Flaky Buttery Biscuits, Starring the Best Butters!

Hello Bakers,

In the past few weeks, I have gotten several requests for a good biscuit recipe.
This led me to think that maybe biscuits would be a great blog post.
The following biscuit recipe is a particular favorite.
It is quick and easy, uses milk not buttermilk and uses only baking powder -
making it very accessible to the baker who wants to get some hot and delicious
biscuits on the table - without having to think about ingredients.

Most of us have milk and baking powder in our kitchens and if you are reading this
blog - you most likely have unbleached all purpose flour (King Arthur) in your cupboard as well.
This recipe uses butter - pure unsalted delicious butter.

This is one of those recipes where the butter flavor is the star.
Often I am asked by students "when do you use a premium butter and when is a regular unsalted
butter OK to use in your baking?"
When butter is the predominant flavor - spend up and get the good stuff.
Recipes like biscuits, pie crust. croissants, puff pastry, quick puff pastry and butter cookies (like shortbread) are all better with made with premium butter - after you have mastered the technique of that particular recipe.
Use a supermarket butter when the recipe has lots of sugar, chocolate and other flavors - cakes,
muffins and brownies are good examples of where I would use Trader Joe's unsalted butter.

In these biscuits, I used unsalted  Plugra which is a delicious European Style butter.
Another one of my favorite brands of butter is Challenge Butter.
Challenge Butter is local to California and never uses milk from cows that have been treated with rbST.
Kerrygold is another delicious choice but needs to be cubed and frozen first. Kerrygold cows are grass fed which is why their butter softens up so quickly.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and add it to your repertoire - it will surely make your loved ones smile
to see hot biscuits on the table for dinner.
BTW - they are also great with sausage gravy. Yum!
P.S. You can easy cut the recipe in half - that's why I wrote it in grams. :)
Happy Baking!
Colette

Flaky Buttery Biscuits

     Oven 400 conventional or 375 convection

      Pan Prep:

Line a sheet tray with parchment paper

Makes 18 2” biscuits

450g unbeached all purpose flour

8g salt

22g granulated sugar

18g baking powder

180g unsalted butter – cubed and keep cold

270g (ml) milk  Sift all the dry ingredients together.

1.       Cut in the butter – the mixture should look like corn flakes.  A plastic bowl scraper works great for this.

2.       Add the milk.

3.       Combine working the flour into the liquid, push the liquid into the flour with the bowl scraper,

against the side of the bowl. This is how you build layers.

The mixture will begin to come together and there should be no floury residue on the bottom of the bowl.

4.       Transfer the dough to a work surface andf fold a few times until it comes together – do not overwork.

5.       Roll out the dough to 1/2-5/8” thickness. Cut with a floured cutter and place the biscuits on the lined sheet pan.

6.       Chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up the fat.

7.       Brush the tops with a little milk – this keeps the crust soft.

8.       Bake at 400 until the tops are light brown – start checking in 12-14 minutes.

9.       They should be golden brown and delicious. Make sure to pick one up carefully – make sure they feel light.

Leftover biscuits can be frozen for up to one month. Thaw at room temperature for several hours and then refresh in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes before serving.

Valentine's Macarons: Rose Petal, Sea Salt, and Champagne Buttercream

Hello Bakers,

There are only four days left to Valentine's Day. Here is a lovely romantic macaron to bake for your Valentine - Rose petal and Sea Salt with Champagne Buttercream.

A few weeks ago, I taught this macaron at Great News Cooking School in sunny San Diego.
For those of you who don't know Great News, it is located in Pacific Beach.
Please check it out at www.great-news.com. I love teaching there. They offer classes and their
shop is stocked with great kitchen equipment.
This recipe was a particular hit with the class and I thought that you all might enjoy it too.
Especially, if you are looking for a handmade and delicious Valentine gift.

For those of you who have taken any of my on ground macaron classes at Sur La Table www.surlatable.com or my Craftsy class,  French  Miniature Desserts www.craftsy.com/ext/ColetteChristian_4898_F, the techniques are the same.

The Rose Petals and Sea Salt were a great find.
Usually when I make rose petal macarons, I use Tampico rose petals from the spice section at the grocery store or a rose tea from Teavana or Bird Pick.
The rose petals are ground up with the almond meal and confectioner's sugar so either works well.
But I had a feeling that there was something better out there....
Running through the Farmer's Market looking for more rose petals - I had a flash of insight - maybe Dragunura, (the spice shop) would have rose petals - well they did - blended with sea salt no less.
 www.DRAGUNARA.com
A rose petal/sea salt blend is also available at Spice Station in Silverlake http://spicestationsilverlake.com/ and at other Spice Station locations as well.

These rose petals were food grade, had a beautiful color and were the perfect size. The only problem was that I wasn't quite sure if the salt would effect the shell.
You all know how worried we are about adding anything to the shell.
Long story long - they turned out great - nothing bad happened. I was thrilled.
To keep the feeling of romance strong, I paired this with a lovely Champagne buttercream.
Amoretti flavorings makes a delicious Champagne extract - there are also directions for reducing Champagne or Sparkling Wine to get the same effect - Please do not use the good Champagne in this buttercream - drink it with the macarons.

Here is the recipe. I hope you add this recipe to your macaron repertoire. They are delicious.
If you stay up all night baking them, it's ok - your Valentine will love you all that much more for your efforts.
Please let me know if you have questions - I am here to help.
Happy Valentine's Day Bakers!
It's your day to show off and show your loved ones how much you care>
Happy Baking!
Colette

Rose Petal  Macarons (French Meringue)

Makes 30-35 macaron sandwiches 

Note: recipe may be cut in half

Equipment:

Stand or Hand held mixer

Large bowl

Flat rubber spatula

Food processor

Piping bag

#12 Wilton tip or Ateco #803 or any plain round tip with a 3/8” diameter opening

Ingredients: 

198g sugar

113g  almond meal

113g egg whites

Pinch cream of tartar

2 teaspoon pulverized edible, dried rose petals

100g granulated sugar

2 drops of vanilla extract

3 drops of rose extract or rose water

Food coloring – gel colors Wilton or Americolor

Preheat oven to 330 degrees

1.   Pulse the powdered sugar, almond meal and the rose petals in a food processor until it looks like fine meal – about 15 seconds.

2.   Whip the egg with the cream of tartar until the look like light foam.

3.   Rain in sugar – whip on medium high speed until soft peaks form.

The meringue should resemble still be soft and shiny

 Add color if desired and vanilla extract.

4.   Whip until the meringue is at medium stiff peaks.

5.   Transfer to a medium sized bowl.

6.   Fold in the almond meal and powdered sugar in three increments.

7.   Macaronnage until the mixture slides slowly down the bowl.

8.   Pipe.

9.   Let dry until they form a skin. ( 15 - 20 minutes)

10.                Bake at 330 degrees. Check in 10 minutes

11.                If their tops slide then bake for 2 more minutes.

12.                Do not try to remove from parchment or silpat until completely cool

Champagne Buttercream

Storage: Five days refrigerated

Freezer: One month

Equipment:

Mixer

Whisk attachment

Saucepan –

Whisk

Instant read thermometer

Ingredients:

2 ounces Egg whites

5 ounces granulated sugar

8 ounces butter – cubed and chilled

1 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or ½ vanilla bean scraped + ½  teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 Tablespoons reduced sparkling wine or Champagne

Or 1 teaspoon champagne extract  (available through Amoretti http://www.amorettistore.com/

Pink and Red Wilton Gel Color

Method:

1.   Place egg whites and sugar in mixer bowl.

2.   Set bowl over a medium saucepan filled 1/3^rd of the way with simmering water. ( The bottom of the mixer bowl should not touch the water)

3.   Whisk on medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture registers 156 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

4.   Remove the bowl from the heat and attach it the stand mixer. If using a hand mixer – make sure the bowl is stable.

5.   Whisk on medium high speed until the mixture is at room temperature.

This can take 4-6 minutes.

6.   Add the butter one piece at a time – adding each additional piece as the previous one disappears.

7.   When all the butter is added and the mixture looks fluffy and well emulsified – change to the paddle attachment.

8.   On low speed add in the vanilla and Champagne extract.

Leftover assembled macarons should be refrigerated.

Rose Macaron assembly

Rose Petal and Sea Salt Shells

Champagne Buttercream

Luscious Lemon Bars

Hello Bakers,

Welcome to my first post of 2015!
It is Winter here is SoCal and citrus is everywhere. It seems like every yard has some sort of citrus tree loaded down with beautiful fruit.
I was raised in downtown Chicago and spent eight
years living on the East Coast. BRRRRR!!!! For someone like me - to be able and pick a lemon off of a tree in my back yard is nothing short of amazing.
Actually, I do not have a lemon tree in my backyard - I am writing to you from my downtown loft. However,Craig and Kim (my beautiful kids) have a lovely Meyer lemon tree in their backyard.
See photo above.

Citrus is so an essential ingredient to good cooking and baking. It has so many functions - it balances flavor, tenderizes gluten and is amazing on it's own.
Citrus juice freezes beautifully so if you have an abundance of citrus - you can go ahead and freeze the excess juice.  For those who are super organized, you can freeze the juice in ice cube trays and
then pop them into Ziploc bags once they are frozen solid.
I know this technique sounds impossibly '80s but it is great to have cubes of frozen flavor enhancers at your culinary disposal. You can handle stock, pesto and tomato paste in exactly the same way.

But I digress - now back to Baking with a capitol "B"
Years ago, in a dessert class taught by legendary pastry instructor Nick Malgieri, I learned that, as far
as dessert recipes go, people far into two categories - those who love lemon and those who love chocolate. I believe this wholeheartedly - Nick was right. I have used this principle in teaching for years - especially when it comes to writing great dessert menus.

The following recipe is for those who love, love love lemon.

Luscious Lemon Bars is the recipe that follows....these are really delicious - the lemon flavor
is not too tart and not too sweet and the crust is the easiest one you will ever find.
No pate sucree - no chilling - and the brown sugar gives it a little flavor edge.
The reason for that is the molasses in the brown sugar - just that little note of bitter to counteract the
sweetness of sugar. Perfect.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and it makes it into your cookie repertoire - these are great for bake sales, bringing to the office and simple weeknight desserts.
If you have any questions please let me know in the comment section.
Happy Baking!
Colette

Lemon Bars

Yield: approx. 24 small or 12 medium bars

Oven:  350 degrees

Pan Prep:

1 quarter sheet pan

Brush pan with pan spread

Line with parchment paper and leave a one inch overhang of paper on both short sides of the pan.

(this makes it easy to lift the bars out of the pan for easy portioning)

Do not butter the parchment paper as the shortbread base will release easily due to its high butter content.

Shortbread Base:

6.75 (191g) ounces all purpose flour

4.5 ounces (128g) unsalted butter – cubed and chilled

2.8 (79g) ounces light brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1.       In a food processor fitted with a metal blade combine all the dry ingredients.

2.       Pulse 5-6 times to blend

3.       Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms small lumps and holds together

this should take 30-45 seconds.

4.       Sprinkle mixture over prepared pan and then press the base into the pan – try to make

it flat and compact as possible.

Bake the base until it is golden brown.

Start checking it in 20 minutes

Lemon Filling

** This filling is nice and tart – add the additional ½ ounce sugar if prefer a sweeter taste

4 eggs

6 ounces (170g) lemon juice – Meyer lemons preferred but any variety will do

11 ounces (312g) granulated sugar

1.5 ounces (43g) all purpose flour – sifted

Very fine zest of ½ a lemon – optional

Garnish:  Sifted powdered sugar

1.       In a bowl whisk together the eggs and lemon juice.

2.       Add the sugar, flour and zest (if using).

3.       Pour onto the hot shortbread base.

4.       Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

5.       Bake until set – start checking in 25-30 minutes.

6.       The filling should be set.

7.       Let cool and garnish with powdered sugar.

Storage: These cookies keep three days refrigerated in an airtight container.

Really Great Granola

Hello Bakers,

Today's blog post is about granola. How to make really delicious granola.

I never buy granola. I make granola. I am a granola snob.

My granola roots run very deep. This is a truly delicious recipe and holds a place deep in my heart.

Years ago, I worked as a private chef for a group of residential Americorps volunteers,

stationed in Hawley, Massachusetts.

The kitchen was in the main building, it was huge, had two commercial ranges and a solid oak walk in. It was a great kitchen.

The buildings were built in the 1930s - the kitchen window looked out onto the pond.

I cooked mostly vegetarian fare on budget that was beyond meager.

But in summer there was the garden - which the volunteers tended and the local coop full of bulk items. Somehow it all worked out - we always had enough.

I baked and cooked everything from scratch and this granola was a mainstay. I made it twice a week.

The volunteers took on trail with them - their summer months were spent rebuilding YCC (Youth Conservation Corps) trails throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In winter, they ate it on top of oatmeal for breakfast or took it for lunch when they went off to teach environmental education in the local schools.

The inspiration for this recipe came from the Curtis and Schwartz cookbook. 

Sadly, this wonderful cafe closed in 1997 - I am sure there are people in Northampton that miss it to this day.

Cooking for the Americorps  volunteers was a unique experience as far as private chef life goes - but I truly loved it - although I didn't make much money - I was able to make a difference.

Happy Baking!

Colette

Granola Recipe

2 cups (7 ounces) of whole oats (preferably organic)

½ cup (2 ounces) of walnuts

1/2 cup (2 ounces) of sliced natural almonds

2 Tablespoons (1 ounce) sunflower seeds

3 Tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) pumpkin seeds

1 Tablespoon (½ ounce) sesame seeds

½ cup (2 ounces) cashews

3 Tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) shredded coconut (preferably unsweetened)

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon of peanut butter

Extras to be added after baking:

Any dried fruit, raisins, cranberries, blueberries and diced dried apricots

Equipment:

Baking sheet lined with Parchment Paper

Small saucepan

Large bowl for mixing

Whisk

Heatproof spatula

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.   Arrange all the dry ingredients in separate flat piles on the baking tray.

3.   Toast them for 10 minutes – the coconut will begin to turn a light golden brown.

4.   Once toasted, pour the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

5.   Place all the wet ingredients in a small saucepan and bring them to a low simmer – whisk until smooth.

6.   Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are lightly coated.

7.   Spread the mixture onto the parchment lined sheet.

8.   Bake for 8 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, place on a heatproof surface and stir evenly. Place back in the oven and bake for another 8 minutes, remove and stir.

Repeat this process until the mixture is golden brown.

9.   Add any dried fruits to the granola while it is still cooling.

10.                Granola keeps for several weeks, stored in an airtight container.

Garnish with yogurt, fresh fruit or stir it into your oatmeal.
Yum!