Posts by Pws Builder
Madeleines
Madeleines are wonderful, small tea cakes baked in scalloped molds, which were immortalized by Marcel Proust in Remembrance of Things Past, Vol, 1. In the famous passage Proust writes how “those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell†brought…
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The Friday Baking Project
Pumpkin Muffins
Pumpkin Muffins
During the catering busy season at Glorious Foods, seventy-hour work weeks were common. On the rare day off, several of my kitchen colleagues and I would meet for a late breakfast at Sarabeth’s, a popular Upper West Side restaurant known for its American cuisine. They also featured very good basic bakery selections, and we would…
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The Friday Baking Project Apple Strudel
PRINT Apple Strudel Yield: One 11-inch strudel of Servings: 6 Ingredients: 1 package phyllo dough, defrosted overnight ¾ cup (3.25 oz / 92 g) dried breadcrumbs 2 tbl (1 oz / 28) unsalted butter 4 cups baking apple1 slices, from 3 to 4 apples 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 1 tbl grated lemon rind ½…
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The Friday Baking Project
Crumb Topping
PRINT Yield: 1 ¾ cups # of Servings: 28 Ingredients: 1 â…” cup (7.1 oz / 201 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted1 â…“ cup (6.2 oz / 176 g) all-purpose flour 12 tbl (6 oz / 170 g) unsalted butter, room temperature Pre-recipe preparations: Cut up butter into chunks and let come to room temperature. Directions: In medium…
Read MorePavlova
We have used several types of meringue in Friday Baking Project desserts – nut meringue in Dacquoise, Italian Meringue in Baked Alaska and Swiss Meringue in buttercream. This week we delve into Pavlova, the queen of baked meringue desserts and a perfect ending to a spring or summer meal. It features a crisp on the…
Read MoreChocolate Truffle Cake
This intensely chocolate cake originated from an all-day baking session in my home kitchen with an old friend. We were working to recreate the rectangular Chocolate Tile Cake from a long-gone Greenwich Village restaurant, La Tulipe. The process presented many challenges, including maintaining even, straight lines during the assembly of the free-form rectangle, and shaping…
Read MoreBête Noire
For the second installment of the French-style chocolate cake search I returned to my baking book library and came upon one with an eye-catching title – Growing up on the Chocolate Diet by Lora Brody. It’s been on the shelf for years with one page bookmarked, the recipe for Bête Noire. I vaguely remember being…
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