Almond Brioche

Almond Brioche

Almond Brioche

   --Adapted from Oh Crumb!

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour (from blanched almonds)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 loaf brioche bread sliced into 12 slices
• 1 cup (approx) sliced almonds, toasted
• powdered sugar

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix the butter with the white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. 
• Add the almond flour and mix until incorporated.
• Add cornstarch and flour and mix until incorporated.
• Add egg and almond and vanilla extracts and mix on medium speed until completely incorporated.
• Spread about 2-3 tablespoons of the almond cream onto each slice of brioche and place on the prepared pan.
• Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of sliced almonds evenly onto each slide and press lightly so almonds stick.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 12-14 minutes, or until almond cream is puffed.
• Slide parchment onto a cooling rack and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before sprinkling with some powdered sugar.
• Tastes best after cooled to room temperature.
• Refrigerate any leftover almond cream and seal leftover almond brioche in an airtight container or zip top bag.

Makes 12 servings

Finished almond cream

I portioned the almond cream with a cookie scoop.

 

A little almond cream left over

Gluten Free Almond Flour Pie Crust (& Chocolate Cream Pie)

Gluten Free Almond Flour Pie Crust

Chocolate Cream Pie with Almond Flour Pie Crust

I don't know what the deal is with wheat and gluten these days, but now I, personally, have to jump on the gluten free bandwagon because I've discovered that when I eat the yummy breads and rolls that I love to bake, I get this odd and uncomfortable pain in my right forearm, elbow, and shoulder. I'm assuming it's some sort of inflammation, and I've tested my hypothesis enough to know that it feels better when I don't eat wheat. Boooooo.
Fortunately, I do have some good gluten free recipes and resources up my sleeve, so it's not like I'm really suffering (#firstworldproblem). I found this recipe via Pinterest, and it's from All Day I Dream About Food--a gluten free low carb recipe blog.
I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of this crust--it's a little crumbly, but that's okay, because I was almost expecting a chewy texture. My husband thought it was a bit salty, and I did notice the salt a little bit, but I thought it was a nice complement to the chocolate filling I put in it. I don't think it tasted like almonds at all, just a nice crisp, crumbly crust for the delicious chocolate cream pie. Gluten free or not--it's great.



Gluten Free Almond Flour Pie Crust
     --adapted from All Day I Dream About Food

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour/meal
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted, but not hot

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a medium size bowl, mix the almond flour, sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly.
• Pour mixture into a 9" glass pie pan and gently distribute evenly over the bottom of the pan. Go around the pan and press enough of the mixture up the sides of the pan to get within about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the top. Crust thickness should be about 1/8 inch, maybe slightly thicker, but definitely less than 1/4 inch. Spread remaining mixture over the bottom of the pan and press, taking care not to press too hard or break what you've already pressed.
• Prick crust all over with a fork and bake at 325 degrees for about 20-21 minutes, or until evenly golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.

Ingredients mixed

Pressed into pan

Baked and cooling

Filled with chocolate cream pie filling and topped with whipped cream

Chocolate Cream Pie

     --Adapted from Once Upon a Chef

Ingredients:

For Crust

• see recipe above

For Filling

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 cups whole milk
• 28 Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, unwrapped & chopped (or 8 oz. other kind of chopped dark chocolate)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Topping

• 2 cups stabilized whipped cream
• 1 Dove Dark Chocolate Promise, refrigerated

Instructions

1. In a heavy medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk milk and egg yolks until combined.  Pour milk mixture into pan while whisking.  Whisk until smooth.  Place pan on burner set to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly (yes, constantly), making sure to scrape bottom and edges of the pan, until mixture starts to thicken, about 7-9 minutes.  Remove from heat and immediately whisk in chocolate, butter, and vanilla.  Transfer hot filling to a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap rests in contact with the filling so a skin does not form.  Refrigerate filling until cool,1-2 hours.

2. Once filling and crust are cooled, spoon filling into crust and spread evenly. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly against surface of filling, and chill for at least 6 hours or up to one day.

3. Before serving, pipe or spread stabilized whipped cream over the top.  Using the small holes on a grater or a microplane grader, grate final Dove Dark Chocolate Promise all over the top of the pie. Refrigerate until ready to serve and then refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes 1 whole pie

Cinnamon Struesel Scones

Cinnamon Streusel Scones (slightly over baked)

My family and I moved to a new house a few weeks ago, and for some reason I had signed up to take a baked breakfast treat to a friend's end-of-cancer-treatment party the Sunday of our moving weekend. Not sure what I was thinking but it actually worked out because it gave me a great reason to try out my new oven--a GAS oven, no less! I was stoked (no pun intended) to see how my new oven worked. 

Well, I tried it on the convection setting, which ended up being a mistake, because as I'd already read (and apparently not believed), convection settings generally bake things faster than a regular setting. So the scones you see are overbaked probably by 4 to 5 minutes on the convection setting. I keep meaning to try them again, but I need an event for making scones because these are so good I will definitely eat too many.

These scones are pretty sweet, but in an absolutely delightful way. They're kind of a biscuity rather than cakey version of something like a Hostess crumb cake. Mmm.

My husband even ate several of these and declared, "I don't normally like eating the scones you make, but these I want to keep eating!" I'll take that as a huge compliment and look for an opportunity to make these again as soon as possible. Maybe for a housewarming party...

Cinnamon Streusel Scones

Streusel Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into slices or chunks

Scone Ingredients:

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup sugar (rounded)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup half & half

 Instructions: Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (Parchment isn’t necessary, but it helps.) 

Make the streusel first: Place sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the butter and then with your fingers, kneed the butter into the dry ingredients until it is evenly distributed and streusel starts to form small clumps. Set aside.
  Now make the scone dough:Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. (By "sift" I mean put the ingredients in a large bowl and stir well with a whisk.) Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. It's fine to still have some visible chunks of butter about the size of a used pencil eraser Add half & half, tossing with fork until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns.  Cut ball of dough in half.   

Form dough into two 1/2-inch-thick circles. Spread about half of the streusel onto the surface of one of the circles. Press down lightly. Top with the other circle and press lightly to smoosh them together. Don't press too much though. 

Cut the stacked circle into 6 wedges. Then cut each wedge into four somewhat equal triangles by cutting off the tip and then cutting the back side into three triangles, like so...
 

Carefully transfer wedges to prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Sprinkle each with some streusel. Bake at 375°F until scones are golden brown, about 12-16 minutes. (If you're baking one pan at a time, place the waiting pan in the fridge while the first bakes. If you're baking both pans at the same time, swap oven rack levels about 10 minutes into baking. ) Let baked scones stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Then with a spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool more. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Makes 2 dozen little scones

I like my new quartz countertops.

The streusel gets a little messy, but it's all delicious.

 

Sticky Caramel Croissant Chrysanthemum (Sticky Mums)

After spying a super clever bread dough baked into a flower on Pinterest yesterday, I decided I had to make a sweet version--with croissant dough--and caramel. This is the result. I have to say that although this was a delicious success, having all of the yummy brown sugar and butter flaky goodness of my Croissant Caramel Sticky Buns, the middle ended up too underdone for my liking. Some people enjoy that nearly raw texture of their baked goods, but I do not. So next time I'll be using two slightly smaller pans, and I anticipate Sticky Mum perfection. 
Here's the recipe as I executed it today. When and if I actually make it again, I'll make some revisons. For now, I know I ate way too much of this today as my tummy is telling me so.

Sticky Caramel Croissant Chrysanthemum (Sticky Mums)
     --inspired by Country Mom (blog is in Russian)


Ingredients:

Dough

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour,  plus extra for rolling
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk, cold
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, but cool
• 2 ½ sticks butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces, cold
• 1 tablespoon King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Filling

• 3/4 cup lightly toasted pecans, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

Carmel Goo

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Instructions:

The Dough

1.  Whisk 3 cups flour together with the yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.  Place the milk in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Add the flour mixture and kneed at low speed until a ball of dough forms.  Cut the 2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and add to the dough.  Continue to knead until the butter becomes fully incorporated and the dough becomes smooth, begins to form a ball, and clears the sides of the bowl.  Add up to ¼ cup more flour, one tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky.  Place dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour.

2. Place the 2 ½ sticks of butter and 1 tablespoon flour into the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.  Beat until butter is uniformly smooth and creamy. 

3. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface.  Roll dough into 10 x 14-inch rectangle.  Spread butter evenly over the bottom 2/3 of the rectangle.  Fold unbuttered third onto the middle third.  Brush away excess flour with a clean pastry brush. Then fold that onto the bottom third.  Seal edges with side of your hand. (You have 3 layers.)

4.  Using a rolling pin, gently whack the dough, starting at the center of the dough and go outward.  Then gently roll the dough into about a 7 x 12-inch rectangle, and fold into thirds again.  Make sure that the butter doesn’t break through.  IF it does, sprinkle with flour. Wrap in wax paper and then place in an unsealed gallon size plastic bag. Refrigerate for about 30-45 minutes. (This makes 27 layers now.)

5.  Remove dough from refrigerator and remove from bag/wrap, and on a floured surface, gently whack and roll into a 10 x 14-inch rectangle.  As in step four, fold dough into thirds (81 layers now) and then fold in half one last time. (Now there are 162 layers.) Wrap and refrigerate again for 2 hours to overnight.

The Filling and Goo
While the dough is refrigerating for the last time, prepare the caramel goo and the filling.
For the goo: in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When butter is nearly melted, add the brown sugar and light corn syrup. Stir to incorporate ingredients. Stir almost continually while the goo heats. Once it is really bubbling around the edges of the pan, and bubbles start popping up in the middle, set your timer for one minute and stir and boil goo for one minute. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
For the filling, place the chopped pecans, brown sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl. Mix with your fingers until you have a uniform crumbly mixture. Set aside.
Forming the Crysanthemum
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Prepare a 10" spring form pan by cutting a parchment paper circle to fit in the bottom. Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray and place the parchment snugly in the bottom of the pan. Set aside. (Note: I think my center came out too underdone and the outside too done, so next time I will use two 8" round cake pans for this recipe. I'll need to bake them for about 18-24 minutes, I think.)
On a lightly floured surface, roll out your croissant dough to about 1/8 inch thickness or and 18"x18" square. Using a sharp biscuit cutter that is about 2 3/4 to 3 inches in diameter, cut as many circles as you can in the sheet of dough. (I ended up with 36 circles and used 32 in my 10" spring form pan.) Place the dough scraps, covered, in the refigerator for later. * 
Working with one circle at a time, place about 1 teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the circle and sort of spread it out to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Fold the circle almost in half, so that the top edge is about 1/4 inch below the edge of the bottom edge (see pic below). Carefully fold the half circle in half again, sort of pinching the inside tips where they meet (see pic below), and place in the pan with the back to the side of the pan. Repeat with remaining circles. Don't pack them too tightly because they will rise and grow larger when baked--plus you need to have some space for the caramel goo.
For the very center of the flower, just put the filling in the center of a circle and make a little cup with the filled circle and place it in the very middle.
Cover and allow to rise in a cool place (not the fridge though) for about 40 minutes, or until dough is puffed and leaves an indentation when you poke it with your finger.
Right before putting it in the oven, place the caramel goo in a sturdy zip top container (I used a quart size), snip about 1/4 inch off one corner, and squeeze the goo into the nooks and crannies of the flower.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 27-30 minutes, or until the buns are well browned, but not singed.
Makes about 32-36 three-bite buns

*After baking your Chysanthemum, use the scraps of dough and any leftover filling and caramel to bake up little taste testers in non-stick muffin tins. Or you can just bake the scraps of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes and enjoy the buttery croissant goodness.

Look at all the fun scraps you can play with later...

Pecan, brown sugar and butter filling

Such a pretty sight

This video shows the point at which you start

your timer for one minute.

Caramel in a makshift pastry bag

I think the caramel bag helps get the caramel in the right places.

Right out of the oven the caramel is still bubbly on top.

Three bites of sweet buttery goodness

Filled with yummy sweet pecans

Gluten Free Krispy Kreme-ish Donuts

Gluten Free Krispy Kreme-ish Donut

I have two other gluten free donut recipes here on Food Pusher. Both were eaten pretty happily by my family, especially my gluten-limited son. (See Gluten Free Raised Donuts and Gluten Free Raised Donuts II.) The texture, to me, though, was still wrong. I really, really wanted to make a gluten free donut that would have a texture comparable to a Krispy Kreme donut. The texture of the other two recipes were dense and heavy. I wanted light and tender. Without going into too much tedious detail, the recipe below, which creates more of a batter than a dough, is just what I was going for. These may not be the most attractive donuts, but what they lack in appearance, they make up for in taste and texture. These have the soft, pillowy texture of a real Krispy Kreme donut. Sweet, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth fried dough goodness. 
Just like real Krispy Kremes, these taste best warm. It's harder to tell they're gluten free when they're warm, but they are still fabulous at room temperature.
Heads up: you will end up with a mess in your kitchen, but if you or a loved one needs to eat gluten free AND a Krispy Kreme fix is desired, these most likely will do the trick. 
Enjoy.

Gluten Free Krispy Kreme-ish Donuts

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 3/4 cup Better Batter Gluten Free All Purpose Four, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 scant teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast*
• canola oil for frying

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 4-6 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
In a microwave safe container, heat milk and butter for about 40 seconds in the microwave. Stir until butter is completely melted. Check to see if the mixture is too hot. If it feels HOT, let it cool down so it is only warm to the touch. Pour into a large mixing bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer).
Meanwhile, mix the flour, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and the yeast.
When milk/butter mixture is warm to the touch, add the beaten egg. Mix to combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low to incorporate ingredients. Once ingredients are incorporated, beat on high for 4-5 minutes.
Heavily dust two baking sheets with some flour. Scoop batter/dough into a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip, or if you don't have a piping bag, use a large zip top freezer bag. If going the freezer bag route, cut about 3/4 inch off one corner and pipe out of that.
Pipe 4 to 5 inch strips of batter/dough onto prepared sheets, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches between strips. I covered mine with plastic cookie sheet lids, but if you don't have those, I think they'll be okay uncovered. Allow to rise for 50 minutes.
When 50 minutes has passed, heat about 2-3 inches of canola oil in a heavy pot or high-rimmed saucepan. Heat oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (I use medium-high heat, and then usually turn it down to just above medium if donuts start to brown too quickly). 
While oil heats, mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a shallow dish or bowl. 
When oil is hot, carefully lift a dough strip with a thin metal spatula and gently let it roll off into the hot oil. Repeat with a few more dough strips, taking care not to put too many in the oil at a time. When one side is a nice dark golden brown, try to turn it over with metal tongs. Sometimes they become so cylindrical that they roll back to the original side. You'll just have to tend more closely to those ones to make sure they get golden brown on both sides.
When donuts are a nice deep golden brown, remove them to a paper towel lined cooling rack and then almost immediately place in the glaze, coating donuts all over. Place on a cooling rack to drain and set up. Continue frying donuts and glazing. 
Eat warm and store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Makes about 2 dozen donuts

*If you only have regular dry yeast, not the instant kind, you can reduce the milk to 1 cup and sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons regular dry yeast over 1/3 cup warm water. When mixture is soft and bubbly, add it to the milk and butter mixture, and then proceed with the recipe.

Yeah. I know they look, um, weird. Fried up they're delish.

Apple Streusel Galette

Apple Streusel Galette

At first I was going to call this "Panless Dutch Apple Pie," but apparently it's called a "galette." Whatever you name it, it's delicious. Everything I love in an apple pie: plenty of buttery, flaky crust, sweet & tart tender granny smith apples, and a sweet & crisp streusel topping. Mmmm. This one was made in honor of my friend Christie who loves most baked goods involving apples. She came over last night for dinner and a yarn shopping trip--then she later showed me how to start crocheting an afghan. Good times indeed. 
This is just a nice, relatively easy, yummy way to eat some apple pie. It's even great for breakfast. Give it a go.


Apple Streusel Galette

Streusel Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Filling Ingredients:

• 3 medium granny smith apples
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crust Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoon Crisco (vegetable shortening)
• 3-4 tablespoon ice cold water
• flour for dusting 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the streusel... in a medium bowl, mix the white sugar, graham crumbs and flour. Add sliced butter and toss to separate butter slices. With your fingers, gently smoosh the butter into the dry ingredients until butter is entirely incorporated and the mixture looks like wet sand, with some clumps here and there. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the filling... peel, core, and quarter the apples. Slice each quarter into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. Place all of the apple slices in a medium bowl, add the lemon juice, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon, and then fold gently to disperse the dry ingredients. Set aside while you prepare the crust.

For the crust... get two square pieces of wax paper. Place one on a flat surface for rolling, and lightly flour the wax paper. Then, in a medium bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour until you have quarter-inch chunks of butter. Add the vegetable shortening and continue cutting until you have some sandy parts and some larger chunks of butter and shortening (a few quarter-inch chunks here and there--see pic below). Drizzle in the ice water and toss with a fork until the dough starts to clump. 

Then use your hands to gently knead the dough into a relatively cohesive mass--be careful not to over work the dough, or your crust will be tough. Turn out onto the lightly floured wax paper, sprinkle with a little more flour and top with the other piece of wax paper. Roll the dough out into a rough 13-inch circle (dough will likely extend beyond the wax paper--just keep the surface floured so it doesn't stick). 

Remove the top layer of wax paper and carefully turn dough over onto the prepared baking sheet with parchment. Remove the wax paper and center the dough on the pan/parchment. 

Assembling the galette... Pour/scoop the apples into the middle of the dough circle, leaving about 3 inches apple free. Try to make sure the top of the apple mound is slightly flattened so that it can hold more streusel. Carefully scoop the streusel all over the apple mound. Now, fold up the dough edges to form rough pleats around the edge. Press lightly to make sure the pleats hold.

Bake galette at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until nicely browned and a knife inserted into the center meets little resistance. Check the galette about halfway through baking. If the streusel seems to be browning too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil on top without pressing down--just let it sit there on top.

When done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving. 

Serves 4-6

Crust dough before water is added.