Sans Rival

 I have to admit going a bit too far with the changes on the original recipe, but since my sinfull desserts are not always much in request, I was compelled to cut down on fat and sugar. Thus I ended up with lemon and matcha sans rival where butter is mostly replaced by cream cheese but the flavor and texture are great. I also found the opportunity to try the tricky macaron for the third and rather most successful time and plan on modifying the recipe with more sugar reduction for these overwhelming cookies... 

                    Matcha dacquoise

                    70gr                                           finely ground nuts such as cashews or almonds

                    36gr                                           flour (or additional nuts for more chewy meringue)

                    30gr                                           powdered sugar

                    5 (140gr)                                    egg whites

                    80gr                                           granulated sugar

                    7gr                                             matcha powder (optional)

                    1                                                lemon zested

                    Lemon cream

                    400gr                                         cream cheese

                    320gr                                         milk

                    40gr                                           butter

                    30gr                                           flour

                    3                                                egg yolks

                    60gr                                           lemon juice

                    100gr                                         granulated sugar

                    50gr                                           powdered sugar

                    1                                                zested lemon

                    half                                            vanilla bean

For the dacquoise, grind nuts with the powdered sugar until very fine and shift the dry ingredients together. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whisk the whites with the ganulated sugar to meringue and fold in the dry ingredients in two doses adding also the zest. Finally spread the batter on a 20x33cm rectangle of parchment paper and bake at preheated oven to 180C for about 13min.

As the dacquoise cools prepare the filling by warming milk with vanilla, zest and half of the granulated sugar in a saucepan. In a separate bowl add the yolks with flour, lemon juice and the rest of the sugar whisking well to combine. As soon as the milk gets almost boiling hot, pour one third of it in the egg mixture stirring quickly and then return to the saucepan. Stir well with the whisker to avoid clotting and when the cream starts to boil remove from heat and add the butter.

Let the cream cool, beat the cream cheese with powdered sugar until soft and combine the two mixtures with a spatula. Finally cut the dacquoise into three 11x20cm pieces and place the first on the covered bottom of a 11x20cm rectangle pan. Fill it with the first cream layer and continue the same way with the rest. Refridgerate overnight and decorate with chopped and sugar dusted nuts. 





Doughnuts, orange and matcha

This month's DB challenge gave me the opportunity to try something I always wanted to tackle but hesitated to go through its frying process. Since I won't be able to make and consume another batch of doughnuts anytime soon, I thought it would be interesting to try different recipes and technics at once, giving both baked and fried doughnuts a shot. For the fried ones I used an oranged flavored cake batter and for the baked ones a matcha and yeast raised dough. Coated with a cocoa butter frosting, the first were delicious, moist and soft with a distinct orange smell. However the baked ones were not too bad, but just not doughnuts. In addition, the matcha dough didn't raised in time or to the propper volume, and as every simple bun that is baked in the oven, it dried more and sooner. For that reason, I have made changes to the yeast quantity I give, and I highly recomend that you fry your doughnuts to highlight their flavor.

          
            Orange cake doughnuts

            90gr                                                   granulated sugar

            3gr                                                    salt

           100g                                                   bread flour

            300gr                                                 cake flour

            35gr                                                   butter

            1                                                       egg

            18gr                                                   milk powder

            200gr                                                 orange juice

            16gr                                                   baking powder

            1 Tbsp                                                orange zest

          
            Cocoa fudge

            50gr                                                   butter at room temperature

            50gr                                                   cocoa powder

            33gr                                                   glucose or corn syrup

            33gr                                                   warm water

            60gr                                                   powdered sugar 

            as desired                                           vanilla powder

Start with beating butter and sugar until smooth and then add the egg and salt, creaming well the mixture with the paddle attachment. Shift in the flour with baking powder and mix in the orange juice after you disolve the milk powder in it . Beat the batter just until combined (add some flour if needed, to get a workable yet very soft mixture). Roll the batter on a floured surface giving it a 1,5cm thickness and cut 9cm-diametre circles with holes. Let them rest for about 15min and fry them in a medium saucepan filled with oil (I use olive oil) at least 4cm deep. The doughnuts should come to the surface after being immersed in the oil and start to form a golden crust on their bottom side. Check them by lightly lifting them with a slotted spoon and when they start to get light brown turn them over and cook for about another minute. When done, remove them with the spoon and place them on some kitchen paper to get rid of the excess greasiness. For the frosting, beat butter and cocoa with a spatula until a thick paste forms. Beat in the corn syrup until fully incorporated and then mix in the water. At last, shift in the sugar with vanilla, beat the mixture until light and shinny and cover your cooled doughnuts. You may need more or less powder sugar for the cocoa fudge depending on sweetness you want.

 

      

       Matcha yeast doughnuts

       80gr                                                  sugar

       7gr                                                    salt

       420gr                                                 bread flour

       23gr                                                   milk powder

       45gr                                                   butter at room temperature

       75gr                                                   eggs

       45ml                                                  buttermilk

       10gr                                                   instant yeast

       117gr                                                 warm (not hot) water

       4tsp                                                   matcha tea

       as desired                                          vanilla powder

       1 cup                                                 apricot marmelade (optional)

Combine butter with the dry ingredients except yeast in a bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook. Then lightly beat the eggs with buttermilk and add them to the dry mixture. Dissolve the yeast in the water and poure it in the batter mixing on low speed for 2 to 3min. Scrape down the bowl and keep kneading at medium speed for about 6 more minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Ferment the dough until doubled (you can use a lightly warmed oven) and then roll it out on a floured surface, into a 1,5cm thick rectangle. Cut out 7cm-diametre circles and let them increase 75% more in volume. Then fry the doughnuts as directed previously, make a hole with a skewer in each one and use a pastry bag to fill them with marmelade. To pass the jam easily through the pastry tip, you can smoothen it with a hand blender. Finally, dust with some powdered sugar.