Father's Day Treat

Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart

My dad loves fruit tarts, so every year at Father's Day I am always trying to make one better than the last.  This one is made from fresh organic blueberries and sweetened cream cheese with a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom crust.  It made his day.  Mission accomplished.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart Recipe

Ingredients:

Tart Shell:

2 cups bleached all-purpose flour 

2 sticksunsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

For the ganache:
2 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk

For topping:
1/2 pint fresh organic blueberries

Melted semisweet chocolate, for drizzling

Directions:

Place the flour, butter, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse about 24 times, then open the machine and lift a handful of crumbs. The largest pieces of butter should be the size of raw grains of rice or barley. If there are larger pieces, continue to pulse the mixture. When the butter pieces are the correct size, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water onto the dough. Spread the fingers of one hand as if you were about to grab a large ball, and using your rigid fingertips as if they were a large fork, stir the dough quickly and briefly until the liquid is incorporated. Squeeze a handful of the dough in your palm. The dough should have just enough moisture to stay together. Break the piece in half. If it seems dry and crumbly, cautiously add more water a few teaspoons at a time until you can squeeze it into a ball that will not crumble when broken apart. If your kitchen is reasonably cool, the butter was cold, and you used ice water, the dough should be at just the right stage of malleability for rolling out, and it will be easiest to work with immediately. If your kitchen is very warm, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 15 minutes.

Turn the pastry dough out on a lightly floured board and shape into a disk and dust the top lightly with flour. Begin to roll out the dough, using quick but gentle strokes with the pin. Start with the pin in the middle of the round and roll to the top, then to the bottom. Rotate the dough 1/4 turn each time you roll to be sure the dough is not sticking and use additional flour as necessary. When the round is larger than 12 inches and about 1/8 inch thick, roll dough onto rolling pin, then unroll onto tart pan. Push dough into tart shell  firmly and then freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Lay a large piece of foil over the dough and press firmly.  Bake the tart shell for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and continue to bake until it is an even golden brown, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Lift a shell with a spatula and check that the underside is evenly brown. If the tart shells puff up during baking, press down the center of the pastry with the back of a large spoon. Remove foil from dough and bake another 5 minutes until golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 

To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan.  Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.  Let sit 1-2 minutes to melt the chocolate.  Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms.  If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 10 second intervals, whisking in between, until the ganache is completely smooth.  Whisk in the butter.  Spread the ganache in a thin even layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell.  Allow the ganache to set before proceeding.

To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth.  Blend in the vanilla and milk or cream.  

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled ganache in the tart shell.Starting from the outside and working toward the center, place the sliced blueberries in concentric circles slightly overlapping each other.  Gently press the berries into the cream cheese mixture to help keep them in place.  Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.  Chill until ready to serve.

Adapted from Epicurious and Annies Eats

Chocolate delight

Chocolate Souffle Cookies

These cookies satisfy your sweet tooth with less guilt and are a sure crowd pleaser.  They are light and fluffy from the meringue and have a light crunch from the hazelnuts.  Grab one quick before they're gone!

Chocolate Soufflé Cookies Recipe

adapted from pastrystudio

Makes about 20 1 1/2" cookies

6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
2 large egg whites @ room temperature
1/8 t cream of tartar
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 C sugar
3/4 C finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

Chop the chocolate into very small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate over a bain marie, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Take off the heat and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they are opaque and soft peaks form. Continue whipping and gradually add the vanilla and sugar until the egg whites hold stiff peaks but are not dry.

Gently sprinkle the nuts and pour the cooled chocolate over the whipped whites. Fold the mixture together until the color is just about uniform, doing your best not to deflate the egg whites.

Immediately drop level teaspoons of batter onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 1” spacing between the cookies. Bake until cookies are shiny and cracked, about 10 to 12 minutes. They should be firm on the outside but still gooey inside when you nudge them.

Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

Stuffing Cupcakes

Of all the cupcakes that we make in our shop, some of the mot popular ones are the cupcakes that have a special filling inside. Stuffing your cupcakes with a filling is really easy, and it can put a fun twist on a regular flavor like chocolate or vanilla -- and turn it into something special!
It's very easy to stuff cupcakes. First, make sure your cupcakes are completely cool once they come out of the oven. Then, use an apple corer to remove the centers of your cupcakes. Be careful not to pierce through the cupcake wrapper. Then, squeeze in your favorite filling using a small squeeze bottle. Fill the cupcakes all the way to the top, and then frost them on top!

Here are some of our favorite cupcake and filling combos:

CUPCAKE                                    FILLING
Chocolate                                        Hot fudge
Chocolate                                        Warm peanut butter
Chocolate                                        Melted marshmallow
Chocolate                                        Warm caramel
Chocolate                                        Chocolate ganache
Vanilla                                             Buttercream
Vanilla                                             Strawberry preserves
Vanilla                                             Vanilla pudding
Vanilla                                             Chocolate ganache
Lemon                                             Lemon curd
Banana                                            Warm peanut butter
Banana                                            Hot fudge
Strawberry                                       Strawberry preserves
Strawberry                                       Hot fudge
Coconut                                           Lemon curd
Coconut                                           Hot fudge

Next time you make cupcakes at home, give these combos a try!

Chocolate cupcakes? Delicious. Chocolate cupcakes with a warm peanut butter stuffing surprise inside? A-mazing! (Image courtesy: Dayna Smith/ImageSmith)

Source: DC Cupcakes Blog  

Raspaholic

Soft Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Soft Chocolate Raspberry Tart Recipe

Ingredients:

 
For the crust:
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. very cold water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

For the filling:
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2½ tbsp. sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 cup (6 oz.) fresh raspberries, rinsed and dried

Directions:

 
To make the crust, in a small bowl stir together the egg yolk, water and vanilla; set aside.  Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the butter and beat on medium-low speed until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas.  Add the egg mixture and beat on low speed just until the dough comes together.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  When you are ready to roll out the dough, unwrap it and place it on a lightly floured work surface.  Roll out with a floured rolling pin, lifting and turning the dough occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the work surface.  Roll it out evenly until it is large enough to line a 9-inch tart pan and is about 1/8-inch thick.  Carefully transfer the dough to the tart pan, pressing it into the sides, and trim to remove the excess.

Cover the dough with foil or parchment paper and fill with baking beads.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and baking beads and using a fork, gently poke holes in the bottom and sides of the crust.  Bake until the crust is golden, 5-10 minutes more.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300˚ F.  Place the tart pan on a baking sheet.

Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Add the chocolate to the bowl and heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted.  Remove from the heat.  Meanwhile, bring the cream and the butter just to a boil.

Pour the cream-butter mixture over the chocolate and let stand 30 seconds.  Whisk together gently until smooth and well combined.  Then stir in the sugar, eggs and egg yolk.  Rap the bowl against the counter gently to break any bubbles that might have formed.

Scatter the berries over the bottom of the crust, then pour the chocolate mixture over the berries.  Bake for about 30 minutes, so that the filling does not jiggle if you tap the pan.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Recipe from Annie's Eats 

Soft Chocolate Raspberry Tart Recipe




 

Summertime with a P.C.C

P.C.C (Pina Colada Cupcake)

Moist pineapple based cupcake with coconut baked into the batter topped with a toasted coconut cream cheese frosting.

Fresh Bread

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Fresh bread baked to perfection with whole grain goodness and no preservatives.

In efforts to provide my family with healthier options, I opted to try and make bread.  I also LOVE the smell of the dough when it is rising. It can be cut into pieces and served with hummus or a delicious roasted vegetable spread.  Pita bread can be used to make sandwiches with yesterday's leftover meat. You can also cut it into triangles toss it with your favorite seasoning and olive oil and toast it high at 450F for crunchy pita chips.  Yum.