Category — Baking

Your coffee service this evening may look terribly conventional. Indeed it is a cup of coffee with whipped cream and an Italian cookie. But in what forms are all these elements?

The coffee is actually an espresso créme brulée. Espresso combined with a velvety baked custard create a delightful hot and cold, creamy and crunchy version of the classic latté. The “foam” or “whipped cream” on top is a lightly sweetened mascarpone mousse with a touch of shaved dark chocolate.

The cookie is a cookie…but it’s also not a cookie: it’s lady finger ice cream. The ice cream is made and flavored with the classic Italian pastry. After freezing the lady finger ice cream, I used a homemade mold to reform it into the shape of the cookie to which it owes its flavor and inspiration. I made the molds using Silicone Plastique from Make Your Own Molds, a great online source for culinary mold-making.

Silicone molds of lady finger cookies freeze the ice cream into perfect cookie shapes

Beneath the ice cream cookie is a sprinkling of chocolate lady finger crumbs. These crumbs bear a striking resemblance to coffee grounds (a very happy coincidence considering I did not plan this at all), bringing the flavor and concept of this dish full circle.

Do all these flavor elements sound familiar? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, your cup of coffee is tiramisu.

How do you make this classic yet modern dessert? Well, I’m happy to share my secrets! Simply sign up for the Garrett’s Table E-mail newsletter by clicking the link below and entering your e-mail address. I’ll include the recipe, including instructions on how to make your own ice cream molds, in my next mailing (March 1, 2010). All emails are confidential and you can un-subscribe at any time.

These stunning photographs were taken by Mike Boehmer.

Mike is a Chicago-based photographer and a regular contributor to The Windy Pixel. Please visit www.mikeboehmer.com for more fantastic photography!

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Valentine’s Day weekend is upon us. Why not treat your significant other to some hand made candies? Here are some Garrett’s Table confections, complete with links and recipes. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Spicy Salted Caramel Chocolates

Key Lime Ice Cream Bon Bons

Multi-Flavored Filled Macarons

Handmade Orange Gummy Candies

Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

Orange and Fennel Páte de Fruit

Blood Orange and Grand Marnier Popsicles

Peanut Butter and Jelly Marshmallows

Almond Macarons Filled With Espresso Ganache

All of these photographs were taken by Justin Kern.

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The sweet flavors of fall shine in this rich dessert. On the right is a spiced pumpkin ice cream sandwiched between two slices of chocolate stout cake. The cake has only a mild chocolate flavor and the stout adds a bitter quality that compliments the pumpkin ice cream. On the left is a liquid center cranberry truffle. A luscious cranberry puree is coated in a layer of white chocolate. My recommendation is to eat this in one bite, however the center is thick enough to make it a two-biter. Finally, the plate is blanketed in a toasted smear of molasses fluff.

For a complete recipe for both the ice cream sandwich and cranberry truffle, please subscribe to the monthly Garrett’s Table newsletter. Subscribing is easy! Simply click the link below and enter your email address. I’ll include the recipe in the next newsletter (1/1/10). All email addresses are confidential and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Photos by Justin Kern.

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Believe it or not, this is cheesecake. The flavors are all represented here in differing textures and (arguably) bizarre forms. The meat of the dish is a very light inflated cream cheese mousse. Set with agar and inflated using a cream whipper, the mousse, shown in the close up below, is very fluffy and porous, a very different texture than the traditional dense cream cheese custard.

One frustration I have with cheesecake is the graham cracker crust: It becomes dense and soggy after baking. Here the crust is appears in a powder and in large chunks to preserve its original flakey and crunchy texture. We also have some hand-made berries made from cherry and raspberry puree. You can eat the liquid-center orbs all at once and pop them in your mouth or puncture them to sauce the plate in a sweet and tangy fruit puree. Finally, for extra texture, flavor, and dramatic flare, crispy cherry leather is stuck into the cream cheese mousse.

For a complete recipe please subscribe to my newsletter. Simply click the link below and enter your email address. I’ll include the recipe, including the cherry-raspberry spheres, in my next mailing (12/1/09). You’ll receive a monthly update of the latest from Garrett’s Table as well as plenty of subscriber-only content. E-mail addresses are confidential and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

Photos by Justin Kern.

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Fall in the midwest brings loads of apples. Hundreds of varieties, from Granny Smith to Red Delicious, stream from the orchards to groceries and farmers markets. With the excess of doughnuts comes plenty of golden apple cider which pairs beautifully with freshly fried doughnuts.

Here’s a dessert based on the flavors of dougnuts, apples, and caramel. Two miniature, still-warm doughnuts, one coated in cinnamon sugar and one in powdered apples, are accompanied by candied Golden Delicious apple spheres and a rich caramel ice cream sprinkled with black Hawaiian sea salt. The candied apples require some well-rewarded labor: The sweet, spiced poaching liquid fully penetrates the apples that, although fully cooked, are crisp, crunchy, and reminiscent of hard cider. Caramel ice cream creates a classic flavor combination with the apples and a nice contrast to the still-hot doughnuts. Here’s the recipe:

Poached apple spheres:

• 12 Golden Delicious Apples
• Clear Poaching Liquid:
  • 300 g dry white wine
  • 300 g water
  • 300 g sugar
  • 5 g salt
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 3 slices ginger root
  • 3 black peppercorns
• Red Poaching Liquid:
  • 300 g dry white wine
  • 300 g water
  • 300 g sugar
  • 5 g salt
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 3 slices ginger root
  • 3 black peppercorns
  • 1 medium red beet, peeled and diced

Begin by making the two poaching liquids. Combine the wine, water, and sugar in a medium sauce pan and heat on low. When the sugar is completely dissolved add the spices. Bring to a boil then remove from heat. For the white poaching liquid, steep with the spices for 30 minutes, then drain and cool. For the red poaching liquid, pour the hot poaching liquid over diced beet and steep for 30 minutes, then strain and cool. The beet will add plenty of color to, without heavily flavoring, the poaching liquid.

Carefully peel the Golden Delicious apples. Using a melon baller, scoop spheres from the flesh of the apple. You should get about 10 spheres from each apple with very little waste. Either eat the scraps or use for another recipe. Place the spheres into cooled poaching liquids as you scoop them to prevent oxidation.

Place apple spheres and poaching liquid into a vacuum bag (if you do not have a vacuum bag, use a zip-top bag). Expel the air and seal. Poach at 165%deg; F for 3 hours. Place the bags of apples and poaching liquid into an ice bath to stop any cooking. Chill thoroughly.

Caramel-Vanilla Ice Cream:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 210 g sugar
• 55 g water
• 570 g half and half
• 6 large egg yolks (120 g)
• 2 g salt

Split and scrape the seeds from vanilla bean into a large sauce pan. Add sugar and water. Heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Heat, unstirred, until sugar becomes a deep caramel color. Add half and half all at once. The mixture will bubble quite intensely but settle down as the sugar is cooled. Stir frequently until caramelized sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Temper the egg yolks by adding a few ounces of the half and half mixture to the eggs while whisking. Add the egg mixture back into the remaining half and half. Add salt and stir constantly over low heat with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain into a clean container and chill thoroughly in an ice bath or in the refrigerator.

Once chilled, freeze in a counter-top ice cream freezer for 20 minutes. Transfer the ice cream to a pre-frozen container and press a layer of plastic wrap directly on top of the ice cream to prevent oxidation.

Doughnuts:

• 300 g whole milk
• 50 g apple cider
• 70 g shortening
• 14 g (1/2 oz.) instant yeast
• 80 g warm water
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 55 g sugar
• 5 g salt
• 700 g all purpose flour, in two 350 g batches
• 1/2 gallon vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tb. cinnamon
• 2 oz. freeze dried apples

Heat the milk and apple cider in a small saucepan until hot enough to melt shortening. Remove from heat and add shortening. Stir to melt completely. Activate yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add to the bowl of a stand mixer with eggs, sugar, salt, and milk-shortening mixture. Add 350 g flour and mix with a paddle attachment until very smooth. Add second installment of flour and mix until slightly incorporated. Switch to a dough hook and knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes, or until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be slightly tacky. Scrape dough into a greased bowl and cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

After one hour, gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and fold the dough over itself twice. Roll to 1/8′’ thick and cut doughnut shapes with a doughnut cutter or two round cutters. Place the cut doughnuts onto a sheet pan lined with a silpat. Allow the doughnuts to proof for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a pot of oil to 365° F. Mix together sugar and cinnamon. Grind freeze dried apples in a spice grinder and pour powder onto a small plate.

After 30 minutes of proofing, carefully place 3-4 doughnuts at a time into the hot oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown on one side. Flip the doughnut and cook for one more minute. Drain doughnuts on paper towels and quickly dredge in cinnamon sugar or dip one side into powdered freeze-dried apples to simulate a powdered sugar doughnut.

To Assemble and Serve:

• Black Hawaiian lava salt, as needed
• Caramel ice cream
• Apple doughnuts
• Candied apple spheres

Remove candied apple spheres and allow to drain on a paper towel. Place 4 apple spheres, 2 of each color, on a plate along with two doughnuts. Place a scoop or quenelle of ice cream on the plate and top with a sprinkling of lava salt.

Photos by Justin Kern.

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