BONE-DRY CHICKEN PIES

Looks promising, eh? 

I have been seeking the perfect recipe for those HK chicken pies that we buy at the local Chinese bakery.  They are unlike western pies because they’re small (tart-sized), they are savoury but also a bit sweet due to the addition of a bit of confectioners’ sugar in the tart dough, and the filling is primarily of chicken (thigh) chunks and ham.  These pies I suspect are made with lard because they taste so good.  I cannot bring myself to use lard (but interestingly I have no problem using pure butter)!

The end-product I am hoping for doesn’t have the requisite white sauce that western pies have; nor is there an abundance of veggies.  I followed the recipe exactly and was very disappointed, though not that surprised, that it was very dry.  The pies I purchase from Anna’s, our favourite chicken pie source, are on the dry side, but they are savoury and the filling kind of sticks together from I am guessing, a sort of cornstarch-thickened sauce made from the filling juices and possibly chicken stock. 
This recipe shows promise.  I made one test pie first and almost gagged from the bone-dry product.  For the rest of the batch, I then doctored the filling with a cornstarch-slurry thickened sauce made with chicken broth and stirred that into the meat filling.  It still needs something…like maybe some sauteed onions and more mushrooms.  I am inclined to add a sauce of some sort because I actually like a really moist filling.  I just worry that it’ll leak out of the little tarts as the dough is more like a shortcrust. 

So now I have about a dozen of these little pies to eat and though they’re not that bad, you really need a cup of hot tea or a tall glass of milk with them.  After I’ve figured out how to improve the recipe, I’ll post it.  I’ll be trying it with mushrooms, sauteed onions and a little white sauce first.   Hope it’ll work out!  I’ll keep you posted on my testing.

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SILENT SUNDAY

Mini Lemon Meringue Tart from sweet e’s
oh who am I kidding? I can’t keep totally silent!

A mini pastry box for the mini delights


The Mini Blueberry Cheesecake

Or the Lemon Meringue Tart?

Bebe wanted the cheesecake (and part of my chocolate cupcake)

Flourless Chocolate Cupcake for me.  Gluten-free, rich, dense, chocolatey and kind of low-carb (relatively speaking, I rationalize).  $3.95 each.


Mini tarts items (tarts, cheesecakes etc) are $2.00 each or $22.00 for 1 dozen.

Squish! oops!
SWEET-E’S PASTRIES AND SWEETS is located in Kerrisdale, Vancouver.
2032 W. 41st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C.     tel:  (604) 264-9202

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MINI VANILLA BEAN CRANBERRY ENGLISH SCONES

vanilla bean cranberry english scones

cold cubed butter is vital to a flaky scone
dried cranberries are a deliciously slightly tart addition to this scone mixture

the scone dough looks good enough to eat raw!

I made some delightful scones the other day to go with the huge batch of strawberry jam I have. I used Yard's recipe for traditional English scones. I concur with Yard about the size of scones. In North America, they're obscenely huge and taste kind of dry and doughy. I like them small and with clotted cream (if you can get it) and homemade preserves. I adapted her recipe and added vanilla bean seeds to the dough and kicked it up with some dried cranberries.

I'm kind of pressed for time, so I won't post the recipe today. If there's significant interest out there, just leave a comment and I'll do it.

*****

Today is Day 1 of my challenge to complete Bebe's 5th birthday cake.

I foolishly opened my big trap and promised her I'd bake her any kind of cake she wants.

Bebe, in her princess stage still, asked for the Cover Page cake on the Wilton 2008 magazine we saw at Michaels. My mouth dropped. I offered to make her one of those character-shaped cakes instead.

She shook her head and said I could do it. She was adamant that I make her the Romantic Castle Cake. She wanted the cake itself to be chocolate and she wanted some pink in it too. So I used as many coupons as I could over the course of 2 months preparing for this day. I purchased the cake kit with the coupon, bought fondant premade because the cake itself was daunting enough without having to make fondant too, and started collecting all the elements I would need to complete this humongous 2-tiered behemoth of a kiddie cake.

I wanted to do much of the decorative elements in advance and so, with one week to go, I will be starting the over 285 mini fondant flowers that I have to make by hand. Yup. you read right: 285 PLUS additional in case of breakage. I'm sure breakage will happen...at 11pm with my eyes crossed, hair covered in confectioners' sugar, fingers crusted with the sticky fondant and my whole kitchen a mess of dirty bowls stained with pink, green and blue food colouring.

I may try to take pictures tonight of those flowers...we'll see what kind of a mood I'm in. I really can't start making any of these things until both kids are asleep. So I'll start some time after 8pm I think.

**********

August 8, 2008 update

This is for Kassandra:

As requested, I'm posting the recipe I used for these mini scones!

MINI VANILLA BEAN CRANBERRY ENGLISH SCONES

(adapted from Yard's "Traditional English Scones" in Desserts by the Yard

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling (optional)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 oz (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 tablespoon grated orange zest [i omitted this from my recipe]

1 vanilla bean pod: scrape out seeds and set pod aside for alternate use (vanilla sugar!) [Yard doesn't use vanilla at all]

1 large egg

1/2 cup heavy cream, or more as needed [Yard uses half cream and half milk]

1/3 cup dried cranberries (craisins) [Yard uses raisins...I don't like raisins but craisins are great!]

milk for brushing

1. Place racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two 12 x 17 inch half sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and zest if using and vanilla seeds and mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the butter and flour are broken down into pieces the size of walnut meats. Use your thumb and forefinger to flatten the "walnuts". Then take up the mixture and rub briskly between your hands.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and cream. Add to the flour mixture along with the craisins and blend at low speed just until the dough comes together, about 10 seconds. If it seems dry, add a bit more cream, a tablespoon at a time
4. Line your work surface with parchment, dust the parchment with flour, and scrape out the dough. Shape into an 8-inch square, about 1 inch thick. You can use a rolling pin for this. Cut the dough into 2-inch squares. If making triangles, cut the squares in half on the diagonal. [in my recipe i cut 32 mini triangles] Flip the scones over and place on the parchment-lined pans. Brush with milk (or cream) and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
5. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until dark golden brown and puffed.

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A TRIO OF MINI CREAM PUFFS

i haven't decided yet if the matcha pastry cream looks appetizing or like green slime...

but

who doesn't like a cream puff?

With my renewed affection for pastry cream, I decided to see what variations I could try that would work well with Sherry Yard's basic recipe.
black sesame pastry cream looks like...geez, what does it look like? food ought not to be grey in colour

I baked up a batch of mini cream puffs using Yard's recipe and made a batch of her vanilla pastry cream. I divided the batch into 3 bowls and added various flavourings to each bowl; crossing my fingers that they would turn out. I left one bowl plain vanilla...because it's still so tasty this way.
a sure-fire winner: a vanilla pastry cream & strawberry stuffed cream puff

In one bowl, I mixed in 1 tablespoon of toasted black sesame seeds, ground finely to a powder. Yes, the result looks like ash had fallen into my pastry cream, but the flavour was quite nice.


the new variations provide quite a nice contrast in flavours sitting together on a plate

The other bowl I made into a matcha pastry cream. I used 1 teaspoon matcha mixed with 1 teaspoon hot water. I created a paste and then added that to the pastry cream. I think therein was my problem. The additional 1 teaspoon of water created a watery pastry cream whose texture I found too soft. Also, the flavour was too intense for most people, I think. I didn't think the flavour was too bad, but for 1/3 of a recipe, perhaps it was too strong. I think 1 teaspoon of matcha would be fine for the whole batch of pastry cream. Next time, I'll use 1 teaspoon of the pastry cream to make the matcha slurry instead of using hot water. Perhaps the texture would be better.
doesn't that look so edible?

For this particular pastry cream, I still think either vanilla bean or the coconut pastry variation is best suited for most applications. For cream puffs, the black sesame wasn't disappointing, but I don't think I could eat a whole batch of them. It's nice as a filling for a mini puff, sitting on a plate with the other flavours. Next time, I'll have to make a chocolate variation for the trio of mini puffs. Perhaps chocolate, coconut and banana?

Check out my previous post on Fresh Berry Tarts for Yard's Pastry Cream recipe. For the basic vanilla recipe, use one cup milk instead of the one cup unsweetened coconut milk.

PATE A CHOUX (CREAM PUFFS)

from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking
1 cup bread flour
1 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
6 T unsalted butter
4-5 large eggs [I used 5]

for egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk

• Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside
• Bring the water, milk, and butter to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. At the boil, remoe the pan from the heat and add the flour mixture all at once. Using a sturdy spoon, stir vigorously to combine.
• Return the mixture to medium heat and stir constantly in figure eights. Cook for at least 4 minutes, or until the mixture has a smooth, mashed-potato-like appearance. This helps to break down the starch and develop the gluten. Remove it from the heat.
• Transfer the hot mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the dough cools to 185 degrees F. Add 4 of the eggs, one at a time. Be sure to let the batter absorb each egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula before adding the next. Before adding the last egg, test for consistency. Pinch off about 1 teaspoon of dough with your thumb and index finger, then pull your fingers apart. The dough should stretch rather than break. If it breaks, add the last egg. Mix on low speed until thoroughly incorporated, about 2 minutes. Do the finger test for consistency again. The dough should be shiny and smooth. It is now ready to be piped. To store for later use, cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Shaping:

• Fit a large plain tip into a large plastic piping bag. Make a big cuff at the top of the bag and fill the bag halfway with choux paste. Uncuff and twist the top of the bag to push the contents toward the tip. For large cream puffs, pipe mounds of pate a choux 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch high onto the first baking sheet, 2 inches apart. For medium puffs, the mounds should be 1.5 inches in diameter and 1 inch high. Small puffs should be 1/2 inch in diameter and 1/2 inch high. At this stage, the unbaked cream puffs can be frozen. Cover with plastic film and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Defrost at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.

Egg wash and Baking:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and place a heatproof baking dish or pan on the floor of the oven. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Glue each corner of the parchment to the sheet with a dab of choux paste. This keeps the paper in place during piping and baking. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper and place a rack on it.
• Make the egg wash by whisking the egg and yolk in a small bowl. Brush lightly but evenly over the puffs.
• Place the puffs in the oven and pour the hot water into the pan on the oven floor. Quickly close the door to keep all the steam in the oven . Bake for 10 minutes, or until the puffs begin to rise, then turn the oven down to 350degrees F and rotate the baking sheet. Prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon and bake for 18-20 minutes more for large puffs, or until the puffs turn nutty brown. (For medium puffs, bake for 15-18 min. more). Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack, about 15 minutes, before filling and serving. At this stage, the cream puffs can be frozen for later use. Place the cooled puffs in an airtight plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks. They will also keep for 24 hours at room temperature before being filled.

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