use real butter

Feeling puckery lately? If you’ve been cruising the food blogs, then most likely you’ve run across one or two or four hundred Daring Bakers brandishing their lovely Lemon Meringue Pies.

that’s right kids, we knead to bake

Jen of The Canadian Baker hosted the challenge this month and it was down to the wire for me this time. I started my treatment on Thursday and thought I’d recover with enough time to do the challenge yesterday but… things don’t always go as planned when your body gets pumped full of poison! However, I didn’t want to abandon my fellow DBers, so I managed to make a handful of tartelettes. Forgive me for the lack of detail I usually devote to my DB challenges. She’ll be right next time.

mixing the dough

pressed crust into tart molds

stirring lemony goodness into the curd

You can see I opted for tartelettes instead of the whole pie. I just love individual servings. When baking the tartelette crusts, I placed a second mold on top of each crust to hold its shape. I baked mine for 25 minutes and then removed the tops and baked the crusts uncovered for another 3 minutes to help it brown out. This worked very well, but makes a few dozen since they are so small. Once the shells were cooled, I spooned in lemon curd and topped with meringue.

a little topper over the curd

neat it up

Rather than bother with the oven again, I used my trusty propane torch to finish the tops… because I like any reason to use my propane torch *sheepish grin*. My treatment has jacked up my sense of taste, so I had to ask my official taste tester for the verdict. Jeremy gave it a big thumbs up! Thanks to Jen for the challenge and be sure to check out the rest of the fine DBer creations.

torch it

dig in

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes. Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

I love Peabody. She’s got the right attitude about life as far as I’m concerned and that earns my respect (along with the fact that she generally kicks ass). I’ve thought a lot about life and the lemons and how some make lemonade and others just turn into sniveling messes as if a giant lemon has fallen from the sky and pinned them to the ground. In times of crisis, the true nature of an individual emerges. Sometimes it will surprise you for the better, and many times it will disappoint you. I pride myself in rolling with the punches through shitty times, and I do mean shitty times.

I have seen people wallow in self-pity or let their tragedies define who they are and dictate their lives. Not my cuppa, kids. My friend’s mother has a terrific saying: If you look up, there is no limit, and if you look down, there also is no limit. Life always could be better, or worse. Get over yourself and make the best of what you’ve got.

It’s very likely I will be losing my hair in the next several weeks. My surgeon delivered this news with what I detected was a hint of sympathy last month. I neither need nor want pity. It’s just hair and it will grow back. I understand it’s not the hair, but the condition that elicits this response in people. I am a rock and I am so gonna own this. Rather than feel blue, I went and lopped my hair off and dyed it blue.

grab life by the hojos

Okay, so the blue isn’t quite the punkass shocking blue I wanted. They are more like highlights, but I am told that with subsequent washes, the color will lighten and become more apparent. I’ve never had my hair bleached or dyed before! Jeremy tells me it’s very blue in sunlight and florescent light. I’ve donated my hair to Locks of Love five times now. It takes 2-3 years for me to grow a ponytail long enough (minimum 10 inches, but I try for 16+ inches) to send in. This incredible organization makes prosthetic hairpieces for children with medical hair loss who cannot afford them. I barely eeked out 11 inches on the ponytail, but I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. I don’t want to make this about me. I want to make it about living life the right way. Just remember: blue by choice. I am referring to color, not outlook. My choice.

Recall the zebra torte I posted about yesterday? There was an extra layer of vanilla chiffon cake and I had some extra whipped cream and extra raspberries…

bunch of scraps or a tidy dessert - your choice

It was unbelievably simple to slap together and I presented it to Jeremy just as he sat down to sip on a nice steaming cup of coffee. Basically, I biscuit-cuttered a round of chiffon cake. Mashed a handful of raspberries to a pulp and spread a layer over the cake. Then I folded some of the mashed berries into the sweetened whipped cream and dropped a big dollop on top of the berry layer, and garnished with a fresh berry. It could have benefited from a little soaking syrup in the cake. I’ll have to try that next time.

Many of you are no doubt familiar with Deb. She’s one of my favorites and I’ve been inspired by many a recipe off that lovely blog of hers. Recently she wrote about making truffles. I was planning on a batch anyway, but thought I’d try this new twist with the thin chocolate shell (without the need to temper - THANK YOU!). This batch of truffles was intended for some very special recipients, so I went to my cupboard of chocolate and selected:

valrhona 64%

It was messy. There was swearing. In the end the chocolate and I came to an understanding and there was something Zen in the way it all came together.

for the chocolate lovers

sending this package of handmade goods to my pal, sam

Make lemonade.

It’s a battle for time, energy, and daylight hours. I haven’t endeavored on many of the more involved baking projects since I’ve been well enough to ski. After my initial ski whore phase where I was willing to tele any thin veneer barely covering grass and rocks, I have now reached the picky phase - only if there are freshies. We had no such freshies yesterday and so you get the recipe for Zebra Torte.

slice layers from the vanilla chiffon cake

I made this once before in my pastry skills course last spring. Problem with that course was that we crammed as much as we could into each 5.5 hour class and wound up divvying duties between partners which meant I didn’t get my hands on each step of the torte.

folding in the dry ingredients for the chocolate roulade

Being the control freak that I am, I figured it was high time to go through the steps myself. I have a love-hate relationship with these multi-stage desserts. I like the complexity, but they don’t lend themselves to a carefree afternoon project. They require you to commit from the start and see it through to the end - NO QUITTERS.

spread whipped cream over the roulade

In essence, the recipe calls for a vanilla chiffon round cake, a chocolate roulade sheet cake, simple syrup, and two batches of whipped cream. Sounds easy enough. The vanilla chiffon needs to yield two 1/2-inch layers (I use the dome top for other things - stay tuned).

measure out 1.5 inch wide strips on the frosted roulade

The base of the cake is one layer of vanilla chiffon cake, brushed in vanilla simple syrup. What comes next is the Swear Like a Sailor step. I suppose I underbaked my roulade because of my elevation. It’s amazing what two minutes’ difference can make. After brushing the roulade with vanilla simple syrup and spreading one batch of whipped cream over it (I used Amaretto instead of rum to flavor my whipped cream), I cut it into 1.5 inch strips with a sharp knife. Here’s where it gets messy. Starting with one strip, roll the strip up like a ho-ho. The base of the cake stuck like nobody’s business to the parchment, so it required some encouragement from a spatula. Rolling the first strip was simple.

rollin’ rollin’ rollin’, keep em doggies rollin’

Place the end of the strip you just rolled flush with the next strip and continue rolling to make an even bigger, more unwieldy, and fabulously messy ho-ho. Do this with the whole damn roulade. I know if the roulade has greater structural integrity, it doesn’t come out looking like such an abomination. Of course, you don’t want to bake it too dry because it will crack. In anycase, it’s fairly forgiving as long as you concentrate on maintaining the spiral. After the second one, I have to place the roll on its side and wrap the strips.

set the giant ho-ho on the base layer, as centered as possible

Instead of trying to manhandle the ho-ho and place it on the vanilla cake base, I set the base on the spiral (which was on a plate) and flipped the whole enchilada over. Worked like a charm. Then the second vanilla chiffon layer is soaked in syrup and set atop the ho-ho. Everything should fit snuggly into a 9-inch cake ring, which I didn’t have, so I used my 9-inch springform ring.

get in there and stay in there

To frost, whip up the second batch of whipping cream and be sure to apply a crumb coat to the sides of the torte lest ye want random chocolate crumbs swimming about the frosting.

crumb coating fills in those unsightly gaps too

Frost the rest of the cake with the whipped cream and decorate as desired. You can pipe whipped cream flourishes, make chocolate decorations, adorn with fruit - your choice. I fancied me some raspberries.

who would guess what lies beneath

beneath!

It wasn’t quite the zebra I was expecting, more like a drunken wildabeast. I’ll nail that down next time, but the texture and taste was quite to my liking. Light and moist. You’d never guess the calories you were scarfing down… I wouldn’t mind inserting several horizontal layers of the roulade and whipped cream in place of the verticals, but then it wouldn’t be a zebra anymore, eh?



Zebra Torte
adapted from CSR Pastry Skills Course

1 9-inch round vanilla chiffon cake
8 oz. simple syrup flavored with 2.5 tsp vanilla
1 chocolate roulade sheet (11.5 x 17 inches)
24 oz. heavy whipping cream
3/4 oz. confectioners sugar
3 oz. brandy, rum, etc. (I used Amaretto)
fruit or chocolate for decoration

vanilla chiffon cake
makes 2 11×17 sheets or 2 9×3 rounds (you only need 1 round)
this recipe originally intended for baking at 5300 ft.

14.5 oz cake flour
8.75 oz confectioners sugar
6.75 oz whole milk
6 oz canola oil
3.25 oz eggs
0.5 oz baking powder (omitted at 8500 ft.)
13 oz egg whites
9.5 oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Oven 375F. Prep pan by buttering bottom and sides. Place parchment in pan and butter the parchment. Sift dry ingredients (except granulated sugar) into a large bowl. Mix all ingredients (except the 13 oz of egg whites and granulated sugar) in the large bowl until combined. Whip whites and granulated sugar to medium peaks. Fold into batter gently. Bake until set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from pan. Let cool completely on a rack.

simple syrup

4 oz. sugar
4 oz. water

Heat water and sugar in a pot until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and turn off heat. Let cool. [Add the vanilla to the cooled syrup.]

chocolate roulade
makes one half-sheet pan (11.5 x 17 inches)

1/4 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 cup sifted cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder (omitted at 8500 ft.)
6 large eggs, separated, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F. Line half sheet pan with parchment and spray with non-stick spray or brush with butter. Sift dry ingredients (except the sugar and cream of tartar) together. Set aside. Whip together the egg yolks, 1/2 of the sugar, the salt and the vanilla extract on high speed for 5 minutes or until it ribbons. The color should be a pale yellow and the volume should triple. Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean bowl with a clean whip attachment to just soft peaks. Slowly add the rest of the sugar while whipping the egg whites on a higher speed. Whip to medium peaks. Sacrifice one-third of the egg whites into the egg yolks. Once that is mixed in, add the rest of the whites and gently fold them in. Sift the dry ingredients again over the eggs and gently fold them in. Quickly, but gently spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake until cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 6-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with parchment. Invert the cake onto a cool half sheet pan. Cool completely. Remove parchment paper.

To make Zebra Torte: Place a 9-inch cake circle on a half-sheet pan and place a 9-inch ring mold on top of the cake circle. Slice the vanilla chiffon into two even layers no more than 1/2-inch thick. Place one layer on the cake circle and brush with vanilla syrup. Moisten the chocolate roulade with vanilla syrup. Combine 12 oz of the heavy cream with the confectioners sugar and 2 oz of booze. Whip to medium peaks. Spread the whipped cream over the moistened roulade and cut into strips 1.5 inches wide. Begin rolling one strip, cream side in, into a spiral. Join the end of another strip to the end of the spiral and continue rolling the spiral. Repeat with remaining strips to create a spiral about 9 inches in diameter. Carefully place the spiral into the cake ring on top of the vanilla chiffon base. Moisten the remaining vanilla chiffon layer with vanilla syrup and place it on top of the spiral. Wrap the cake in the ring in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours until the whipped cream layers have set. Remove the plastic wrap and gently lift away the cake ring. Combine the remaining 12 oz of heavy cream and 1 oz of booze and whip to medium firm peaks. Crumb coat the sides and frost the entire cake. Decorate as desired.