Grand Marnier Pot de Crème and Sunkissed Laiya

Grand Marnier, a classic Orange flavoured liquor with a fancy bottle that reminds me of Twilight's Volturi

Holla! I really have Time Management issues here, this one is on my draft for 2 weeks already. So, the cat has been busy lately filling papers and documents for my Big Aussie Move, I had to juggle Quezon City, Makati City and Alabang for several days, owwww. I'm so sorry about hanging up. Now, lets start..

In my French Patisserie class, which was around 2008, I first saw a bottle of a Grand Marnier. The bottle is so nice and very regal. Although I personally didn't appreciate the orange liquor then, aside from I don't really drink, its flavor is quite strong for my preference. However, I have a lot of "acquired tastes" now.. from bleu cheese, chicken liver pate, salmon, wines (Gewurtzraminer!!!) and pecan. My list includes Grand Marnier. Though I never tried gulping from the bottle, that would be off, ladies, let's put in desserts everything we wish we could gulp straight from the bottle.

Pot de Crème literally means "Pot of Custard". Compared to Crème Caramel, Creme Brulèe, Tocino del Cielo and Leche Flan, Pot de Crème is more loose in consistency.  

Pot de crème is made with eggs, egg yolks, cream, milk, and a flavor, often vanilla or chocolate. The milk and cream are heated and flavored, then mixed into the whisked eggs and egg yolks. The mixture is strained and poured into cups, which are then baked in a water bath at low heat, Sometimes people will not add milk and freeze -Wikipedia

Grand Marnier Pot de Crème

Grand Marnier Pot de Crème

200 g Heavy Cream

90 g Fresh Milk

120g Egg yolks

75 g Sugar

1 Tbsp Grand Marnier

1 pc Sunkiss Orange, zest

In a sauce pot, combine fresh milk, heavy cream, sugar and grand marnier. In a separate container, set aside egg yolks.

Place the sauce pot over low heat and cook just until Scalding point or until the tiny bubbles begin to surface

Make sure that all the sugar completely dissolves before pouring the mixture into the egg yolks. This technique is called Tempering, where we gradually combine together different mixtures with different temperatures, say hot and room temperature or chilled and simmering.

Slowly pour in the scalded milk mixture into the egg yolks while stirring. If the milk mixture is cooked too hot, it will cause the eggs to curdle and cause a lumpy custard.

The custard has to be a uniform mixture.

Strain the impurities twice..then pour on prepared containers. I used ramekins, but I like the idea of baking in glasses and jars too :)

Custards has to be Steam Baked or bake over warm bath, the water has to be warm to let the eggs in the custard cook without curdling  and to let the steam circulate evenly for a nice coagulation in the egg protein. Huwaatt??

My nerdy observation: Did you know that custards has to be cooked not more than 160 C? I don't really know the scientific term, but since eggs has rich protein content, the protein are likely to pull each other, that's why cheesecakes break in the middle while baking, so did my crème brulèe after baking, so did why baked meringue shrinks after cooling down. Anyways, this one is too technical to explain, simply cook your custards at not more than 160C because it will curdle and break while cooking

Bake over warm bath until 20-25 minutess, custards baked in glasses and jars take longer to cook by the way.

Chill and let to completely set before serving

Grand Marnier Pot de Crème

It's summer in the Philippines now, and twice (first was last year, same date!) that I had a Laiya beach adventure with my little darlings, I'd like to show everyone my favorite photos in my short beach escapade..

Grilled Fresh Tilapia, Green Mango and Tomato Ensalada and Malatang Kanin cooked in the beach. Prepared by the hands of the one and only madam!! It feels so good to have a mother.

The Christian bear had injury after this shot, nice try brother!! He's never athletic, but he spiked that volleyball and fell on his knees! I'm a proud sister!

Jelly fishyyy. Take care when you swim in the summer

Tired from girl huntings!

What I love about Laiya, and what makes us coming back every year is the quietness and serenity of the beach unlike Boracay and Puerto Galera. Look at this, I'm so proud of the secluded Philippine beaches.

It's not my butt that made this long trace of sand. HAHAHA
It was my butt, and the others' okayyy!

My good good girl pal, Aiza

"Beautiful people just don't happen" -Elizabeth Kubler Ross

Plated Dessert; Salted Caramel Cheesecake and Jack Bourdain

Bradley Cooper portrays Anthony Bourdain inspired character in Kitchen Confidential the series...friends, mamas, ladies. Yes I made it  my headline!!!!

At this particular time I'm reading Kitchen Confidential the book, I just can't stop laughing, when I watched Episode 1 and 2, Extra thanks to my day-day Mae mae who sent me the clips...all those scenes I imagined while reading word for word just came to my screen with three words.. Oh. My. God.

Bradley Cooper, Oh yeah. Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, this is decent Porn my friends. It is! If Bradley Cooper is a dessert, I'd like to think he is a Salted Caramel Cheesecake − Sleek, smooth and filling. ( and I sound like I tasted him)

Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Red Wine Poached Strawberries, Caramel Sauce, Creme Brulee Puff, Almond Pralines and Coffee Macaron Shards

 By the way, I think he made justice to the character of Anthony Bourdain, in the series his name is "Jack Bourdain"… It's as magnificent funny as reading the book, if you can't watch it, I wish you have a best friend who can send you episodes too, or you may read the book instead, but the series is a biopic, meaning it's inspired from the book which is a true to life, tell all of Anthony Bourdain.

Left: Oreo Crust        Right: Graham Crust

Marbled.

And so my recipe this week is a Bradley Cooper in a dessert. Forgive me. But we all have that celebrity crushes (I might have to clarify that I have a lot) for Salted Caramel Cheesecake, I tried 2 batches, one with Oreo crusts the other one in Graham crusts, I liked the latter more...

Left: Oreo Crust        Right: Graham Crust

Left: Oreo Crust        Right: Graham Crust

Let’s not complicate this one so much, don’t hesitate because it’s a plated dessert, I was just extra assertive lately. First we make a caramel sauce. Over low heat, caramelize sugar in a saute pan until amber brown in color, add in butter and gradually add heavy cream, stir with wooden spoon continuously, if there are lumps.. continue cooking until all the lumped sugar has melted. Season with salt, remember that you want it really salty because the Cheesecake batter is on the sweet side.

 SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

225ml Heavy cream

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 tbsp Butter

1/2 Tbsp Iodized Salt or more

Then prepare the crust, this recipe yields for 6 servings of 3 inches x 2 inches round mini cakes, if you want to make a whole cake version simply quantify this recipe to 1 and 1/2 batch.

100g crashed Graham crackers

100g melted Unsalted butter

or

160g crashed Oreo

60g melted Unsalted butter 

Then spin the mixer for the Cheesecake batter...

SALTED CARAMEL CHEESECAKE

300g Creamcheese

90g Sugar

15g Sour cream

137g White Chocolate, melted

2pcs Eggs

 In the mixing bowl combine creamcheese and sugar. Whip until light and fluffy then add eggs at a time. Fold in melted white chocolate and yoghurt.

Continue whipping until the mixture is smooth and lump-free.

Upper: Oreo Crust        Lower: Graham Crust

Simply pour the Cheesecake batter on prepared crust, then pipe caramel sauce and marble the two components together with a stick, you may put more caramel, as much as you would like but not so much that it's more than the batter or it will puff and burn.

Bake over hot water or bain marie at 160/160 C for 25 minutes. Then freeze the baked cheesecake until set for at least 2 hours or  when it has cooled down and wont splat when you unmold. This turned into a cube because I trimmed it :)

Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Red Wine Poached Strawberries, Caramel Sauce, Creme Brulee Puff, Almond Pralines and Coffee Macaron Shards

Hi Jack Bourdain, the plated dessert!

Sleek.

Close up.

Top view.

And because I'm extra assertive nowadays, you may check my previous post about my Plated Desserts Perspective, here. If you get extra assertive, too. It's your turn to make desserts and I would love to see their photos :) Looking forward to hearing from you.. you may email me or Facebook message.

Happy Baking!

Frozen Brazo de Violeta

The neighborhood of a busy business district is calm and quiet; you can hear birds chirping and trees dangling against the wind. The skies are powder blue and the Sun is peachy. −It's a fine Sunday today, with all the time of this day I can afford to write my texts for this entry go to church and meet a long time friend and give good bye hugs.

You know I want-cha

Yesterday I have accomplished my next recipes for coming entries, meaning I'm pretty much on my schedule. Being a Master of Procrastination, this recipe like any other recipes in this blog, has been in my hard drive for 4 years now.

I would like to serve this dessert on a Sunday Family day- after church,  for a complete attendance type of dinner. I made some tweaks than my original which was a Vanilla Ice Cream, as per Brazo de Violeta, I made an Ube Ice Cream layer.

 FROZEN BRAZO DE VIOLETA

 I develop this dessert while preparing for a Cashew Plated Dessert in Kumbira 2010. Where I won Highest Gold through God's grace.. I did not competed with this recipe because it doesn't highlight the Cashew nut so much, but I realized that this dessert deserve its own spotlight on a family dinner table.

My personal history of creating this recipe: Brazo de Mercedez is my brother's favorite. A good friend of mine, RJ's favorite. At that time, Cashew desserts are very limited to Yema and Yema is associated with Brazo de Mercedez. While my favorite is Felicity's Frozen Brazo, I live 2 hours apart from Felicity now...so I therefore had to make one on my own.

I'm very happy with the end product. Frozen Brazo is little difficult to work with on summer, and it's a bright yellow summer now! The solution: Make my own Ice Cream.Not only that I have a better control of my Ice Cream versus store bought that will most likely be dripping off the pan or really deflating like a chilled froth, I've foreseen it as a dessert disaster.

There are dessert components that we can mix and match. Like jeans and tank top and tank top to short shorts and black stockings. The versatility of an ingredient and dessert method is infinite! For example is this very simple recipe.

Graham Crust- God knows how many dessert we can make out of Graham cookies. From refrigerated cakes to competition pieces, from rustic to sophisticate plates. You can Mango Float or Smores or Tiramisu.

Graham Crust:

100g Crushed Graham

100g Melted Butter

First layer: Press the graham crust on a 1/4 sheet pan. Set aside inside the freezer

Yema- What I like about this Filipino recipe is it varies from one person to another. Some Yema are too sticky, some are more of an Egg Custard, some are taffy like, and some are stiff enough for triangular parcels in Cellophane. I'd say play with your textures...if you will recreate this recipe, try folding chopped, roasted pili nuts or cashew nuts for added bite. 

Yema:

 100g Butter

10 pcs Egg yolks

300ml Condensed Milk

Combine all together and cook over low heat

Continuously stirring to avoid burning, cook until thickened

Yema love. Second layer: Pour the yema on your prepared crust and freeze

Ice Cream- You may use whatever flavor you like, you may layer Vanilla then slices of fresh mangoes, or Chocolate and generous spread of Peanut butter or Nutella? Nice right?

You may use store bought but make sure it's solid frozen

then thaw out and spread, about 400ml Ice Cream. Freeze immediately!

Baked Meringue- Soufflé like texture that melts in your mouth; every spoonful literally just disappears in your palate! You may lessen the sugar, but not less than half. I would also like to remind that this pillow-like cute little one shrinks!  It shrinks after it cooled down. Bake it separately on a bigger sheet tray or pan.

Egg Whites and Sugar

Baked Meringue:

120g Egg Whites

50g Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the proper Stiff Peaks. Thanks!  Thanks!

Pour on prepared tray lined with foil and brushed with melted butter and dusted with sugar

Spread mercifully and Steam bake at 180/180C for 10 minutes

Bake until lightly browned

Chef Johnny Iuzzini said "Sweetness is not a flavor" -Top Chef Just Desserts Season 2 and since most of baking enthusiast commonly fails in this virtue, my appeal is very simple.  Never be afraid to lessen the sugar in a recipe, or if the layers are too sweet why don’t you make one layer little bland or acidic for balance. Or why don’t you skip adding sugar and let the natural sweetness comes in.  Just saying :

Frozen Brazo de Violeta

Frozen Brazo de Violeta

Frozen Brazo de Violeta

Have a fun sunday!