Strawberry - White Chocolate Mousse Tart

Reasons why this post will be short:

1 - 12 page paper on community interventions for adjudicated youth

1 - 12 page paper on the effects of parental involvement on the academic achievement of ELL students

4 - powerpoint presentations

6 - hours of site visits

2 - school counselor interviews with accompanying summaries in the form of papers

2 - wedding showers

2 - baby showers

1- impending out-of-town wedding that I will be participating in

1 - insane Lego wedding cake that I need to make for another wedding

2 - finals in the six days in between the aforementioned wedding and the aforementioned cake

3- weeks to do it all

Reasons why I made this tart:

1. My husband is a big fan of white chocolate. 

2. Strawberries were on sale for a mind-bogglingly cheap price. 

3. I am a big fan of strawberries.  

4. We had friends coming over.

Reasons why you should make this tart

1. It looks pretty.

2. It is easy to make.

3. It is yummy.  Very, very yummy.

Seriously.  What could be better than two pounds of sweet, juicy strawberries nestled on a cloud of vanilla-scented white chocolate mousse, which itself is nestled inside what is essentially an enormous shortbread cookie receptacle of goodness?

It's a rhetorical question.  Don't try to answer it.

That is all.

 

Strawberry - White Chocolate Mousse Tart

Tart Crust
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
9 tablespoons butter (very cold and cut into small pieces)
1 large egg yolk

Combine flour and powdered sugar in a bowl, stirring to combine. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (you can do this with your hands) until the mixture resembles wet sand (the pieces of butter should be no larger than a pea). Stir the yolk to break it up, and add a little of the time, stirring it in with a spatula until the dough forms clumps and curds. Knead the dough lightly just to incorporate any dry ingredients.

Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan. You might want to save a little bit of dough to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before before baking.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Butter the shiny side of some aluminum foil and fit the foil tightly against each crust, butter side down. Put the tart pans on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully removie the foil. If the crusts have puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 5 minutes until it is firm and golden brown. Cool the crust to room temperature before filling.


White Chocolate Mousse Filling

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin, sprinkled over 3 tablespoons water
1 cup heavy cream
12 ounces white chocolate

In a medium bowl, over simmering water, melt the white chocolate until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In large bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar until very light.
In a large saucepan, bring milk to boil over medium heat. Slowly pour milk over yolks, whisking quickly constantly so the eggs don't curdle. Pour mixture back into saucepan over medium heat and cook until the mixture coats the back of the spoon, mixing continuously. Add softened gelatin and stir until completely melted into the mixture. Stir in the vanilla. Let cool to room temperature.

Stir in the white chocolate and mix until thoroughly combined.

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into the cooled white chocolate mixture.

Strawberry Topping
2 pounds strawberries, rinsed and halved.
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar

Gently toss the berries in the lemon juice and sugar, until evenly coated. Let macerate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

To Assemble the Tarts

Coat the inside of each tart with some melted chocolate - this will prevent the crust from getting soggy.  Let the chocolate harden.  Spoon the white chocolate mousse and gently spread it to the edges.  Top the tart with strawberries.  Refrigerate for one hour before serving.

Lemon-Raspberry Tarts

When my friend Lauren Carmen San Diego came to visit this spring, she brought the sunshine with her.  It was glorious.  Summer had given us a sneak preview, and we were determined to make the most of it.  We went to the beach and attempted to frolic in the waves, until we realized the water was too cold and we were better off sunbathing.  We wore sundresses and flip flops, and in my case, yellow plastic sunglasses.  We walked around in the sunshine with ice cream cones in our hands.  We went out for Mexican food and ate at a picnic table outside as the sun began to set. 

And we ate these lemon-raspberry tarts, which tastes like an edible bowl of crisp buttery goodness filled with summery sunshine. Looking back on it, the lemon cream might be too soft and runny to put into a tart shell, but it is so, so yummy. I had a large bowl of unused lemon cream in a bowl in my fridge, and every 10 minutes or so, I would scoop a huge spoonful of lemon cream straight from the fridge just to satiate my lemony lust. Seriously. It is really, really good.

In short: make these tarts.  Or at least make the lemon cream.  If you're too lazy to make tart shells, just layer the lemon cream and raspberries in a glass to make a parfait.  Actually, that sounds really good.  I think I'm going to go do that now.

Lemon Raspberry Tarts

Tart Crust

Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
9 tablespoons butter (very cold and cut into small pieces)
1 large egg yolk

Combine flour and powdered sugar in a bowl, stirring to combine. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (you can do this with your hands) until the mixture resembles wet sand (the pieces of butter should be no larger than a pea). Stir the yolk to break it up, and add a little of the time, stirring it in with a spatula until the dough forms clumps and curds. Knead the dough lightly just to incorporate any dry ingredients.
Divide the dough into six portions.  Press each portion of dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of 4-inch tart pans. You might want to save a little bit of dough to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before before baking.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Butter the shiny side of some aluminum foil and fit the foil tightly against each crust, butter side down. Put the tart pans on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully removie the foil. If the crusts have puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 5 minutes until it is firm and golden brown. Cool the crust to room temperature before filling.


Lemon Cream
Adapted from Tartelette

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
zest of one lemon
3 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup lemon juice

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and egg yolks until pale.  Slowly add the milk and whisk well.  Bring the mixture to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan placed over high heat.  Reduce the heat and simmer til thick.  Remove from heat and slowly add lemon juice.  Return to medium-low heat and let cool. 

Raspberry Topping

2 pints raspberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar

Gently toss the berries in lemon juice and sugar until evenly coated.  Let macerate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

To Assemble Tarts

Coat the inside of each tart shell with some melted white chocolate.  Let the chocolate harden.  Divide the lemon cream among the tart shells.  Place plastic wrap over the top to prevent skin from forming and refrigerate for at least one hour. 

When ready to serve, top with the raspberries.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

I know this may seem shocking, but between the pounds of butter, sugar, and eggs that I go through each week, I occasionally make dishes involving vegetables.  Vegetables that are not hidden in muffins.  Because as adorable as those floating blob-people were in Wall-E, I do not aspire to be one of them.

Despite the fact that this involves 7 - 8 different kinds of vegetables (depending on whether you consider potatoes to be vegetables), it was really, really tasty.  It even tasted meaty.  I think it was the Worcesterschire sauce.  Or the mushrooms.  So add the mushrooms, even if you don't like them.  David hates mushrooms, and he had no idea they were in there.  Though I guess he does, now.

This dish is ridiculously filling, so even if it looks like there are four servings, there are actually probably enough servings to last two people an entire week.  I am not kidding.  As delicious as this was, by the time David and I finished all the leftovers, we never wanted to see another lentil again.  So if there are only two of you, and you're not big eaters, do yourself a favor and halve this recipe.  

Lentil Shepherd's Pie
Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
4 ounces (1 1/2 cups) shiitake mushrooms, chopped (I used baby bellas.)
1 zucchini, diced small ( 1 1/2 cups)
3 cloves garlic, minced (I skipped this, as I am not a garlic person)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup carrots (about 3), peeled and diced small
3/4 cup du Puy lentils (also called French lentils), rinsed (I used green lentils.)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 recipe Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes (recipe below)

Heat the oil in a 4-quart pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, and saute them until translucent, about 4 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add the carrots, lentils and broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring every once in a while.

By this point, the lentils should be tender, and most of the broth should be absorbed. (If that hasn’t happened, then keep the pot covered and simmer the lentils a while longer. Conversely, if the broth has evaporated and the lentils are not soft, then add a bit of water and simmer.)

When the lentils are soft, stir in the Worcestershire sauce, corn and peas. Let the mixture sit off the heat for 10 minutes or so for maximum flavor. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

To Serve: Spoon a cup of Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes into a bowl, and top it with a cup of lentils.

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

2 russet potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets (1 pound, or about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 to 4 tablespoons vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the potatoes in a 4-quart pot, and fill it with enough cold water to cover them, making sure there are about 4 inches of extra water on top (for when you add the cauliflower). Bring the potatoes to a boil.

Once the water is boiling, add the cauliflower, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes and cauliflower are tender.

Drain them in a colander, return them to the pot, and use a potato masher to mash them a bit.

Add the oil, 2 tablespoons of broth, and the salt and pepper. Mash a bit more. Use a fork to make sure all the seasoning are mixed well.

If needed, add another 2 tablespoons of broth. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Serve warm.

Carrot Apple Muffins

As much as I love eating desserts (and trust me, I love to eat desserts), I find the process of baking just as enjoyable as the end product.  In fact, I often get the urge to bake without even knowing what it is that I want to bake.  I usually end up scrounging through my pantry and refrigerator for inspiration.  On Thursday night, my refrigerator was pretty bare, but I did end up finding a few carrots and an apple.  I figured that between those two ingredients, I could make a delicious and healthy breakfast muffin.

While these muffins are delicious fresh out of the oven, I enjoyed them even more the next few mornings, when I toasted them before slathering them in butter and honey.  Have you tried toasting muffins before?  You should.  It's delicious.

Some notes: I had shredded the carrots coursely, and I think next time I would shred them more fine - the carrots were still a little crunchy right out of the oven, though they softened after sitting for a couple of days.  Also, if you want, you can pack the muffins even more full of healthy goodness by adding dried fruit or nuts.

Carrot Apple Muffins
Adapted from Gourmet, 1998

1 cup AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 large eggs
1 cup corn oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large apple, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, Combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Whisk in both kinds of sugars.  Add the carrots and coconut; stir until completely combined.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil, vanilla, and shredded apples.  Add the apple mixture to the carrot mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide equally between the muffin cups.  Bake for 15-20 minutes. 

Cool muffins for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out onto the racks to cool completely.  Muffins keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days.

S'mores Cookie Bars

It pains me to admit this, but I have never been one for the great outdoors.  For my family, camping meant going to a cabin in the mountains, complete with electricity, a fully functioning kitchen, and furniture...though I still slept in a sleeping bag, if that counts for anything.  During the day, we went hiking in the forests, had picnics in parks, picked plums from trees, and, if we were brave enough, swam in the ice-cold fresh water streams.  At night, we retreated back to the cabin, played board games, and made s'mores, not over a campfire, but in the cabin's fireplace.  I have to admit, I never got my marshmallow in between the graham crackers and chocolate, as I usually ate my charred, gooey marshmallows straight off the stick I toasted them on.

I haven't been camping in a while, in any sense of the word.  One day, David and I will go camping for real, with tents and bug spray and the whole sh'bang.  But until then, I am content to recreate camping memories with these s'more cookie bars.

These are best when cooled but still slightly warm - if it's still too hot when you slice into it, the filling oozes out, but if you let it cool too much, the chocolate re-hardens. 

S'more Cookie Bars
Adapted from Baking Bites

1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 king-sized chocolate bars
3 cups marshmallow fluff

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture and mix until combined.  Divide dough in half.

Press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Place chocolate bars over the dough.  Spread marshmallow fluff over the chocolate.  Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cool before cutting into bars.

Blackberry Banana Muffins

I cannot study at home.  It's impossible.  There are way too many distractions.  I might want to go back to bed and take a nap.  I might pull up a movie on Netflix to watch instantly.  I might wander over to the kitchen and spend my entire morning making cookies. 

No, it is much better for me to walk around the corner to my favorite cafe, with its incredibly creamy chai lattes and assortment of brownies.  Or one and a half more blocks from there to another amazing cafe, with their on-site roasted coffee, madeleines, and Nutella rolls.  Yes, these places are much more conducive to studying.

While the second cafe definitely wins out in the breakfast pastry category, their muffins leave something to be desired (and I'm sure this goes for all bakery muffins).  I was initially excited to try their Blackberry Banana Muffins, but the muffins weren't very banana-y, and the blackberries had all sunk to the bottom, creating a hole in the middle of the muffin.  Fortunately, those two problems are pretty easy to fix, and I set about making my own version of the muffins.

These muffins were a success.  They were best fresh out of the oven, of course, but they also made a pretty tasty breakfast the following two days.  I lightly coated the blackberries in flour before adding them to the muffin batter to prevent them from sinking, and it definitely did the trick - needless to say, muffins are much better when they're whole instead of hollow.  The whole wheat flour added a slightly nutty flavor to the muffins, as well as an excuse to eat them for breakfast.  I sprinkled the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar before baking them, and I loved the extra crunch and sweetness it contributed. 

Not a fan of blackberries?  Neither is David.  I substituted the blackberries in half of the muffins for a combination of white and semisweet chocolate chips, and he gave them two big thumbs up.

Blackberry Banana Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces blackberries (defrost if using frozen)

Turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease or line a 12-muffin tin.

Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas.  Mix in the egg, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract.  Stir the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined (don't overmix). 

Lightly coat the blackberries in flour and gently fold them into the muffin batter.  Divide equally among the muffin tins.  Sprinkle each one generously with the turbinado sugar.

Bake until the tops are pale golden, about 28-32 minutes.  Transfer to rack to cool.

Churros con Chocolate

In my junior year of college, I studied abroad in Granada, Spain.  From my first day there, I heard about churros con chocolate, but didn't know what they looked like or where to get them.  I went to bakeries and asked for churros con chocolate, but they didn't have any.  I checked the coffee shops, only to find out that the coffee shops were actually primarily bars.  Halfway through my semester, I finally found some at a place called Cafe Futbol.  The treat was not, as I had originally suspected, like Mexican churros filled with chocolate.  They were more donut-like, smooth instead of rigid, unadorned and accompanied by the thick Spanish hot chocolate that you were supposed to dip it into.  It was love at first bite.  My friends and I went there about once every other week to eat churros con chocolate, though we started going more and more during finals as we realized that we would soon have to leave everything in Spain behind.

Once we returned to San Diego, I searched for Spanish restaurants and cafes in the area that might have churros con chocolate, to no avail.  It didn't occur to me to try making them myself until three years later, when I was searching for a recipe for my host mom's chorizo lentil soup and stumbled across a recipe for churros con chocolate.  I excitedly tried the recipe, trying to improvise and use a cookie press, as I didn't have any large frosting tips.  It did not turn out so good.

Cafe Futbol churros

I shelved the idea in favor of new projects, until a tapas bar opened near my apartment and reminded me of my favorite Spanish treat.  I decided to try again, using a different recipe and a large coupler instead of a star tip.

These churros are smaller, but taste just like I remember - crispy on the outside, soft and custardy on the inside.  The hot chocolate is rich and thick - almost like a cross between fudge sauce and pudding.  Served together, they're as warm and comforting as cookies and milk.

Churros con Chocolate
Adapted from Chocolateria San Gines, Madrid, Spain

Churros:
8 cups vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar

Heat oil to 360 degrees Farenheit.

Heat water, butter, and salt to rolling boil in a 3 quart saucepan.  Add flour and stirr vigorously over low heat until it forms a ball (about 1 minute).  Remove from heat.

Beat eggs until smooth, and add to saucepan while continuously stirring mixture.

Spoon dough into piping bag.  Squeeze 4-inch strips into oil.  Fry for 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown, turning once halfway through.  Drain on paper towels.

Spanish Hot Chocolate

2 ounces dark chocolate
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar

Place chocolate and half of milk in saucepan and cook over very low heat, stirring, until chocolate has melted.  Dissolve cornstarch and sugar into remaining milk and whisk into the chocolate.  Cook on low heat, whisking constantly, until chocolate thickens (it will take about 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and whisk til smooth; pour into mugs.