Praliné paste - Make your own!

Praliné paste is an ingredient very much used in French pastries. I found it difficult to get (a good) one in New York. I know it is always possible to order online, but it's a gold price!
I decided to make my own.
It's not difficult, and it's worth it in terms of taste and money!

PRALINÉ PASTE
The recipe:

Almonds (unsalted unroasted with skin)	2 1/4 cup	10.6oz
Hazelnuts (unsalted unroasted with skin)	2 1/4 cup	10.6oz
White Sugar	2 cups	14.1oz	Syrup boiled to 239°F and poured on dry fruit
Water	½ cup	3.5oz

Step by step: 
Weigh almonds and hazelnuts and put into a sauce pan with a thick bottom. A copper saucepan would be the best, but don't worry. I did without it and it worked!
Feel free, like me, to add some vanilla beans.

Make a syrup with the sugar and water, bring to 239°F/115°C.

Pour onto the dry fruit off of the stove.

Rapidly mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula until crystallization of the sugar.

It becomes very "sandy" and white.

Put back onto the stove (medium/high) and stir until the mixture caramelizes again. It takes about 20 minutes. Don't stop turning, to prevent almonds and hazelnuts from burning.

Pour onto a silpat and let it cool completely.

Break into small pieces before putting into your food processor. 

Mix little by little until it becomes a powder.

Mix even more and you will see that the powder turns into a paste as the oil of the fruit comes out. Don't add anything to it. Adjust the mixing to your taste. Some like it very smooth, others (like me) a little bit crunchy.
The praliné will express the best of its flavor after a week, the time given to allow the oil to capture all the aroma.

You can keep a little bit of powder, called "pralin," and use it in desert...on top of ice cream, for example, to flavor some cakes, etc.

Praliné paste can be kept refrigerated for a few months. 

Enjoy!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

It's high time to get ready for Christmas.
I used the same recipe as the one for Halloween, but, it was in French!
I'm just going to translate the recipe for you.

SUGAR COOKIES (for about 30 cookies)
The recipe:

Butter	1 cup	8oz	Beat together until light.
White Sugar	¾ cup	5.3oz
Light Brown Sugar	¼ cup	1.8oz
Orange or Lemon zest	1
Eggs	2 large		Add and beat until combine.
Vanilla extract	2 teaspoon
Flour (all purpose)	3 cups	13.8oz	Mix in a separate bowl and add.
Salt	½ teaspoon
Baking Powder	1 teaspoon

ROYAL ICING

The recipe:

Egg White	2 large		Beat together.
Fresh Lemon Juice	2 teaspoon
Confectioners sugar	3 cups	11.6	Add and beat on low speed until combined.
Almond extract	½ teaspoon		Add and combine.

Sugar cookies use very simple ingredients, so choose a good butter (I'm using a European style one).
To give more taste, I'm using brown sugar in addition of white sugar, and I'm adding orange or lemon zest as well.
Then it's a matter of good organization if you don't want to have a very colorful mess in your kitchen.

Gather your tools:

• Bowls according to colors desired
• Food coloring or gel paste (this is what I'm using)
• Pastry bags
• Tips (I'm using #1 and #2 to pipe a border and go around the outside edge of the cookies)
• Q-tips for the very small details and to get rid of air bubbles that can appear in the royal icing
• And protect your working table with plastic!

Start with the borders.
To do so, you need to adjust the consistency of the royal icing by adding sugar, for a sightly thicker consistency.
Do all the cookies' borders, by the time you are done, it will have dried up and you will be able to cover the surface of the cookies.

Cover the surface of the cookies.
Use a spoon, a Q-tip for small details.

Then, let the child inside you speak again, and have fun decorating these cookies! 

I found out that you are very spoiled here with cake decoration. 

If you want to add one color on top of another one, let it dry a little bit (let it show a little crust) before drawing eyes, mouths, etc. 

You will have to be patient because it takes about 24 hours to completely dry. You can store them in a airtight container. 

Enjoy!

Azuki Bean Purée

Even if I knew that there were sweets made out of red beans, I was not familiar with this flavor.

I first really paid attention to azuki beans in New York.

And I got even more curious reading that people who like chestnut purée would love it.

I'm a crème de marron (chestnut purée) fanatic.

So I decided to give it a try.

I used this recipe, and I followed the method step-by-step.
I did the Azuki Beans Purée (Koshi-An), which is smooth, as opposed to the Tsubushi-An, which is crunchy because of bean skins.

These are the changes I made:

Azuki beans	2 ½ cups	7.8oz
White sugar	1 cup	7.8oz
Dark brown sugar	1 cup	7.8oz

And I added (at the same time as the sugar) some fresh ginger (I squeezed like a teaspoon of its juice), and the same amount of lemon zest without forgetting a pinch of fleur de sel ("flower of salt").

This purée was less sweet than the original recipe, but you can adjust the sugar according to your taste.

This combination of flavor (azuki purée/ginger/lemon) is used by Pierre Hermé in his pastry, "Depayse."

This "crème d'azuki" is tasty, delicate and fabulous. I will use it soon with macarons.

Enjoy !

Mi-Cuit Chocolate / MiCuit Chocolate with Matcha Green tea

Thanks, Michalak, for this great recipe. Chocolate lovers will be crying with pleasure.
The equation is quite simple: good ingredients + perfect baking = an exquisite mi-cuit chocolate with a melting heart.
I also tried to put a matcha green tea heart inside of it; the combination with chocolate is wonderful.

MI-CUIT CHOCOLATE

The recipe :

Bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa)	1 cup + 1tb	5.6oz	Melt together in a "bain marie"
Butter (European style)	½ cup +	5.3oz
Eggs	5(large)		Beat with a stainless  whisk, then add to the chocolate/butter mixture
Sugar	1 cup	7.1oz
Flower (all purpose)	½ cup	2.4oz	Add and combine

Prepare the batter one day before baking (refrigerate).
Preheat the oven to 375°F before baking.

Step-by-step:

Put butter and chocolate into a bowl and melt in a "bain marie"(put the bowl in a pan halfway full of water). Let it melt in lightly boiling water. Stir together.

Whisk eggs and sugar until "light and fluffy."

Combine the two mixtures together.

Add flour and combine.

Grease ramekins (I used a 4oz ramekin) with melted butter, then pour sugar into it and empty it. The sugar crystals, which don't melt with baking, give a crispiness to the crust, which provides a nice contrast with the softness of the cake.

Divide the batter (which is quite thick) evenly into 10 ramekins and bake in a preheated oven for 11 to 12 minutes.
The middle is still very soft.
Put the ramekins on a wire rack for about five minutes before turning it out onto a plate.

For the matcha green tea heart :

• Melt some white chocolate.
• Add some matcha powder (until it takes a nice color). 
• Pour into an silicon mold or an ice tray, let it cool and put in the freezer. 

Pour some batter in the ramekin, put a piece of frozen matcha green tea, cover with more batter and cook, 11 to 12 minutes. (pictures to come)

It is possible to prepare the mi-cuit in advance and warm it up in a microwave 10 seconds before serving.
(-;
The ingredients of this recipe are very simple. Don't forget to choose both a good chocolate and good butter for great results.
The mi-cuit can be served with vanilla ice cream.
For my taste, i like it just plain.
Enjoy!