BAKING PARTNERS - RIGO JANCSI

This month challenge (since this is the month of Valentine's Day and love) is to make a Hungarian pastry called Rigo Jancsi.  A popular Austria-Hungary dessert is named after Rigó Jancsi (1858–1927), a famous Hungarian Gypsy violinist who seduced and married Clara Ward, Princess de Caraman-Chimay, the only daughter of American millionaire E. B. Ward and the wife of Belgian Prince de Caraman-Chimay. Their love story never ended happily ever after though. This is actually a chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate mousse, and topped with chocolate ganache.  I added some fresh raspberries and and a raspberry coulee.

This really is a time taking effort, you need at a least a day to make it but it worth all effort. This recipe is adapted from Joe pastry and stabilized chocolate mousse inspired  from here. This recipe makes about six 2 ½ inch pieces.

For the sponge cake:

2 ½ tablespoon (24g)  all-purpose flour

1 tablespoons (6g)  cocoa powder

5 tablespoon (71g) butter

2 ounces  (57g) semisweet chocolate, chopped fine

3 eggs, room temperature and separated

3 tablespoon (45g)  sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the chocolate glaze:

3 ounces (84g)bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon(26g)  butter

1 tablespoon (27g)  light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

3/4 tablespoons (5g)  cocoa powder

3 tablespoon  powdered sugar

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine

¾ cup heavy cream + 1 tablespoon

¼ teaspoon rum extract( other wise use 3/4 tablespoon  rum)

¾ teaspoon gelatin

1 tablespoon cold water

1 tablespoon boiling water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the assembly:

Apricot glaze

1 tablespoon apricot jam

¼ cup water

• Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 8  inch square pan with parchment paper and brush it with melted butter.

• For the cake: Whisk together the cocoa powder and flour. 
• Add the chocolate pieces and butter in a bowl and stir to melt, apply ten-second bursts of heat as necessary. When the mixture is smooth, set it aside to cool. 
• In a mixer fitted with a whip, beat the egg yolks on high until pale and thick, about five minutes, then with the machine running add half the sugar in a stream. 
• Continue whipping until the yolks and sugar fall from the whip in a ribbon. 
• Transfer the yolk mixture to a medium bowl and fold in chocolate mixture. Set the bowl aside while you prepare the whites. 
• Rinse and dry the mixer bowl and whip (If you have a second bowl like I do place it in the freezer while you do the above steps). Put the whites in the bowl and whip to soft peaks, add the salt, then add the remaining sugar in a stream. 
• Continue to whip to the stiff peak stage, the foam should be very glossy. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten the batter, then fold in the rest in two additions. Lastly, fold in the flour and cocoa. 
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and level it with an icing spatula. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Remove the cake from the oven and loosen the edges with a knife. 
• Lay a second sheet of parchment and a wire rack over the layer, then invert the pan. Remove the pan and — carefully — the top sheet of parchment. 
• Cover the cake with a clean kitchen towel and another wire rack and invert the cake again. Remove the parchment from the top and allow the cake to cool.

• When the cake is cool, cut the sheet in half. 
• Prepare the glaze by combining all the ingredients except for the vanilla in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the bowl for 20 seconds on full power, then apply as many ten-second bursts as needed to melt the chocolate completely, stirring in between to allow the residual heat to do most of the work. 
• Stir in the vanilla and pour the glaze over the cake, spreading it promptly with an icing spatula. Allow the glaze to set, about 45 minutes to an hour. 
• Divide into two equal halves, cut one half into 2 ½ inch 6 pieces. .Set the pieces aside or store in the refrigerator.

• For the filling: melt the chocolate pieces with 1 tablespoon heavy cream in the microwave, using a 20-second burst, then as many ten-second bursts as needed until it’s completely smooth. Cool it until it’s just barely warm to the touch. 
• Add ¾ teaspoon gelatin in 1 tablespoon cold water and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Then add 1 tablespoon of boiling water into the gelatin. 
• Add this liquid gelatin to  3/4 cup heavy cream along with rum extract, vanilla and whip very well. 
• Stir together the cocoa and powdered sugar. 
• Whip the cream mixture to just shy of soft peaks. Then, with the machine on, whip in the cocoa and sugar mixture. 
• Add the melted chocolate all at once and quickly whip or whisk it in, whichever works better for you. 
• Set the second cake layer on sheet of parchment paper and trim up the sides. Brush apricot glaze over it, then apply the filling, being careful to apply it evenly. 
• Square up the corners. 
• Gently lay the glazed top pieces on the top, then refrigerate the entire cake for at least an hour. 
• When ready to serve, cut the cake into pieces using a sharp knife heated under hot top water. 
• Enjoy

BAKING PARTNERS - APRICOT CHERRY GALETTE

OUR Baking partner’s challenge this month is a Galette, an open pie pastry. It was suggested by Suja of Kitchen Corner try it.  Galettes make a wonderful rustic fall fruit dessert.

APRICOT CHERRY GALETTE

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 cup Cake Flour

1/2 cup Chilled Unsalted Butter, chopped

2 tablespoons Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

4 tablespoons Ice water

3 apricots, sliced

1 cup cherries, pitted

Juice of 1 Lemon

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cornstarch

• In a bowl mix flour, salt and sugar. 
• Add butter pieces to the flour. Using a pastry blender cut in through the flour, rapidly till the mixture becomes coarse. The flour will look like large flakes and the butter in the size of peas. If you are using a food processor, first pulse the flour, sugar and butter. Then add the butter and pulse for 7- 8 times till the dough attains the above mentioned texture.
• Slowly add ice cold water, 2 tablespoons at a time and mix until the dough starts coming together, making sure that the dough masses together roughly but the butter pieces remain about the same size.
• Transfer this onto a lightly floured work surface.
• Flatten into a rectangle rapidly with heel of your palm. 
• Rapidly pat and smooth the top. 
• Lift the dough off work surface using a pastry sheet. 
• Flip the bottom of the rectangle to the middle and the top down to cover it like an envelope.
• Tuck the two sides towards the bottom. 
• Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour to relax the gluten.

• Meanwhile make the filling. 
• Toss together the apricots and cherries.
• Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and lemon juice.
• Toss fruit with lemon juice mixture. Set Aside.

• Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• Remove dough from the fridge and place on a lightly floured surface. 
• Roll into 1/8 inch thick circles. You can use a plate to cut into the desired size. Fold the disk into half and gently transfer into the baking sheet. Unfold it and sprinkle a mixture of flour and sugar. You will need around two tablespoons. 
• Arrange the fruit mixture in a single layer in the center of the disc leaving 3 inches border. 
• Fold the edge up over the filling forming loose pleats. Gently press the pleats so that it stick together. 
• Sprinkle with coarse sugar. 
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the pastry is golden brown. 
• Remove from the oven and allow it to cool down a bit in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack.

OPERA CAKE ala BAKING PARTNERS CHALLENGE

Opera Cake is a very famous French Pastry, where almond sponge cake is soaked in coffee syrup, topped with french coffee butter cream and finally glazed with ganache.  This cake is a labor of love as it is labor intensive. It can be prepared in 3 phases. First day prepare the sponge cake, second day prepare the butter cream and coffee syrup, and third day prepare ganache, chocolate glaze and assemble the final cake. The taste is awesome and worth the effort. I skipped the ganache to make it a little lighter.

NOTE:  The key for a good opera cake is evenly soaking the cake with the coffee syrup without sogging it down.

Source : Joe Pastry

For the Almond Sponge (Joconde):

6 Egg whites @ room temperature

2 1/4 tablespoons Sugar 

8 ounces Blanched almonds 

1 cup sifted Powdered sugar

6 Large eggs 

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon All purpose flour

3 tablespoons Clarified butter, melted

1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla 

• Blanch almonds. Soak almonds in hot water for 30 minutes and then peel the skin off. 
• Dry the almonds well on a paper towel and then powder in mini food processor. 
• All ingredients need to be at room temperature for best results.
• Pre heat the oven 425 F. 
• Grease a half sheet pan with melted butter. 
• Cut parchment paper exactly to the size of the pan. If it is too long , it may make the corners jagged.
• Aadd the eggs to mixing bowl. 
• To the eggs add sieved powdered sugar beating until pal yellow and sugar has been incorporated well with the eggs. The mixture would have increased in volume.
• Add the powdered almonds and all purpose flour to the egg mixture blending until smooth with no lumps.
• While this is happening, separate the other egg whites from the yolk. The bowl has to be clean. Reserve the egg yolks for making buttercream.
• While the almond mixture is incorporating, prepare the meringue. Beat the egg whites until it reaches soft peaks. Now add the granulated sugar and beat again until it reaches stiff peak. DO NOT over beat the meringue - it may become flat. 
• Fold the meringue into the almond mixture taking care not to flatten the mixture. 
• Add melted butter and vanilla to the batter.
• Grease the parchment paper with melted butter again. 
• Pour the batter into the pan and spread it using a spatula. Take care to spread the batter on the corners. Corners are the culprits for not getting even sized sponge. 
• Bake the sponge for 5-7 minutes or until the sponge is springy to the touch. DO NOT over bake - cake will become hard. 
• Turn the sponge over a parchment paper and let it cool. Once one side is cooled, turn it over and peel the parchment paper and let the other side cool completely. If you are going to freeze wrap it using a cling wrap and freeze. If you are going to prepare the cake within 2 days, then it can be covered completely and stored at room temperature.

For French Coffee Buttercream:

2 tablespoons Coffee powder 

2 teaspoons Boiling water 

6 Egg yolks 

1 cup Sugar 

1/4 cup Water

1  pound Butter 

2 teaspoons Vanilla  

• Dissolve the coffee powder in hot water and set aside. 
• Add the reserved egg yolks to a mixing bowl. Beat until it becomes foamy,for at least 3 minutes. 
• While the egg yolks are mixing prepare the sugar syrup. 
• Add sugar and water in a sauce pan. Let it reach 238 degeree F. The mixture will be bubbling hot.
• When the sugar is hot, immediately pour the syrup into the yolk little by little. DO NOT pour it in a hurry. DO NOT let it touch the walls of the mixer - the sugar will become crystal. Pour it little by little, mixing after each addition. Whisk the egg yolk mixture until it becomes cold. This is very important for the butter cream. The egg and sugar mixture MUST BE cooled down completely. 
• Once it is cooled, remove the whisk attachment and insert the beater attachment to the mixer. 
• Drop the butter one cube at a time to the mixer until it is incorporated well into the egg mixture.
• Beat the butter mixture on high speed for at least 5 minutes until it becomes fluffy and pale.
• Add the coffee and vanilla to the mixture and beat for a minute. This will make the buttercream rich in coffee flavor.

For Ganache:

10 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate

1 cup Cream

• Add the chocolate to a bowl. 
• Heat cream slowly until it reaches boiling point. 
• Pour immediately over the chocolate. 
• Let stand for 5 minutes and then mix with a spoon until it is smooth.
• Whisk the chocolate using a wire whisk. 
• Let stand for 5 minutes. The ganache has to be spreadable consistency.

For Coffee flavored syrup:

1/2 cup Sugar  

1 cup Water   

3 tablespoons Instant Coffee powder

• Take sugar and water in a pan aand let it get reduced to half the volume. Now add coffee powder and let it dissolve into the hot water. Turn off  and let it cool.

For Tempered Chocolate:

6 ounces Callebaut chocolate (gourmet chocolate)

2 tablespoons Butter   

• Prepare 2 bowls with ice water in one and cold water in the other. 
• Add the chocolate to a microwave safe bowl, melt it in microwave one minute at a time until it is melted completely.
• Place it on top of the cold water bowl. The temperature would have dropped to 84 degree F. Now take the bowl out and place it on top of the hot water bowl, the temperature would have hiked to 89 degree F. 
• Immediately mix the butter and the chocolate. 
• Pour the tempered chocolate on top of the cake.

ASSEMBLY

• Cut the sponge into 4 equal sized rectangles.  
• Apply the ganache a thin layer on top of the cake board. This will make sure that the cake comes out clean, when we cut it ,without sticking to the board.  
• Place the first rectangle on the board. 
• Center the cake. The up side of the cake has to remain the upside of the cake as it has lot of pores which will absorb the syrup.
• Soak the sponge completely with coffee syrup. Be liberal in soaking, as the cake has to be melt in mouth. We can also pierce the sponge with fork and soak it with coffee syrup. 
• Apply a thick layer of coffee buttercream on top of the sponge cake. 
• Place the second rectangle of the almond sponge cake on top of the buttercream. 
• Soak it again with coffee syrup.
• Spread the ganache on top of the butter cream. Use an angled spatula to cover all the corners.
• Place the 3rd sponge cake on top of the ganache and soak again with coffee syrup.
• Apply buttercream on top of the sponge cake.
• Place the 4th sponge cake on top o
• At last apply a thin layer of buttercream on the sponge. 

• Now comes the glazing part. We can either glaze the cake with melted chocolate or we can temper the chocolate and pour it on top of the cake. I tempered the chocolate and poured it on top of the cake.
• Let the chocolate set at room temperature for about 10 minutes. 
• Trim the sides of the cake. You should have a neat rectangle part of the cake. 
• Mark the cake with a sharp knife with lines. These lines will help us to cut the cake after chilling, without breaking down the cake. 
• Chill the cake for about 3 hours or overnight. 
• Bring the cake to room temperature and cut it. 
• Top the cake with chocolate garnishes and serve.

SALTED CARAMEL POTS DE CREME - BAKING PARTNERS

Swathi asked me to select a recipe for this month and I'd been dying to try these, so guess what we're baking? Yep, you guessed it, SALTED CARAMEL POTS DE CREME. I cannot tell you where I first got the recipe because all I have is a photocopied page.  The salt brings out the rich buttery flavor of these simple creamy custards.

SALTED CARAMEL POTS DE CREME
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup whole milk
6 egg yolks
1 teaspoon flaked sea salt*

*I used Himalayan Pink fresh ground salt

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Adjust racks as necessary so your baking dish will be centered evenly in your oven.
• Place six 6 ounce ramekins in a large baking dish. As you can see I used a combination of what I had available at the time.
• Add enough water to the baking dish to go half way up the sides of the ramekins.

• In a medium saucepan combine the sugar, water and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
• Heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Increase heat to medium high and bring mixture to a rolling boil.
• Boil for 8 minutes without stirring until you reach a deep amber color.
• Remove from heat.

• Whisking constantly, whisk in whipping cream and milk in a steady stream. Mixture will steam and sugar will begin to harden.
• Return to heat cooking and whisking about 2 minutes until sugar has dissolved.
• In a large bowl whisk egg yolks until light and foamy.
• Slowly whisk whipping cream mixture into beaten egg yolks.

• Pour mixture through sieve into a 4 cup spouted measuring cup.
• Carefully pour strained mixture into ramekins.

• Bake 40 minutes or until edges are set and centers jiggle just slightly.
• Transfer to wire racks to cool, cooling completely.

• Cover with saran and chill 4-24 hours.
• Before serving sprinkle with flaked sea salt.

I have made something similar in the past if you want one not quite so rich. These Salted Caramel Cheesecakes were really good too.Every recipe we tried recently was excellent, but this dessert was melt-in-your-mouth decadently good!  It was also rich so I'm very glad I made it in these small ramekins for individual servings!

SALTED CARAMEL CHEESECAKE CUPS

CHEESECAKE

1/2 pound softened cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 JUMBO eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

CARAMEL

6 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• Preheat oven to 325°.
• In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth.
• Add eggs, beating until incorporated after each egg.
• Beat in sour cream.
• Pour into ramekins.
• Set ramekins in a baking dish and add water to midway up the ramekins.
• Place in the center of the oven and bake 15-20 minutes until the edges are set, but the centers are still jiggly.
• Turn off oven and leave cheesecakes undisturbed for 1 hour.
•  After 1 hour transfer ramekins to cooling rack and cool completely before covering.
• Cover and chill cheesecakes in the refrigerator at least several hours, preferably overnight.

• Meanwhile make the caramel.

• In a heavy saucepan heat the corn syrup.
• Stir in the sugar until well incorporated and cook over a moderately high heat, undisturbed until a deep amber caramel forms.
• Turn off heat and carefully stir in butter with a long spoon.  Careful, it will spit.
• Add the heavy cream in a thin stream, stirring constantly until smooth.
• Add salt and blend well.
• Transfer the caramel to a heatproof container and allow to cool.

To serve:

• Heat caramel in small increments until desired temperature.
• Pour a spoonful over each cheesecake and serve.

An InLinkz Link-up