Tag Archives: vegetarian

Lemongrass Coconut Curry

LEMONGRASS AND GINGER-INFUSED COCONUT CURRY WITH POTATOES, MUSHROOMS, BELL PEPPERS, AND CHERRY TOMATOES. WITH SEARED SALMON FILLET AND LIME.

While we can’t claim this recipe to be authentically Thai, we can say that a fragrant coconut curry is an easy way to get big flavors without too much attention or labor. More accurately, this one’s more a technique than a recipe with specific ingredients for a particular cuisine.

Until recently, we were a bit tentative on using lemongrass, knowing the flavor only from eating out at Thai places. When we finally overcame our lemongrass anxiety, we realized how easy, versatile, and revolutionary it would be to our meal prep for busy weeks! Though there are several ways to use it, we like to chop it up to infuse into a stew or broth-based dish for a few hours before pulling out the fibrous pieces.

For vegetarians and vegans, this can easily be made without fish sauce or the seared salmon. The same technique applies, and remember that the veggie combinations are far beyond the ones we listed here! Enjoy 🙂 – Pea and Boo

Servings: 4 (full courses)
Difficulty: 

Lemongrass curry:

  • Curry base
    2 lemongrass stalks
    2 ts ginger, grated
    1 star anise
  • Broth
    1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
    1 c vegetable stock
    3 tb soy sauce
    (optional) 1.5 tb fish sauce
    3 garlic cloves, grated
    1 tb sugar
    2 ts turmeric
    1 ts coriander
    1 bay leaf
  • Vegetables, cut into bite-sized pieces
    8 oz button mushrooms
    2-3 carrots
    8-12 oz potatoes
    1 onion
  • 6 oz cherry tomatoes
  • Finish
    2 tb corn starch
    1 lime, zested and juiced
    10-20 thai basil leaves
  1. For lemongrass, remove out layer, and cut off leaves and tip of bulb. Rinse thoroughly. Slice into 3-inch sticks, and halve lengthwise.
  2. In a large sauté pan or pot over high heat, toast lemongrass, ginger, and star anise until lightly charred, 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add all broth ingredients, and cover to simmer on medium-low heat, 1.5-2 hours.
  4. Add vegetables to simmer until softened, 20-30 minutes.
  5. Add cherry tomatoes to cook, 10 minutes.
  6. In a small bowl, suspend corn starch in 2-3 tb water. Stir suspension into curry, and simmer until thickened, 2 minutes.
  7. Add lime zest/juice and basil leaves to cook until wilted, 1 minute.
  8. Serve with rice, or keep warm while preparing seared salmon.

Seared salmon fillet:

  • 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets
  • salt and black pepper
  • vegetable/canola oil
  1. Score the skin side of each fillet, and season on both sides.
  2. Drizzle and rub oil on both sides of fillets.
  3. In a pan over high heat, sear salmon on skin side until cooked pink halfway up, ~4 minutes. Flip over.
  4. Sear second side until cooked to desired doneness, ~3 minutes (medium).
  5. Remove to a plate to rest, 10 minutes.
  6. Stir resting salmon juices into curry, and serve salmon and curry with rice.

Vanilla Bean Macarons

VANILLA BEAN MACARONS WITH CREAMY VANILLA ERMINE BUTTERCREAM.

How vanilla became synonymous with boring and unexciting is a mystery to me. Used correctly, vanilla is an amazing, unique flavor that is the furthest thing from “default” you could get. After all, vanilla beans contain over 200 distinct chemical compounds. Vanillin is the most important by far, and the others help make the aroma nearly indescribable. So if you’re one of those people who judges vanilla from its use in commercial ice cream and limited edition cola, it’s time to give it a real try.

We always keep a healthy stock of vanilla extract from our favorite wholesale warehouse at our disposal, but we’re breaking out the vanilla beans for these vanilla macarons today. Other than decorating your shells with tons of tiny vanilla seed specks to let your friends know you used the real deal, you also don’t lose as much of the vanilla flavor with baking as you do with regular vanilla extract. With a smooth ermine buttercream with plenty of vanilla to fit the theme, these vanilla macarons are anything but boring! – Boo and Pea

P.S. If you haven’t made macarons before, read our quickie guide in our French Macaron blurb – it’s a lot less intimidating than some people make it seem, and we break it down into 3 main things to look out for!

Yield: 44-56 macaron shells
Difficulty: 2 star

Oven: 310 F, 18 minutes

Preparation:

  • Line 2-3 baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  • If using parchment paper, optionally draw guide circles (diameter 2.5-3 cm) about 3 cm apart on parchment paper, and flip written-side down.

Macaron shells:

  • Dry ingredients, sifted
    120 g almond meal
    150 g powdered sugar
  • Meringue
    110 g (~3) egg whites, room temperature
    0.25 ts cream of tartar (or lemon juice)
    2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
    100 g granulated sugar
  • (optional) 4-10 drops food coloring
  1. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar and vanilla bean seeds to soft peaks. Gradually add granulated sugar to egg whites while beating to a firm meringue (tips of peaks should gently curl when whisk is lifted), ~4-6 minutes.
  2. Sift dry ingredients into the meringue. Fold until smooth and falling in thick ribbons.
  3. Using a large round tip, pipe batter into buttons (diameter 2.5-3 cm) onto the prepared baking trays spaced ~3 cm between the edges of adjacent shells.
    Small pea tip: Keep the tip ~0.5 cm above and perpendicular to the baking tray. Keep the tip centered and still while piping each shell to desired size.
  4. Rest at room temperature until surface dries to the touch, 45-60 minutes.
  5. Bake on middle rack, 18 minutes. Remove from oven, and set side until cooled to room temperature. Meanwhile, make filling.
    Small pea tip: Lower the oven temperature by 5-10 F, and bake for 1 minute shorter if using a dark pan.
  6. Carefully remove/peel shells from parchment or silicone mat.
    Small pea tip: If macarons stick to parchment or silicone mat, run a thin knife across the bottom to help release shells.

Vanilla ermine buttercream:

  • Roux
    0.25 c milk
    1 tb flour
    pinch of salt
  • 4 tb butter, room temperature
  • 3 tb sugar
  • 0.5 tb vanilla extract
  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir and bring roux to a simmer, and cook, 2 minutes. Transfer to a small container, and cover and refrigerate until chilled.
  2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar and vanilla.
  3. Beat roux into butter mixture by spoonfuls, and beat until fluffy.

Assembly:

  1. Pair shells by size.
  2. Using a round tip, pipe ~0.5 tb filling onto one shell of each pair. Gently sandwich with second shell.
  3. In an airtight or covered container, refrigerate macarons in a single layer, at least 8 hours.
  4. Serve, and optionally refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months.

Orange Fried Tofu with Apple Bok Choy Salad

CRISPY FRIED TOFU, LIGHTLY-SALTED AND GLAZED WITH NAVAL ORANGE REDUCTION. LEMONY SESAME BOK CHOY SALAD WITH FUJI APPLE, RED ONION, AND CARROT JULIENNE.

I get occasional cravings for the thick, sweet goop that Chinese take-out calls “orange chicken” and “orange tofu” just like the next person. Unfortunately, Chinese take-out doesn’t usually sit well with New Year’s resolutions, so it was up to me to figure out how to twist a sugary mess into something a bit lighter and fresher. With the help of some bags of fresh Fuji apples and naval oranges, our bok choy bounty, and a desire for something new (because garlic bok choy, while great, can get repetitive), I decided to roll with a raw salad alongside some fried tofu glazed with a naval orange reduction (culinary lingo for an intensified sauce or liquid with a lot of the water boiled away). As much as Pea loves meat, this vegetarian dish ended up being one of Pea’s all-time favorite Boo dishes!

The most intensive part of the dish is probably just slicing everything for the salad into fine matchsticks, or julienne. Although a little time-consuming, it’s a great way to hone your knife skills, and I personally find prep work therapeutic! You’ll find quite a few methods for cutting vegetables into julienne, and some vegetables might be a little trickier than others – but here’s an idea of how I worked the bok choy (by separating the leaves from the stems first, then stacking the stems and rolling the leaves):

Pea has been a little busy learning to be a fantastic doctor recently, but if you have a willing, or unwilling, helper around, they can shallow-fry the tofu and make the sauce while the salad is being put together to save quite a bit of time. Yes, I said shallow-fry because the salad is a good enough reason to have a little bit of fried in the dish, right? – Boo

P.S. make this vegetarian dish vegan by eliminating or replacing the honey! Since there isn’t much honey in the original recipe, and so many other flavors, just taking it out wouldn’t sacrifice much at all!

Servings: 3 (full courses)
Difficulty: 

Bok choy salad:

  • Vegetable julienne
    0.5 lb bok choy
    1 (medium) Fuji apple
    3 oz carrot
    0.25 red onion
  • Seasoning
    2 tb lemon juice
    0.5 tb sesame oil
    0.5 tb honey
    0.5 tb soy sauce
    1 ts mirin
    0.25 ts salt
    0.25 ts black pepper
    0.25 ts garlic powder
  • 2 ts sesame seeds
  • 2-4 tb minced cilantro, to taste
  1. Separate bok choy leaves from stems, and julienne in small stacks.
  2. In a large bowl, toss seasoning with vegetable julienne.
  3. In a small pan, toast sesame seeds over medium heat until aromatic, ~1 minute.
  4. Toss sesame seeds and cilantro into salad.
  5. Cover and refrigerate until use.

Orange tofu:

  • 1-1.25 lb soft tofu
  • Orange reduction
    1 c orange juice
    0.5 tb honey
    1 ts soy sauce
    2 thin slices ginger
    pinch of salt
  • sea salt, coarse
  1. Divide tofu into 6 square logs, and set on paper towels to dry.
  2. In a small pan, reduce orange juice over medium heat until slightly thickened, 6-10 minutes.
  3. Stir remaining orange reduction ingredients into pan, and keep warm.
  4. Shallow fry tofu logs until golden-brown on all sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Set over paper towels to drain, 1 minute.
  5. Glaze tofu with orange reduction, and lightly salt. Serve with apple bok choy salad.

Brown Butter Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Swiss Chard

brown butter gnocchiCHEWY PORCINI AND TRUFFLE POTATO GNOCCHI BROWNED IN BUTTER AND TOSSED WITH SAUTEED MUSHROOMS AND SWISS CHARD.

Never big fans of Whole Foods, Pea and I were still excited for the recent opening of one just two blocks away from our home. As we strolled through the aisles of fancypants ingredients and munched on the occasional free sample, we were shocked to find Swiss chard, one of my all-time favorite veggies, at a reasonable price! Quickly, before the shock and novelty of a good deal at Whole Foods wore off, we checked out contentedly with our find.

Swiss chard is great sautéed, stir-fried, or even raw in a salad or as a wrap. Although the recipe below is for a “gnocchi dish”, the swiss chard adds an fantastic dimension of flavor to the plate, which is otherwise just seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon zest. The leaves are like a softer, silkier spinach, and the stems are just a hint sweet. With the mushrooms and chewy potato gnocchi, this vegetarian-friendly recipe makes a great earthy, savory meal for two or a comforting appetizer for three or four! – Boo

Servings: 2 (full courses) or 3-4 (appetizer portions)
Difficulty: 2 star

Ingredients:

  • Vegetables
    0.5 lb mushrooms, sliced
    0.5 onion, diced 1 cm
    2 cloves garlic, grated
    0.5 lb Swiss chard
  • 8 oz gnocchi
  • 2 tb butter
  • 0.25 tb olive oil
  • Seasoning
    0.5 ts salt
    0.25 ts black pepper
    lemon zest

Directions:

  1. In a large pan, sear mushrooms in olive oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Meanwhile, separate chard leaves from stems. Dice stems, and chop leaves.
  3. Add onions, chard stems, and garlic to large pan, and saute over medium-high heat until softened, 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add chard leaves to saute until wilted, 1-2 minutes. Set vegetables aside.
  5. Cook gnocchi per package instructions, and drain.
  6. In a pan, heat and stir butter over medium-high heat until browned. Add olive oil and gnocchi, and sear gnocchi on several sides, 2-3 minutes.
  7. Stir vegetables and seasoning into gnocchi, and serve.

Raspberry Financiers

raspberry financiersMOIST, GOLDEN FRENCH ALMOND CAKES WITH RASPBERRY COULIS AND POWDERED SUGAR.

These little guys are like cupcakes, but even better! They are traditionally made as rectangular bars to resemble bars of gold, hence the name financier. And although Boo and I have managed to collect molds of all sorts of shapes, we don’t expect everyone else to have a rectangular 6 x 3 cm mold at arm’s reach, so we decided to use a regular cupcake tin. Plus, I think they’re cuter round. Geometric differences aside, these moist, spongy almond cakes are absolutely satisfying, incredibly easy to make, and great with a cup of tea or coffee.

When you’re making these, you may want to mix gently to keep from incorporating too much air into the batter, otherwise they will deflate as they cool after baking. After breaking up the egg whites with a fork, I used a rubber spatula to mix the batter together, which worked out just fine. But other than for aesthetic reasons, this step can be optional.

For our financiers, we used raspberry, but almost any fruit with a hint of tartness – like blueberries, peach, or even passionfruit – would pair beautifully with the richness of the cake. Be warned: they’re addictive. Thank goodness this recipe only makes 10! – Pea

raspberry financiers 2

Yield: 10 financiers
Difficulty: 1 star

Oven: 400 F, 6 minutes; 350 F, 14 minutes

Preparation:

  • Grease 10 small cupcake molds, or line with cupcake wrappers.

Almond cake:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 4 egg whites
  • Dry ingredients
    0.5 c sugar
    1 c almond meal
    0.33 c flour
  • 2 tb honey
  • 10 raspberries
  1. In a small saucepan, heat and stir butter over medium heat until browned. Pour into a bowl, and set aside to cool slightly.
  2. In a mixing bowl, lightly stir together dry ingredients, egg whites, and honey until homogenized.
  3. Gently stir butter into egg mixture.
  4. Divide batter into prepared molds or cupcake wrappers. Place a raspberry in the center of each with the cavity facing up.
  5. Bake at 400 F, 6 minutes. Lower to 350 F, and bake ~14 minutes until cooked through. Meanwhile, make raspberry coulis.

Raspberry coulis:

  • 3 oz raspberries
  • 1.5 tb sugar
  • 2 tb water
  1. In a small saucepan, stir and mash ingredients over medium heat until thickened, 10-12 minutes.
  2. Press through a strainer, and discard seeds.
  3. Using a small round tip, pipe coulis into the centers of financiers.
  4. Serve warm.

*recipe inspired by Bruno Albouze

The French Macaron

french macaronsFOUR CLASSIC MACARONS. ALMOND MACARON WITH FRENCH ALMOND BUTTERCREAM. MINT MACARON WITH MINTY WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE. CHOCOLATE MACARON WITH NUTELLA DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE. ROSE MACARON WITH RASPBERRY ROSE MASCARPONE CREAM.

If there’s a dessert with a reputation for its difficulty, it’s the macaron. Bakers will tell you how finicky they are from the temperature and age of your egg whites to the moisture content of your flour and the air. They’ll tell you the recipe for the perfect batch one day might crack, collapse, and end in utter disappointment the next evening. That every measurement needs to be absolutely precise. Yes, there’s some truth to these worries. But no, making consistent batches of macarons isn’t just playing a lottery. Just like perfecting any dish or dessert, macaron making comes down to a few key principles – the meringue, the macaronage, and the drying (notice that the weather, age of your egg whites, and miniscule changes in your flour moisture content are not included!). Whether it’s a hot, sunny day or a cold, rainy day, these principles stay the same. It might take a few batches to know exactly what you’re looking for, but once you get it, you won’t forget it!

  1. The Meringue. It’s whipped just enough so that you can fold the almond flour and sugar into it completely without knocking out too much air. You’re looking for peaks that gently curl over when the whisk is lifted straight out of it. This gives you the perfect amount of air so that during the macaronage, you don’t deflate the meringue before all the dry ingredients are properly mixed in (underwhipped), and you don’t have a lumpy, broken mixture (overwhipped)! And there’s no need to age your egg whites. It might make whipping them take a minute or two less but makes no difference in the final product. It’s less effort, too.
    meringue firm peaks
  2. The Macaronage (or the folding of the solids into the meringue). The macaron batter is a suspension of almond meal in a meringue that has been deflated just enough to pipe out smooth round buttons that spread ever so slightly. This is the part where practice makes perfect. Just keep in mind that it’s better to under-mix than  to over-mix, or you’ll have your macarons running into each other on the baking sheet! Some describe this stage as the “molten lava” stage, and others call it the “thick ribbon” stage. Call it what you want, but it should look something like this:
    macaronage
  3. The Drying. After piping out your cute buttons, you need to set them aside until the tops are dry to the touch and don’t stick to your finger when you “pet” them. Just like with royal icing (the shiny, smooth icing you might find on decorated cookies), a crust forms on the macaron surface as the air pulls moisture from the meringue. This forces the air in the meringue to find another way out during baking – through the bottom, where it bubbles out and forms the frilly feet of the macaron. No need to postpone your macaron-making plans on a rainy or humid day! The drying will still happen – it might just take a little longer.
    meringue buttons

Once you get the hang of it, there are all sorts of small changes you can make to the shell recipe, such as using hazelnut or pistachio flour, or adding extracts for flavor and food coloring for fun. And there is a whole world of fillings to try. Below you’ll find the recipe for the basic almond macaron to get you started, with a French almond buttercream. Enjoy! – Boo and Pea

french macarons angleYield: 44-56 macaron shells
Difficulty: 2 star

Oven: 310 F, 18 minutes

Preparation:

  • Line 2-3 baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  • If using parchment paper, optionally draw guide circles (diameter 2.5-3 cm) about 3 cm apart on parchment paper, and flip written-side down.

Macaron shells:

  • Dry ingredients, sifted
    120 g almond meal
    150 g powdered sugar
  • Meringue
    110 g (~3) egg whites, room temperature
    0.25 ts cream of tartar (or lemon juice)
    100 g granulated sugar
  • (optional) 4-10 drops food coloring
  1. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add granulated sugar to egg whites while beating to a firm meringue (tips of peaks should gently curl when whisk is lifted), ~4-6 minutes.
  2. Sift dry ingredients into the meringue. Fold until smooth and falling in thick ribbons.
  3. Using a large round tip, pipe buttons (diameter 2.5-3 cm) onto the prepared baking trays spaced ~3 cm between the edges of adjacent shells.
    Small pea tip: Keep the tip ~0.5 cm above and perpendicular to the baking tray. Keep the tip centered and still while piping each shell to desired size.
  4. Rest at room temperature until surface dries to the touch, 45-60 minutes.
  5. Bake on middle rack, 18 minutes. Remove from oven, and set side until cooled to room temperature. Meanwhile, make filling.
    Small pea tip: Lower the oven temperature by 5-10 F, and bake for 1 minute shorter if using a dark pan.
  6. Carefully remove/peel shells from parchment or silicone mat.
    Small pea tip: If macarons stick to parchment or silicone mat, run a thin knife across the bottom to help release shells.

French almond buttercream:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • Simple syrup
    75 g sugar
    2.5 tb water
  • Flavorings
    1 ts almond extract
    0.25 ts vanilla extract
    0.25 ts salt
  • 6 tb butter, room temperature
  1. In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until light yellow and thickened.
  2. In a small saucepan, heat sugar with water to 240 F (or just beginning to turn golden).
  3. Continue beating egg yolks while pouring syrup into yolks a thin stream along the side of the bowl. Beat until cooled to room temperature, 6-8 minutes.
  4. Beat in flavorings.
  5. Add butter in 1 tb increments, and beat until smooth and holds peaks.
  6. Refrigerate for 5 minutes until use.

Assembly:

  1. Pair shells by size.
  2. Using a round tip, pipe ~0.5 tb filling onto one shell of each pair. Gently sandwich with second shell.
  3. In an airtight or covered container, refrigerate macarons in a single layer, at least 8 hours.
  4. Serve, and optionally refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months.

Black Forest Cake

black forest cakeRICH COCOA ESPRESSO SPONGE CAKE BRUSHED WITH CHERRY SYRUP. KIRSCHWASSER WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING AND SWEET DARK CHERRIES. GARNISHED WITH DARK CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS AND MARASCHINO CHERRIES.

When Pea and Boo first moved in together, Pea not-so-subtly hinted at making a Black Forest Cake. As cherry season came that year, Pea and Boo found piles upon piles of fresh, dark red cherries on display at the local farmer’s market, and they decided the time had come. It was one of the first cake projects they took on together, and it was time to revisit the old recipe to give it a few delectable tweaks in time for our friends’ birthday surprises!

One of the greatest things about sponge cakes is their ability to soak up delicious syrups and juices, intensifying the flavor of the cake. The Black Forest Cake, layered with a rich cocoa sponge soaked in cherry and liqueur syrup, is a brilliant example. Kirschwasser (cherry liqueur) is signature, and (fun fact) required by law in Germany, but you can put as much or as little as you want. This recipe uses about one shot for the entire cake, but no one’s stopping you! – Boo

Servings: 8-12 (dessert portions)

Difficulty: 3 star

Oven: 350 F, 25-35 minutes

NOTES:

  • May use fresh and/or canned cherries. If using canned cherries, reserve syrup as a soak for the sponge cake.

Preparation:

  • Line a 8.5-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the interior.

Cocoa genoise:

  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 0.66 c sugar
  • 1 ts vanilla
  • Dry ingredients, sifted
    0.5 c flour
    0.33 c cocoa powder
    2 tb instant espresso powder
    0.5 ts salt
  • 3 tb butter, melted
  1. Over a bain-marie, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while beating to a firm, glossy meringue, ~4-6 minutes.
  2. Beat egg yolks and vanilla into meringue until just combined.
  3. Fold dry ingredients into egg mixture by thirds.
  4. Stir a large spoonful of batter into melted butter to lighten. Fold butter gently into remaining batter.
  5. Bake in prepared springform pan until cooked through, 25-35 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven, and invert springform pan over a cooling rack until cooled to room temperature.
  7. Remove cake from pan. Set aside until assembly.

Macerated cherries:

  • 1.5 lb cherries, pitted (including 1 can of cherries with syrup)
  • 2 tb kirschwasser
  1. In a bowl, toss cherries with kirschwasser. Cover and refrigerate until assembly.
  2. Stir remaining ingredients together until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate to cool.

Whipped cream frosting:

  • 3 c heavy cream
  • 1.5 ts vanilla
  • 1.5 ts kirschwasser
  • 0.25 c sugar
  1. Beat cream to soft peaks. Add remaining ingredients, and beat to stiff peaks.

Assembly:

  • Garnish
    dark chocolate curls, shavings, or bark
    cherries
    whipped cream
  1. Reserve several cherries for garnish.
  2. Divide the cake into three disks.
    Small pea tip: Use the disk with the flattest surface as the top layer.
  3. Place the bottom cake layer on assembly surface. Soak with one-third of the cherry syrup, and top with one-quarter of the whipped cream and half of the cherries.
  4. Place the middle cake layer on the cherries, and repeat with cherry syrup soak, whipped cream frosting, and cherries.
  5. Place the top cake layer. Spread frosting evenly over entire cake, and reserve ~0.5 c frosting for garnish.
  6. Decorate cake with chocolate, whipped cream, and cherries.
  7. Refrigerate until chilled, and serve.

black forest cake 2

 

Berries Mousseline Cake

berries mousseline cake 2FOUR-BERRY MIXTURE TOSSED WITH FLUFFED VANILLA BEAN PASTRY CREAM. LAYERED WITH A RICH, SWEET BUTTER CAKE BRUSHED WITH RASPBERRY COULIS. DECORATED WITH SUGAR-COATED BERRIES.

And now, BooPeaKitchen will launch its newest guide on how not to organize surprise parties. Last year, when Boo tried to organize a surprise birthday party for me it wasn’t very successful — let’s just say that repeatedly and unpromptedly asking birthday-girl-to-be to not make plans on the weekend of her birthday is not the best approach. I have to admit though, I didn’t fare much better either. Leading up to Boo’s birthday, I arranged for him to go on a mid-summer hiking trip, giving myself the perfect excuse to stay home with the kitchen to myself and ample time to work on his cake. In my mind, my plans ended with storing the cake at a friend’s place and having her bring it the next day to Boo’s astonishment, but they were foiled by an unexpected afternoon nap. I woke up to Boo’s return, and realizing the finished cake was still in the fridge, I immediately fessed up to the whole plan…

Resting on this boast-worthy surprise party streak of zero, Boo and I decided to recruit our friends to set up a double surprise which upped our success rate to 1/4! Well, at least we have two cakes to show for it: this Berries Mousseline Cake and a Black Forest Cake coming up soon! – Pea

Servings: 8-12 (dessert portions)
Difficulty: 3 star

Oven: 350 F, 40-50 minutes

Preparation:

  • Line an 8.5-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter and flour the interior.

Butter cake:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 0.5 c sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 ts vanilla extract
  • Dry ingredients
    1.66 c flour
    2 ts baking powder
    0.5 ts salt
  • 0.5 c milk
  • Meringue
    2 egg whites
    0.5 c sugar
  1. Cream butter with sugar. Beat in yolks and vanilla.
  2. Alternately beat dry ingredients and milk into butter mixture in 5 additions.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while beating to a firm, glossy meringue.
  4. Fold meringue into batter by thirds.
  5. Bake in prepared springform pan until cooked through, ~40-50 minutes.
  6. Cool to room temperature. Cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, ~2 hours.

Vanilla mousseline:

  • Cream mixture
    1.25 c heavy cream
    1.25 c milk
    0.25 ts salt
  • Yolk mixture
    6 egg yolks
    0.75 sugar
    0.25 c flour
    0.25 c corn starch
    1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 1.5 sticks butter, room temperature
  1. In a large saucepan, bring cream mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat.
  2. Whisk yolk mixture ingredients together. Whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture.
  3. Return mixture to saucepan over medium heat, and whisk constantly until thickened and gently boiled for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in 4 tb butter until incorporated.
  4. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Refrigerate, plastic wrap pressed to the surface, until cooled to room temperature, ~1.5 hours.
  5. Beat cooled cream, 2 minutes. Add remaining butter, and beat until light and fluffy, 5-6 minutes.

Raspberry coulis:

  • 3 oz raspberries
  • 1.5 tb sugar
  • 1 tb water
  1. In a small saucepan, stir and mash ingredients over medium-high heat until thickened. Strain, and set aside until use.

Assembly:

  • (optional) acetate cake bands, cake ring, or springform form
  • Berries
    1 lb strawberries, halved or quartered
    6 oz blackberries
    6 oz blueberries
    6 oz raspberries
  1. If using acetate, assemble a ring (height 4 inches) around circumference of the cake, and place on serving surface.
  2. Slice cake into two disks. Trim one disk by 1 cm around the circumference.
    Small pea tip: Trim the disk with the flattest surface, since this will be used for the top layer.
  3. Place the larger disk in acetate ring, springform pan, or cake ring. Brush cake with raspberry coulis.
  4. Set aside one-third of the mousseline and choice berries for garnish. Mix remaining berries with remaining two-thirds of the mousseline.
  5. Assemble some fruit around the bottom border. Optionally, use mousseline to help keep berries in place. Spread mousseline-fruit mixture evenly into cake.
  6. Place the trimmed cake layer on top. Spread remaining mousseline smoothly over and around the cake.
  7. Cover and refrigerate until set, 3-4 hours.
  8. Garnish as desired with remaining fruit and raspberry coulis, and serve.

berries mousseline cake 1

Chocolate Soufflé with Passionfruit-White Chocolate Filling

chocolate souffle passionfruit fillingRICH, SWEET, AND FLUFFY CHOCOLATE DESSERT WITH A WARM WHITE CHOCOLATE AND A PASSIONFRUIT CENTER.

And now to finish off the Valentine’s tangy series, the dessert course. I thought we could combine chocolate and passionfruit, and we decided to make a soufflé with a passionfruit filling. We ended up posting this a little later because Boo wanted to make some changes to the recipe to make it a little more chocolaty with a dash of coffee and cocoa powder. Hope you enjoy! – Pea

Servings: 2 (9-oz ramekins) or 4 (5-oz ramekins)
Difficulty: 2 star

Oven: 375 F, 22 minutes

Preparation:

  • Coat inside of ramekins with melted butter, then with sugar. Place prepared ramekins in freezer until use.

Passionfruit white chocolate filling:

  • 3 tb white chocolate chips
  • 0.75 tb passionfruit concentrate
  • 0.5 tb heavy cream
  • pinch salt
  1. In a small bowl, microwave and stir together ingredients in 5-10 second increments until homogenized.
  2. Refrigerate to set while preparing souffle.

Chocolate souffle:

  • Chocolate mixture
    3.5 oz dark chocolate
    4 tb butter
  • Yolk mixture
    2 egg yolks
    0.5 tb instant espresso powder
    0.5 tb  cocoa powder
    1 ts vanilla
    0.25 ts salt
  • Meringue
    3 egg whites
    0.25 ts cream of tartar
    3 tb sugar
  • powdered sugar
  1. Over a bain-marie, melt chocolate with butter. Set aside to cool slightly.
  2. Beat yolk mixture ingredients until homogenized, and whisk into chocolate mixture.
  3. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while beating to stiff peaks (tips of peaks should gently curl when whisk is lifted), 4-6 minutes.
  4. Fold meringue into chocolate mixture by thirds.
  5. Fill prepared ramekins halfway with batter. Spoon the passionfruit white chocolate filling into the center of each ramekin. Top off with remaining batter.
  6. Level off with a knife, and use a fingertip to trace around the inside of the top edge, which helps the souffle to rise.
  7. Bake until maximally risen and cooked through, 21-23 minutes.
  8. Dust with powdered sugar, and serve.