The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.
I was a little hesitant about the August challenge; A few months ago we attended our friends Melanie and John's wedding where one of the favors were these amazing petit fours. When we returned to Boston I tried to make theses cute little celebration cakes and it ended in DISASTER! The trouble was the fondant--more specifically making and dipping the cakes in the fondant. I vowed never to make them again but I really hate being bad at things so when I saw the choice between Baked Alaska and Petit Fours I couldn't resist the challenge again and I'm glad I didn't :)
I decided to stick with the browned butter pound cake and the chocolate glaze for the Petit Fours but for the ice cream I decided to mix it up and make pistachio ice cream, an absolute favorite of mine. I started the project by making the ice cream with a recipe from
Bon Appetit which was simple and delicious and top them with gold dusted pistachio halves to give them a slightly classy look! These cakes took a bit of time to make and assemble but the brown butter pound cake was amazing enough on its own but when combined with the creamy subtleness of pistachio ice cream is was over the top tasty.
Pistachio Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 large egg yolks
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup unsalted shelled pistachios, toasted, coarsely chopped
Finely grind 1 cup pistachios and 1/4 cup sugar in processor.
Bring milk and ground pistachio mixture to boil in heavy large saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix in almond extract.
Whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return custard to saucepan. Cook over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Strain into large bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours.
Stir 1 cup whipping cream and chopped pistachios into custard. Process mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to container and freeze. (Ice cream can be prepared 3 days ahead.)
Brown Butter Pound Cake
Ingredients:
19 tablespoons unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.
Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.
Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.
Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.
Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients:
9 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.
Assembly Instructions
1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.
2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.
3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.
4. Brush remaining pistachio halves with gold dust.
5. Make the chocolate glaze (see above.)
6. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).
7. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it and top with one gold dusted pistachio half.
8. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.
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