Génoise and mousseline, moving in, and other oddities

Ah, how time flies! Already, I'm in the second week of school!! So, this is my first post of the year! Yaye! I'm glad to be back at UMass, even if I have to eat DC food :p But I've had plenty of opportunity to cook already! And, I've gotten to use the brand-new cookware my mother and nonna bought for me :) Thank you so much!! I <3 you both lots and lots!

Anyway, before the epic moving-in day, we had one last family dinner at home: me, my brother, nonna, mother, and father all at the table for one last time before the insanity of autumn set in. With our antipasti we had some prosecco, which is, as Gab said, "the Italian answer to champagne." As its name suggests, prosecco is a dry sparkling wine, much closer to the character of champagne than asti spumante. It's quite nice (you may be seeing another post about it near Yuletide ;) ). Nonna made some absolutely amazing lasagna...I still have a little morsel in my fridge which is screaming "EAT ME!!" I've been saving it because I don't want to run out, as silly as that sounds. Anyway, for a finish to the delicious meal, I made "little 'layer cakes.'" I sandwiched dark chocolate mousseline (generally referred to simply as "mousse") between two rounds of génoise cake and chilled it. For a first try, it went pretty well. I definitely want to develop this recipe further; I feel as though it could become a very refined and delicious dessert.
So, there were a few setbacks with this recipe... First, I had no cake rings and the cutters I used for the rings were three inch rings. Second, I discovered at the last moment that we had no lemon (for the cake) or Cointreau (for the mousseline). Third, I absolutely suck at icing. Despite that, I think things turned out well. Here's my recipe...First gen, if you will *laugh*:

Orange Génoise

6 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange extract (this is where the lemon zest would go usually)
1 cup sifted flour
1 tbsp melted butter

1. Prep a 9 x 13 pan by buttering its whole interior, then dusting it with flour, tapping out all the excess
2. Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and orange extract in a bowl (I use the mixer bowl) and whisk over boiling water until just warm, about 1/2 min. Be sure to whisk the whole thing evenly, or you'll end up with little bits of scrambled egg on the sides of the bowl
3. With the whisk attachment, beat the egg mixture at a high speed for 6-8 min., until pale yellow "and the consistency of a light mayonnaise." Not having ever made mayonnaise, I couldn't say what that is, but you end up with a light yellow foam, which is quite thick. be careful of overworking the eggs at this point (i.e., don't go more than 8 minutes in the mixer) or the cake may not behave properly when it's baking
4. Add the flour by sprinkling it over the surface of the egg mixture and folding it in, portion by portion
   
5. Fold in the melted butter (occasionally I forget this step ^^; if you're silly like me and do that, don't worry, the cake won't be ruined)
6. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes
7. When finished, allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting into circles

Chocolate Mouselline

4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar (or what Mastering the Art calls "instant sugar," whatever that is)
1/4 cup Drambuie (usually an orange liqueur, such as Cointreau, is used)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 shot espresso (actually, a café restretto would be even better...)
1 1/2 sticks softened unsalted butter (don't make the mistake of using salted butter--the result is pretty nasty, IMO)
1 tbsp granulated sugar

1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until it is thick, pale yellow, and forms the ribbon
2. Beat in the Drambuie
3. Set the bowl over not-quite-simmering water and beat for 3-4 min., until foamy and too hot for your finger
4. Remove and beat over cold water for another 3-4 min., until it is cool again and forms the ribbon
5. Melt the chocolate with the coffee over hot water
6. Remove from the heat and beat in the butter a little at a time
7. Beat the chocolate mixture into the yolks
8. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Sprinkle the sugar over them, then beat until they form stiff peaks
9. Stir one fourth of the whites into the chocolate and yolk mixture. Fold in the remainder
10. Chill until firm

Assembly

1. Spread a thick layer of mousseline on a circle of génoise. Top with a second circle
2. Chill the cakes in the refrigerator
3. Make a whipped cream with minimal flavouring
4. Before serving top each cake with a healthy spoonful of whipped cream

The génoise actually came out quite well. The one immediate issue with it was that I didn't have any lemon zest, so I substituted 1/2 tsp of orange extract. The result was nice, but I definitely should have cut out the vanilla and made it simply an orange-flavoured cake, maybe even using a full teaspoon of extract. Secondarily, I thought that the cake was too dry. That is one of the main characteristics which differentiates génoise from sponge cake. In Antique Bakery (is it sad that I base some of my decisions on a manga?), it's often soaked or brushed with liqueur or syrup, so I think next time I do this I'll make a sort of orange syrup to moisten the cake with, and maybe cut the cake so it's thinner.
The mousseline was a lot of work. I need to build up my arm muscles so I can keep up with all the whisking! It was totally worth it, though. It was very rich and chocolaty, and didn't fall at all. I did, however, think that the chocolate was a little too strong for this use. Perhaps I should use a lighter chocolate next time. Also, as much as I love Ghiradelli, their chocolate has a sour aspect to it which I wasn't thrilled about here. In other recipes, like chocolate chip cookies, it's fine, but here it was a little too pronounced. Perhaps if I have the money I'll see if I can get some E. Guittard, the brand used at the Spoon. Also, the Drambuie could have suffered to be a bit more pronounced. I'll play with the proportions to see if I can get it to speak up a bit.
As for the whipped cream, I've pretty much got the method of whipping down pat. I never end up with cream which is grainy or too close. As far as flavourings go, for this recipe (and probably for many others), you needn't flavour the cream at all; otherwise, it's too heavy and muddles the dessert.
This is a recipe I'm definitely going to develop further.

So, on moving-in day, Matchstick met me to help me move in, and our mothers went off to have a light lunch at the Rt. 9 Diner, where we later met them and had a quick dinner. Then, we all went on a grocery adventure! Matchstick's mother got him a big load of essentials, and my mother got me four Goya ginger beers and a bag of Starbucks French Roast. Thanks so much mom!! Goya's ginger beer is absolutely the best. And I fell in love with the coffee as soon as I made my first cup! It makes an excellent French press.

So, in these first two weeks, we've already had some fun adventures. First, was a beef adventure. Matchstick had forgotten to put the 2+ lbs of ground beef his mother had bought him in the freezer, so it had just been sitting in the fridge...O no!! You really do have to freeze meat right after buying it if you're planning on storing it for a long time. But it wasn't a problem. We cooked it up with a pound of black beans, half a yellow onion, and healthy helpings of parsley, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and crushed cumin seeds (we accidentally got whole seeds instead of ground, so I "minced" them with one of the super-duper awesome knives his flatmate Adrienne brought). We used pretty much the method we used in the taco recipe, but with rather more water to cook the beans thoroughly. I guess it was a bit like chili, the method we used, but with rather fewer ingredients. We froze the whole lot and had some with buttered ziti a few nights later. We topped it with some smoked cheddar that his flatmate Jake gave us (bless his hippie soul), which was quite good. I definitely think our "chili" needed more seasoning...I need to stop being so afraid of overspicing everything!
You know what it needed (apart from less paucity *laugh*)? Blair's. When my mother got me my new cookware, she also got me a bottle of Blair's Original Death Sauce. Let me just say that it's sooooo gooooood!! I remember eating Blair's Death Rain Chips in middle school... O, I did love them so. This sauce is "all this and more!" I made myself a batch of scrambled eggs loaded up with Blair's--so good!! I might actually make some tonight for a snack.

Last night, I was over at Matchstick's and we were at a loss for what to make, so I pulled out a bag of lentils and we made lentil soup. I love lentils. They're one of my favourite beans, and they make the most excellent soups, stews, and porridges. Lentil soup is exceptionally easy to make, very hearty, very filling, and very healthy.

1 pound lentils
4 cups water (or chicken stock)
2 chicken bullion cubes (omit these if using stock)
1 clove garlic, a little coarser than minced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped between coarse and fine
4 potatoes, in smaller cubes
3 carrots, in rounds or half-moons
Butter, butter, and more butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In your soup pot, melt a bit more butter than you would generally need
2. Sauté the garlic, then add the onions
3. When the onions begin to caramelise, add the carrots
4. When the carrots begin to become tender, add the potatoes
5. When the potatoes have begun to soften on the outside, add some water to the pot to deglaze it
6. Add the lentils, water, and bullion. Bring to a boil
7. Boil 5 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally
8. Simmer, covered, adding water as needed, until the the potatoes are completely cooked
9. Season with salt and pepper
10. Simmer, covered, until the soup is very thick

This was delicious, but we were a little too light on the salt. It was good over pasta, but I think it would go better with rice. I'm looking forward to making this in the winter; I think it'll be an excellent cold-weather food.

Lemony Meringues!!

So, since I was working Monday (egg day at the Spoon!!), I got to take home a pint of delicious eggwhites! One of the easiest, most versatile things you can make with these is meringue. It's one of the most basic French dessert techniques. Today, I decided to try making lemon meringues, chock-o-block full of lemon zest. I pretty much just built off the Jaques Pépin recipe:


1/2 (give or take) cup egg whites (4-ish whites)
1 cup sugar
zest of four lemons

1. Beat whites until they begin to hold their shape
2. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, continuing to beat until shiny and stiff
3. Fold in the sugar and lemon zest, a bit at a time
4. Pipe or spoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets
5. Bake at 200°F for 2.5 hours

These came out quite well, I think. They're crisp and crunchy, and plenty sweet, with a definite citrus flavour. They retained the yellow colour imparted by the lemon zest, although they did caramelise a little bit. I'm very happy with these, although I think they could suffer a pinch of salt to balance the sugar, and maybe a drip or two of lemon juice to give them just a little more tartness. Experiments for next time!

Babas au Rhum

All my plans for choux and frasiers went out the window when I read Tartelette's post on babas au rhum. The combination of citrus, cardamom, and rum captivated my imagination immediately. I'm quite fond of rum, and we just happened to have nearly a full bottle of dark Bacardi, so I took it into my head to make a batch.

Now, I have practically no experience with French pastries. The only "French basic" that I'd attempted before today was génoise cake. That generally turned out well when I made it, but there was always a high chance I'd forget to add the butter at the end. So, trying my hand at another basic recipe, babas au rhum (or pâte á babas to be more specific) was definitely going to be an adventure.
Let me just say that it was nerve-racking. I'm terribly unfamiliar with the methods of the French pâte, and at each step of the way I was constantly fretting, "O! but what if it's too wet? What if it doesn't rise properly?" In the end, it turned out rather well for a first attempt, I think, but there's most definitely room for me to improve. Patience, perhaps, during the rising would be a good place to start. I always say that the two things I don't like about baking are the waiting and the fact that if you screw up there's no fixing it. The waiting was definitely the worst here. The first rising is long enough that you can prepare the compote and the syrup and still have time to spare... Thank goodness for trashy fantasy novels! I'd get all squirrelly otherwise.


Citrus and Cardamom Babas au Rhum

(I'm writing the instructions as I followed them. One of the difficult things here was the measurements by mass rather than volume, and since my kitchen scale is not particularly accurate I decided to double-check based on volume. I've noted the conversions here for the most part, except where it comes out to a fraction you can't measure with standard equipment.)

Babas:
3g (≈ 3/4 tsp) instant dry yeast
20g (≈ 2 Tbsp) warm water
5g (≈ 1 + 1/4 tsp) sugar
100g (≈ 12 Tbsp 2 + 1/2 tsp) flour
2g salt (≈ a dash) salt (unless you're the kind of person who has a measuring spoon for "dash," in which case it's ≈ 5 dashes)
1 large egg (yaye no metric!)
60g (≈ 1/4 cup) milk
40g (≈ 3 Tbsp) melted and cooled butter
50g Citrus Compote (recipe follows)

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in water to proof
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the egg and milk
• Using the paddle attachment, mix the yeast, flour, butter, and salt into the egg mixture
• Mix until combined and you have a soft dough (This was the first pitfall. When you first mix the ingredients, you get a sort of batter, which begins to come away from the sides of the bowl with mixing. Child (who I really should have consulted before I began) writes that you should have a true dough, rather than a batter. Perhaps I should have beaten the mixture longer? In any case, it became rather more doughy as it was left to rise, and it did rise properly)
• Let rise until doubled in volume. As Child says, this takes anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours
  

Meanwhile, butter the molds you will use (I used large muffin tins), and prepare the compote and syrup.

Compote:
100g (≈ 1/2 cup) sugar
100g (= 100 mL) water
100g mixed citrus (I used most of a navel orange and a little more than half a lemon, plus the zest of both)
6 cardamom pods

• Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat
• Cook 2 minutes
• Let cool, then remove the cardamom pods
• Purée the compote until smooth

Syrup:
100g (≈ 100 mL) orange juice
100g (≈ 100 mL ≈ 3.5+ oz) rum (I used dark rum)
70g (≈ 5 Tbsp + 2 tsp) sugar

• Bring ingredients to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved
• Cool to room temperature

When the first rising is complete,

• Preheat oven to 400°F
  
• Add the compote to the dough and fully incorporate. The mixture will be quite liquid (which was rather worrisome to me. Would it rise properly? I wondered. It did)
  
• Fill each mold halfway with the mixture
• Allow to rise until doubled in volume (I may have jumped a little early here...)
• Bake for about 15 minutes (I went for a full twenty because when tested with a toothpick they kept looking like they were underdone...but I ended up carbonising their sorry little asses. I may have needed to use a slower oven, maybe around 375, to cook them more evenly)
• Cool on a wire rack
• When cooled, set the molds in hot water, and free the babas from their buttery prisons!
• Place the syrup in a shallow pan or plate
• Allow the babas to imbibe the syrup, first face down, then right side up, for a total of one minute
• Refrigerate the babas, covered, until plating time
• Serve with syrup

I definitely needed to use more cardamom in this recipe. The tartness of the citrus overpowered the spice. While the cake itself was rather tart, once it had imbibed the syrup it had a very pleasant and balanced flavour. It was sweet, tart, and mellow, with a whiff of alcohol. The cake was moist, and its outermost layer was pleasantly soaked with syrup. While these definitely could have suffered to bulk up a bit, either through longer rising or deeper molds, I'd have to say this was a successful first attempt.