Mascarpone cheese Archives - My Veg Fare

Herbed Mascarpone and Veggie Tart with a French Tart dough

Jayasri Ravi — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:13:00 +0000

I had an eye on this Tart recipe from David Lebovitz's blog, He is got such a wonderful space, you get just drawn to it so easily well explained, Daring things he explores with ingredients and in culinary art of cooking and baking, you can learn a lot from his wonderful posts, not only that his beautiful photographs are a feast to your eyes even though we know we cannot lay hands on them!. I have not done a good justice to this tart recipe as he has done, because I was little slow in checking out the tart when it was baking so you can see a little nicely browned edges, Anyway my family loved it and they all enjoyed it and it was like a one pot meal as it was quite filling.
I have to write about this tart as he learnt this from this lady by name Paule Caillat who teaches cooking classes in Paris Promenades Gourmandes. You have to visit his site and read about this lady and how she taught him make this Tart in his own words as it is very interesting to read, as we all go through that phase when you listen to something you have never heard or thought before that you can do some thing like this for a pastry!, I was really drawn into this French Tart dough and wanted to try out this right away.
You can see wonderful photo Tutorial of this Tart dough in his blog and you would really understand well and try this out.
As we in India make a lot of cakes, this tart dough something very similar to it and a very interesting recipe to try it out.

HERBED MASCARPONE AND VEGGIE TART WITH FRENCH TART DOUGH

So let us start with how to make this French Tart dough..., check out his blog on the link above for this tart recipe with lovely clicks than mine, and he uses microwave to make his butter to boil and I did this on the stove top!. coming back to the recipe.

FRENCH TART DOUGH

INGREDIENTS:
90 gms Unsalted butter
1 tbsp Vegetable oil (I also used canola oil)
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1/8th tsp salt
150 g (50z or I used 1 cup of flour).

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 410 degree F or 210 degree Centigrade, mine is a Gas oven so I baked it at Gas mark 6

Take a thick bottomed wok as shown in the photo take the measured quantity of butter and start melting it once it is completely melted add the other Ingredients oil, water, sugar and salt and allow it to boil, for a few minutes you can the edges turning brown (something like the smell of ghee I did not allow it to turn brown too much) then put of the flame add the sifted flour to the wok and mix it well until well combined and forms into a ball and pulls out or comes out clean from the wok.
If you are using a Microwave method put all the first five Ingredients into a microwave safe bowl or pyrex bowl and allow it to boil for 15 minutes as David Lebovitz says until you can see the edges turning brown and be careful when handling the bowl as it will be very hot and do not grab it with your bare hands!
Once the dough is done, transfer it into a 9 inch (23 cm) Tart mould with a removable base and spread it with the help of a spatula once it starts getting cool with the back of your fingers/heels press the dough completely into the tart mould to cover it pressing it to the base and edges as shown.
Prick the dough a few times and bake the tart shell in the oven 15 minutes until it is Golden, mine turned a Golden brown as I baked it a few more minutes and my tart mould was bigger than anticipated and the crust of the shell was really thin.

HERBED MASCARPONE AND VEGGIE TART FILLING:

This filling was again from David lebovitz blog as the spring onions caught my attention. Actually this Tart caught my attention then when I scrolled down thinking that I wanted to make my own pastry case, I found this French Tart dough recipe! So I made both of them, as usual I had to make some changes with my filling as I had to use the things which I had in hand and fridge.
Basically David's recipe calls for Ricotta, which I did not have and no time to make it as it was night! So, I had to tweak the recipe to my pantry requirement.
My tart tin was a little bigger I think so use the 9 inch (23 cm) mould for a perfect pastry.
So I used what all I had in hand I had .............

I
INGREDIENTS:
250gms of Spring Onions
1 tbsp butter
1 and 1/2 tbsp Fresh Thyme
5 ounces of Mascarpone
1 Large Egg
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup whole milk
300 gms of Broccoli
1 Yellow pepper
50 gms of Crumbled Tofu

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C/Gas mark 6.
Clean and chop the spring onions into 1/2 an inch thickness, cook Broccoli and peas until 3/4th done drain and keep aside until all the water is gone. Press the Tofu and squeeze out all the water and crumble it. wash and pat the Thyme leaves ready.
Heat butter in a wok and stir fry the Yellow pepper (thinly sliced) first and then add spring onions until tender and then put of the stove season it with salt and pepper and some fresh thyme, and allow it cool down.
Meanwhile In a large bowl take egg beat it well so the egg and yolk are well mixed then add the cheese, milk and heavy cream give a whisk again then add the crumbled Tofu, Broccoli, Peas, thinly sliced yellow peppers
and the spring onions and some more salt and pepper to season as required.
I had some mint and coriander leaves I added a tbsp of them into it. mixed them well and scraped it into the already baked tart shell.
Bake this in the pre-heated oven until it is nicely done as you can see above and check with a tooth pick inserted comes out clean for 20 to 30 minutes
I served it with an array for oven roasted fresh vegetables and sauce of your choice.

I would like to send this to Priya who is hosting AWED - French started by DK of chefinyou, and to Healing foods started by Siri and Guest hosted by Spice mantra.
Hope both of them would like it as my family did....
I am also linking this recipe with ..........

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Red Velvet Cup Cakes (? )- or shall I call it Beets cup cakes

Jayasri Ravi — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:47:00 +0000

When I saw this in her blog, I was so interested because of two things, one is the bright colour and the other is the beetroots. As I have told you in my previous posts, she does a lot of Ground work and you have to read about it in her blog. She says it is so famous in US and goes on telling a story about a lady who was impressed that she really wanted to try it out on her own and asked for the recipe, but was refused and proceeded on buying the recipe and was charged so much, I mean a way too much, that she took her revenge by giving the recipe to every one!
She even quotes from New york times, which I think you should read it in her blog and here is the link to the original recipe. She has a group of twitter friends who experiment new things and this was one of them, she says she adopted this recipe from Hannah's seeing Red, I adopted this from her blog with the changes she made to the originally recipe. The only variation I did was getting very tempted I added my flax seed mixture. Check out her blog about all the information about this gorgeous looking cakes.
As she says the cakes sold used the Red colour or the beetles, which we cannot use as a vegetarian she says substituting beets was a wonderful trick. and it certainly looked Red.

EGGLESS RED VELVET CUP CAKES

INGREDIENTS:

1 and 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1 and 1/4 cup Sugar

1 and 1/2 tbsp Cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 Cup Pureed beets

1/3 cup oil

3 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp Flax seed

METHOD:

First of all I took fresh medium sized beets as Aparna did, peeled and cooked them until soft, with 2 to 3 tbsp of water make it into a puree and keep aside until needed.

Mix all the flour, sugar, cocoa, and Baking powder and salt in a bowl, then take an other bowl whisk together Pureed beets,oil, lemon juice, flax seed powder, vanilla extract lightly so they all combine together well, then pour the dry ingredients mix well combined pour this into 12 cups equally.

Bake the cakes at 180c for about 20 to 25 minutes (I took a little longer), it totally depends on your ovens, insert a tooth pick to check if it is done then cool them on a wire rack.

Once it is cooled decorate it with any frosting of your choice, Aparna tells us that it is usually served with a butter roux frosting or cream cheese frosting.

But she has served it a mascarpone frosting, She has made her own mascarpone cheese but I used shop bought, as I had not planned on this, and on a whim I made these cup cakes!

So, here goes how you have to make this frosting....

MASCARPONE FROSTING:

3/4th cup cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup Mascarpone cheese

1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD:

Beat the chilled cream first until stiff add sugar and vanilla essence and beat well until it incorporates well, I used a masher and break open the mascarpone lumps, Add this to the whipped cream and beat on well just as long as it gets well Incorporated into the cream, as she points it is quite soft and is better to keep it refrigerated,

Then I decorated the cup cakes as I desired.

My Verdict: The cakes were good as any eggless cakes were, the frosting made it extra special, kids liked it but not too much as they thought it was weird to use beets in a cake!, then I sent some to my friends who said it was quite nice and liked it!, My husband never touched it as he hates Beetroots!, I have to always beg him or forcefully make him eat the dry curry I usually make.

Take an other look at my Red cup cakes..........

The cakes were not only RED but my hands were too..

I am sending this of to Tried and tested event of Zlamushka's, being carried on by Lakshmi and this month hosted by valli of cooking4allseasons.
Hope valli will still accept my entries, as I have tried but not able to post them on time...

The post Red Velvet Cup Cakes (? )- or shall I call it Beets cup cakes appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Chocolate, Orange and Dates pudding for Daring Baker's challenge-April 2010

Jayasri Ravi — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:09:00 +0000

Hi friends, I know I am a few minutes late for my Daring Baker's challenge posting !! :), that's me always late for everything, But, But, just a second I posted in the forum right on time!! exactly 2 minutes before midnight!!.
This month April 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen, she challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using if possible a very British ingredients Suet!!!.

Well, well, well this was a difficult situation I was in and few more like me who are vegetarians and vegans, as Suet is made from meat!!, Even though here they sell a vegetable suet by Atora, I had never tried it and really did not know how it works, May be someday I might give it a try!!, But then Esther, was a wonderful host who wanted all of us to participate and was she flexible, yes!!, she was very !!!, she wrote that she wanted all of us to bake I mean Steam away or Bake or however you know how to make a pudding!!, and yes here we go we all had free reins so we could just make whatever we wanted!!
If you are interested on how the suet is made check out in Esther's blog or visit the main Kitchen where loads of our Daring bakers have contributed to stuning puddings to feast your eyes!!
I just wanted it to be atleast in something realtively near so I really wanted to Steam and see how the pudding tastes and looks!!, I was so surprised that it turned out very well..., Here is my pudding recipe...
This recipe after searching so many books I found this one, which attracted me for two reasons one by the look of it and the other was it had dates in it!! The most loved dry fruit by me....!!!,This book is a collection of Desserts and doesn't have an author.., whoever found this one won my heart and of course my family and friends who enjoyed it, especially my H who said, it was simply Gorgeous and had a generous second helping !!! as it was quite sweet...
Sorry once again I have to apologise the not-too-tempting-clicks!!, But they were really too yummy!!, you all must give it a try.

CHOCOLATE, ORANGE AND DATES PUDDING

INGREDIENTS:
100 gms Golden Caster Sugar
2-3 Seedless Oranges
200gms Unsalted butter, softened
200 gms Dark Muscovado sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed Oranges ( I used 2 tbsp)
3 tbsp of fine-cut Orange Marmalade ( I used home-made Marmalade from my previous recipe)
3 Eggs beaten
1 tbsp Orange-Flower water (Optional)
150 gms Plain Flour (I used 100 gms Plain flour + 50 gms Quinoa Flour)
50 gms Unsweetened Cocoa powder
2 tsp of Baking Powder
150 gms ready-to-eat dates, chopped

Served 7 !!

METHOD:

First make a sugar syrup, pour 150 ml water into a small sauce pan and add the caster sugar. Cook over gentle heat until dissolved.

Slice each Orange thinly into about 6 neat slices. Submerge them in the sugar syrup. set a disc of non-stick grease proof paper on top and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes. Lift the Oranges out with a slotted spoon and drain on a wire rack. Boil the syrup until reduced by half.

Line the base of the pudding basin with a disc of non-stick greaseproof paper. Place the best Orange slice on top of the disc, and use the rest of the slices to line the sides of the basin.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, muscovado sugar and orange zest using an elctric whisk, until light and fluffy.

Beat in the marmalade, then gradually beat in the eggs and orange-flower water, if using, mixing well between each addition. Sift the floour, cocoa and baking powder into the egg mixture and fold in. Finally fold in the dates.

Spoon the mixture into the basin, It should come about three-quarters of the way up the sides. Smoot the surface and cover with a disc of non-stick greaseproof paper. Take a large sheet of aluminium foil and fold it in half. Make a pleat in the centre. Press the foil over the side of the basin with the pleat in the centre. Press the foil over the side of the basin, tie around the top with string and trim away any excess foil.

The pleat will open out and allow the pudding to expand during cooking.

Stand the basin on a trivet in a large, deep pan and add enoough water to come at least 5 cm up the sides. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 2 hours, topping up the water level from time to time.

Remove the foil and disc and insert a skewer into the centre of the pudding. If it doesn't come out clean, re-cover and steam for a little longer. Run a knife around the sides, turn out onto a dish and brush with syrup. Serve with what ever you enjoy!!!!.

VERDICT: I just loved Steaming this pudding as I had never done this before, Every one loved it!!, I used my pressure cooker to steam this pudding, I did not have a pudding bowl, so I steamed it in a pyrex bowl!!

I served with my Home made Mascarpone cheese, which I had learnt it in previous Tiramisu (which I did not make !!, just made the cheese) Daring Baker's challenge.

Home Made Mascarpone cheese cre'me:

50 gms Mascarpone cheese

150 ml Double cream

50 gms Icing sugar

I softened the cheese, mixed it with Icing sugar and added the creame and thoroughly beat into a soft sweet cream.

Here are some more clicks of my lovely chocolatey, orangy dates pudding....

Digging into my lovely pudding and served with the cre'me, rather poured it on it!!, which was just out of the steamer and was quite warm... Mmm.....

This was one nice click ( :)))) so I say!!, this was really how it looked like... Absolutely Gorgeous and yummy....

My kids were saying it just tasted like the Orange chocolates sold exclusive only in UK, which is just like the orange segments, as if you are peeling an Orange, So if you ever come to UK, do not forget to buy these Orangy chocolates.., as I heard from lot of people that you can get it nowhere!!
Enjoy!!!

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