Andyboy Cooks!

Individual Chocolate Valentino Cake, Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream in a Dark/White Chocolate Cup, w/ Raspberry Coulis.

 

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The February Daring Bakers Challenge was Chocolate Valentino cake! I had never heard of it before and was pretty excited to get it going. A traditional Valentino is in the shape of a heart but I decided to pass on that and go for an individual portion. The challenge called for a pairing with vanilla ice cream, and this was the one bit I wasn't that jazzed about being that I don't own an ice cream machine and would have to do the whole manually. It can be done, and the instructions are below. I was diligent about the process and unfortunately it still turned out a little icy, but it was still tasty. I also decided to throw in a raspberry coulis (raspberries and chocolate - tough to beat). The recipes are below as well as an instructional video on how to make a chocolate vessel!

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.


Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe

Preparation Time:  5 minutes
2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer
Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.



Making Ice Cream Without a Machine

1. Prepare your ice cream mixture, then chill it over an ice bath.

2. Put a deep baking dish, or bowl made of plastic, stainless steel or something durable in the freezer, and pour your custard mixture into it.

3. After forty-five minutes, open the door and check it. As it starts to freeze near the edges, remove it from the freezer and stir it vigorously with a spatula or whisk. Really beat it up and break up any frozen sections. Return to freezer.

4. Continue to check the mixture every 30 minutes, stirring vigorously as it's freezing. If you have one, you can use a hand-held mixer for best results, or use a stick-blender or hand-held mixer.

But since we're going low-tech here, you can also use just a spatula or a sturdy whisk along with some modest physical effort.

5. Keep checking periodically and stirring while it freezes (by hand or with the electric mixer) until the ice cream is frozen. It will likely take 2-3 hours to be ready.


Raspberry Coulis

Ingredients

2  cups  fresh or frozen raspberries
About 1/2 cup sugar
About 1 tbsp. lemon juice


Preparation

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring raspberries and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to thicken, about 15 minutes.

2. Press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, using a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard seeds and skins. Stir in 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Taste and add more sugar or lemon juice if you like. Serve coulis warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Vessels

Eggs Benedict Pizza

 

Eggs Benedict is a dish that consists of a half of an English muffin, topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce.

Here's an idea that I've been toying with for a while. I adore eggs benedict but I always felt that the english muffin was kind of a weak point in the dish. So why not try it with pizza? It worked out really well, in my humble opinion. To sum up, I made the dough, made indiviual sized pizzas, brushed it with olive oil, then put on some fresh spinach and prosciutto and baked them for about ten minutes. When they were done I put two poached eggs on each one and then drizzed them with hollandaise sauce. Pretty simple and VERY delicious. The pizza tutorial and eggs bene recipe are below.

Pizza - click here.

Eggs Benedict

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vinegar
4 eggs
4 thin slices Canadian bacon
2 English muffins Hollandaise sauce:

3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon hot water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and hot
Salt and pepper
Paprika
Chopped parsley

Directions

In a large skillet, bring 2 inches of water and the vinegar to a boil. Crack one egg into a glass. Reduce water to a simmer and pour egg into water in one quick motion. Quickly add remaining eggs. Let eggs cook for 4-5 minutes. The white should be firm but the yellow should be runny. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

In a non-stick skillet heat the bacon until warm.

For the sauce: Place yolks, water and lemon juice into blender. Blend for 1 minute. With blender running, pour butter through open hole of blender lid. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

To assemble eggs benedict: Top each muffin with bacon and a poached egg. Pour warm sauce over and garnish with paprika and chopped parsley.

Superbowl Sunday

Chili w/ Cheese Straws

   

Grilled Wings

 

Yesterday was a great day. Lots of good food, and one hell of a good football game (even though my Pats weren't in it). I decided to keep the food pretty simple, going with banana bread, chili, cheese straws and chicken wings. I don't have a recipe for the chili as it's my own (or rather my mum's with some modifications) and I've never taken the time to write it down. I wish I had thought to do that this year. The thing about chili, at least when I make it, is that I always make minor adjustments during the cooking process according to taste. If it needs more of this, add a little of it. I don't have a formal recipe for the wings either because, well, they're just wings. Coat in oil, salt and pepper, put on a hot grill, render the skin on the hotspots, move to the not-so-hotspots, lower the heat and let them bake. If you want bar-style hot wings, heat equal parts hot sauce and butter in a pan, stir and then coat. That's it, gang. Below is the recipe for the cheese straws which I got from the Barefoot Contessa, and they were terrific (I used chedder, not Gruyère, and I skipped the thyme).

Cheese Straws

Ingredients

2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted overnight in the refrigerator
Flour, for dusting
1 extra-large egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup finely grated Gruyère cheese
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured board until it is 10- by 12-inches. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/2 cup of the Gruyère, 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and some pepper. With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza wheel into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake for another 2 minutes. Don't over bake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve at room temperature.