I have never been one to have a sweet tooth; in fact I have always considered Fourme d'Ambert and a nice vintage port to be my ideal dessert! Now my darling husband, that’s another story altogether. He loves all things sweet, with almost no discrimination; he’ll eat Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with the same heavenly grin as when he eats a fresh baked chocolate croissant! I suppose that as I get older I do appreciate a sweet bite every now and then… My children, Liv and François (ok his birth name is Jack, but I have been calling him Francois since he was born) love sweets, but definitely approach them with a far more sophisticated palate then both their typical peers, and of course their father! Liv doesn’t like anything fancy, she will tell you without a doubt how much she loves a nice big piece of perfectly executed dark chocolate, the darker and richer the better. Françoise is my little custard and fruit forward dessert lover. He loves crème brulee, éclairs (or anything featuring pastry cream!) and of course perfect little fruit Tartelettes.
I don’t typically make dessert, but my family all love to enjoy something sweet and the end of every dinner. Usually Liv and Rick are satisfied with the small stock of dark chocolate covered cherries, and bits and pieces of good chocolate I keep in the pantry, while François will gladly opt for a piece of fruit or some yogurt. I’m not a huge fan giving kids sugar laden desserts, I have found that allowing my kids to eat sweets in moderation, choosing small portions of sweets made with REAL ingredients and not stuff bought at the grocery store or in the candy isle, which typically has tons of artificial flavors and preservatives, has satisfied their urge for sweets while meeting my expectations of eating real foods. You see I did graduate from a French culinary school, and what is more classically French than dessert? I was lucky enough to learn to make traditional amazingly buttery and flaky croissants, pâté choux pastries, clafoutis, galettes and many other delicious tarts, cakes and cookies. So…full disclosure time, I dreaded and I mean DREADED baking and pastry classes (DREADED-AND I'M NOT EXAGGERATING EVIDENT BY MY USE OF ALL CAPS)! And Dear Lord please don’t let my wonderful baking a pastry instructor Chef Adriane read this! I was (and really still am) a chef who doesn’t love to step out of the savory side of the kitchen. The best explanation for this is summed up in the expression “cooking is an art and baking is a science”. I HATE to measure…
So while I will make more complicated desserts for special events and holidays I like to stick to easier and more rustic type desserts for our family treats. I also typically need an inspiration to put on my baking apron and get out the sugar.
My inspiration for this round of baking was twofold. One being my beautiful little Meyer lemon tree and the other being Francois. It went something like this…The kids and I were enjoying the unusually gorgeous February weather out back. We picked lemons, weeded the onion beds and fed the worms (our composting worms). We were playing and chatting and I was of course thinking of what I could do with all of my lovely lemons. We were all going in and out of the house when I heard a blood curdling scream. It was Francois. He had been a good boy and taken off his mud boots in the garage before coming into the house, but in true boy fashion he was running and not paying attention. The heavy garage door closed over his bare toe and there was blood… Now those of you who have, or work with children understand that the minute there is blood with any “injury” is the minute the world must stop turning! I of course ran to his rescue, swept him up in my arms (he is only four…and my baby!) and took him to the medic station, my master bath. He was sobbing. I once had a checker at Trader Joes ask me if my son had a sister, because he pinched his finger in the cart and screamed this unworldly scream that you would only expect from a dramatic little princess. So you can imagine the drama when blood in any volume is involved. Then the magic happened. I pulled out the new box of Band Aids and suddenly like a switch he stopped, wiped his eyes, and said with such delighted surprise “you got Spiderman Band-Aids”? So I guess Spiderman saved the day! He was all bandaged up now, but he just wasn’t ready to put his boots back on over his “wound”. So when I asked him what he wanted to do he said "bake cookies"…
Ok I was inspired to bake or at least make something sweet, and after hitting a few of my favorite blogs I found this yummy Meyer lemon pudding recipe http://www.thegalleygourmet.net/2011/01/meyer-lemon-pudding.html. Francois was in, and excited. Liv wasn’t as thrilled, so we decided two desserts were in order. I also had about 10 homemade mini whole wheat and flax blue berry muffins (muffin recipe below) in the fridge that were on their last leg, approaching stale. My aunt had recently emailed and asked if I thought she could use my chocolate brioche bread pudding recipe and substitute old muffins for the brioche. So with that in mind I decided to turn our leftover mini muffins into a lower fat bread pudding. Both turned out super yummy and both were my favorite kind of desserts, easy!!! Hopefully you will find your own inspiration to try one or both of these recipes!
I don’t typically make dessert, but my family all love to enjoy something sweet and the end of every dinner. Usually Liv and Rick are satisfied with the small stock of dark chocolate covered cherries, and bits and pieces of good chocolate I keep in the pantry, while François will gladly opt for a piece of fruit or some yogurt. I’m not a huge fan giving kids sugar laden desserts, I have found that allowing my kids to eat sweets in moderation, choosing small portions of sweets made with REAL ingredients and not stuff bought at the grocery store or in the candy isle, which typically has tons of artificial flavors and preservatives, has satisfied their urge for sweets while meeting my expectations of eating real foods. You see I did graduate from a French culinary school, and what is more classically French than dessert? I was lucky enough to learn to make traditional amazingly buttery and flaky croissants, pâté choux pastries, clafoutis, galettes and many other delicious tarts, cakes and cookies. So…full disclosure time, I dreaded and I mean DREADED baking and pastry classes (DREADED-AND I'M NOT EXAGGERATING EVIDENT BY MY USE OF ALL CAPS)! And Dear Lord please don’t let my wonderful baking a pastry instructor Chef Adriane read this! I was (and really still am) a chef who doesn’t love to step out of the savory side of the kitchen. The best explanation for this is summed up in the expression “cooking is an art and baking is a science”. I HATE to measure…
So while I will make more complicated desserts for special events and holidays I like to stick to easier and more rustic type desserts for our family treats. I also typically need an inspiration to put on my baking apron and get out the sugar.
My inspiration for this round of baking was twofold. One being my beautiful little Meyer lemon tree and the other being Francois. It went something like this…The kids and I were enjoying the unusually gorgeous February weather out back. We picked lemons, weeded the onion beds and fed the worms (our composting worms). We were playing and chatting and I was of course thinking of what I could do with all of my lovely lemons. We were all going in and out of the house when I heard a blood curdling scream. It was Francois. He had been a good boy and taken off his mud boots in the garage before coming into the house, but in true boy fashion he was running and not paying attention. The heavy garage door closed over his bare toe and there was blood… Now those of you who have, or work with children understand that the minute there is blood with any “injury” is the minute the world must stop turning! I of course ran to his rescue, swept him up in my arms (he is only four…and my baby!) and took him to the medic station, my master bath. He was sobbing. I once had a checker at Trader Joes ask me if my son had a sister, because he pinched his finger in the cart and screamed this unworldly scream that you would only expect from a dramatic little princess. So you can imagine the drama when blood in any volume is involved. Then the magic happened. I pulled out the new box of Band Aids and suddenly like a switch he stopped, wiped his eyes, and said with such delighted surprise “you got Spiderman Band-Aids”? So I guess Spiderman saved the day! He was all bandaged up now, but he just wasn’t ready to put his boots back on over his “wound”. So when I asked him what he wanted to do he said "bake cookies"…
Ok I was inspired to bake or at least make something sweet, and after hitting a few of my favorite blogs I found this yummy Meyer lemon pudding recipe http://www.thegalleygourmet.net/2011/01/meyer-lemon-pudding.html. Francois was in, and excited. Liv wasn’t as thrilled, so we decided two desserts were in order. I also had about 10 homemade mini whole wheat and flax blue berry muffins (muffin recipe below) in the fridge that were on their last leg, approaching stale. My aunt had recently emailed and asked if I thought she could use my chocolate brioche bread pudding recipe and substitute old muffins for the brioche. So with that in mind I decided to turn our leftover mini muffins into a lower fat bread pudding. Both turned out super yummy and both were my favorite kind of desserts, easy!!! Hopefully you will find your own inspiration to try one or both of these recipes!
The Galley Gourmet’s Meyer Lemon Pudding (No modifications necessary, it was easy and delicious!) Serves 6
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups whole milk
3 extra large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest (or 1 tablespoon lemon zest + 1 tablespoon orange zest)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (or 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice + 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the milk, egg yolks, zest, and salt and whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently at first and constantly toward the end, until thickened.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the citrus juice and butter. Place a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl and pour the mixture through the strainer. Divide the mixture into 6 serving dishes and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, loosely covered (tightly covered will trap too much moisture, making a watery pudding) for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Serve chilled by itself or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Blueberry Muffin Bread Pudding
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
3 c. low-fat milk
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp fresh grated lemon zest
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
8 oz. stale low fat blueberry muffins
½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries (optional)
Bread Pudding: Combine eggs, sugar, milk, cream, melted butter, vanilla, lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl; whisk to blend well. Arrange the muffin pieces in a lightly greased 4-quart baking dish and pour the mixture over muffin pieces, let stand, turning muffin pieces as necessary, until soft and saturated, about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake uncovered until the custard is set and top is lightly browned, about 45 minutes.
Bleu Rosemary’s Low Fat Whole Wheat and Flax Blueberry Muffins
1 cup non fat milk (cow or nut)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup raw honey
¼ cup naturally sweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp ground flax
4 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ -1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding them to the batter)
Blueberry Muffins: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (Position rack in center of oven. Butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners).
In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the milk, lightly beaten egg, honey, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
In another large bowl whisk together the flour, flax, baking powder, and salt. Remove 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and toss it with the blueberries. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Gently stir in the blueberries. Do not over mix the batter or your muffins will be tough and dense.
Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.
No comments:
Post a Comment