Elderflower Madeleines

Elderflower Madeleines

This is my summerly take on the classic French Madeleine cookie. Basically it's small pound cake bites, baked in small seashell shapes, aka a madeleine pan. They are really tasty, and are perfect with a cup of afternoon tea.

You can make the batter the day before, and make them fresh for the weekend brunch. This works because the batter can rest up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking. 

Makes 24

Ingredients:

• 85 g butter, salted
• 2 eggs
• 75 g sugar
• 3 tablespoons elderflower syrup, I use d'arbo elderflower syrup
• 110 g all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder 
• confectionary (powder) sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Whisk together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl (for the stand mixer), beat the eggs for about 30 seconds, until they are frothy. Add sugar, and whisk for about 5 minutes, until the pale, fluffy and tripled in volume.

Slowly add the dry ingredients and the melted butter + syrup in batches, and mix them slowly in. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for about an hour to chill and hydrate the flour. This will give the madeleines the classic bump on the back, if you skip this step, the batter will still rise, but not as much.

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃), and spray the madeleine pans with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

Pour about 1 tablespoon of batter into each mold and bake for 15-17 minutes, until golden brown. You want the edges to be crispy and the inside light and fluffy.

Let the madeleines cool for a minute or two. Gently use a knife to loosen the madeleines from the pans and let them cool on a wire rack. For more elderflower taste, brush the warm madeleines with some of the syrup.

Sprinkle the madeleines with confectionary sugar, just before serving.

Enjoy!

Profiterole

Profiterole

Profiterole or ice cream filled cream puffs, are a classic French dessert. And it is so so good. The cold ice cream with the crispy puffs and the warm chocolate is everything you need in a dessert.

Makes a lot of small puffs

Ingredients:

Cream puffs (pâte à choux):

• 100 g butter, salted

• 200 ml water

• 125 g all-purpose flour

• a pinch salt

• 1 pinch baking powder

• 3 large eggs

Chocolate sauce:

• 160 g dark chocolate

• 250 g heavy whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon espresso

• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Filling:

• vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put water and butter in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. In a bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt. When the butter is all melted add all the flour at once, and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat and keep stirring until a dough is formed and it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny. 

Keep beating the dough with the wooden spoon until slightly cooled, about 2 minutes.  

Beat all the eggs in a bowl. Add a little of the beaten eggs, incorporating it thoroughly before adding more. Add the egg in small amounts until you have a thick paste but not runny at all.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with an open tip, with the cream puff dough. Pipe quarter-size circular mounds about 2 inches apart, onto the parchment paper. To get the best tops on the cream puffs stop pressing on the pastry bag before you lift it, make a small circular move with your wrist as you lift the tip of the puff. If you have small tips on the puffs anyway, dab the tops of each puff with a fingertip dipped in water to smoothen the tops. 

Bake the puffs for 18-20 minutes, until they are puffed up and golden brown.

DO NOT open the oven while baking cream puffs, it will cause them to deflate.

Let the puffs cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate sauce:

Heat the cream in a small sauce pan, add chocolate, cocoa, coffee vanilla and sugar, and stir while heating. You don't want it to come to a boil.

Filling:

Fill each puff with about a teaspoon good vanilla ice cream.

Serve the profiterole with the warm sauce on top.

Enjoy!

Stout Ice Cream

Stout Ice Cream

Happy Father's Day, in advance for the US, or belated if you are in Denmark.

My dad didn't drink much alcohol, after becoming a family man. I honestly don't think he shied away from alcohol in his younger days, but that's a whole different story. When we had family gatherings my dad would drink one stout mixed with a sweet lemon soda. It actually tasted quite good, the sweetness went great with the bitterness of the dark beer. 

To celebrate Father's Day, and remembering my own dad, I'm making Stout Ice cream. This sweet creamy ice cream has a lot of caramel flavors with a bitter note in the end. It pairs perfectly with fresh summer berries. I know it sounds weird to have beer and ice cream, but it really works.

Makes about a pint - Somehow some of the ice cream always disappear on the way from the machine to the freezer. 

Ingredients:

• 1 (ml) stout, I used a Guinness Extra Stout
• 5 egg yolks
• 125 g sugar, less if you use a sweet stout
• 400 ml heavy whipping cream
• 200 ml whole milk

Directions:

Bring the stout to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer until you have a syrup. Let the syrup cool completely. 

Pour  half of the cream into a metal bowl placed in a larger bowl of ice, set aside. 

Warm milk, and 100 g sugar in a medium saucepan until scalding. Make sure the sugar is dissolved completely.

In another bowl, whisk egg yolks with 25 g sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, while whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan, and heat the mixture over medium heat, until it thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Stir constantly in this process and make sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan, DON'T LET IT COME TO A BOIL. 

Pour the egg/milk mixture into the cold cream through a sift. 

Cool the custard in refrigerator. 

Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze it according to manufacturers instructions. 

Freeze the ice cream in the freezer a couple of hours before serving. Serve the stout ice cream with fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

Tempering Chocolate

Dark chocolate:

Chop the chocolate finely, set just under ⅓ of the chocolate aside, and add the rest into a stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl on to a saucepan with very hot water. Let the chocolate melt while stirring. When the chocolate reaches 118-120℉ (48-49℃), take the bowl off the hot water. While stirring add the remaining chocolate in the warm chocolate. This will cool the chocolate. You need the temperature to cool to 80℉ (27℃). To make this process speed up, place the bowl in a bowl with ice-cold water for a short moment.   When the chocolate reaches 80℉ (27℃) put the bowl over the hot water again, and heat the chocolate to 88℉ (31℃), and now its ready to use for coating. It is Very important that the chocolate stays under 91.3℉ (33℃), if it does not, you need to start all over again.

TIP: If you keep an extra bowl with some warm chocolate, 118-120℉ (48-49℃), you can add small amounts of this, to the tempered chocolate if the temperature is getting to low while you are working with the chocolate.

Milk chocolate:  

You need to do the same steps with milk chocolate, as for the dark chocolate.

Heat to 116-118℉ (47-48℃)

Cool to  80℉ (27℃)

Reheat to 86℉ (30℃)

White chocolate:

You need to do the same steps with white chocolate, as for the dark chocolate. White chocolate is per definition not a real chocolate, 

Heat to 116-118℉ (47-48℃)

Cool to  80℉ (27℃)

Reheat to 84℉ (29℃)

How-to videos:

How to temper chocolate? Here is a video from CHOW, on how to do it. I also like this video, that gives you the science behind tempering chocolate. This warms a food chemists heart. ❤️

Hvordan temperer man chokolade? Her er en video fra Mette Blomsterberg, der viser hvordan hun gør. Blomsterberg køler ikke chokoladen til 27℃, for igen at opvarme chokoladen, til arbejdstemperaturen 31-33℃, som jeg ellers har lært. Men man må tro på at hun ved hvad hun gør. + jeg kan lide at hun har den lune chokolade klar, til at tilsætte lidt, for at holde temperaturen konstant, mens du arbejder med den.

Lime Ice Cream - Farven Metallic

Lime flødeis i metallic klæder.

Jeg meldte mig under fanerne på madbloggerudfordringen#8, denne gang skulle der laves mad og/eller drikkevarer i en af følgende farver: Grøn, brun, rød, hvid og metallic. 😳 Og ja jeg fik selfølgelig metallic, hvilket er blevet deffineret som glitter, glimmer og funklende. Men hvor meget glitter og glimmer er der i min mad til hverdag og fest? Not much.

Jeg brainstormede og kom frem til at der rent faktisk er funklende fødevarer, der omgiver os til dagligt. 

Marineret sild, der er ofte en skinnende sølv hinde på toppen af filleterne - nem løsning.

Mange fisk har metallisk skind, her tænker jeg især på en røget sild og markrel - en fiske dip/hjemmerøget markrel.

Skaldyr, muslinger har perlemor i skallen - det kunne være sjov at lave noget med abalone, den er lokal og i sæson.

Kager - vandbakkelser dyppet i karamel, ligesom da jeg lavede sportskagen.  Måske lave noget med en spejlblank glace.

Ideerne var mange og temmelig blandede, men så ramte hverdagen og rygsmerter mig. Jeg måtte finde på noget, der ikke krævede timer i køkkenet. Så jeg måtte ty til tilført metallic farve, intet naturligt her. 

Jeg fandt ud af, den farve jeg havde købt så fantastisk ud på en lime. Limen blev nærmest electric.  Så limen blev mit omdrejningspunkt, og da sommeren jo har indfundet sig her i Caliornien, så faldt valget på en is.

Super skøn lime flødeis serveres i metallic klæder.

Giver lidt over ½ liter is

Ingredienser:

• 240 ml piskefløde
• 240 ml sødmælk
• 4 æggeblommer
• 125 g sukker
• 1 knivspids salt (sydesalt fra Læsø, selvfølgelig)
• 3 limes, skal og saft

Ekstra:

• is-kræmmerhuse
• Wilton Pearl Dust™  

Fremgangsmåde:

Hæld fløden i en skål, og sæt skålen oven i en større skål fyldt med is, så fløden holdes iskold. 

Riv den grønne del af de 3 limes ned i en skål, og pres saften ud af dem, ned i en anden skål.

Mix 25 g sukker med den revne limeskal, så limesmagen blander sig med sukkeret. Pisk æggeblommerne med limesukker til massen er let og luftig.

Varm mælk, 100 g sukker og salt i en tykbundet gryde indtil sukkeret er smeltet. Hæld den varme mælk i æggemassen lidt af gangen, mens der piskes, indtil al mælken er iblandet. Hæld det hele tilbage i gryden, og lun det indtil cremen er tyknet lidt. Pas på at ikke varme det for meget, da æggeblommen vil koagulere, dette sker ved 68℃. Kom cremen over i den kolde fløde, og afkøl den. Enten i køleskabet i 3-4 timer eller over isbadet.

Kør cremen i ismasinen ifølge instruktionerne til maskinen, indtil isen er begyndt at dannes. Kom limesaften i og forsæt med at køre iscremen indtil den er tyk og cremet. Frys isen i en fryseberegnet beholder i et par timer inden serveringen.

Servering:

Pensel kræmmerhusene med Wilton Pearl Dust™ så de får et metallic skær.

Kom en kugle is i hvert kræmmerhus og server.

Velbekomme!

The English version:

Lime Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 125 g sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 limes, zest and juice

Extra:

• Ice cream cones
• Wilton Pearl Dust™  

Directions:

Making the custard:

Pour the cream into a metal bowl placed in a larger bowl of ice, set aside. 

Zest and juice the limes, into separate bowls. Mix 25 g of the sugar with the lime zest, making lime sugar.

Warm milk, 100 g sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Make sure the sugar and salt is dissolved completely.

In another bowl, whisk egg yolks with the lime sugar. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, while whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan, and heat the mixture over medium heat, until it thickens. Stir constantly in this process and make sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan. 

Pour the egg/milk mixture into the cold cream. 

Cool the custard in refrigerator. 

Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze it according to manufacturers instructions. When the custard starts to form ice crystals, pour in the lime juice, and keep freezing the ice cream. 

Freeze the ice cream in the freezer a couple of hours before serving.

Serving:

Dust the cones with Wilton Pearl Dust™  to get a metallic glare. Put a scoop of ice cream in the cones and serve immediately.

Enjoy!