It's been a crazy few weeks, but I just got my first "big girl" job as a pastry cook 2 at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa! To make up for lack of posts I provided two super yummy graham cracker inspired desserts. So here goes...Enjoy!
My dad is a picky
eater, I mean my whole family is picky but my dad is my hardest customer to
please. For someone like me who tries to keep things new and fresh it is challenging
to experiment with fun flavors and still have some guinea pigs willing to try it. I had a bench
test last week for a new job opportunity and wanted to try out a graham cracker
cookie recipe (below) which I used in two ways at home. Half was for refreshing
nectarine peach ice cream sandwiches and the other was for rich chocolate
strawberry cheesecake bars. Yummy right? Well even my dad thinks so!
Graham
Crackers
Yield: 30, 2 ½” round graham cookies (for
15 nectarine peach ice cream sandwiches) and 1, 8”x 8” layer of graham for the
chocolate strawberry cheesecake bars
Tools: extra flour, rolling pin, 2 ½” round
(preferably fluted) cookie cutter, plastic wrap, cookie sheets, 8”x 8” pan
Ingredients:
¾ cup
|
125 grams
|
All Purpose Flour
|
1/3 cup
|
58 grams
|
Brown Sugar
|
¼ tsp.
|
2 grams
|
Baking Soda
|
¼ tsp.
|
1 grams
|
Salt
|
2 ½ Tbsp.
|
33 grams
|
Unsalted Butter,
cubed
|
1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp.
|
36 grams
|
Orange Blossom Honey
|
1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp.
|
26 grams
|
Milk
|
2 tsp.
|
9 grams
|
Vanilla
|
Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350oF.
Measure out all ingredients.
2. Cut the first five
ingredients together with a pastry blender. Make sure there are no more butter
chunks.
3. Measure honey, milk,
and vanilla into a container.
4. Stir in the liquid
ingredients into the dries.
5. Mix until ingredients
are just combined. Dough will be sticky.
6. Dust some flour in the
center of a square of plastic wrap. Place 2/3 of the dough in the center.
7. Flour hands and shape into thin rectangular shape.
8. Wrap up dough and refrigerate
overnight.
9. Spray an 8”x 8” pan with
nonstick spray, flour hands, and press the remaining dough into the pan. Bake
until golden and crisp.
10. Once the other piece
of dough is cold, take out a small piece at a time and roll out to 1/8” thick.
11. Dip round cutter into
extra flour, and cut out graham cookies.
12. Place on cookie sheet ½”
apart. Bake less than 10 minutes, until edges are golden and cookies are crisp.
Cool and set aside for ice cream sandwiches.
Nectarine Peach Graham Ice Cream Sandwiches
I had a straight out
of the magazine moment yesterday. You know when they describe what seems like
an overly elaborate food (the one with all those ingredients that are never conveniently in your fridge) and a
picturesque food and family moment. Well after plating this all pretty for my
follower, I asked my dad to try it. I think he was so tired and sweaty from
working on our new front door, he would eat anything but after just one bite he
grabbed the bowl and said, “I’ll take care of this for ya,” with a wry smile.
Nectarine
Peach Ice Cream
Yield: 1 quart of ice cream, about 12
ice cream sandwiches.
Tools: sauce pot, blender or immersion
blender, ice cream maker, rubber scraper, hard plastic spoon, strainer, ice
cream container, plastic container, knife, peeler, cutting board
Ingredients:
1 ea.
|
113 grams
|
Peach
|
2 ea.
|
241 grams
|
Nectarine
|
½ cup
|
95 grams
|
Sugar
|
1 Tbsp.
|
14 grams
|
Lemon Juice
|
1 ½ cup
|
371 grams
|
Half and Half
|
¼ cup.
|
47 grams
|
Sugar
|
½ tsp.
|
4 grams
|
Salt
|
1 Tbsp.
|
9 grams
|
Vanilla
|
¼ tsp.
|
½ gram
|
Dried Ground Orange
Peel
|
Method of Preparation:
1. Place ice cream maker
bowl in freezer if necessary.
3. Place the peel and pit
in a small sauce pot.
4. Roughly chop up the fruit
flesh, place in blender.
5. Add ½ cup (95 grams) sugar, lemon juice, vanilla,
and salt to fruit flesh.
6. Add half and half, ¼ cup
(47 grams) of sugar, and dried ground orange peel to sauce pot.
7. Cook to a boil then
cover and infuse flavors for 20 to 40 minutes.
8. In the meantime, blend
fruit flesh and other ingredients until smooth and slightly frothy.
9. Once infusion is
ready, strain out pieces.
10. Using a rubber scraper
be sure to push as mush dairy and flavor out of the peels.
11. Add dairy to blender
or use a stick blender to emulsify the two liquids.
12. Cool in clean plastic
container in the fridge overnight (flavor will further develop).Stir before churning.
13. Spin in ice cream
maker according to manufacturer’s instructions (i.e. turn machine on then add ice cream).
14. Once ice cream reaches
soft serve consistency, transfer it into a freezer safe container and freeze
about 2-4 hours until firm.
...to finish
·
When firm, scoop onto 2 ½ inch round graham cracker.
Press another cracker on top, push down, and smooth all the way around with a spoon.
·
Place a table spoon of silan (date honey) at the
bottom of the bowl and use a pastry brush to spread it upwards in one curved
swoop.
·
Stand up ice cream sandwich in the bottom of the
bowl and add a fresh sprig of citrus mint to garnish.
Since
moving to Florida, my family has had weekly dinner with our local friends and
family and I was going to make cookies but I was told by (guess who?) my dad,
to “Make something special, like from your fancy website (not this, i.e. my portfolio)!” Well,
all my culinary friends know it is a bit challenging to make high end plated
desserts or entremets at home in the matter of 2 hours. Like, helloooo no blast
freezer! ..or fleximolds, expensive ingredients, couverture…need I say more?
But since I aim to please I had a go at making something a bit more “special”
at home.
This
may look like a bigger batch in my pictures because I made a double…whoops I
forgot this recipe makes A LOT of cheesecake…don’t worry my dad will take care
of the extra. But, so you folks can save a dime and make the correct amount, I
sized it down for you.
Yield: 16, 2”x 2” servings
Tools: 8”x8” pan, pan spray, stationary
mixer or hand blender, rubber scraper, knife and cutting board
Ingredients:
2,
8 oz. packs
|
454
grams
|
Cream
Cheese
|
¾
cup
|
189
grams
|
Sugar
|
3
Tbsp.
|
35
grams
|
Cornstarch
|
2
ea.
|
90
grams
|
Eggs
|
1
tsp.
|
3
grams
|
Vanilla
|
¾
cup
|
181
grams
|
Cream
|
About
a ½ quart
|
250
grams
|
Fresh
strawberries, chopped
|
Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 300oF
Measure out ingredients (use measurements above, remember I made too much).
2. Mix cream cheese on
medium speed for 3 minutes in a stationary mixer with a paddle attachment. Scrape
down sides.
3. Whisk together sugar
and cornstarch.
4. Add sugar to cream
cheese. Mix on low speed until combined.
6. Mix on medium-high for
4 minutes until silk smooth. Scrape down sides.
7. Measure all of the
liquids into a container.
8. Slowly stream in
liquids while mixing on low speed.
9. Add strawberries and
combine.
10. Pour into sprayed pan
and bake until set.
11. Allow to cool and remove
any heavily caramelized parts or crunchy edges. (You should still totally eat
them, they’re delicious but the rich luscious caramel flavor doesn’t belong in
the strawberry cheesecake bars).
12. Clean mixing bowl and
paddle, scoop the strawberry cheesecake into the bowl and paddle for 3 minutes
on medium-high speed. Set aside for use in the bar recipe that follows.
Soft Ganache
Microwave
1 cup (160 grams) of chocolate and 2/3 cup (160 grams) of heavy cream for
increments of 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth. Set Aside.
Krispy Crunch Layer
...to finish
·
Next spread the smooth strawberry cheesecake on
top of the chocolate krispy layer. Smooth top as flat as possible and freeze
for 20 minutes.
