Blackberry Tart

Comment – I got Tahitian vanilla beans in the mail from Amazon recently and used them to make the custard for these tarts. I discovered that I really like the flavor of vanilla beans compared to vanilla extract. The desserts turned out great and the vanilla bean custard was my favorite part. I would recommend cooking the crust for less time to get a softer crust.  I used a tart pan with a removable bottom for the larger tart. I shaped the smaller tart crust in my molten lava cake pan with removable bottoms.  The glaze over the top of the smaller tart was just blackberry juice heated with powdered sugar and a little cornstarch to thicken it.

Recipe

Gateau St. Honore

Comment - Gateau St. Honore is a French dessert. I saw a picture of it online and knew that I had to try making it. The dessert turned out to be more challenging to make than I expected. There were many steps involved. I used store bought puff pastry, to save some time, but it still took me all day to make. Was it worth it? Well, yes and no. The downside was the crunch of caramel on the cream puffs. It reminded me of hard candy, which I am not a big fan of. Although I did like the final presentation. The vanilla bean custard was the best part and combined nicely with the blueberries and puff pastry . The left over cream puffs without caramel were really good too. Will I make the dessert again? Probably not, but I am glad that I tried it. I ended up making a medium and small version of the Gateau St. Honore. The one with blackberries is the smaller of the two.


Ingredients
1 package Puff pastry (or homemade)

Choux pastry balls - (To find the recipe, follow the link, look at the Eclair post. you’ll find the recipe there listed as Pate a Choux)

Pastry Cream (you may have to use google translate or you could look at the pastry cream recipe at Rouxbe.com since it is almost identical)

Blackberries with powdered sugar to taste

Spun Sugar ( I omit the lemon drops from this recipe)

Directions
Step 1 – The crust for the larger Gateau St. Honore did not turn out as thick as I would have liked. I would recommend cutting out two 9″ round circles from the puff pastry. With the remaining dough form a ring for the choux pastry balls to sit on. Make sure and roll the extra dough out before making the ring so that it is smooth before baking. Stack the layers and bake until done (20 or so minutes).

Step 2 – Make the Choux pastry balls. Follow link above for recipe. Make the pastry balls medium size. I dipped the cream puff tops in caramel before I filled them with vanilla custard.

Step 3 – Make the custard. See link above for recipe. I used a whole vanilla bean, but you could use half that much. Make sure and strain the black seeds out before mixing into the egg, sugar, cornstarch mixture.

Step 4 – Make the spun sugar. See recipe above. I omit the lemon drops in the recipe. Make sure your kitchen is covered in newspaper before you begin because this process is messy. Dip the Choux pastry balls in caramel and place them on a metal oiled pan or sheet. The caramel will cool quickly. Fill the bottom of the Choux pastry balls with vanilla bean custard (using a pastry bag and nozzle). Drizzle hot caramel over the bottom where you inserted the custard and stick it around the puff pastry.

Step 5 – Sprinkle powdered sugar over blackberries and mix. Pour the berries over your custard on the dessert or serve on the side.

Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Custard and Berries

Comment: I had a streak of genius this morning when I thought to combine sugar cookies with vanilla custard and berries. The flavor combination turned out really good. I used blackberries on some and raspberries on others. My husband liked the ones with blackberries the best. I thought they both turned out great.


Sugar Cookies

Pastry Cream

Berries – any kind

Note – I cut the cookie recipe (sour cream cookies) in half and added 1 egg white, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, 1/4 cup flour, and used oil instead of butter. The cookies took 12 minutes to bake at 350 degrees F.

I cut the custard recipe in half too. I added 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract to the custard because I am out of vanilla beans.

Pineapple Custard filled Sugar Cookies

Comment: These cookies are sweet, creamy, and tangy. The pineapple custard had a nice creamy subtle flavor while the fresh pineapple contributed a more pronounced flavor. The cookie is made with oil instead of butter and turns out more cakey than chewy. I think these cookies would be fun to bring to a Hawaiian themed party.

Sugar Cookie Recipe
Note – I cut the sugar cookie recipe in half and only added 1/4 cup of sugar.

Pineapple Custard Recipe
1 cup pineapple juice
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Bring pineapple juice to a boil in a pan. Combine egg, sugar and cornstarch in a separate bowl. One pineapple juice starts to boil add it to the egg/sugar/cornstarch mixture in a slow, steady stream. You must stir the mixture vigorously while your pouring in the hot pineapple mixture so that the eggs do not curdle. Put the mixture back over medium to low heat and stir until the liquid mixture begins to thicken. It will look like pudding. Then plunge the bottom of your pan into cold water to stop the temperature from rising. Continue to stir to cool the custard down. Then transfer the custard into another bowl, cover it will plastic wrap and refrigerate. Wait an hour or so before serving it so that it is chilled. Also, you will want to stir it a little so that it becomes smooth before serving.
Serve with fresh pineapple.

Blackberry and Vanilla Custard Phyllo Cups

Pastry
4 sheets Phyllo Dough
Olive oil
Brush oil over 1st sheet of dough, set the 2nd sheet on top and brush oil over it. Continue the process through the 4th sheet of dough. Cut the stacked phyllo dough into 12 squares with a pizza cutter. Mold each square to a mini muffin tin (oil side down). Back at 350 degrees for 8-12 min, or until golden brown.

Vanilla Custard Filling
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 c. milk


Blackberry Topping
2 c. Blackberries
1/3 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch

Mix Blackberries and sugar together in a pot over low heat. When juices start to come out bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat. Pour the juice into a separate bowl while still hot and whisk in the cornstarch. Pour the sauce back into the berry mixture and stir.

Bignoli ~ Italian Dessert

Comment – I saw bignoli desserts in restaurants and bakeries when we were in Italy. When I came home I looked up recipes for it online and found one written in Italian. I had to use google translate to view it. I found out that the dessert consists of stacked cream puffs filled with vanilla custard, covered in chocolate ganache with whip cream decorations. I had made cream puffs before and decided to stick to my original recipe for them. The dessert turned out delicious and I would recommend it to anyone.
Pastry recipe – (To find the recipe, follow the link, look at the Eclair post. you’ll find the recipe there listed as Pate a Choux)

Pastry Cream Recipe
Chocolate Ganache
3 cups chocolate (I used milk chocolate because its my favorite)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
Over low heat, melt chocolate with butter. When melted add in cream, and vanilla.
Serve this dessert chilled or frozen.