Croissants...just like the ones in France.

Whenever Masterchef is on, I get a craving to cook some more challenging dishes.  The last time I made croissants was when I lived in Canada and I'm pretty sure there was no yeast involved. I started the weekend by baking some posh Jammy Dodgers (I'll post this later), then I felt I needed to perfect my chocolate fondant skills and finally croissants.  

Before I discuss croissants, I must tell you about my chocolate fondants.  I exhausted all my recipe books to find the best recipe.  They are all pretty much the same but in the end I used Felicity Cloak's recipe on the Guardian website. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/feb/10/how-cook-perfect-chocolate-fondants
I did add a bit more flour as I felt her recipe didn't have quite enough. Anyway, they collapsed...another minute and I think they would have been perfect. The annoying thing is that the 2 times that my husband has made them, they were perfect.  

SO...croissants.  I know I said that part of the reason of writing this blog was to use my cookbooks more and to follow the recipes exactly.  I just can't do it!  

I consulted 3 of my cookbooks before starting; Leith's Baking Bible, The Great British Bake Off-How To Bake and Pastry by Michel Roux.  I pretty much used the Great British Bake Off recipe as it was the only one that used dry yeast and I didn't plan ahead enough to get fresh.  The only thing I changed was the amount of milk I used as the other 2 recipes used less. I probably used about 290 - 300ml. I discounted Roux as he used a lot more yeast than the others and he cooked them at such a low temperature which seems to go against the theory of initially cooking at a very high temperature so the butter doesn't ooze out. You would think the French guy would get it right! Hey, I can't totally dis him as I didn't try his recipe. The one tip I did use from him was to make a small incision at the top end of the triangle before rolling them into the croissant shape and I also saw Anna Olson do this.

I know it's a bit of a faff making croissants but if you plan ahead and are spending the weekend at home, give them a go as these were just as good as the ones you get in a French boulangerie. They were crispy on the outside and beautifully flaky and buttery on the inside. My mouth is watering just as I am describing them! Make lots and freeze them.

Here is the ingredient list from Great British Bake-Off - How to Bake. The method for making croissants is pretty much the same regardless of the source of the recipe, there may be the odd tweak here and there.

Makes about 20

500g strong white bread flour (I used half plain flour)
1 x 7g sachet fast-action yeast
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp sea salt flakes, crushed (I just used fine)
325ml cool skimmed milk (I used 290-300ml semi-skimmed)
250g unsalted butter in a block, chilled
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze

Put the flour into a mixing bowl of a free-standing mixer or large mixing bowl. Mix in the yeast and make a well. Add the sugar and salt to the milk and stir until dissolved. Add the milk into the well and mix on low speed until the dough just comes away from the sides of the bowl but thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to prove for 1 hour or until doubled, in a warm place, I usually place in my oven.  At this point, I must admit that I was a little disheartened as the dough was a bit firm but I found out that it didn't matter.

Gently punch down the dough and put back into the bowl and re-cover. Put into the fridge for at least 6 hours but I recommend overnight as that is what I did. 

Take the block of butter out of the fridge and and place between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. Start pounding gently until it is half of it's original thickness, fold over and repeat a couple of times making sure that it is still cold. Shape into a square about 12cm on each side. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch down and shape into a ball.  Cut a deep cross into the ball. Place the ball so the cross looks like an 'X' rather than a '+' facing you. (I wish I took photos of this!) Roll the dough from the middle to the edge on each side so you have 4 flaps and it is still thick in the centre. The reason you do this is so the dough on the one side is not too thin. Make sure the middle bit is large enough to hold the butter. Place the butter in the middle and fold over the four flaps making sure the butter is completely covered. Roll out to a large rectangle approx. 40cm x 75cm, roll from the middle out. Fold the rectangle into 3, so if the short side is facing you, fold the bottom third to the middle and then fold the top third over this...like a business letter. Give the dough a quarter turn and turn upside down. Roll out again to the same size as before and fold as before.  Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Repeat the process as above so the dough will have had 4 turns and folds in total. Refrigerate again for 20-30 minutes, but if you left it longer it won't matter as I left mine for about  5 hours as we went out for the day.

Make a triangle template with cardboard measuring 10cm on the base and 18cm high. Roll the dough out so  it is about 3mm thick, approx. 40cm x 75cm.  Trim the edges of the rectangle; a pizza cutter works well here. Use the template to cut out the triangles.  Working quickly, cut a 1cm cut in the middle of the base of the triangle, slightly pull the corners of the base and roll towards the point. Place on a baking sheet and turn the points of the croissant inwards to make the crescent shape. At this point, you can freeze any extra croissants to bake when you have the urge.  

Brush the croissants with the egg glaze, working from the middle out so they don;t glue together. Place in a warm place and let prove for about an hour or until doubled in size.  Once doubled, put in the fridge so the butter firms up. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius, gas mark 8.  Cook for 10 minutes then turn the temperature to 190 degrees Celsius, gas mark 5 and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until the croissants are a deep brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Proper Lamb Samosas

Today you will be not be getting a recipe from a cookbook or magazine. This is one that has been passed down from my mum. I have called it 'Proper' lamb samosas because this is how they should be made. This recipe is not for beginners, it is for the confident cook not really because it is technically difficult but because it is a bit labour intensive. Samosas are great to make with someone else or a group of friends as you can get a bit of an assembly line going. But if you have to make them on your own, then set aside a few hours and make lots so you can freeze them.

So we need to start with the filling. I love lamb samosas but it's entirely up to you what filling you use. You don't have to follow the recipe exactly, you can adjust things to your taste and if you want more vegetables in them, then add more vegetables.

Lamb Filling:

1 tbsp sunflower oil
5 whole cloves
5 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5 cm fresh ginger, finely grated
2 green finger chillies, finely chopped (deseeded, if you want them milder)
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
500g mince lamb
1 medium red-skinned potato, diced into 1 cm cubes
Handful of frozen petit pois
Salt, to taste
1 tsp garam masala
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and let sizzle. Add the onions and cook on a medium/low heat for 5 minutes before adding garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook for another 5 minutes, if the mixture starts sticking, add a splash of water. Add the dry spices and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the minced lamb and fry with the spiced onions for about 5 minutes until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Mix in the potatoes, turn heat to low, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Add the peas, garam masala and salt, cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Finish with the lemon juice and fresh coriander.  Drain off any excess fat then set aside to cool slightly.

Now the pastry. This is what makes a great samosa as opposed to an okay samosa.  The pastry must be thin, not as thin as filo but pretty thin and I'm going to tell you how to achieve this. A lot of recipes do not use the layering recipe and end up with a thick pastry. You can cheat if you like and buy some spring roll pastry and cut into the shapes as described below.

Samosa Pastry:

500g plain white flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Approx. 200 ml hot water (boiled with a bit of cold added)

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the oil and lemon juice and rub into the flour, add the water and mix until it comes together. Knead until smooth and make walnut sized balls. 

Heat a tava or non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. On a floured surface, roll out 2 of the balls into 5 inch discs.  Spread a thin layer of sunflower oil on one of the discs and place the other one on top.  Add more flour to the surface and roll out the 2 discs into one large circle of about 8-9 inches making sure the thickness is even all over.

Place this circle of dough onto the pan and dry fry for about 30 seconds on each side. You don't want too much colour on them. Place the pastry onto a slightly damp, clean tea towel and peel the 2 layers apart be (careful as it will be hot). Turn the top layer upside down and place back on top of the other layer. Fold the tea towel on top to keep them from drying out.  Repeat with the rest of the balls and keep stacking them on top of each other.

Once they are all made, you need to cut them into the right shapes.

Now you are ready to fold and fill. (told you it's time consuming).First make some glue by mixing plain flour with warm water until you have a paste about the consistency of double cream.

I'll show in pictures but basically, you bring one of the top corners on the short edge to meet a point on the long edge.Make sure to hole it as small as possible. Fold the flap  over and glue and you should now have a pocket to fill.  Fill with the filling but not too full or you will find it difficult to close.  Fold the top flap over and glue to close the pocket, again ensuring that the holes in the corners are very small.

Finally, deep fry them in sunflower oil until golden brown and eat hot with a chutney of your choice. I like tamarind chutney.

If you would like to freeze them, put them flat on a tray until frozen then put into a container. Do not put them unfrozen in a container otherwise they will stick together and could rip the pastry.

I know it seems like a lot of work but trust me, it's totally worth it when you eat them and shop bought are never as good.  

An Ugly Rich Chocolate Mousse Cake

Since being made redundant from my job at Whole Foods Market, I have had much more time at home. During this time I am of course, job hunting. That's the joy of a laptop, you can sit in front of the telly at the same time. It's amazing how you can fill your day with daytime TV. It starts with The Wright Stuff, then I flick between that and This Morning, then Loose Women (even though I don't really like it anymore), then Barefoot Contessa and finally Bake with Anna Olsen.

I don't usually like American baking shows or recipes as they use imperial measurements and I feel it never quite converts exactly. Well, for a start Anna is Canadian so that automatically makes her less annoying, at least to a fellow Canadian, and I just love watching all the fantastic baking she does. So I decided to try one of her recipes; Rich Chocolate Mousse Cake  http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/rich-chocolate-mousse-cake.html 

I must love a challenge because this recipe is classified as 'Difficult' plus I decided to make it for an Easter Dinner that we were invited to.  First of all, Anna says that the 'cake' is enough for 2  recipes so one could be frozen. I found that I needed to use both cakes as they were not thick enough...no problem! Now for the mousse; I was excited to be able to use my sugar thermometer as I don't get to use it that much. Let's just say, it's good to check which side is Fahrenheit and Celsius. I didn't!! Needless to say, I didn't bring the sugar and water up to temperature and by the time I realised, it was too late. Well I wasn't going to waste all that chocolate that I had already melted.

Finally, the chocolate glaze. I'm not sure if the recipe is wrong but there is no way there should be that much gelatine in that little liquid.  The picture says it all!

Thick lumpy chocolate glaze.

HEY...It was delicious!  Think I'll stick to UK recipes.


Here is the recipe if you are daring enough to try it. By the way...this is how it should look.

• For the cake:

• 60ml boiling water
• 55g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 60g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 100g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 60ml hot, strongly brewed coffee

• For the mousse:

• 720ml whipping cream, divided
• 340ml milk chocolate, chopped
• 3 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 100g sugar
• 80ml water

• For the chocolate glaze:

• 60ml water
• 100g sugar
• 60ml whipping cream
• 50g Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 1/2 tbsp unflavoured gelatine powder

Method

How to make Rich Chocolate Mousse Cake

For the cake, preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and then lightly dust the sides of the pan with flour, tapping out any excess. *Please note that only 1 cake layer is needed for this recipe, but it is easiest to make this recipe in its full measure and freeze the second cake for a later use.

whisk the boiling water, chocolate and butter together until melted (it will be visibly grainy) and set aside.

whip the egg, sugar and vanilla until the mixture doubles in volume (about 2 minutes on high speed) and then fold in the chocolate mixture by hand.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over the batter and fold in, then stir in the hot coffee (this will make the batter become fluid). Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans.

Bake the cakes for about 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans.

For the mousse, have ready a 9-inch springform pan, lining the bottom with parchment paper (in order to make the mousse-filled cake easier to remove from the pan). whip 360ml of the whipping cream until it holds a medium peak when the beaters are lifted and chill.

Heat the remaining 360ml of cream to just below a simmer and then pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let this sit one minute, then gently stir until incorporated. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whip for a minute on high speed. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepot over high heat and boil (occasionally brushing the sides of the pot with water) until it reaches 120°C on a candy thermometer. Start whipping the egg yolks on medium speed and then carefully pour the hot sugar down the side of the bowl to avoid splashing, and then increase the mixer speed until high and whip until this has doubled in volume and cooled to about 140°C (just above body temperature).

Measure the temperature of the ganache to ensure it is close to 40°C as well, and fold the ganache into the whipped yolks. Let this cool for 15 minutes, or until just above room temperature, then fold in the chilled whipped cream in 2 additions.

Pour half of the mousse into the ungreased springform pan. Sliceone of the cake layers in half horizontally and place this over the mousse, as centred as possible. Pour the remaining mousse over the cake layer and gently place the other half of the cake layer on top, pressing gently just so the mousse covers the sides of the cake, but not so that it sinks in. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and freeze the cake to set it, at least 4 hours, or overnight.

While the cake is setting, prepare the glaze. Bring the water, sugar, and cream to a boil in a medium saucepot. Once boiling, whisk in the cocoa powder and simmer (reducing the heat if needed) for 4 minutes, stirring often, (the consistency will not change). Remove from heat. Soften the gelatin in 60ml of cold water and then whisk this into the hot cocoa mixture until dissolved. Cool the glaze to room temperature, then chill completely, at least 3 hours.

To finish the cake, remove it from the freezer invert the pan onto a cooling rack placed over a parchment-lined baking tray. Use a hair dryer on a low, hot setting to gently warm the pan so that it releases from the pan, the sides first and then the top. Warm the chilled glaze while whisking occasionally until just melted and smooth and pour this over the torte, spreading gently with a spatula to ensure that it covers the top and sides of the torte evenly. Chill the cake for at least 30 minutes, then lift it onto your presentation plate and store chilled until ready to serve.

The cake will keep, refrigerated, for up to 4 days.