Croquembouche - Part 2 - the custard and construction

Ok, so you've made the profiteroles, now it's time to stuff them with yummy custard and build a big towering croquembouche - or like my Twitter friend Rosie calls them, a Croquemthing.

You need to make a custard - I like to make mine half with vanilla custard and half chocolate, but you could really make any flavours you like. here is the boring hoomin format recipe for the custard.....

Creme Patissiere for Profiteroles and Croquembouches

Ingredients

• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup sifted plain flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 tspn vanilla essence
• 100 g dark cooking chocolate

Cooking Directions

1. Combine flour and sugar in a medium saucepan.
2. Stir in the milk and continue stirring until mixture bubbles.
3. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens.
4. Remove from heat and mix 1 cup of the hot mixture into the beaten eggs.
5. Return egg mixture to saucepan and cook until thickened, stirring all the time. Do not allow to boil.
6. When thickened, pour half of the mixture into a separate bowl. To this half, add the vanilla extract.
7. Add the chocolate (broken into small pieces) to other half of custard and stir until chocolate is melted and mixed through.
8. Cover custards with plastic wrap and let cool completely.

And here we go BEAR STYLE..... (sorry the pictures aren't so great - I had to take my selfies with an Eye Phone)

Stir the flour and sugar into the milk and keep stirring over a medium heat till thickened......

Beat up your eggs and when the milk mixture is thick, add a cup of it to the eggs and mix, mix, mix. Then return the egg mixture to the pan and keep stirring over a low heat till it's nice and thick.....

If you're super smart (like ME), you can delegate here - get your mummy or another bear to do the boring stirring while you do something more important like......EAT SOME CHOCOLATE!!

OK! Back to the custard. When it's nice and thick take it off the heat and separate out 1/2 of it.....

Add the vanilla to one half, and the chocolate to the other half.....

Stir the chocolate through till it's nice and melted and mixed right through......

Then cover the custards with plastic wrap (this stops a skin from forming over them) and wait till they are completely cooled. You may have to guard them during this time - in case any other bears get custardy ideas!!

You then need to pipe the custard unto the profiteroles. I do it the old fashioned way - with a piping bag and nozzle. Here's a good way to fill the piping bag if you don't have 3 paws, or have very short arms like me - pop it into a tall glass or jug so you can just pour the custard into it :)

When all your profiteroles are filled, pop them into the fridge until you're ready to assemble your dessert.

Then make your toffee.......

SO - here's how it should go.......put 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of water into a small saucepan and stir over heat until sugar has dissolved. Then cook over medium heat without stirring until light golden brown.

here is the point where I should have taken it off the heat......

But Silly Billy! I thought "just a few seconds more" and with caramel that's all it takes to go from perfect to OH MY GOODNESS IT'S TURNING BLACK!!!! and all the smoke detectors ringing.

*sigh*

Plan B - melt some chocolate and use THAT as your glue.

And there you have it - a yummy choc covered Croquemthingy - all heaps easier than hoomins make it out to be!

Only one thing left to do now friend.......nom nom nom!

Bill xx

Profiteroles

 Hi friends!

Well, being Bill, I decided to make an over-the-top dessert this weekend. I made a croquembouche! This is a nommy French "cayk" made from a tower of custard filled profiteroles and USUALLY held together with toffee. But I used chocolate instead :)

Here is the recipe in boring hoomin format:

Profiteroles

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 125g unsalted butter
• 1 tspn sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs

Cooking Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C.
2. Put water, butter and sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a rolling boil.
3. Add flour all at once and beat with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a ball that comes away from the sides of the saucepan.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The dough should be thick and glossy.
5. Use two tablespoons dipped in water to form balls of dough on a prepared baking tray *be aware that the profiteroles will magically grow when cooking, so make them about 1/2 the size you want them to be).
6. Splash a little water over the dough before putting in the oven (this creates steam which helps the cooking process).
7. Bake in your hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes - until golden brown.

Now for the recipe Bill style.......a recipe in pictures......

Pop the butter, water and sugar in a large saucepan and cook on medium heat until butter melts.....

....and it comes to a rolling boil.....

Then (while still on the heat) dump in your cup of flour - all in one go - and mix mix mix mix mix with a wooden spoon until it forms a nice smooth ball that comes away from the edges of the pan....

Ok - the next bit takes muscles. you need to add 4 eggs - one at a time - and beat really well after each addition so the egg gets mixed in nicely and the dough is nice and smooth. Now, I think we all know that handsomeness I have in abundance but muscles....nope, not this bear! So I cheat - I get Alfred to mix the eggs for me......

(Alfred is my Kitchen Aide mixer :) )

Once your dough is ready, spoon tablespoons-full onto your prepared baking trays in the form of rough rounds. Don't worry too much about the shape - the water in the dough will form steam when the profiteroles cook and this will make them puff out into big ball shapes. Because the dough can be quite sticky, it's easiest to use two spoons dipped in cold water to form your dough balls. Or you could pipe them.

With your paw (or hand) splash a bit of water over the top - this makes more steam and helps with the cooking process. Now stick them into a HOT oven for 30 to 35 minutes. they will look something like this when cooked.....

You can now fill them with creme patissiere (aka custard), or whipped cream and eat them as is, covered in icing or ganache, or hot choccie sauce, or just sprinkled with icing sugar. Or you can make one of these pawesome croquembouche towers like I did. I'll run through the steps for that in my next post RIGHT HERE 

While you're waiting you can always taste test some of these.....nom nom nom

Bill xx

Pavlova - A Recipe in Pictures.

Pavlova is one of my favouritest desserts so today I am going to share my Bestest Pavlova Recipe.
I like to make a super giant one, so I usually add an extra 50% of everything (6 egg whites instead of 4...etc..).
And in case you're a bear like me...I'm including visual aides!
Here we go...

Put 4 egg whites into bowl of electric whipping machine.....

and also add 1/2 cup of caster sugar.....

Plug in the electric whiperer and let it beat until egg whites begin to look stiff.....

Now keep it beating and add another 1/2 cup of caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until the sugar is dissolved. This will take about 5 minutes of beating, so while you wait for the machine to do it's thing, take out your cornflour and white vinegar.....

Add 3 teaspoons of cornflour and 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the stiffened egg whites and gently fold them through with a big metal spoon.....

Line a big, round, flat baking pan with baking paper (or dust it with lots of cornflour) and plop your mixture onto it. Then gently spread it around a bit so it forms a big cakish shape. Run a flat knife around the edge if you want to give it a nice form.....

Then pop it into a slow oven at 150C (or 300F for my American friends) for about an hour and a half. This is what it should look like when it's cooked - slightly slightly coloured with a crunchy meringuey crust.....

Ok, now you need to let it cool for a couple of hours. While you're waiting, you can check that your cream doesn't have poison in it by tasting some of it....but make sure you leave some to decorate the pav with!!!

Electric mixer time again......whip the cream with a tablespoon of icing sugar and a teeny splash of vanilla essence and spread it all over your cooled pavlova......

Then the fun bit - decorations! Pavlovas are traditionally decorated with lots of yummy summertime fruit but I like to use raspberries and shaved chocolate. It's up to you - you can decorate it with whatever you like (though I don't recommend anchovies!).....

Only one thing left to do now friends....nom nom nom.....

Bill xx

Strawberry Sideways Jelly Surprise

Hello friends!

I found this wonderful looking recipe on a lovely blog called With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart. It looked so pretty and yummy I just had to give it a try. Mine's not quite so pretty, but here's my version of it...

So super easy to make, I changed the recipe a teeny bit to use ingredients available to me. Here's my take on it....

Ingredients:
1 package jelly crystals (I used port wine flavour)
1 cup sliced fresh fruit - I used frozen strawberries as strawberries are not in season right now and so were way too $$$$
1 cup whipped cream

DIRECTIONS
Prepare jelly according to package directions. Chill until slightly thickened. Set aside 1/3 cup. Add fruit to remaining jelly; spoon into 4 to 5 glasses. Chill glasses at an angle until set.

Meanwhile, fold whipped topping into measured (1/3 cup) gelatin. Spoon topping mixture into glasses of set jelly. Chill. Garnish

It's worth having a look at the original blog recipe cause Grateful Prayer's is so much prettier and also has whipped cream and strawberry garnish. It's a really nice light dessert that you can whip up super quick. And it will certainly make you friends....

Ok, just one thing left to do now.... nom nom nom

Bill xx