Tag: dessert-person

Introduction

This is quite a fun recipe. It’s a bit complicated and is probably best to attempt after you’ve made brioche once or twice first. Once you’ve gotten brioche down though, definitely give this a try. The recipe is fairly plain in that it’s all milk, flour, sugar, butter, and egg. But the end result is surprisingly rich and delicious. Highly recommended!

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Tarte Tropézienne	Special Equipment: Stand Mixer
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 2 day
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 3/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★☆

Making The Brioche Dough

Tip 1: Making a half recipe is much easier if using a typical artisan stand mixer. The professional version is better for a full recipe.

Tip 2: See here for more tips.

Making The Pastry Cream

Tip: Make sure to have everything planned out in advance! Memorize the steps ahead of time.

Baking The Cake

Assembling The Cake

Tip: Make sure to use plenty of honey almond syrup.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Each of the components of this recipe can be made independently, making it easy to assemble over the course of a few days.
• Final Score: 4/5 – This is a fantastic cake. It’s not the easiest, but worth a try once you’ve gotten brioche down. It’s amazing what you can do with just a few simple ingredients.

Introduction

This is a fun recipe that is deceptively time-consuming. While this recipe is best in the fall when apples are at their peak, it can still be done any time of year. Despite there being no particularly complex techniques or equipment, you will need a full day or 2 partial days to make this. The end result is a great tart that anyone would like. Definitely worth doing.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Apple Tart	Special Equipment: None
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 1-2 days
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 3/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★☆☆

Making The Rough Puff Pastry

Tip: See here for tips.

Making The Apple Compote

Tip 1: Use a larger saucepan (not a medium as recommended), otherwise you will need to let it cook longer for each step.

Tip 2: Make sure to go by indicators when cooking and not by times. It would not be uncommon for many of your times to vary by 5+ minutes or even 10.

Assembling The Apple Tart

Baking The Apple Tart

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• This is best made in the fall when apples are fresh.
• Make sure to set aside enough time for this!
• Final Score: 3/5 – This is a great, fun fall recipe. The tart tastes great, but falls a bit short of “amazing”.

Introduction

This is a great recipe if you ever get your hands on any particularly fresh, nice strawberries. Likewise, it’s a great reason to practice brioche as the rest of the recipe is fairly straightforward. The recipe has four main steps: brioche, frangipane, honey almond syrup, and assembly. The recipe can be done over multiple days so it’s great if you are busy or need to pace yourself. Definitely a fun recipe. It’s basically bourgeois peanut butter and jelly.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Strawberry-Almond Bostock	Special Equipment: Food Processor, Stand Mixer
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 2 days
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 3/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★☆

Making The Brioche

Tip 1: Making a half recipe is much easier if using a typical artisan stand mixer. The professional version is better for a full recipe.

Tip 2: See here for more tips.

Making The Frangipane And Honey Almond Syrup

Baking And Assembling The Strawberry-Almond Bostock

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Make sure to use fresh strawberries when they are in season (spring/summer).
• This is a great way to practice making brioche as the rest of the recipe is fairly straightforward.
• Final Score: 4/5 – This a fun and delicious recipe that can be done at your leisure. Likewise, it’s great for learning.

Introduction

This is quite a recipe. It’s a fair amount of work, especially if you are making the puff pastry yourself. Nonetheless, the final product is incredibly rewarding given the difficulty and uncertainty that goes into the construction. It tastes great as well. Make sure to set aside plenty of time to make this though.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Chocolate-Hazelnut Galette des Rois	Special Equipment: Food Processor
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 7 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 3/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★☆

Making The Puff Pastry

Tip 1: Keeping things chilled by putting the bowl back in the freezer for a bit between each step. Consider putting the box grater and rolling pin in the freezer first as well.

Tip 2: If the dough isn’t forming and it’s too dry then consider adding up to an extra 1/4 cup of water.

Making The Frangipane

Tip: Blanch the hazelnuts as follows. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium or large pan. Once boiling, add 4 tbsp of baking soda (it will foam). Add the hazelnuts to the boiling water. Do not let the water boil over or boil too aggressively. Also have a medium bowl of ice/cold water ready. After three minutes carefully remove a single hazelnut and see if the skin is peeling off. If so, proceed. Otherwise, boil another minute and test again. Drain the hazelnuts into a colander. Place the hazelnuts in the cold water for 15 seconds and then drain into the colander again. Use paper towels to gently remove the skins from the hazelnuts.

Making And Baking The Galette

Tip: This video does a good job of illustrating the process. Note that their crimping is much more significant than the one Dessert Person recommends. In hindsight, a more elaborate crimping would have been better (this would have required a slightly more space around).

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Feel free to score an intricate pattern on the top of the cake or use a more intricate crimping pattern.
• This recipe is rather difficult and takes a while to do.
• Final Score: 4/5 – This is quite an undertaking, but the end result is worth it. It’s delicious and great practice for working with puff pastry.

Introduction

This is another fun savory recipe. It’s a bit more time consuming and difficult than the book suggests, but isn’t too bad. This is definitely worth giving a try as there are a lot of valuable techniques to learn (flaky olive oil dough, preparing leeks, cooking mushrooms, and folding a galette), despite not being one of the best recipes in the book.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Crispy Mushroom Galette	Special Equipment: None
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 4 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 3/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★☆☆☆

Making The Dough

Tip 1: “Roll” the dough by iteratively folding small sections of it over using the parchment paper.

Tip 2: If the dough starts to stick to the rolling pin, simply flip it over (or add a small amount of olive oil).

Making The Fillings

Making And Baking The Galette

Tip 1: Make sure to roll out the dough a full 12 inches otherwise the galette will be a bit too small and the crust a bit too thick.

Tip 2: Don’t worry, you can’t overcook mushrooms. Bake until the dough is ready.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• The recipe is a bit more difficult and time consuming than it looks.
• Be careful when working with the dough. Make sure it’s not too thin and be gentle enough so that it doesn’t tear.
• This might actually have been better with a flaky pie dough instead of an olive oil based one.
• Final Score: 2/5 – This is a great recipe for learning purposes and a good introduction to some more savory cooking.

Introduction

This is one of the best savory/not-totally-a-dessert recipes in the book. The base is a flakey, buttery pie dough and the allium-filling (think onion, scallions, leek, garlic) is especially flavorful. Be warned though, this recipe is quite an undertaking. While no single step is particularly difficult, there are many steps and a fair amount of work. It’s definitely worth the effort though.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: All Allium Deep-Dish Quiche	Special Equipment: 9-inch springform pan, Blender
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 7 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 4/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★☆

Making The Dough

Tip: If the dough just won’t come together, then add a bit more water and stir. But be careful not to add too much though. The goal is to add as little as water as possible while still having it come together.

Making The Crust

Tip: Make sure the 13-inch dough round is rolled evenly, otherwise the sides of the crust will be too thin and the center too thick..

Making The Fillings

Tip: Separate the warm onion petals using a butterknife.

Baking the Quiche

Tip: You can make a very slight incision in the surface to check if the filling below is too runny/fluid/unset.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Use very fresh fillings for full flavor.
• While not too difficult, this is extremely time consuming. Expect closer to 3 hours.
• Final Score: 4/5 – This is an incredible recipe that delivers on every level. It’s a lot of work though and really an all day activity (unless you’ve done it before or are particularly skilled)!

Introduction

This is another fairly easy tart recipe, especially if you’ve made the base Sweet Tart Dough before. The filling is especially delicious and the rosemary works surprisingly well. It’s a very pretty tart despite the relatively beige ingredients. Note that the rosemary can be omitted and it’ll still be delicious. Likewise the recipe recommends using pine nuts and walnuts, but it also goes great with blanched almonds and walnuts instead.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Salty Nut Tart With Rosemary	Special Equipment: 9-inch round removable bottom tart pan, Food Processor
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 4 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 2/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★☆

Making The Dough

Tip: Be very careful when checking the tart with the foil still on top.

Making The Filling

Tip: Be careful that it doesn’t thicken too much. Keep a very close eye on it throughout and don’t step away from the saucepan. As soon as it starts to thicken is about a good time to stop, otherwise it’ll quickly thicken too much.

Baking The Tart

Tip: If quite brown or bubbling excessively, then feel free to remove the tart earlier than recommended. Everything is already cooked anyways.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Feel free to modify the nuts and herbs used in this recipe.
• The rosemary works surprisingly well. If you’re hesitant at first considering giving a try. It really does work.
• Final Score: 4/5 – This is an excellent recipe, especially given how simple it is. Definitely give this one a try!

Introduction

This is a fairly easy tart recipe, despite a slightly vague recipe (mostly due to a lack of pictures). Unlike most tart recipes in the book this can be easily made in one sitting. It’s not quite as visually stunning (or as delicious) as some of the other tarts in the book, but it still looks and tastes pretty good. Plus it’s a fair bit easier to make and doesn’t have any esoteric ingredients. Definitely worth a shot.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Pistachio Linzer Tart	Special Equipment: 9-inch round removable bottom tart pan OR 14×4 inch rectangular tart pan, Food Processor
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 2 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 2/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★☆☆

Making The Dough

Baking And Assembling The Tart

Tip 1: Consider saving slightly more than half of the batter for the top half to ensure you don’t run out.

Tip 2: Consider refrigerating the pastry bag so it doesn’t “melt” and cause the butter to separate before using it (especially if you have a warm kitchen).

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• The instructions are very brief and with very few pictures, so hopefully the photos above are a helpful guide.
• Consider making extra dough or saving extra for the top.
• Final Score: 3/5 – This was a fairly quick and easy tart (even if the instructions were a bit vague and photos lacking). It tasted good, but wasn’t quite amazing.

Introduction

This recipe is mostly just making brioche and then working with it a bit. Nonetheless it’s a great recipe and a great way to make brioche and apply it in a fun way. Do note that brioche is a fairly complex dough that requires an (ideally) overnight period in the fridge. While the recipe came out great, we thought that Pigs in a Blanket was better with puff pastry. In fact we also made Pigs in a Blanket with Dessert Person’s rough puff pastry recipe and found it even better.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Pigs in a Blanket	Special Equipment: Stand Mixer
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 1 day
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 3/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★☆☆

Making The Dough

Tip 1: We’ve found that the dough often sticks to the sides of the bowl late into the initial mixing (before adding butter). Add a tablespoon and a half flour to loosen it if it hasn’t started pulling away by the 8 minute mark. You’ll know the dough is ready for butter once it is no longer very sticky to the touch and stays together as mostly one mass.

Tip 2: You’ll know to add another tablespoon of butter when it stops appearing on the sides of the mixing bowl and the dough starts to slap loudly against the sides. This process will get quicker with each addition of butter.

Tip 3: Don’t walk away from the stand mixer at any point and pay close attention. If your mixer starts to shake hold it by the sides and don’t lean on the top of it. It can cause the mixer to overheat and other such things.

Making The Pigs In A Blanket

Tip 1: It’s not totally clear what the optimal dough roll to hot dog length ratio for full coverage should be so that the hot dog doesn’t stick out. Simply roll out the dough a bit longer (or shorter) to adjust after each one. Note that after you roll it out it will contract over the next minute or so.

Tip 2: Consider pulling slightly on the dough while wrapping. Let the dough hang vertically over the middle of the hot dog as you roll to keep the other side sufficiently stretched due to gravity.

Tip 3: Keep the dough cold otherwise it will be hard to work with. The video and book instructions differ slightly here – the video doesn’t stress keeping the dough cold as you work with it.

Baking The Pigs In A Blanket

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Be patient with your dough and use the tips and indicators. The video is a great visual reference as well.
• For assembly, use the book notes instead of the video notes.
• Give this a try with puff pastry instead!
• Final Score: 3/5 – This is a fun way to learn brioche and a great party snack. Puff pastry is a great alternative though.

Introduction

This is a great and easy corn muffin. It stands out from other corn muffins in its use of fresh corn kernels cooked in browned butter. Likewise it uses slightly less flour so they are less dry than a typical corn muffin. These are very good, but not quite as good as the loaded corn bread from Dessert Person.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Brown Butter Corn Muffins	Special Equipment: None
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 2 Hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 1/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★☆☆

Making The Muffins

Tip 1: Make sure the corn kernels are soft before adding them to the batter. It may take several minutes longer than the book suggests.

Tip 2: Our muffins turned out well, however as written the recipe does not make 12 muffins using a 1/2 cup for each. If you want 12 muffins, consider using slightly less than a 1/2 cup for each.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• These are best made in summer with fresh corn. If you use frozen kernels, make sure they are completely thawed and dried first.
• Final Score: 3/5 – These are great and easy corn muffins with a nice twist. Definitely worth a try!