The Supreme eGullet Baking and Pastry Challenge

[duckduck]

So the first rule of making custard...uh, for me that would be check the fridge to make sure you have eggs left after the cannellini bean angel food cake from the night before. Oops. Had two eggs left and enough to make a little bit of custard. Split it into thirds and used a different sweetener in each. The original recipe called for palm sugar or a substitution of brown sugar. I did one of each and used agave syrup in the last one. I'm glad I decided to play with the agave because we actually like the texture and taste of that one the best. When we tasted them with the brownies, the difference was huge. When paired with the brown sugar custard, the brownies seemed much sweeter and much more intense than they were on their own. When paired with the agave custard, the sugar seemed to pull back and it really let the chocolate come forward. Gonna grab some more eggs on the way home from work tonight and tinker with it some more.

Edited January 13, 2007 by duckduck (log)

[K8memphis]

I'm really interested in those brownies. Sounds amazing.

I love getting the reports on your tweakings of things.

[duckduck]

I'm really interested in those brownies. Sounds amazing.

I love getting the reports on your tweakings of things.

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I'm gonna tweak the brownies a bit too before I'm done. I was munching on a mouthful of brownie with custard last night and sniffing each of my four cinnamons from Penzey's last night. I'll probably continue to play after the challenge is over and add an occasion note here on bean recipes I try but I think I might start a whole new thread on the agave. I found some great recipes here.

http://www.deliciousorganics.com/recipes/agaverecipes.htm

Overall, it's been a lot of fun.

[judiu]

Found some interesting info on forbidden rice if anyone is curious or unfamiliar with it.

http://www.classbrain.com/artaskcb/publish/article_181.shtml

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And here's another:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_rice

Neat sounding stuff; I wonder if the cooking water could be used as a coloring agent?

[K8memphis]

Agave does contain some minerals like Iron, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium.  It is 10% glucose and 90% fructose, but this is fructose in it's natural form (unlike high fructose corn syrup).  Agave nectar contains no harmful toxins.  It has no sulfur dioxide or hydrochloric acid.  It is absorbed more slowly by the body and is therefore lower on the glycemic index, with a GI of about 40-45, eliminating the highs and lows of regular sugar.  A tablespoon contains about 16 grams of carbohydrates and 60 calories.  Even though it is low on the glycemic index, remember that studies indicate that consuming fructose after a large meal will react in the body as if it is high on the glycemic index.

Most all Agave you will find is organic, natural, unrefined, economical, gluten-free, vegan, and kosher.  Many are processed below 118 degrees F to protect the natural plant enzymes and pure flavor and are therefore raw.

Like honey, it is sweeter than sugar so you need less of it.  Use it to flavor cold drinks like lemonade and iced tea instead of sugar.  You can even use it in your coffee or tea.  And it's perfect for smoothies or over a fruit salad.  Use it in vinaigrettes, on cereal, in sauces, or as a glaze to fish or poultry.  Use it in place of sugar in your homemade ice cream.  You can use it in places you'd normally use maple syrup, especially the dark or amber varieties, like atop pancakes.  You can use it anywhere you'd use honey, replace it in equal amounts.  Like honey, you must also reduce the liquids in recipe by 1/3.  Use 3/4 cup to replace 1 cup of sugar in a recipe since it's about 25% sweeter than sugar.  It also helps to reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees if baking with it.  Baked goods come out moist and smooth with Agave. 

Considered safe for diabetics, Agave Syrup is a safe, natural sweetener for young and old.

Wo-ow, I never knew. I hope it doesn't taste like stevia. That was an acquired taste I never acquired. Where's the shudder all over a lot smilie face?

Agave syrup sounds more like it. I need to get to the health food store...and even though it seems kinda pricey--it's just as well because for me, that's a good governor so I eat less sweets.

[duckduck]

Wo-ow, I never knew. I hope it doesn't taste like stevia. That was an acquired taste I never acquired. Where's the shudder all over a lot smilie face?

Agave syrup sounds more like it. I need to get to the health food store...and even though it seems kinda pricey--it's just as well because for me, that's a good governor so I eat less sweets.

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I've never tasted stevia and it's been awhile since I tried agave straight. I'll have to do that tonight. It was really laid back in the custard and didn't really stand out as it's own flavor. It just kind of let the other things shine. I did have a lot going on with it though. I found it interesting too that it's kosher and they said it softens the aftertaste of splenda when you combine the two. I can't imagine anything making splenda taste good but it would be to try just to know.

[duckduck]

Getting my "mess in place".

The money shot.

Want a bite?

The stamped images in this post were used with permission from Stamp Zia

and thank you for that Zana!

Edited January 15, 2007 by duckduck (log)

[duckduck]

K8memphis, I tasted the agave straight and it has no after taste but it does taste a lot like a mild honey.

My shortbread was a bit more brown than the last batch which I didn't get photos of. I went with a rubber stamped image (and wish I'd had more pea flour to make a bigger batch to play with) because I wanted to put my mark on my dessert. Most people that know me know that I'm a rubber stamp artist and have been for many years.

I tweaked everything even more this last round and found that adding Penzey's china cassia cinnamon to the brownies made them less than a perfect match for the cusard but a completely perfect match for the kiwi that I put on last minute only for color. I made three custards with different levels of agave and found that I needed it sweeter to match the brownies but I prefer it alone with less sweetness. Mom is still munching on the brownies and loving them. Accidently grabbed the wrong measuring cup today and put in 2/3 cup bean instead of a 1/2 cup which made for a more cakelike brownie where the 1/2 cup make a very fudgey brownie. Mom liked the second version, I'll take the first. I'll include that option when I post to RecipeGullet this next week.

It was a blast and I'm very proud of myself for posting my first photos. YAY! (Now, I just need to work on my photography skills.)

Edited January 15, 2007 by duckduck (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Love the stamping on the triangular piece. Looks like a delicous combination of flavours. So are legumes going to become a regular part of of your dessert reperatoir?

[K8memphis]

Way too cool on so many fronts! Umm, the whole idea of beans as dessert confuses my head other than the obvious peanut thing. I'm totally trying this brownie recipe of yours, I'll do the fudgey ones. Adding cinnamon, yum!

Pea flour shortbread? How does that taste?

What's in the glass???

Your pictures are great and the plating is beautiful.

Edited January 15, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[Kouign Aman]

Its wonderful how the fruit & the custart picks up the colors on your plate and plays off them. That layered brownie/custard/fruit-tart is so pretty, and the stamps and shapes of the shortbread are fun.

How does the mango taste with the chocolate?

How does your halo halo taste? What's in it?

[nichi]

Beautiful fresh looking dessert. I'm thinking the bean in the brownie would make it rather starchy so I would love to try the recipe and see how the texture comes out.

And just like K8memphis Im curious to know what is in the glass...

[Pan]

Looks good! I'll be curious to read the recipe when you post it.

[duckduck]

Love the stamping on the triangular piece.  Looks like a delicous combination of flavours.  So are legumes going to become a regular part of of your dessert reperatoir?

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I'm more of a chewy brownie sort of person but my mother said she prefers the bean brownies over the ones I normally make, so yeah, I guess they will. I would like to get a good list of recipes that work for special needs like wheat allergies, lactose intolerance, etc. so I will keep working in this area.

[duckduck]

Way too cool on so many fronts! Umm, the whole idea of beans as dessert confuses my head other than the obvious peanut thing. I'm totally trying this brownie recipe of yours, I'll do the fudgey ones. Adding cinnamon, yum!

Pea flour shortbread? How does that taste?

What's in the glass???

Your pictures are great and the plating is beautiful.

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The beans in the brownies will work well for my cousin who is allergic to wheat. The beans are a good replacement for flour apparently. As far as just weird ingredients in dessert, I don't think there's too much that's really off limits for me. I like to play.

My brother took a bite of the shortbread and said, "Hmmm... it tastes like shortbread." It does have a bit of pea flavor. I got tired of it after tasting it after several batches over several days. It smells like peas in the kitchen too. The kind of starchy pea smell lingers.

In the glass is the halo-halo with sweetened red azuki beans, tapioca threads, mango and kiwi. I made it with evaporated milk like most of the halo-halo recipes called for and in tasting decided that I much prefer the coconut milk used for the Vietnamese version that I tend to find around town known as 3 color. I found the evaporated milk to be a bit bland.

Edited January 16, 2007 by duckduck (log)

[duckduck]

Its wonderful how the fruit & the custart picks up the colors on your plate and plays off them. That layered brownie/custard/fruit-tart is so pretty, and the stamps and shapes of the shortbread are fun.

How does the mango taste with the chocolate? 

How does your halo halo taste? What's in it?

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The mango was okay with the chocolate. I think it would have been better without the cinnamon. The cinnamon in the brownie made it just a dead on perfect match for the kiwi. The mango did help the dessert over all though. Besides the color it gave, the tartness helped to balance the sweetness of the overall dessert.

It was actually you that gave me the idea to use stamps. In one of the PM's you mentioned that you had read through my posts to see who I am and what I do and that got my thinking of how I was going to leave my mark on this dessert and make it totally my own. Thank you for that.

Edited January 16, 2007 by duckduck (log)

[duckduck]

I have a challenge in mind for the next one but no one to challenge at this point so I'm waiting for word on what to do with that.

Thank you everyone for the feedback and the encourangement! Like I said, it was a lot fun.

I'll get the recipes into the recipeGullet in the next couple of days.

[nichi]

Is the new challenge hidding somewhere?

[Pam R]

There's been a dearth of volunteers to pick up the next challenge.

If somebody is interested in participating, I'd suggest sending a PM to duckduck.

[chiantiglace]

the challenge wasn't about volunteers. Half of the challenge was finding someone to challenge next .

[gfron1]

Agreed. A big part of the fun was coming up with a challenge that paired well with the challengee. The holidays are over so there should be more people with a bit of time.

[Kouign Aman]

the challenge wasn't about volunteers.  Half of the challenge was finding someone to challenge next .

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Righto then - I challenge you to accept duckduck's challenge!

[Pam R]

I shouldn't have used the word 'volunteer' - maybe victim would have been better.

What I don't think we should do is clutter up the challenges with a lot of posts about finding the next challenge. I am aware that a few people have had a rough time finding the next challengee. But I think the best way to deal with this is through the PM system.

eta: Send me a PM if you have any questions.

[duckduck]

Green pea shortbread recipe and coconut custard with black bean brownie.

[nichi]

duckduck I made the black bean brownies last night....soo good. I did put an extra tablespoon of Valrona coco in them though... couldn't resist.

I must say my boyfriend was a bit gossed out by the whole idea but came around when he tasted them. I was afraid to leave him alone with them.