A Christmas cookie exchange sparked the integration of my favourite ingredients....Earl Grey Infused Dark Chocolate Cookie!

~ Earl Grey Infused Dark Chocolate Cookie ~
Since I work at a nutrition research laboratory, to make these cookies just a tad healthier, grapeseed oil is used.


This recipe is an extension to a recent article on Earl Grey:
"Earl Grey....from an obsession to a devotion"


Makes 2 dozen cookies

135g grapeseed oil
100g light brown sugar
150g granulated sugar
55g unsweetened cacao
2 Earl Grey tea bags, grind finely with a coffee grinder
3 large eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
50g bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
180g all-purpose flour
7g baking powder
1 pinch salt
200g bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped


1. Preheat oven to 350oF. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl with the grapeseed oil, stir in the brown and granulated sugars, then stir in the cacao and Earl Grey tea powder until incorporated.

3. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Scrape in the melted chocolate, and mix until incorporated.

4. Gradually stir in the flour mixture in 3 additions, do not over mix. During the final addition, add the chopped chocolate along with the flour.

5. Freeze the dough for 4 hours or overnight.

6. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Scoop the cookie dough into tightly formed balls using a small ice cream scoop (size 24). Arrange the dough on the prepared baking trays, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn and bake for another 4 to 5 minutes. Remove cookies from trays with a wide metal spatula and cool on wire rack.

Bon Appetit!

A spicy cheesecake for a white Christmas with friends....

~ Spicy Kabocha Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust ~


This recipe is an extention to a previous article on Kabocha.
"Giving Thanks with Kabocha....the Japanese Pumpkin...."


Crust:
1 3/4 cups ginger snap crust
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
100g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 cup roasted Kabocha, pureed
4 eggs
~2/3 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of the roasted Kabocha
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice mix
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


1. Preheat oven to 350oF.
2. In medium bowl, combine crumbs and melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch cake pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, yogourt, sugar and the spices. Beat together until well combined.
4. Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and bake in a waterbath for 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.


Bon Appetit!

Macaron de la divinité captures the essence of this mulberry purple coloured root....

~ le Macaron aux Taro~
Taro flavoured macaron filled with coconut white chocolate ganache


This article is part of "The Macaron Series"
http://lafleuraucacao.blogspot.com/2009/10/in-mood-for-loveand-macaronthe-macaron.html


As the potato of the humid tropics, I consider Taro is one of the most flavourful root, is commonly used within Chinese cuisine in a variety of styles; in desserts it is used in sweet soups, bubble tea, and as a flavouring in ice cream and other desserts in the China. McDonald's sells Taro flavored pies at their stores in China! To celebrate my inner passion for this mulberry purple coloured root, what could be more suited than disguising its essence behind the shining dome of a macaron?

For the Macaron Recipe, please click on this link below for the recipe for the Earl Grey Macaron:
http://lafleuraucacao.blogspot.com/2009/10/earl-grey-macaronnew-creation-for.html

* Replace the 8g of Earl Grey tea powder with 8g of Taro powder



~ Coconut White Chocolate Ganache ~

4 tbs Coconut Powder (can be found in Asian supermarkets)
4 oz White Chocolate Couverture, finely chopped and place in stainless steel bowl
1/2 cup Heavy Cream

1. Mix 2 tbs of heavy cream into the Coconut powder to form a smooth paste
2. Place the remaining heavy cream in a saucier over medium heat and bring it to a near simmer
3. Pour the hot cream over the finely chopped white chocolate, and very gently stir until all white chocolate pieces have melted
4. Stir in the Coconut paste until it has completely incorporated with the white chocolate ganache
5. Allow the Coconut ganache to cool and thicken
6. Place the Coconut ganache into a piping bag to assemble le Macaron aux Taro!


Bon Appetit!

Choux shines and shimmers upon your holiday dinner table....Cygnes pâte à choux!

There’s something about choux paste that is both merrily absurd and very much miraculous. With a preparation that seems to defy pastry logic, a wicked but sensual challenge lays ahead to perfect this tricky treat!



You cook a paste of water, butter and flour over the stove and then furiously beat eggs into the irredeemable mess looking dough. But with some love and patience, and the blessing from your mixer paddle, the dough comes together into a glossy, golden thick lava. When baked, it inflates into gloriously hollow ornaments, perfect for filling. It’s no wonder choux paste inspires goofy desserts like the towering, pyramidal croquembouche, the bicycle-tire-shaped Paris-Brest and the special Cygnes pâte à choux, shimmering swans that are magical for the most special occasions.

With its almost impossible flexibility, pâte à choux can be used to make profiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, French crullers, beignets, St. Honoré cake, Indonesian kue sus, and gougères. A chef by the name of Panterelli invented the dough in 1540. He used the dough to make a gâteau and named it Pâte à Panterelli. Over time, the recipe of the dough evolved; a pâtissier in the eighteenth century, created what were then called Choux Buns or Pâte à Choux, as they resemble cabbages – choux in French.


Pâte à Choux

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup whole milk
Pinch salt
Pinch granulated sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup bread flour
2 to 3 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the water, milk, salt, granulated sugar, and butter in a 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, set it over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. The butter should be completely melted by the time the mixture boils.

2. Remove the saucepan from the heat immediately. Add the bread flour all at once and incorporate it thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

3. Return the saucepan to the stove and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes to dry out the paste. Keep the paste moving, or it will burn. The paste will dry out and leave a thin film on the bottom of the saucepan.

4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the paste to a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer set on low speed for about 2 minutes to release some of the steam.

5. Continue to mix and slowly add the eggs 1 at a time, incorporating well after each addition. After you have added 2 eggs, check the consistency by scooping a large amount of the paste onto a wooden spoon. Hold the spoon horizontally about 1foot above the bowl and watch as the batter falls from the spoon back into the bowl. If it is pale yellow, smooth, moist, slightly elastic, sticky, and takes 5 to 7 seconds to fall into the bowl, it is ready. If it appears rough, dry, and falls into the bowl in 1 big ball, it needs more eggs. Add another egg and check the consistency again after it is well incorporated.

6. Transfer the pastry to a bag fitted with a small coupler. Pipe about 1/2 tablespoon of the pastry into a mound on the prepared baking sheet, spacing pastry about 1 1/2 inches apart.

7. Brush the top of each mound with water. Bake until the puffs are golden brown all over, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.


Bon Appetit!