon or lime juice to break sweetness if needed.
TO SERVE: Serve with butterscotch sauce and whipped cream. Dust tart with icing sugar and cocoa powder.
Tarte Aux Fruits
Ingredients
Pastry:
250g cake flour
1 ml salt
7 g [1 tablespoon] sifted icing sugar
150 g butter - cool but malleable
15 - 20 ml water
1 egg yolk
Chocolate: 80g white chocolate
Crème pâtissière:
250ml milk
½ vanilla pod, split
3 egg yolks
25g sugar
15g cake flour
15g corn flour
Apricot jam glaze:
50ml smooth apricot jam
Juice of ½ lemon
15ml water
Fruit: Mixed berries, sliced kiwi, halved grapes,
sliced plums, sliced nectarines, sliced apples
Specialized equipment: 18cm or 2 x 10cm tart tin, pastry brush, baking blind beans
- Pastry: Sift flour, salt and icing sugar together, then rub in the butter. Add the water and the egg yolk to form a pastry. Press together to form a pastry. Shape into a flat round disk, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out pastry to 7mm thick, and line an 18cm tart tin.
Cover pastry with greaseproof paper and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake: Bake blind, weighed down with baking beans, in a preheated oven 180°C (160°C fan) for 15 minutes. Remove baking beans and continue cooking for 5 - 10 minutes until the pastry is visibly cooked through. Allow to cool completely.
- Chocolate: Melt the chocolate over a bain marie of hot water. Paint onto base and sides of the pastry shell, set aside to cool
- Crème Pâtissière: Scald milk and vanilla, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Strain and discard the vanilla pod.
Cream egg yolks and sugar together then add flour and corn flour.
Gradually temper on the milk then bring mixture to the boil. Stir continuously until thickened, the raw flour taste should have cooked out.
Cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin from forming, until ready to use.
- Glaze: Warm the jam with the lemon juice and water, stirring constantly until melted. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat, strain and set aside.
- Tart: Fill the tart shell with the crème pâtissière. Arrange the berries tightly over the surface interspersed with the other fruits, forming a high point in the centre. Glaze with apricot glaze being careful to paint every last piece of exposed fruit. Thin out the glaze with boiling water if necessary.
- To serve: Slide tart onto a sheet of greaseproof paper coated in a layer of sifted icing sugar. Transfer to a platter and garnish with fresh mint sprigs.
Croissant Recipe:
Weight outs for Butter Croissant
|
For 2 people |
For 4 people |
For 9 people |
For 16 people |
For 23 people |
|
|
Flour |
600g |
1200g |
3600g |
4800g |
6000g |
|
Salt |
10g |
20g |
60g |
80g |
100g |
|
Sugar |
50g |
100g |
300g |
400g |
500g |
|
Active dry yeast |
7g |
14g |
42g |
56g |
70g |
|
Piliable cold Butter |
100g |
200g |
600g |
800g |
1000g |
|
Warm water or milk |
380g |
760g |
2280g |
3040g |
3800g |
Extra flour for dusting
Egg wash before croissants go in the oven
500g of dough per person
½ cup of cold butter for lamination
Making the Dough:
- Combine all of the dough ingredients, except the butter, in the bowl of the stand mixer and using the dough hook, mix, beginning at slow speed.
- When dough starts to come together add the butter. Increase speed until the dough is blended together.
- Blend until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and looks smooth and even (like skin), this time will vary depending on the strength of your machine and size of recipe. Approximately 15-20 mins.
- Remove from the mixing bowl. Weight out portions of dough and form into balls. Let the dough rest on a lightly greased surface, grease the tops of dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least 1 hour before rolling.
Laminating the Dough:
- Roll the dough into a 10x10 square or 1 forearm x 1 forearm square. Using a cheese grater, shred the butter in the middle of the dough, press down and fold dough corners into the center of the dough, like an envelope.
- Seam side up, roll the dough into a rectangle and do a pamphlet fold (producing 3 layers). Seran wrap and rest in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Whatever class time allows.
- Roll out dough a second time and do a booklet turn (producing 4 layers) this time, plastic wrap again and into the fridge
- Roll out dough, do the final fold, a pamphlet fold, plastic wrap and into the fridge. You have now done 3 folds/ turns. Once completed you have prepared the Paton.
Rolling and Baking the Croissants:
- Roll the dough into a rectangle and cut into triangle shapes. Dough should be approximately ⅛ inch thick. Students take home dough at the stage (can freeze them when they get home).
- Let your croissants proof/ grow on a parchment lined baking sheet that you will be baking them on. Place your croissants spaced out and cover lightly with plastic wrap while they grow. They will take 3-4 hours left on your counter top depending on the temperature of your space. Warmer environment= faster the dough grows. Alternatively you can let your croissant grow slowly in the fridge for 7-8 hours. This is a great option if you want warm croissants for breakfast. Let your croissant grow overnight in the fridge so you can bake them fresh the following morning.
- Your croissants are fully proofed when they ‘jiggle’ when you shake the tray and they have doubled in size.
- Egg wash and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
** Note: If you are planning to bake frozen croissants, they will have to thaw before proofing so the process of proofing will take longer.
Brioche
Prep Time: 24 hours 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Brioche: 70ml milk
30g sugar
15g fresh yeast (8g instant)
6 extra large eggs
500g flour plus extra for dusting
15g salt
350g softened butter
egg wash
Specialized equipment: 750g loaf tin, pastry brush
Method:
Brioche:
- Warm the milk with the sugar gently, remove from the heat and allow to cool until tepid. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve.
- Beat the eggs, then add the yeast mixture.
- Sift the flour and salt together; add to the egg mixture and mix to form a dough.
- Place dough in an electric mixer with a dough hook and knead until smooth and elastic. This will take at least 10 minutes.
- Gradually beat in the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon, waiting until each addition is completely amalgamated before adding the next. Continue to mix for 5 minutes after all the butter has been incorporated. The dough must be completely smooth, elastic and very shiny.
- Cover with cling film and place in the fridge overnight.
- The next morning knock the dough back and shape. Brush lightly with egg wash. Prove until doubled in bulk.
- Brush with egg wash again. Place in a preheated oven at 220°C, immediately reduce the temperature to 180°C.
Bake:
- until golden and cooked through.
- Immediately remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
TO SERVE: Serve warm with butter and jam.
Focaccia
Yield 9 x 13’’ pan
Dough
- 250g flour (2 cups)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons (8g) salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 200ml tepid water
- 8g olive oil
- ¼ cup olive oil for the pan
Topping Options
- 1 tablespoon (13g) olive oil, for drizzling
- 3 cups (269g) sliced red onion (about 1 large red onion)
- 3 tablespoons (35g) olive oil, divided
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons (12g) salt
- 1 pound (454g) red bliss and/or Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or basil, for garnish
Method:
- Knead the dough: Place the flour, salt, yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl if doing it by hand. Make a crater in the mound of flour and pour in the water and olive oil. Using your hands or a fork, mix until all the flour is incorporated into the liquid. Knead the dough for 15 minutes until a soft, round ball is formed. If doing this with the mixer, place the above ingredients in the bowl, attach dough hook, and knead on a medium speed for 10 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- The first proof: Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in the bowl and cover with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap. Leave to rise for an hour to hour and a half until at least doubled in size.
- Prepare your toppings: While your dough is rising, prepare your toppings by washing, peeling, slicing, and/or de-seeding your vegetables based on how you want to eat them. It helps to leave some pieces large and others small, so you end up with a variety of colors, sizes, and textures.
- Shape the dough. Pour the ¼ cup olive oil into your oven tray, place the dough in the center of the tray. Flip over so that both sides of the dough are coated in olive oil. Spread the dough to the size of the pan using your fingertips.
- Dimple the dough. Using your fingertips, make multiple dimples across the surface of the dough. Decorate the dough with your preferred toppings. Good suggestions include rosemary and thinly sliced garlic, Maldon salt, cherry tomatoes, or thinly sliced treated red onion.
- The second proof. Leave the dough to proof for a second time at room temperature for about an hour to an hour and a half.
- Preheat your oven to 220C or 430F. Then drizzle olive oil over the dough and sprinkle with rock salt or Maldon salt.
- Bake the bread until it's golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Fancy Fruit & Nut Crackers
Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup dried fruit, chopped (apricots, figs, dates, raisins, cherries, etc)
3/4 cup nuts or seeds, chopped (pistachios, pecans, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, etc)
2 tsp orange or lemon zest
1 cup milk of choice (we used oat milk, but any kind works)
1/4 cup honey
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two mini loaf pans (~5 1/2" x 3 1/4") or one regular loaf pan (~8 1/2" × 4 1/2") with parchment paper.
- Add both flours, baking soda, salt, herbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, dried fruit, nuts and zest to a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Stir in the milk and honey until well combined and no streaks of honey remain.
- Divide between the 2 mini pans (or just the 1 regular loaf pan). Bake for ~25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Let cool to room temperature, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and treeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Remove from the freezer and preheat oven to 300°F.
- Use a serrated knife to slice into 1/8" thick slices. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 12 minutes, then flip each cracker over. Bake for another 12 minutes, then check for doneness. They should be golden brown and feel dry to the touch, but they may still look soft. They will crisp up as they dry! If they're not quite golden brown, flip and leave in the oven for another 3-6 minutes.
- Let cool completely, then enjoy!
Eclairs/Choux/Croquembouche
Ingredients
Coquelin
Servings 50 cream puffs
3 ounces (85g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (100g) all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Choux Pastry
250 ml cake flour
Pinch of salt
250 ml water
125ml butter
4 jumbo eggs, beaten
Crème Pâtissière:
500 ml milk
1 vanilla pod
6 egg yolks
60 g castor sugar
30 g cake flour
30 g cornflour
Chocolate Glaze
200 ml cream
200 g dark chocolate, chopped
4ml vanilla extract
500ml Crème Pâtissière
Method
Craquelin
- In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, then add the flour and salt, and continue to mix the dough until it’s smooth. (You can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.)
- Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll the dough until it’s about 13-inches (33cm) round. Slide the dough on a baking sheet and freeze the dough.
Choux Pastry:
- Sift the flour and salt together.
- Melt the butter in the water, bring to a rolling boil. Quickly remove from the heat and add the flour. Stir to form a thick paste, return to the heat and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and leave to cool until lukewarm.
- Beat in the eggs a little at a time, until the paste is smooth and shiny.
- Pipe onto a greased baking tray then sprinkle with a little water. Remove the Craquelin dough from the freezer and let it stand a minute or so, until it’s defrosted just enough to cut. Using a round cookie cutter about the same diameter of the puffs, cut out circles of the dough and set them on top of the puffs.
- Bake: Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (190°C fan), until puffed, then turn down to 160°C (150°C fan) until cooked through. Pierce each choux puff with a skewer and return to the oven to dry out for a few minutes.
Crème Pâtissière:
- Scald milk, add the vanilla pod and allow infusing without boiling for at least 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, strain into a bowl.
- Rinse the saucepan in cold water. Remove the vanilla pod, set aside for re-use.
- Cream together the egg yolks and sugar in the saucepan smoothly incorporate the flour and corn flour.
- Add a little of the hot milk to the cold egg mixture, blend well together.
- Return to the heat and bring to the boil, whisking all the time until smooth and thick.
- Whisk in the rest of the hot milk and bring to the boil.
- Boil for 1 minute while whisking all the time.
- Transfer to a bowl; sprinkle the surface gently with castor sugar to prevent a skin forming. Cool, cover with cling wrap and store refrigerated
Chocolate Glaze
- Reduce the cream by ¼, remove from the heat. Pour over the chocolate and vanilla. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes then stir until smooth. Leave in a cool place for 2-3 hours to thicken.
Assemble: Pipe Crème Pâtissière into each choux puff, making sure they are completely filled. Dip the tops into the chocolate glaze and leave to set.
Berry Soufflé
Yield: 6 servings
Portion size: 7.5cm ramekin
Preparation time: 10mins
Cooking time: 20mins
Ingredients:
300g frozen berries
20ml corn flour
45ml berry liqueur
3 egg whites
100g caster sugar
Garnish
Icing sugar
Mint sprigs
Specialized equipment: 6 x 7.5cm ramekins
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Butter ramekins then dust in caster sugar.
- Heat the berries in a saucepan, break up with a wooden spoon, to form a puree.
- Slake the cornflour in the berry liqueur (a slurry). Add to the berries and simmer for 1-2 minutes until thick.
- Strain the mixture, pushing as much of the berries through the sieve as possible. Cool.
- Beat the egg whites until soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until you reach stiff peaks.
- Fold in 1/3 of the whites, then the remaining 2/3 into the raspberry mixture.
- Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins, level off the top.
- Run a skewer around the edge of the soufflé to ensure it has a flat top. Place the ramekins on a baking tray and bake at 170°C for 10-15 minutes.
To serve:
- Dust with icing sugar
- Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve immediately
