Cream puffs with homemade dark chocolate pudding

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Choux Pastry: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Choux Pastry:

1 cup (70 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon  granulated white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup (120 ml) water


4 large eggs

Egg Wash Glaze:

1 large egg

1/8 teaspoon salt

Whipped Cream:

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar

Garnish:

Powdered (Confectioners or icing) sugar

In a bowl sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Set aside. 

Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and, with a wooden spoon or spatula, quickly add the flour mixture. Return to heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about a minute or two). Transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, and beat on low speed a minute or two to release the steam from the dough. Once the dough is lukewarm start adding the eggs one at a time and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste. Spoon or pipe 12 mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them a couple of inches apart.  Beat together the egg and salt for the glaze. With a pastry brush, gently brush the glaze on the tops of the dough. 

Bake 25 minutes or until the shells are a nice amber color and when split, are dry inside.  A few minutes before the cream puffs are finished baking, poke a small hole in each to let air escape. Turn the oven off and, with the oven door slightly ajar, let the shells dry out for a further 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

For whipped cream:  In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, whip the mixture until soft peaks form. 

To Assemble:  Split the pastry shells in half and fill (or pipe) with whipped cream. Place the top half of the pastry shell on the whipped cream and dust with powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar.

Makes 12 cream puffs.


Dark chocolate pudding:

4 cups 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch Processed)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, blend 1/2 cup of milk with the cornstarch. Combine the cocoa and salt in a small heavy saucepan. And slowly whisk in the remaining 3-1/2 cups of milk, the chocolate and the sugar Heat over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted Whisk in the cornstarch mixture.3Cook, stirring frequently, over very low heat until very thick and just beginning to boil, about 10 minutes Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.4Let cool, stirring occasionally until the custard is just warm.5Pour the pudding into small 1/2 c bowls.6Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set.7You can make this up to 3 days in advance.

Fun Sledding on the ice covered road

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Bowling pin and bowling ball cookies

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Baking: giant donut cake

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It is a giant donut!    I saw this pan at Williams-Sonoma and Bought it about a year ago and just now got around to using it.
I made the recipe that came on the box and it turned out really good.  The cake was light and fluffy and the chocolate glaze on a top was very rich. This was a quick and easy decorated cake to make. The special occasion was Scot's birthday.  







Chocolate Glazed Giant Donut Cake
Williams-Sonoma

For the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten

For the chocolate glaze:
5 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup hot water

Colored sprinkles for decorating

Have all the ingredients (except the hot water) at room temperature.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour both halves of a giant donut cake pan.

To make the cake, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with the

flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and tap the pans on the countertop to eliminate any air bubbles. Spread the batter up the sides of each pan so the sides are higher than the center. Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes.

Set the rack over the cakes, invert the pans onto the rack and lift off the pans. Let the cakes cool completely, at least 2 hours, before assembling and decorating.

To assemble, return both halves of the cooled cake to the pans. (This is easily done by placing the pans over the cake halves and inverting the rack onto the pans.) Level the cakes by using a serrated knife to gently saw off the part of each half that rose above the edge of the pan; discard the scraps. Remove the cakes from the pans. Place one cake half, cut side up, on a wire rack set over a baking sheet; place the other half, cut side down, on top.

To make the chocolate glaze, fill the bottom pan of a double boiler with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In the top pan of the double boiler, combine the butter and chocolate chips and heat until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water until combined. Pour the glaze over the cake all at once in one layer and immediately decorate with colored sprinkles. Let the glaze set for 15 minutes before slicing and serving the cake. Serves 16.

Alphabet vegetable soup

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Heallthy, fast and fun
I found the alphabet pasta in the ethnic foods section of the supermarket a product from Mexico
From the quick-fix vegetarian cookbook
ALPHABET VEGETABLE SOUP
ingredients:
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
5 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup frozen corn
1 (15 oz) can chick peas
1/2 cup vegetable shaped pasta
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
add garlic and onions and saute for 3-5 minutes
add celery and carrots and saute for another 3-5 minutes.
stir in broth, peas, corn, and chickpeas.
turn up heat to high and bring to a boil.
add pasta and reduce heat back to medium.
simmer until vegetables are tender and pasta is al dente, about 10-15 minutes.
salt and pepper to taste.
serve hot!

Basil sprouts

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