Among my many blessings are five wonderful friends, and over the past 20 years we have become sisters to one another. When we were raising our children, we gathered every year for dinner and a Christmas cookie exchange. Now that the children are grown, the cookies are optional, but the dinner is an annual event not to be missed.
For this year's dinner, I made Rose's Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tart for dessert. I love hazelnuts, so this recipe in the new Baking Bible immediately caught my eye. However, I will save the details for the day that the Alpha Bakers bake this recipe together.
All went like clockwork baking the crust, making the truffle-like filling, glazing it with the chocolate ganache...until I made the optional carmelized hazelnuts. Matthew Boyer from the Beta Bakers suggested this lovely and delicious enhancement. Now I remember why I hate making candy!!
For this year's dinner, I made Rose's Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tart for dessert. I love hazelnuts, so this recipe in the new Baking Bible immediately caught my eye. However, I will save the details for the day that the Alpha Bakers bake this recipe together.
All went like clockwork baking the crust, making the truffle-like filling, glazing it with the chocolate ganache...until I made the optional carmelized hazelnuts. Matthew Boyer from the Beta Bakers suggested this lovely and delicious enhancement. Now I remember why I hate making candy!!
Blanched hazelnuts on toothpicks ready to be dipped in the bowl of magma-hot caramel and then stuck into the foam block to harden. Sounds like a straightforward process, right?
Until that step, all was calm, all was bright. Then I became as inept as a six-year-old in the kitchen. The sugar syrup continued to boil even after I poured it into a bowl and started dipping the nuts. I was afraid it was burning, so I put the glass bowl--not the saucepan--into a bowl of ice water and promptly cracked the bowl.
The now cracked bowl of solid caramel, the bowl of what had been ice water and my finished candied hazelnuts cooling on the block of foam. See all of those little drops of caramel on the counter top? Several of them landed on my fingers, leaving behind blisters.
Dipping the hazelnuts was pretty simple....until I went to poke the toothpicks into a block of foam. The sugar syrup dripped no matter how much I tapped and twirled. I emerged with a beautiful batch of carmelized nuts, a broken bowl, and three blistered and very painful fingers. However, the tart was delectable!!
Which brings me to the part about odd-sized baking pans. I love anything out of the ordinary, and have several unusual pans in my collection. I baked this tart in my new strip pan ( not exactly an exotic shape, but I have run into this problem before). I also have an extensive collection of dishes, glassware and serving pieces. I pulled out FIVE rectangular plates and not one of them would fit the tart! I ended up serving the tart from a cutting board.
But the tart was so wonderful, it wouldn't have mattered how it came to the table, especially to my dearest friends. Moral to the story---figure out the serving plate before you bake with an odd-sized pan!
Coming next week:
I will give away a new kitchen favorite, so stop by again!!
Which brings me to the part about odd-sized baking pans. I love anything out of the ordinary, and have several unusual pans in my collection. I baked this tart in my new strip pan ( not exactly an exotic shape, but I have run into this problem before). I also have an extensive collection of dishes, glassware and serving pieces. I pulled out FIVE rectangular plates and not one of them would fit the tart! I ended up serving the tart from a cutting board.
But the tart was so wonderful, it wouldn't have mattered how it came to the table, especially to my dearest friends. Moral to the story---figure out the serving plate before you bake with an odd-sized pan!
Coming next week:
I will give away a new kitchen favorite, so stop by again!!
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