0 Blackberry Pie

When the CFO of my company came into my office and presented me with a huge ziploc bagful of gorgeous blackberries just picked from the brambles in his backyard, I knew I had to make him a pie to show my thanks. I had to exercise some restraint after eating about a third of the blackberries straight from the bag or I wouldn't have any berries left for the pie.

I went home that evening and started right away on making the pie dough since I knew there would be some periods of resting (not for me but for the dough). Since I've never made a blackberry pie before, I turned to Rose Levy Beranbaum and hoped that she would have a recipe in her tome "The Pie and Pastry Bible". Sure enough, she had a simple and straightforward recipe for blackberry pie. From the many (and I do mean many!) pie crust recipes in her book, she recommended her basic flaky pie crust for the blackberry pie.

Rose explains that the secret behind her basic flaky pie crust is that the butter is added in 2 stages. First the butter is cut in to 3/4-inch cubes and divided into 2 portions. The larger portion of butter (which has been refrigerated) is finely incorporated into the flour. This helps keep the flour from absorbing too much water and from making gluten. Too much gluten will make the pastry tough. The smaller portion of butter (which has been frozen) is incorporated in larger pieces. These larger pieces of butter will end up in layers with the flour and, when baked, will separate and become very flaky pie crust layers.

I always have trouble rolling out pie dough. Mine always ends up looking more like Illinois or Maine than a circle. But despite my deficiencies in rolling, the dough was a joy to handle. Because I rolled it out larger than I needed and trimmed away the ragged edges, my dough was a bit thinner than the 1/8-inch called for in the recipe. But it wasn't so thin that it tore. When baked, the crust was just thick enough to hold all that yummy fruit filling when sliced, but still quite tender. And it was just as flaky as Rose said it would be too! That Rose really knows her stuff. I'm sure that with time and practice, I can improve my pie dough rolling skills using this delightful pie crust recipe.



Blackberry Pie
(from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie & Pastry Bible)
(makes one 9-inch pie)

Flaky Pie Crust (see recipe below)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used a bit sugar less since my berries were super sweet)
2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 pound fresh blackberries

Remove one disc of pie dough from the refrigerator for the bottom crust. If it's too hard to roll, let it sit out for about 10 minutes. Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick and about 12 inches in diameter. Carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie pan. Trim the dough edge to about even with the edge of the pan. Cover with plastic and let dough rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon zest. Whisk in the lemon juice to make a slurry. Add the blackberries and gently toss the berries to coat with the slurry. Be careful not to crush the berries. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Toss the berries once more and then pour the mixture into the bottom crust.

Roll out the remaining disk of dough to about 12-14 inches in diameter. Cut a 12-inch diameter circle from the dough for the top crust. Moisten the edges of the bottom crust with water and gently place the top crust over the berries. Tuck the overhang under the bottom crust and press down to seal the two crusts. Crimp the border with your fingers or with the times of a fork. With the tip of a knife, cut 3-5 slits in the top crust to allow steam to vent. (Or if you prefer, before covering the fruit with your top crust, using a decorative cutter to cut out whatever shape you like. Save the cut outs to place on top of the pie before baking).

Cover pie loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour before baking. This rest will allow the pastry to rest so that it remains flaky and to help keep the crust from shrinking.

Set your oven rack to the lowest position. This helps to ensure that your bottom crust is completely baked. Preheat over to 425F. Place your pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any juice. You may want to line your baking sheet with foil or parchment for easier clean up. Bake at 425F for 30-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. (Check the pie after 30 minutes and protect the edges from over browning with a ring of foil if necessary.)

Allow pie to cool on a rack for at least 4 hours before serving.

Flaky Pie Crust
(from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie & Pastry Bible)
(makes 21 ounces dough - enough pastry for a two-crust 9-inch pie)

7 ounces (14 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
11.25 ounces (2 1/4 cups) bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 to 7 tbsp ice water
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Divide the 7 ounces (14 tbsp) of butter into 2 portions: 4.5 ounces and 2.5 ounces (9 tbsp and 5 tbsp). Refrigerate the 4.5 ounce portion and freeze the 2.5 ounce portion for at least 30 minutes.

Place the flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade. Process for a few seconds to combine.

Add the 4.5 ounces of (refrigerated) butter and process for about 20 seconds or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the 2.5 ounces of (frozen) butter and pulse until the frozen butter is the size of peas.

Add the 5 tbsp of ice water and the vinegar and pulse 6-7 times. Pinch a small amount of the mixture to see if it holds together. If not, add another 1 tbsp water and pulse 3 times. Try pinching again to see if it holds together. If not, add the final 1 tbsp water and pulse 3 times.

Divide the dough in half. Wrap each portion with plastic wrap and flatten into discs. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

0 Round Em' Up - Sugar High Friday

Even though it's technically August, I'm excited to (finally) post the July Sugar High Friday 33 "Tropical Paradise" round up. To start, I would like to thank the creator and doyenne of SHF, Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess. Secondly, I'd like to apologize for the delay. I'm touched by all the well wishes for a speedy recovery from my back problems. I'm doing much better now, but I have to remind myself to still take it slow for a while. And last but not least, I'd like to extend a warm and sunny "thank you!" to all the lovely bloggers who participated with their amazing tropical paradise sweets.

Without further delay, let the round up begin! (BTW, entries are listed in no particular order.)


Melody at Fruit Tart
Illinois, US
Melody reminisces about Caribbean mangos and the wonderful scent of Hawaiian pineapple plantations during harvest with her tropical paradise tart.
~*~

Amy at Nook and Pantry
Seattle, Washington, US
Amy creates a refreshing mango lime curd tart with a flaky pate sucree as a sweet farewell to her friend Julia.
~*~

Abby at Eat the Right Stuff
London, UK
Growing up in Malawi, Abby would often be found in the strawberry patch. Her strawberry granita reminds her of her former home in the tropics.
~*~

Boo_licious at Masak-Masak
Malaysia
Boo_licious scratches her itch to try out a newly acquired cookbook by making pancakes filled with durian cream. Durian is a notoriously "fragrant" tropical fruit.
~*~

Cakelaw at Laws of the Kitchen
Melbourne, Australia
Even though it's winter down under, Cakelaw beckons the sun with the sunny colors of a frangipani pie.
~*~

babe_kl at Babe in the City – KL
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Babe_kl is fortunate enough to live in a tropical paradise. Her mango and nata de coco konnyaku jelly glistens like gems in the sun.
~*~

Meeta at What's For Lunch, Honey?
Weimar, Germany
Meeta has got her 80's groove on with her tropicana cream and summer berries.
~*~

Mehgan at A Craving For Perfection
Seattle, Washington, US
Mehgan's got a "rawkin' tan" from a recent Mexican vacation and shares a recipe for cocadas.
~*~

Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice
Toronto, Canada
After consuming what Ivonne described as "the best mojito ever" during her Miami vacation, she was consumed with the idea creating of a mojito cupcake. These cupcakes are too cute for words!
~*~

Pille at Nami-nami
Estonia
I'd love to have a slice of Pille's Caribbean banana cake with candied ginger nibbles.
~*~

Haalo at Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once
Melbourne, Australia
It's the middle of winter in Australia but Haalo channels the tropics with the cutest pineapple upside down cakelets.
~*~

Becke at Columbus Foodie
Columbus, Ohio, US
Becke tempts with a satisfying yet light tropical coconut creme caramel with pineapple concasee (sans basil).
~*~

Brilynn at Jumbo Empanadas
Canada
Brilynn whips up her tropical mango treat. It's even topped with a floral umbrella!
~*~

Kate at A Way to Eat
Vermont, US
Kate's coconut cream tart is the logical solution to tropical = Morrocco + coconuts.
~*~

Tigerfish at Teczcape - An Escape to Food
California, US
Tigerfish presents a fresh fruit medley in the cutest orange cups.
~*~

Mark Manguerra at No Special Effects
Manila, Philippines
Mark's chocolate crepes with mangos and Nutella is a combination made in paradise.
~*~

Amy at Tart Reform
Washington D.C., US
Amy's chilled cherry soup is a precursor to the delicious food she will enjoy on her upcoming cruise to a tropical paradise.
~*~

Hannah at Printer & Piemaker: Recipes
Albany, California, US
A stunning black rice pudding with fresh pineapple and coconut milk is offered by Hannah from across the bay in Albany.
~*~

Virtual Frolic
New York, New York, US
Virtual Frolic's swingle sorbet might be hard to say 3 times fast, but it definitely won't be hard to eat.
~*~

Sarina at TriniGourmet
Trinidad
It's mango season in Trinidad and Sarina rediscovers her local tropical fruit with a delicious streusel topped mango cake.
~*~

Steph at A Whisk and A Spoon
Sydney, Australia
Steph, armed with a bounty of fruit from her market, coined the phrase "tropicaliness" to describe her magazine cover worthy tropical pavlova.
~*~

Helene at Tartelette
Charleston, South Carolina, US
The talented Helene impresses with her creative use of bubble wrap to create her honeycomb mango mousse and pistachio dacquoise.
~*~

Andrea at Andrea's Recipes
Northern Virginia, US
Andrea stays cool with her creamy frozen mango dessert.
~*~

Jen at The Canadian Baker
Canada
Jen's pineapple coconut cookies have tropical written all over them. And they're super easy to make too!
~*~

Mandy at Fresh From the Oven
St. Louis, Missouri, US
Mandy's no-bake cheesecake is a stunning creation that incorporates delicious tropical lychee fruits.
~*~

Benas at Floating Nib
US
An exceedingly moist banana loaf topped with chocolate chips (yum!) from Benas.
~*~

Sihan at Walking in the Rain
Singapore
Inspired by a cocktail from a local nightspot, Sihan creates a Malibu (coconut rum) pineapple cupcake.
~*~

Lisa at La Mia Cucina
Ohio, US
Queen of Dorkdom Lisa adds some coconut to a bumper crop of zucchini to create the best coconut zucchini loaf in Ohio.
~*~

Soula at My Champagne Dreams
Sydney, Australia
Winter in the Southern hemisphere doesn't stop Soula from baking a very summery coconut and lime macadamia cake from Bill Granger.
~*~

Zhulaiha at Ovenhaven
Singapore
A summery combination of peaches and coconut go into Zhulaiha's crumble pie.
~*~

Inne at Vanille & Chocolat
London, UK
Inne's strawberry and mango jam was created by pV=nRT scientifically speaking. But Inne believes it might be magic instead.
~*~

Sara Payne at Whisks & Needles
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Sara shares her secret recipe for mango ginger pound cake
~*~

Nicole at Audaciousness
San Jorge, Nicaragua
Nicole takes her refresco (a fresh fruit drink) to go in a plastic baggie - Central American style.
~*~

Lynn at Cookie Baker Lynn
Washington, US
Lynn ventures into new (to her) tropical fruit territory with her vibrant mango sorbet.
~*~

Anita at Dessert First
San Francisco, California, US
Pastry Girl Anita's passion fruit souffle glace with pineapple fruit soup is melt-in-your-mouth perfection.
~*~

Mila at Blog Quesadillas
Sweden
Mila escapes the summer rain with cocadas, a Mexican candy.
~*~

Deborah at Taste and Tell
Utah, US
The crystal clear blue waters of the Florida Keys and a taste of authentic key lime pie inspired Deborah to make a key lime tart.
~*~

Nicisme at Cherrapeno
UK
Nicisme's tropical cakes is willing the sun to come out and warm her chili plants.
~*~

Sheena S. at The Casual Baker
Paris, France
Some "turbulence" with a certain tropical fruit led Sheena to improvise and make these bleeding heart cupcakes.
~*~

Ulrike at Küchenlatein
Northern Germany
Ulrike recalls her very first pineapple and the Balinese women who prepared the fruit with their skilled knives.
~*~

And my entry, white chocolate tropical chunk cookies.

Whew! So there you have it. 41 flavors of the tropics to choose from. I already know which recipes I'm going to try out. =) Thanks again to all the participants.

0 The Fairest One of All - Strawberry Mirror Cake

The end of the month is here and that can only mean one thing. It's Daring Baker time! Who are the Daring Bakers? Well, we're a group of bloggers who challenge ourselves once a month by following the exact same recipe and posting our results whether they are good or bad. The group started back in November 2006 when Ivonne and Lisa decided that they would make pretzels using the same recipe and help each other along the way. This month's host is none other than Peabody of Culinary Concoctions and she challenged us with a gorgeous strawberry mirror cake. The cake was not difficult, but it was an exercise in timing and assembly and perhaps even disassembly. More on that disassembly thing later in my post.

All the individual elements of the strawberry mirror cake were pretty to easy to make. Making the individual elements can be spread out over a couple days, but I just did mine all on the same day. I think it took about 5 hours from start to finish. I believe I used every mixing bowl, measuring cup, and spatula I own. And I own a lot of them too!

The sponge cake was very simple. There is no chemical leavening used in this cake. Instead the rise comes from the air beaten into the eggs. This is where having a stand mixer really comes in handy. The whole eggs and egg yolks must be beaten to 2-3 times its original volume or the cake won't rise. Unless you really want to put your arm muscles through a workout, the machine is your friend. Of course a hand mixer will work too but it'll just take a bit longer to achieve the correct volume.

The baked sponge cake was also a joy to work with. It cut so cleanly and didn't crumble. The cake was flexible enough to be handled without being falling apart. And oh so spongy too! I loved this sponge cake recipe so much that I considered forgoing all other sponge cake recipes for this one.

It was my very first time making a bavarian cream and I didn't really know what to expect but Peabody's instructions were pretty clear. I did encounter a minor issue when I combined the cooked pastry cream with my gelatinize puree. I guess my gelatin hadn't softened adequately (I mean, 2.5 tablespoons is a whole lotta gelatin!). I ended up with little clumps of gelatin balls in my mixture. But a quick strain took care of that. My other issue with the bavarian cream was when I was cooling the mixture down in the ice bath. I found out that you can't really leave the mixture unattended too long or the cream on the edges of the bowl will gel since it has the most contact with the icy cold water. So keep a watchful eye and stir more often than not. But don't neglect the heavy whipping cream that you're beating in the stand mixer. I accidentally whipped mine to stiff not soft peaks. Luckily I had some more heavy cream in the refrigerator. I stirred some into the too stiff cream to bring it back down. See what I mean by an exercise in timing?



I also mentioned that this cake was about assembly. See those air pockets all around the sides of my finished cake? I guess I should've made sure I really "pushed" the cream into the moat surrounding the cake layers. This is where filling with a pastry bag would've worked much better than filling with a spatula. And try to get the top layer of bavarian cream even and smooth. Otherwise the mirror will be uneven. I found that a small offset icing spatula worked really well. Also if your cream has set too much then it may be hard to get a nice smooth top. It's that timing thing again.

As I mixed up my ingredients for the strawberry mirror, I was thinking that I just made fancy strawberry jello. (As in "I'm so fancy that I make my own jello with homemade strawberry juice made from organic strawberries which I carefully strained with unbleached cheesecloth." Insert major eye roll here. But for the record, I have nothing against packaged jello mix or against being fancy.) Just like when I make Jell-O brand jello, I like to whisk it like crazy to make sure the gelatin completely dissolves and also because I like eating the foamy bubbles on the surface of my jello. However, this mixture was the mirror in the mirror cake and you can't have foam and bubbles covering up the surface. So like the anal-retentive OCD stricken chef that I am, I skimmed away all that foam that I created leaving a crystal clear ruby red liquid ready to pour over the chilled cake.

Now I mentioned that disassembly was just as important as assembly. What good is all this effort if you can't get the cake out of the pan in one piece? Those of you who spend time and effort cooking and baking may refer to this as "the moment of truth". Getting it out of the pan is almost as important as the taste. Peabody's instructions read " Mirror will tear when sides are unlatched if it is stuck at ANY point." If that's not a warning to heed I don't know what is. Her instructions suggested wrapping a hot towel around the sides of the springform to slightly warm the mirror so that it'll release from the pan but I like the "hair dryer set on low" method. If I had one of those food safe acetate cake strips I would've used that to help me get the cake out of the pan. I've seen professional bakers use them all the time. The hair dryer seemed to do the trick and the mirror was released unscathed.



My overall impression of the final dessert? Despite my bavarian cream "air pockets", it was a beautiful cake to look at. The mirror was absolutely stunning. I initially thought the mirror was just there for looks. But in my humble opinion, it actually added a nice burst of strawberry flavor and provided a nice textural contrast to the cream and sponge cake. Tasters who are not fond of jello felt the cake didn't need the mirror. And what do I think of the bavarian cream? It was like eating a fluffy strawberry ice cream – very yummy. The sponge cake played a perfect supporting role.

I would like to thank Peabody for putting forth such a fun and educational recipe. I was so happy that I finished my strawberry mirror cake before I hurt my back. If I had to sit this one out, I may not have gotten around to trying the recipe and that would've been a shame. I now have a great sponge cake recipe, I learned to make bavarian cream and I, once again, got to expand my baking horizons. I really love being a Daring Baker.



Please check out the amazing results from the other Daring Bakers by visiting their blogs. A complete list of members can be found here.



Strawberry Mirror Cake

Cake
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 TBSP sugar
2/3 cup sifted cake flour

Soaking Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 TBSP kirsch or strawberry liqueur

Strawberry Bavarian Cream
2 1/2 TBSP unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cup strained strawberry puree (I used 18 oz strawberries to make 1.5 c puree)
5 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Strawberry Mirror
1 1/2 cup strawberry juice (see below for strawberry juice ingredients and instructions)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 TBSP kirsch
1 TBSP water
1 TBSP unflavored gelatin

Strawberry Juice
18 oz strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 450F (yes, 450F, it is not a typo). Butter and flour the sides of an 11-by-17 inch jelly roll pan (rimmed baking sheet). Line bottom of pan with a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit bottom pan exactly.
2. Beat eggs, egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar together in a medium bowl until light and thick (should be about tripled in volume). Beat in the vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and beat until whites begin to form peaks. Add the 2 TBSP sugar and beat until the whites hold stiff, glossy peaks (do not over beat).
4. Sift flour over the egg yolk mixture and gently fold in the flour. Stir in one fourth of the whites. Then carefully fold in the remaining whites.
5. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake until cake is light brown and springy to touch, about 7 to 10 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife along edge to loosen. Invert cake tin to cut out two 8 1/4 inch circles of cake. Wrap the cake layers, separated with waxed paper, and set aside. Cake may be frozen at this point.
6. To make soaking syrup: Combine the 1/2 cup water and the 1/3 cup sugar in saucepan; bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Cool to room temperature; flavor with liqueur. Set aside or refrigerate in glass jar until ready to use.
7. To assemble cake: Brush sides of 10-inch springform pan lightly with flavorless salad oil or almond oil. Cut out a cardboard circle that is exactly the same size as the bottom inside of the pan; cover cardboard with aluminum foil and fit into bottom of pan. Center one layer of the cake bottom of pan. Brush the cake with some of the soaking syrup to just moisten (not drench) the cake; set aside.
8. Prepare Strawberry Bavarian Cream (see Prep Work section). Immediately pour about half of the Bavarian Cream over the first layer of cake in the pan. Set the next layer of cake on top of the cream. Pour remaining Bavarian Cream over cake and smooth top of the cream with spatula. Refrigerate until the cream sets (1 to 2 hours).
9. Prepare the Strawberry Mirror (see Prep Work section).
10. To serve: Warm the sides of the springfrom pan by wrapping a hot dish towel around the outside of the pan for a few minutes (or use a hair dryer on low heat). Run a small sharp knife tip around the edge of the strawberry mirror to separate it form the sides of pan. Mirror will tear when sides are unlatched if it is stuck at ANY point. Slowly unlatch the pan and slide it off the cake. Slice cake in wedges and serve.

Prep Work

Strawberry Bavarian Cream
1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the1 1/2 cup strawberry puree in a bowl and set aside until gelatin is soft and appears spongy.
2. Combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl & beat until light. Bring whole milk to a boil in saucepan. Pour hot milk into yolk mixture and stir with a wooden spoon (it doesn't say so but I would temper the egg mixture first to be safe). Return this mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until your finger leaves a clear trail in sauce when drawn across the back of the spoon about 10 minutes. (Do not boil or the mixture will curdle.) Immediately remove from heat and stir in softened gelatin mixture. Pour into a stainless steel bowl placed over a bowl of ice water. Stir in lemon juice. Cool over ice water, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens to the consistency of softly whipped cream.
3. While gelatin mixture is cooling, whip the heavy whipping cream until it holds soft peaks. When the gelatin mixture is cooled and resembles softly whipped cream, fold the whipped cream into the gelatin mixture.

Strawberry Mirror
1. Prepare strawberry juice.*
2. Place lemon juice, kirsch, and water in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over this mixture; set aside until gelatin is soft and appears spongy.
3. Measure 1 1/2 cups strawberry juice into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer; pour over gelatin mixture and stir to dissolve gelatin. Place bowl over bowl of ice water and stir occasionally until the mixture is syrupy and just beings to thicken (do not let it gel); remove from ice water.
4. When mixture is syrupy, pour a 1/16-inch layer over the top of cake. Refrigerate until the mirror is set.

*Strawberry Juice
Wash and hull strawberries; coarsely chop. Place strawberries in saucepan; crush to start juices flowing. Place over low heat; add sugar and water; simmer slowly 10 minutes. Pour juice and pulp through damp jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined colander and drain into a bowl for 15 minutes. (Do not press down on fruit or your juice will be cloudy).

Note: If you want the cake to be non-alcoholic, it's okay to leave out the kirsch. That's what I did. I also left out the food coloring that was called for in the original recipe.


This is the photo from the cookbook where Peabody got the recipe. I think I did a pretty decent job recreating the cake.