• 6 egg whites
• 6 egg yolks
• 3 C double cream
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup confectioner sugar
• 2 LB frozen raspberries

1. Pre-heat oven to 400º
2. Line a large tray with parchment paper and oil it generously with sunflower oil.
3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff with a balloon whisk on high speed.
4. Whisk yolks, sifted cocoa and sugar for 2 minutes on high speed with balloon whisk.
5. Fold egg whites into chocolate mix.
6. Spread out and place immediately into the oven.
7. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes.
8. Meanwhile place a large sheet of parchment paper on a clean table surface.
9. When done, turn out onto parchment paper
10. Peel off first parchment paper and roll to a roulade, allowing parchment paper to be rolled up too
11. Leave to cool for two full hours
12. Whip up the cream together with sugar and vanilla.
13. Unroll, and fill the roulade with still frozen raspberries and cream, reserving some cream for decoration.
14. Now roll back up, removing parchment paper
15. Serve sprinkled with icing sugar and some sprigs of mint from the garden.

Sticky Date and Toffee Pudding

• For 60 people

CAKE

• Chopped dates 1.4 kg
• Water 1.7 l
• Bicarbonate of Soda 2 tablespoons
• Margarine or Butter 700 g
• Caster Sugar 750 g
• Eggs 12
• Vanilla Essence 2 tablespoons
• Self-raising flour 1.5 kg

SAUCE

• Soft brown sugar 900 g
• Cream 750 ml
• Butter (NOT margarine) 700 g

PREPARATION

• Pre-heat oven to 190 C. Oil lightly and line 2 medium sized aluminium tins.
• Put dates and water in a pan, bring to boil. Remove from heat and stir in the soda. Leave to cool in a sink filled with cold water.
• Beat softened butter and sugar together with balloon whisk on high speed, until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one by one, and vanilla essence.
• Take mixing bowl off the mixer, add the cooled dates and mix in, sieve the flour into the bowl and now fold it into the butter mix with a spatula with large movements, trying not to over beat it.
• Fill into the prepared tins. Bake in the oven for 50 min to one hour or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean.
• To make the sauce, put all ingredients into a pan and bring slowly to the boil . Simmer on low heat for 1 minute.
• To serve: Serve once cake has cooled a bit, or if pre-prepared: Reheat cakes covered with aluminium foil for 20 minutes at gas 4, and heat up sauce on low heat.

From TV – Alton Brown

• Preheat oven to 350º
• Use popover pan
• butter
• cream
• treacle – molasses and brown sugar and espresso powder

1. Melt 150 gm butter in  a pan (11 TBL) over low heat
2. 300 gm brown sugar
3. 90 gm molasses
4. 1 TBL instant coffee powder (preferably espresso)
5. 1/2 tsp salt
   • Whisk over heat till starts to bubble
6. Add 3/4 C heavy cream
7. simmer for 2-3 minutes, then set aside
   • Combine to make cake
8. 105 gm AP flour
9. 3/4 tsp baking soda
10. 1/2 tsp baking powder
11. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
    • In food processor
12. 150 gm pitted Medjool Dates
13. 3/4 C boiling water
    • Pulse to break apart
14. Add 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
15. 85 gm melted butter
16. 65 gm dark brown sugar
17. 50 gm granulated sugar
18. 1/2 tsp vanilla
19. 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
    1. Pulse to combine
20. Add flour mixture plus
21. 70 gm more pitted dates
    1. Pulse to combine
22. Spoon in 2 tsp topping mix into popover pan
23. #10 (2.5 oz) batter into cups – about 2/3 of the way up
24. Bake 11 minutes
25. Rotate pan, then tap on counter to collapse
26. Bake 11 more minutes or 211 degrees
27. Remove, let cool a bit, then use a chopstick to break them free of the pan
28. Poke about 5 holes using the stick
29. Top with 1-2 TBL more toffee
30. Broil for 1-2 minutes when ready to serve
31. Invert pan and tap on counter

Before we begin…

• You can make your own cream puffs, or just buy them in the grocery store.
• Pâte à Choux is a hollow pastry that is used for éclairs, profiteroles, cream puffs, and gougères. The gougère has cheese in the dough during the last step.
• – éclair = long and thin
• – profiteroles, cream puffs = round
• – gougère = add shredded cheese during step 9

Ingredients to feed 4 people

Step by Step

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F
2. Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in 1 C flour. It should look like mashed potatoes.
5. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, pushing it to the sides, then gathering it back into a ball; until mixture stops sticking to the pan, about 3 minutes. This will cook the flour.
6. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
7. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. It’s OK if it is warm, just not hot enough to cook the eggs.
8. Whisk together all of your eggs – well mixed
9. Raise speed to medium; add eggs, 1/4 cup at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger.
   – If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does.
   – Dough will become gooey and ropey, but will come back together. That is when you will add more egg. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
10. Once you have a firm dough, pipe onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave an inch between each piece.
11. Brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar
12. Cook hot 425º for 12 minutes.
13. Turn the oven temp down to 375º and bake another 20 minutes. Exact time will be determined by the shape and size of your puffs.
14. Bake until the shapes are slightly puffed and golden brown.
15. They should detach easily from the parchment and feel lightweight – kind of like a sponge or hollow egg shell.
16. Leave the oven door closed and turn off the oven.
17. Let them dry out in there for 15-30 minutes more
18. Take one out and break it open.
    – It should not be wet on the inside. If it is, turn the oven back to 350 degrees and bake 5 more minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed – repeating the testing process.
    – If they are not hollow, it means that you used too much flour. There is no recovery. What you CAN do, is dip them in melted chocolate and make a kind of a chocolate doughnut hole.
19. When they have finished cooking, poke the puffs with a toothpick. This will allow steam to escape from the inside, which would make them soggy.
20. Once completely cooled, you can fill them or freeze them for up to three months.
21. If making a Croquembouche, fill them with creme Anglaise, and dip them in white chocolate (melted in a double boiler) or hot caramel sauce. Stack into a tower. If the tower does not seem stable, put it in the refrigerator to set up every couple of layers.

Oh, one more thing…

• Croquembouche is traditionally garnished with glazed/spun sugar, as shown on this Food Networks Recipe.

Notes from Alton:

• Steam pushes the pastry up, creating a cavity – or bubble.
• The cavity can be filled with pastry cream.
• Basically bread flour (for machines), butter, eggs
• Start with 1 C water and 6 TBL butter 1 TBL sugar and pinch of salt
  Leave sugar out for savory puffs – (eg) chicken salad sandwich
• Bring to a boil
• 5 3/4 oz flour – weighed with digital scale and stir vigorously
• Cook until slightly dried, then let cool
• 4 eggs plus 2 egg whites – Add slowly using paddle beater
• Use piping bag to make lazy S shapes – round on both ends
• Preheat oven to 375º
• Use parchment paper
• DO NOT OPEN OVEN and cook for 15 minutes
• Cream puffs – concentric circles about 3-4 inches
• After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350º and cook 10 more minutes
• Pierce side or end to let steam escape
• Cool – refrigerate a week
• FILLING: Pastry cream or vanilla pudding from a box – 3/4 of liquid cause you want thick – smaller tip
• Chocolate coating: 1  C chips and 1 tsp veg oil or melted butter – double boiler
• Put coating on chilled eclaires

Alt: Pipe into hot oil to make funnel cakes

1. Dissolve 1 tsp lemon gelatin in 1/4 C hot water – dissolve – place on counter to cool, but not chill.
2. Chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the refrigerator
3. Melt 12 oz unsweetened chocolate chips in a double boiler
4. Bring 1.5 C heavy cream plus 1 C milk up to a near boil over medium high heat stirring frequently
5. Mix 2/3 C sugar with a pinch of salt and 1 TBL cornstarch
6. Mix 2 TBL melted butter in with sugar mixture
7. Add 1 TBL cocoa and 8 large egg yolks to sugar mixture
8. Temper into the milk mixture
9. Add in 2 tsp vanilla
10. Mix all back in the pot and stir only to thicken
11. Put melted chocolate in and cook an additional 2-3 more minutes
12. Ladle into ramekins or desert glasses
13. Put Saran Wrap on top of the chocolate actually TOUCHING the mixture – this will prevent a skin forming
14. Refrigerate 3 hours

1. Mix 1/2 C sour cream with 1 TBL white sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla
2. Add your cooled gelatin to the sour cream mixture
3. Using your chilled mixer bowl and beaters,  beat 1/2 C whipping cream to soft peaks
4. Fold the sour cream mixture into the whipping cream
5. Put a generous scoop of topping on your chocolate pudding
6. Top with powdered cocoa or shaved chocolate curls

Photo by Elizabeth Graham
Egg, chorizo and cheese, and smoked turkey and provolone kolaches baked by Autumn Stanford of Bed-Stuy.[/caption]A traditional treat from the Czech Republic. Originally these were filled with cheese and/or fruit. As the recipe came to the United States we started to fill them with shredded meat, or ground meat with cheese, or something else to create some of the original fast food. The Kolache at this point became more of a wrap or a roll.

This recipe is a dessert, and goes back to the roots.

1/4 C warmed whole milk
3 TBL melted butter
1 small egg
– whisk together above ingredients
– mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl
1 C AP flour
1 TBL sugar
1 tsp yeast
pinch of salt
Mix everything in a food processor and mix just until the dough comes together
Add a bit of flour or milk until you get a well formed dough ball
Turn up the speed and mix for 8 minutes
Place into lightly oiled GLASS bowl and put in warm place to rise for about an hour

While this rises, make your filling
2 OZ of cream cheese
1 TBL sugar
2 tsp AP flour
zest and juice from one lemon
Mix until it all comes together
Add 2 OZ ricotta cheese
Mix again until incorporated
Set aside

For a nice finish, make some streusel for the edges
1 TBL AP flour
1 TBL sugar
1 tsp butter
Set aside

After an hour, dump the dough onto a floured surface
Flatten it just a bit, then cut into 4 pieces
Create four rounds
Spray very lightly with cooking spray to keep them from drying out
Set them on a baking sheet and let them rise for another 90 minutes
Flatten the center of each ball with the greased bottom of a coffee cup or large glass
Brush the top of each kolache with egg white and a TBL of water
Put filling into the center
Sprinkle with streusel
Bake at 350º for about 15 minutes
Rotate pan, and bake another 10-15 minutes or until browned
Serve warm if possible

Kolache photos from www.slovakcooking.com and Brooklyn Paper.

• Separate 4 eggs
• Set aside yolks for Hollandaise sauce – another recipe
• Using a pencil, mark a serving plate sized circle on waxed paper
• Flip over paper, so that pencil is on the bottom
• Whip egg whites to medium peaks

Combine

• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar or white vinegar
• 1 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch salt
• 1 TBL cornstarch
• Continue whipping till you have stiff peaks

• Gently fold in Juice and zest from 1 lemon
• Spread the meringue into several piles so that it is about 1/4 inch disk inside the circle
• Create an indentation in the center of each disk
• Bake at 250° for 90 minutes
• Turn off oven and allow to rest undisturbed for one hour

Give thought to your toppings
Lemon curd is a good topping
Another popular topping is whipped cream
After it has cooled, spread you’re topping, and top with blueberries or
strawberries.
1 C heavy whipping cream – some in each indentation
Put some passion fruit and raspberry in the center as well
– 1/2 C confectioner sugar

Smaller Portion

1. Pulse together 2/3 C flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt.
2. Pulse in 6 TBL COLD butter.
3. Pulse in 3 TBL ice water and 1 TBL sour cream
4. Pour out on floured surface.
5. Mix by hand to thick 6 inch circle.
6. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours.
7. Roll out to a 10-12 inch circle.
8. Cut into strips.
9. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
10. Peel and core 6 Golden Delicious apples.
11. Cut into thin wedges.
12. Brown in a large skillet with 1/4 C brown sugar, 2 TBL butter, 1 tsp Apple Pie Spice and 1/4 tsp salt.
13. Simmer 6-10 minutes.
14. Pour into greased baking dish.
15. Mix together 2/3 C apple cider, 1 TBL corn starch, 3 TBL melted butter and juice and zest from one lemon.
16. Pour over top of apples, then press down.
17. Lace dough strips over top (loose weave)
18. Brush with egg wash – 1 beaten egg and 1 tsp water.
19. Sprinkle with CinnaSugar.
20. Bake at 400º for 15 minutes.
21. Push down crust so that filling oozes up.
22. Bake another 15 minutes.

Cindy’s Pumpkin Pie (two pies)

To avoid cracks, cook to internal temp of 170º

• 16 0z Pumpkin Pureé – PURE – not Pumpkin Pie Mix
• 1 TBL Grandpa’s CinnaSugar®
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 C milk
• 1/4 C corn syrup
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 C flour – or until a thick pourable custard
• Bake @ 350º till browning starts – approx 40 minutes
• Turn off oven, but leave pie in to cook with residual heat

BASIC PIE CRUST

• 10 oz AP flour – approx 2 C
• 6.5 oz cold butter
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pulse in food processor
• 1/2 C ice cold water – add more if necessary to bring together
• Should be moist, but not wet – DO NOT OVERWORK
• Good for pot pies, pumpkin pies, etc
• Refrigerate dough ball 1 hour, then roll out

Here is McCormick’s take on this classic Thanksgiving dessert: