I can't believe we are almost at the end of the course already. In this new phase we are going to make different kinds of desserts and sweets, starting with this very cute apple dessert and an apple strudel. This time instead of working in pairs we were working with a group of four.
Two of us started to make the dough for the apple strudel and the other two the dough for the apple dessert. For the apple strudel dough we use this recipe:
- 1000 gr flour - 250 gr four
- 50 gr sunflower oil - 12,5 gr sunflower oil
- 50 gr sugar - 12,5 gr sugar
- 1 egg - 1/4 egg
- 100 ml vinegar - 25 ml vinegar
- 550 ml water - 137,5 ml water
- pinch of salt
oventemperature 200C
As this recipe is for 4 decent size strudels but if you only want to make one then use the second column.
It was fairly easy to put the dough together. We basically put all the ingredients in a bowl and let the stand mixer (with the dough hook) do all the work. Then we put it in an oiled baking tray, covered it with some plastic and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
For the apple dessert we use this recipe for making the dough:
- 180 gr butter
- 150 gr light brown sugar
- 22 gr egg
- 2 gr salt
- 275 gr flour
- 9 gr baking powder
- 1 gr carbon dioxide powder
oventemperature 150C
Again we put all the ingredients in a bowl and used the dough hook to mix it all together. Once the dough was ready we rolled it out and used a cookie cutter to cut out small rounds to fit in the muffin mold.
Then we mixed 250 gram of almond past and 250 grams of crème pâtissière and one egg to make it liquid enough to pipe little rounds on top of the dough. We baked the dough till they were ready and let them cool in the mold.
In the meantime we chopped a lot of apples for the apple dessert and for the apple strudel. For the strudel stuffing we used:
- apples
- nuts
- raisins
- cinnamon
- cake crumbles
- sugar
According to the recipe we should end up with about 3400 grams of stuffing. I think we ended up with a bit more. I took the left over stuffing home and used it as topping for a cake so nothing would go to waste.
For the apple dessert we did measure it all so we used:
- 600 gr very small cubed apples
- 115 gr sugar
- 115 gr apricot puree
- 10 gr quelli
We mixed the quelli with the sugar. I stir fried the apples with some butter till they were just cooked and added the apricot puree to it. Then the sugar mixture went in. Quelli is a brand name for a mixture that has a similar usage as gelatin or agar agar. The only difference is that quelli doesn't have to be cooked to bind the ingredients.
We scooped the apple mixture in a sphere shaped silicon mold and pressed the cookie we backed earlier on top. While this was freezing in the freezer we stared to ensemble the strudel.
We started with covering the table cloth with some flour. Then we putting the dough for the strudel in the middle and used a rolling pin to flatten it out a bit. Then the four of use each took a side of the table and gently stretched the dough out bit by bit with our hands only using our hands top up. When it was stretched enough we brushed the top with butter and piled up the stuffing. I wanted to have two little strudels instead of one big one so I made two piles. With the table cloth we slowly rolled the dough over the stuffing. Then we cut out the strudels and tucked in the ends. Now they were ready for baking. I didn't want to bake them yet so I took them home and put them in the freezer for a rainy day.
In the meantime the apple desserts were frozen enough to be taken out of the mold. There was some jelly already prepared and all we had to do was sprinkle some cinnamon on top and dip them into the jelly so a nice thin layer would keep the apple bits together.
It was a big hit. Everyone loved the apple desserts. I just wish we could make more. As for the apple strudel, I don't think I would be making that again. It was a lot of effort of making the dough and as I like my strudel flaky I prefer to use phyllo dough.
In the last section of this phase the assignment was to make 12 of 4 different kinds of bite size treats, friandises. Everything available in the kitchen was allowed, plus some other selected ingredients as well. The treats have to be small and look pretty.
At home I wrote out a whole game plan of what I wanted to make, what I needed for it and how it would do it. Turned out that things didn't totally went as planned. I was expecting the ingredients to be centralized available, but they were all over the place so it took some to find what I needed.
The game plan was:
- a lemon meringue pie with raspberry
- a lemon mousse ball covered with lemon glaze
- a lemon raspberry mousse on an almond cake
- an apple and lemon pie
I manage to execute two out of four since I was running out of time.
First I started with making two different kinds of dough for my pies.
For the lemon meringue pie I used a shortcrust pastry which normally would be made by 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts of flour.
The recipe I used was:
- 80 gr sugar
- 80 gr light brown sugar
- 210 gr butter
- 290 gr flour
- 8,5 gr baking powder
- 2 gr salt
- teaspoon of lemon zest
- 20 gr egg yolk (or just 1)
oven temperature 180 C
I just mixed everything together and let the dough chill in the fridge.
On the bottom of this pie I piped a mixture of 30 grams of marzipan loosen up with a dash of water and 125 grams of crème pâtissière. After baking I put a little bit of lemon curd in the pie, a bit of lemon curd whipped cream and one fresh raspberry. Then I piped some meringue and used a torch to give it a bit of color.
Then for the apple and lemon pie I needed to make "sloffendeeg". I honestly don't know what this dough is called in English, but pies made with this dough are buttery, slightly chewy and soooo good.
I used:
- 180 gr butter
- 170 gr light brown sugar
- 2 gr salt
- 1 egg yolk
- teaspoon lemon zest
- 250 gr flour
- 10 gr baking powder
oven temperature 160C but 170-180C is not a problem either
I mixed together all the ingredients and then add the sifted flour and baking powder last. This dough also has to be chilled in the fridge.
For this pie I used a frangipane made by:
- 125 gr almond paste
- teaspoon lemon zest
- 25 gr butter
- 37 gr egg (or 1 egg)
I mixed all the ingredients and poured it in a piping bag.
Then I cubed two apples, mixed them with some "spekkoekkruiden" (a mixture of several spices) since I couldn't find any cinnamon and head them up a bit so they could soften.
Then I went and made some lemon curd using my trusted recipe:
- 100 gr butter
- 200 gr sugar or more or less depending on taste
- 300 ml fresh lemon juice
- teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
- pinch of salt
Mix everything together, cook till it thickens and chill in the fridge till needed. Very simple and almost fool proof recipe.
Then I also went and make some crème pâtissière:
- 250 ml milk
- 50 gr sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 22,5 gr custard powder
- vanilla pot/essence/sugar
- pinch of salt
I started cooking the milk with some sugar. The rest of the sugar I mixed with the egg yolk, the custard powder, salt and vanilla. When the milk boils I poured some on the egg mixture to loosen it up and to elevate the temperature so I don't end of with scrambled eggs. Then the whole mixture went back in the pan to cook for a couple of minutes.
After all this mise and place I started with making the apple lemon pies first. I used this round shallow pie mold and placed the dough and stuffing in. Unfortunately there was to much dough and the pies came out way to big and not evenly cooked. So I couldn't serve that. I had to use a mold with smaller cavities.
Because I had to start all over I didn't had time for the mousse ball and mousse cake. Luckily I wrote down another recipe just in case I needed a back up plan.
I had some apple left I decided to apple almond cakes using this recipe:
- 30 gr flour
- 80 gr almond flour
- 100 gr browned butter
- 150 gr icing sugar
- 95 gr egg whites
- pinch of salt
oven temperature 200C
I beaded the egg whites till soft peeks and mix the rest of the ingredients together. Then I folded it into the egg white, poured the batter in the molds and topped them with some cubes of apple.
Since I had some batter and apples left, I mixed them together and poured it into a different shape mold. This time I sprinkled some almond slivers on top to give them a bit of crunch.
I had just enough time to decorate my friandises. I used a mixture of lemon curd and whipped cream and piped a dot on the apple almond cake. Then I sprinkled some chopped pecan nuts on top and decorated it with some white chocolate.
The other apple almond cake already had some slivers of almond on top so all it needed was a bit of white chocolate to make it fancy.
For the apple and lemon pie the teacher suggested to put a thin piece of apple on top. I also added two dollops of lemon curd whipped cream to give it a bit of freshness. Also I think a sprinkle of powdered sugar would take it to the next level. Idea for next time.
I loved working on the lemon meringue pie. At first I wanted to pip the meringue all over the raspberry as well so you have a little surprise biting into one. But I think this looks pretty as well.
At the end I ended up with four friandises that were complimenting each other in looks and taste. It was a lot of stress and hard work, but totally worth it since my plate was picked by one of the teachers as one of two of her to got to plate!
