Strawberry Tart

What is it about Business school that keeps getting in the way of my baking? In all seriousness I'm excited about the thought of getting to bake every day. I've been stressed out all week and when I came home I found that we actually have a tart pan. How have I lived here all this time and not known that we had a tart pan is beyond me but I took it as a sign that I needed to bake today. Since strawberries are in season I thought I'd try my hand at a french strawberry tart that Ina Garten showed recently on Barefoot Contessa.

My cream turned more yellow than hers because I accidentally put in too much vanilla extract but after tasting the cream after it chilled I'm not convinced that it was a terrible mistake after all.

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 1 1/4 Cup Flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 stick of butter
• 2 tbsp shortening

• 1/4 cup ice water

It's best if the ingredients are cold it creates a flakier crust.

1. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and shortening, and combine until the dough creates pea sized balls.
   
2. Add the water and combine until the dough forms.
3. Chill.

While that's chilling, work on the cream!

Cream:

• 1 1/2 Milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1. Set the milk and medium high heat. You don't want to boil it but it needs to be heated up.
   
2. Beat egg yolks and sugar until they become light in color and thick. About 3 minutes, then add cornstarch.
3. Add the scalded milk slowly or you'll end up with scrambled eggs. Actually, the cornstarch helps prevent that but one can never be too careful!
4. Put the mixture back into the pan over medium heat and stir in the vanilla, butter and cream. Stir until it thickens and then switch to stirring with a whisk. To make sure everything is nice and creamy you can put the mixture through a siv.
5. Pour into a bowl and place clip wrap directly on top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming and let it chill in the fridge!
   

Now to go back to the crust. Roll out the crust and place it in the tart pan, and don't be like me and stretch it out because it will, it will shrink. Ina Garten even said "Don't stretch the dough because it'll shrink" and I didn't listen ^^;;. It doesn't shrink dramatically but you end up with something the resembles a pizza instead of a tart.

Bake the crust at 375 degrees for 10 minutes with a butter piece of foil on top of it covered with beans to make sure the crust does not puff up. After 10 minutes take off the foil with the beans and place the crust back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Once the crust is out of the oven and cooled spoon the cream into the crust and then cover in lovely strawberries.

Yule Log with Kahlua Cream and Chocolate Ganache

Every year I can never think of what to get my boyfriend's father for Christmas and so every year I end up making something to delight the sweet tooth. This year my boyfriend mentioned that his father enjoys those hostess snack cakes, Ho Hos, so I decided to try my hand at making a Yule Log. I had seen pictures and while I had never anything rolled before I thought he might enjoy it.

Fortunately, my darling friend Tabitha and her husband Adam bought me The Golden Book of Chocolate as an early Christmas present and I was able to find a recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup granulate sugar
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon
• Splash of cold coffee (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butter and Flour a jelly roll pan (17 x 12 1/2 inch) and line it with parchment paper. Silly me I had always used these pans as cookie sheets--still do--but I had never known that they were actually considered Jelly Roll pans. For a moment there I thought I was going to need to purchase a brand new pan! Not that that would have really upset me ;)
3. Mix the flour, the baking flour and the 1/3 cup of cocoa powder in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl beat the eggs yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar and the melted butter at a high speed until pale and thick. -As a side note, if you are not confident in your egg separating skills I suggest watching Episode 94 of Three's Company Jack shows the girls how to separate eggs and the lesson actually helped me get more confident in it too.
5. Add the vanilla extract and if you choose to add a splash of cold coffee you should do it now. The recipe in the cook book did not call for it but I find most of the time I make anything with chocolate I end up adding a splash of coffee. Ina Garten does this often and I have found that it really does bring out the taste of the chocolate instead of over powering it.
6. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients.
7. In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites and salt in at a medium speed until frothy. With the mixer at a high speed, gradually add the remaining cup of sugar (1/2 cup) until stiff peaks form. Fold this into the batter.
8. Spoon this into the prepared pan and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Next is the fun part. When the cake comes out you'll want to flip it over onto a kitchen towel that has been dusted with the remaining amount of cocoa powder (2 tablespoons should be enough but don't be afraid to use more). My mother and I had such an adventure with this because you need to flip the cake onto the towel once it comes out of the oven. After a few moments of us hopelessly trying to figure out how to flip it struck me that the most obvious way is the best way. Finally, I simply yelled out "No fear!" grabbing the edges of the parchment paper I pulled and flipped the cake onto the towel. We had a good laugh because my mother was on the side of the cake and was now covered in cocoa powder.


Using the cloth roll the cake up and let it cool this way.


This will give you time to make the cream.
Ingredients:

• 5 Large eggs yolks
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons Kahlua (or your favorite coffee liqueur)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Beat the yolks, sugar, and liqueur until pale and thick.
   
2. Bring the milk to a boil.
3. Place the flour and salt in a bowl.
   
4. Pour a bit of the boiling milk and stir until smooth. Once smooth pour the remaining milk.
5. Pour the milk, flour and salt mixture into the yolks and sugar. -You must must must do this part slowly and be sure to stir while doing this. You want to bring the temperature of the eggs up slowly or else you'll end up with scrambled eggs and those do not go well with chocolate cake.
6. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until it gets thick.
7. Let it cool.

Once your cream is cool you'll want to unroll your cake and spread the cream onto the cake.

Then reroll the cake!

I sliced off the edges for neatness sake:

Then to give the cake that snack cake look I decided to cover it in chocolate Ganache.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, grated chopped or morsels will work.
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Simply bring the cream to a boil and pour the hot cream into the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is shiney. Let cool and then pour over the cake.