Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Ling]

Hazelnut butter cake

[Patrick S]

I love baklava, but layering the phyllo neatly is enough work -- I can't imagine how long it would take if I had to make the phyllo too! I imagine it takes a lot of skill and practice to do this efficiently.

I made the Golden Pearl Brownie Cake from Desserts by Pierre Herme. This has a brownie base made with (Valrhona) Le Noir Gastronomie, on top of which is a creamy layer similar to creme chiboust -- its vanilla pastry cream flavored with cognac, lightened with whipped cream, and set with a little bit of gelatin. On top of that is a thin layer of pastry cream (my deviation from the recipe) and a layer of vanilla bean clear glaze. I couldn't get a decent shot with the flash, and the sun was hiding this afternoon, so I'll try to post a picture tomorrow.

←

I had enough light today to get some good snaps of the cake. Its delicious.

[sanrensho]

I had enough light today to get some good snaps of the cake. Its delicious.

Looks great! What is the fruit (?) that is dotting the clear glaze?

[Patrick S]

I had enough light today to get some good snaps of the cake. Its delicious.

Looks great! What is the fruit (?) that is dotting the clear glaze?

←

Thanks! Those are golden raisins soaked in a Cognac syrup. I could take 'em or leave 'em, but they have good visual appeal.

[Ling]

^That bit of vanilla glaze glistening on the side of the cake...very seductive.

[spaghetttti]

The latest craze to hit Bandung -- Brownies Kukus or Steamed Brownies. I'm trying to find out the "how's and why's". They're pretty good. Very moist, not fudge-y nor too sweet, heavy and dense. They have a hint of cinnamon.

Anyone heard of such a thing?

[Pan]

I see where that brownie bakery has a headquarters and three branches in Bandung already. Do you know when they set up shop in the headquarters?

[miladyinsanity]

I wonder if I can talk my Indonesian classmate into bringing some back for me?

[Arghavan]

Just adding to the baklava types, anyone tried Iranian baklava? That is totally different from the rest of them and you can't use phyllo to make it either... My grandmother and her cousins are particularly good at making it (you have to be very patient since there is no patching the dough allowed when you are rolling it and it has to be rolled very thin so that light passes through it) It is not as sweet as the Greek or Arab versions.

[Eden]

Totally coincidentally a friend just emailed me a description of her experiment with Egyptian baklava yesterday that sounded fascinating as it used shredded filo instead of sheets of filo. (is this really still baklava?, I've had wonderful desserts made with it before, but never by that name...)

Turkish Baklava is my personal favorite, but I clearly need to try Syrian.

Friends back East just sent me "Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking: a Mennonite Community Cookbook" so last night's dessert was a simple coffee cake with nut & raisin crumble/filling. There's a reason coffee cake is a classic - when done right it's just sublime. I was worried because when spread in the pan it didn't look like nearly enough batter, but it puffed up beatifully, and the cake was wonderfully rich, but light at the same time. I think I need some for breakfast now!

[Ling]

I had the same hazelnut butter cake from yesterday, and 8 chocolate hazelnut cigarette cookies.

[Ling]

I'm back! I had another 2 pieces of the hazelnut butter cake, 5 chocolate truffles (not good--they are truffles my friend bought me 2 weeks ago, and I FORGOT about them, can you believe it? What a waste!), an apple turnover, and a Chinese pineapple bun filled with red bean paste.

I also ate half a can of Pringles but that's not a dessert...

That was my 3:30 a.m. snack. !!!

(I am working hard to uphold my standards, miladyinstanity! )

Edited February 23, 2006 by Ling (log)

[miladyinsanity]

You can call me May. I don't mind.

Now, it'd probably be best if Andiesenji doesn't see this...But I decided to nuke the Cocoa cookie dough too.

It's kinda like a cakey, yet chewy brownie. It's not very rich, but very good (though if you plan to eat cookie dough and not cookies, I'd say use less sugar).

[RuthWells]

I had the same hazelnut butter cake from yesterday, and 8 chocolate hazelnut cigarette cookies. 

←

Only eight? Are you feeling okay?

Edit -- I just saw your second post -- phew, you had me worried!

Edited February 23, 2006 by RuthWells (log)

[Ling]

^

I got a decent shot of my brownies today!

99% unsweetened Valrhona, Valrhona Guanaja, fleur de sel, cocoa nibs

ETA: better cropping job?

Edited February 24, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Chufi]

Hazelnut cake with zabaglione cream filling:

[Patrick S]

That looks delicious, Klary.

Ling, that brownie looks like a highly potent chocofix.

Tonight, continuing down my list of desserts from the Greenspan/Herme, I made the Crispy and Creamy Rice Treat, from the first Desserts book. This has a small cake base made from ladyfinger batter. The base is sprinkled with a layer of toasted hazelnuts and broken Nestle crunch bars. Above that is a layer of a creamy, cinnamony arborio rice mixed with creme anglaise and whipped cream, set with a little gelatin. On top is a layer of thick chocolate creme anglaise, and some caramelized rice crispies.

[Ling]

^I have an unabashed love for Rice Krispie treats (especially hot out of the pan, extra butter and marshmallows.) I'm looking forward to doing the rice krispie dessert out of the Chocolate Desserts book!

Friday's dessert:

gingerbread pudding at Hamilton Street Grill, served with ginger ice-cream and pumpkin ice-cream

Saturday:

panna cotta foam with candied pistachios, blood orange (no picture, sorry!)

manchego with apple/pear confit, spiced butter baguette

Sunday

champagne sorbet

Poire William sorbet with peanut/chocolate biscotti. (This was so incredible! Lots of body for a sorbet...so fresh tasting, it was like eating the most delicious pear ever.)

Also ate some of my friend's lavendar creme brulee...very good.

Edited February 27, 2006 by Ling (log)

[sazji]

^I have to make the phyllo too? I saw it done on TV once, and I don't think I possess such manual dexterity.  Perhaps I could do a bastardized version using store-bought phyllo and whatever filling/soaking syrup that's in the Antep-style baklava? (Would love to see a recipe!)

←

Well, you don't have to, and you can still get something pretty nice, but so much of the difference is in the extreme delicaty of the phyllo. I've done "bulbul" (see below) type baklava from ready phyllo though; it's passable but I'd say the commercial stuff you find in the US is easily twice the thickness of baklava phyllo here. And of course the eggs in the dough make a difference. It's kneaded, pulled out, folded and left to rest 4 times, then divided into small rounds, these are opened out to around 6 inches, stacked 2 by 2 with cornstarch, opened to around 50 cm, then left to rest. The doubled pieces are then rolled one by one onto the oklava - a long wooden cylindrical rolling pin, which is rolled back and forth about 5 times pressed from the edges. Then you unroll it, leaving the first three in a separate stack. The rest is stacked in a single stack, and the three you left before are put on top (meaning that what was outside is now inside when you roll; this is important from the standpoint of making them uniform). This new stack is now rolled all at once, bring it out to 90 cm. I can post particulars if anyone wants to try it; but it's more to give you the idea of just how thin this stuff is - like rolling paper. This kind of phyllo is available occasionally in Greece; it's known is "phyllo Virittou" or "Beyrut phyllo."

Another difference from the typical Greek stuff is, instead of laying each phyllo and brushing with butter, the baklava is (in the case of flat baklava) assembled in the pan and cut, or (in the case of individually rolled types) laid out in the pan, and a *lot* of clarified butter is poured evenly over the top. (It has to be clarified or the bits of milk solids will brown faster and give your baklava a spotty look.) It's then baked for around 25 minutes, and when lightly brown (or in the case of white baklava, hardly browned at all), removed, the extra butter is drained off, and the hot syrup is poured over. One type of individually-rolled baklava is "bülbül yuvasi" (nightingale nest), which looks like little round nests. Sometimes whole skinned pistachios are placed in the "nest" to resemble eggs; other times it's filled with ground pistachios. I haven't heard of cooking them first in clarified butter but it seems a wonderful idea. I'll post a "bülbül" recipe soon. It's not that hard to do, but looks so beautiful! Here 's a picture (on Mado's site - they aren't really known for having the best baklava but it gives you an idea.)

bülbül yuvasi

The syrup is variable - for what are the "typical" baklavas here, the syrup is lighter. There is also "dry" ("kuru") baklava which has a denser syrup and a bit less of it, so that there is no drippy syrup. This sounds more similar to what Nicolai describes.

Besides pistachios, fillings may be made of walnuts, hazelnuts, as well as in combination with a very thin layer of "cream" made of milk and a very fine semolina. You almost don't notice it there, but it gives a different texture.

Edited February 27, 2006 by sazji (log)

[sazji]

Just adding to the baklava types, anyone tried Iranian baklava? That is totally different from the rest of them and you can't use phyllo to make it either... My grandmother and her cousins are particularly good at making it (you have to be very patient since there is no patching the dough allowed when you are rolling it and it has to be rolled very thin so that light passes through it) It is not as sweet as the Greek or Arab versions.

←

I have had it - as someone else said, it's truly another species. Similar to a Turkish "kuru baklava" (dry baklava) but the presence of cardamom really sets it apart.

[sazji]

Here's the "nightingale nest" recipe. It's based on the recipe in “Türk Tatlı Sanatı” (The Art of Turkish Sweets) by Necip Usta (the Julia Child of Turkey I guess) but adapted for American realities... Since it's based on another's recipe, I wasn't sure about the ethics of posting in recipe gullet but here it is for those who want to give it a try. It's not that difficult, just a bit labor-intensive, and the results are beautiful. (Do it, Ling! I wanna see photos, too!)

Necip Usta’s recipe presupposes that you have made your own yufka (phyllo). As making true baklava yufka is a long, labor-intensive process that few people will undertake, here is a doable version with American-style prepared phyllo. It’s not the same, but it’s good nontheless. With 2 pounds of butter and sugar and pistachios, how can it be bad? And people will fawn endlessly over it and talk about how it's too pretty to eat....and then unhinge their lower jaws and engulf it.

Bülbül Yuvasi

(Nightingale’s Nest Baklava)

This is a recipe for a 50 cm round pan.

2 boxes phyllo

2 lbs butter, clarified (yes, really...!)

1/2 lb ground pistachio (or almond or walnut) filling

(1/2 lb ground nuts, 1/4 c powdered sugar, 1/8 c water, mixed well)

About 3/4 cup or more ground pistachios, or whole blanched pistachios for garnish.

Syrup: 6 cups sugar, 3 cups water, juice of one lemon.

Open one box phyllo, spread, cut crosswise into three equal parts. Cover with a damp (not wet!) towel and let rest for 10 minutes. This allows the phyllo to soften and be more workable.

Take several sheets from the top of each of the three stacks to work with, replace the towel.

Take a 10 inch dowel (or a new unsharpened pencil, or something of similar dimensions) and lay it on the table horizontally in front of you. Lay one sheet of phyllo vertically over the dowel so that there is about an inch and a half of the phyllo on your side of the dowel, and the remaining length on the far side.

Put about a teaspoon of filling evenly along the far side of the dowel. Now lift the dowel over the filling, and roll up around the dowel, not too tightly, leaving about 2/3 of an inch unrolled. Gently push from the ends towards the middle, crimping the roll. (It may take a few tries before you get it just right.) Now remove the dowel, and bring the ends of the roll together in a small circle, so that you end up with a little “donut” (the “nest”) the unrolled portion forming a “floor.” Place in pan. Let their edges touch but avoid the temptation to cram them too close together as they will expand some during the cooking.

Continue with the remaining pieces, removing a few each time from the stacks to work with and leaving the remaining ones covered to soften a bit. When you run out, open the next box and cut just one third off; you probably won’t need more than this.

Preheat oven to 200C, and melt the clarified butter.

Pour butter evenly over the baklava and bake for about 25-30 minutes.

While the baklava is baking, make the syrup. Mix sugar, water and lemon juice, boil together 2 minutes. Keep hot.

When baklava has lightly browned (don’t overdo it) remove from the oven and tilt pan, use a turkey baster to remove the extra butter that collects on the edge. You may be amazed, shocked, dismayed or ecstatic at this point, when you realize just how much butter has remained in the baklava!

Pour the hot syrup over the baklava, and let cool. Put either a small spoonful of ground pistachios in the center of each piece, or a whole blanched pistachio. Or you can also use ground blanched almonds, or both.

This baklava can be formed in various ways. Instead of rounds, it can be simply doubled over, formed into a spiral, or left straight (çubuk baklava). You can also make a really beautiful pan of baklava by combining shapes.

Edited to remove a Turkish font character that would just display all wonky. But you get to keep the umlauts.

Edited February 28, 2006 by sazji (log)

[Pan]

FYI, recipes based on other recipes are fine to post, both here and in RecipeGullet, as long as the directions are not worded the same way as the original copyrighted recipe. It's your adaptation, after all.

[Ling]

Here's the "nightingale nest" recipe.  It's based on the recipe in “Türk Tatlı Sanatı” (The Art of Turkish Sweets) by Necip Usta (the Julia Child of Turkey I guess) but adapted for American realities

<snip>

(Do it, Ling!  I wanna see photos, too!) 

←

Wow, of course I will have to do it after all the information you kindly posted--and that recipe sounds amazing! I don't have a 50 cm round pan, but I guess it is possible to make this in a Pyrex? Or a few 9" round pans?

Also, just to clarify--I am rolling the phyllo with the nut mixture AND the dowel together, then removing the dowel so there's room for the nut mixture to expand with it's baking. Is this correct?

(Thanks SO much for posting all that... !! I see better baklava in my future!!)

*******

Today's dessert was a big slice of coffee crumb cake, some blueberry pound cake, and hazelnut chocolate cigarette cookies.

Edited March 1, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Chufi]

Weesper moppen, Dutch almond cookies

recipe here

[sazji]

Wow, of course I will have to do it after all the information you kindly posted--and that recipe sounds amazing! I don't have a 50 cm round pan, but I guess it is possible to make this in a Pyrex? Or a few 9" round pans?

Also, just to clarify--I am rolling the phyllo with the nut mixture AND the dowel together, then removing the dowel so there's room for the nut mixture to expand with it's baking. Is this correct?

←

You can do it in any pan, and as long as you keep them from drying out before you bake them, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do it in several batches.

Right on the rolling. Just don't roll it too tight, it should be a little loose so that it will crimp well. (If it is too tight, you'll get splitting. It can also split if the dough is too dry. Actually, it's not a bad idea to have a boiling pot of water on the stove while you do this to keep the humidity a little higher in the kitchen.) The nut mixture doesn't really expand as you are only going to put a little in, a level teaspoon's worth at most, distributed in a line across the piece of phyllo. (Remember you are going to put more pure nuts into the holes of the finished product.)

Have fun!