fish custard [and a wibbly-wobbly halloween]

Friday morning began with a much-needed lie-in until 10am, and still I didn't feel like getting up. Buried under comforters on a bed of pillows on an overcast, autumn morning... all I really wanted was a steaming mug of tea and a cookbook to read.

But, you know, on the day of a wibbly-wobbly Halloween get-together, you force yourself out of bed, do a bit of cleaning and laundering, turn some Madeleine Peyroux on the stereo, and simmer up some salted caramel.

Chelsea and Liz have had a few dinner parties already this semester, so Noosh and I decided it was our turn to host...something.

[Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.]

But really, Halloween weekend called for one thing and one thing only: a Doctor-Who themed party.

Not that, you know, all of my friends are fans. In fact, the vast majority haven't watched. So really, it was more of an excuse for me to wear a bow-tie and cook up some fish custard.

"Fish Fingers" and Custard
Adapted from The Comfort of Cooking and Bakingdom
Yields 4-6 servings custard, about 2 dozen fish fingers

For the salted caramel custard, you'll need:

• 4 cups whole milk
• 6 tbsp cornstarch 
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tsp salt

For the fish fingers, you'll need:

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup [1 stick] butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 5 graham cracker sheets
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tbsp sugar

To prepare the custard:
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of the milk, the cornstarch, and vanilla until blended. In a large saucepan, heat water and sugar on medium-high heat until boiling. Don't stir, but swirl the pan around to mix. Once boiling, lower the heat so that the syrup is at  a simmer. Simmer until the caramel turns an amber color, add in salt, and swirl until incorporated, 8-10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the remaining 3 1/2 cups milk, whisking constantly, until combined. The sugar may clump up spectacularly, but that is okay. Return the pan to the flame and heat on medium-high heat until just boiling, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Whisk the mixture until the caramel dissolves and the mixture thickens a bit, about 10 minutes. Add in the cornstarch mixture and whisk on medium flame until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour the custard into a large glass dish or other heat proof dish. Allow the custard to cool, at least 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until the custard has thickened fully and set.


To prepare the fish fingers: 
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on low speed, then increase to medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in egg and vanilla and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl when necessary. Lower the speed and gradually add in flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Cover the top of the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers, butter, and sugar until the mixture is crumbly and sticks together. Once cookie dough is chilled, roll into "fish fingers," about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. The smaller the better, as they will expand quite a bit while baking. Roll the "fish finger" in the graham cracker mixture to "coat" and place on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, allowing about an inch space between cookies on the sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Serve "fish fingers" with custard. They taste splendid when eaten together, or either can be enjoyed separately. Allons-y!

Noosh and I first stumbled upon this recipe a few months ago, and immediately I fell in love. The graham cracker "coating" is absolutely brilliant, and give the cookies the appearance of honest-to-God fish fingers. Words cannot describe how enamored I am with these things. They taste fantastic as well, which is only a plus, really.

So after about 9 hours of cooking custard, baking fish fingers and jammie dodgers, listening to everything from Louis Armstrong to Don Omar with Noosh preparing the TARDIS door, our apartment was full of the sounds of laughter, chatter, music, The Green Lantern, Hello Kitty, and Freida Kalho, a rather disturbing-looking cockroach, unnamed doctors and Sabeen's-apartment-occupiers, hilarious and somewhat horrifying Bollywood dancing, and happy mouths munching on good food. A success in all senses of the word, over all.

And by the time we were done cleaning up by around 1:30, I promptly passed out and slept for about 9 hours straight.

And I've spent the vast majority of the hour and a half I've been up uploading photographs and listening to Cabin Pressure on Youtube [quite the brilliant radio show, sent to me by a sweet friend who knows of my utter obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch's brilliant theatrical timing and jaguar-hiding-in-a-cello voice], not really wanting to get out of my comfortable bed.

Having discarded the suit-jacket, the bow-tie, and the formal button-down, though, I must say it's nice not to have a career that requires me to dress up like a flamboyant British gentleman on a daily basis. Fun as it was, I'll leave it to the professionals.

I much prefer watching them from the comfort of my living room sofa.


Preferably with a bowl of fish custard in hand.

[short and sweet] sea salted chocolate-caramel shortbread bars

You know, an unexpected earthquake and hurricane really liven things up during an otherwise dull first week of term.

Though, admittedly, I didn't realize the earthquake was actually an earthquake until making it to Starbucks and finding myself amongst noisy chatter concerning the coming of the apocalypse. I just thought it was, you know, construction. Not to mention the irony of Hurricane Irene hitting this weekend [by irony I mean the name; as if I didn't already have Sherlock on the brain 20 hours a day, it somehow finds a way to permeate every aspect of my existence]. Life is full of unexpected surprises, I suppose.

Anyway, first week is over, and I'm heading home for the weekend. On my way back, I'll be making a pit-stop in the city to visit Brinay and bring her a [not-so-surprise] treat for her birthday this weekend. Sea salted chocolate-caramel shortbread bars. I asked Brinay a few days ago what she would want if I, hypothetically of course, happened to bake her something for the occasion. All she said to me was "chocolate," but that was more than enough.

I happened across a recipe for chocolate dulce de leche bars on the interweb, but altered the recipe to my own tastes. Mainly with the addition of sea salt on top. Chocolate is wonderful for its versatility, and I wanted to try something new. Chili powder was an option as well, though I think that's best suited for a dessert a little...grander. A mousse or cake, perhaps. But birthday bars? Nah. For these, I kept 'em short, sweet, and just a little bit salty.

Sea Salted Chocolate-Caramel Shortbread Bars
Adapted from Nutmeg Nanny

For the shortbread crust, you'll need:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup ground pecans

For the chocolate-caramel topping, you'll need:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 14-oz can dulce de leche
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• approximately 1/2 tsp sea salt, to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line and grease an 8x8-inch square pan. To prepare the crust, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Add in flour, almond meal, pecans, and salt, and mix until the dough comes together. Press dough evenly onto the base of the pan. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until crust is golden-brown. Let cool at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the chocolate topping, simmer heavy cream and dulce de leche in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Whisk mixture until dulce de leche is completely melted. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly pour about 1/4 cup of the hot caramel mixture into the egg yolks, while still whisking, to temper them. Pour the hot egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan, and mix until the chocolate begins to thicken. Continue whisking at a simmer for 4-5 minutes, until mixture is thick enough to resemble pudding. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the chocolate.

Let the chocolate mixture cool 10-15 minutes before pouring on top of the cooled crust. Chill the bars, uncovered, for an hour. Sprinkle the sea salt evenly over top of the chocolate, and then return the bars to the fridge and chill for another two hours before slicing. Store bars in the fridge for up to 3 days.

These are quite delicious. The topping is soft, almost the consistency of a dense mousse, and each bite melts in your mouth in the most pleasant way. You want to use a very small amount of sea salt on top, since sea salt itself has such an intense depth of flavor. Just a hint is enough to make you think there's something more than just chocolate, but hardly enough to make you realize it until you lick your lips and taste traces of saltiness left behind.

A new dimension to ordinary chocolate bars. One I'm hoping Brinay will enjoy when I see her in a few hours.


As for the semester, I'm anticipating a busy one. I've already been confronted with more reading than I expected having to do on a week-to-week basis, none of which I'm too excited about. Still, not having class on Fridays helps.

And I mean, if one of your required readings is a biography of Leonardo da Vinci, it can't be all bad. I anticipate many days of tea, scones, and art history in my future.

alfajores

Me encanta hornear.


Pues, en este momento, supongo que es más o menos obvio, ¿no?

Mañana Zach y yo darémos una presentación sobre El laberinto del fauno para nuestra clase de literatura española. Entonces, para que la haga la pelota a nuestra maestra, horeneamos alfajores, galletas tradicionalmente árabes que originaron en España, pareciéndose a gli canoli de Italia.

Hoy día, hay variedades a través de latinoamérica; las retratadas arriba se parecen a las de Argentina. Sin embargo, todas son absolutamente deliciosas.

Because what better way to get brownie points in Spanish 341 than by baking alfajores?

Yes, pun absolutely intended.

Alfajores are an Arabic confection that originated in southern Spain as early as the 12th century, back when the Moors inhabited the area. The original treat resembled a cylinder filled with creamy, sweet caramel, and over the years has been adapted into countless variations, though the original recipe remains pretty much the same: flour, honey, almonds, and spices.

Without all of the innovative new ingredients brought by the Arabs, though, alfajores took on a totally different form in Latin America, where they are more or less two layers of cake with filling in between. The most common Latin American variation, the Argentinian alfajor, consists of two biscuits joined together with jam or dulce de leche and covered in a dusting of powdered sugar.

Alfajores
Adapted from Taste and Tell
Recipe makes about 4 dozen

You'll need:

• 4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
• 3 sticks butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp vanilla

• 2 14-oz cans dulce de leche

Sift flour and confectioner's sugar. Add to a food processor or electric mixer along with the butter, and pulse until dough resembles coarse meals, 20-30 seconds. While mixing on low speed, slowly pour in water and vanilla and mix until dough comes together. Divide dough in half, roll into two discs, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll out one of the chilled discs of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter of about 1.5-inches in diameter, cut out cookies and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden, 15 minutes. Transfer baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble cookies, spread a layer of dulce de leche on the flat side of a cooled cookie. Use another cookie to layer on top. Serve immediately.

Note: do not frost the cookies until serving. If you need to store them, keep the unfrosted cookies in an airtight container and the dulce de leche in the refrigerator. Both stay good for up to 3 days.

I'm not totally sure what alfajores have to do with Pan's Labyrinth, but then again, I'm not sure what Pan's Labyrinth has to do with modern Spanish literature. So they make a rudimentary pair, I'd say.

And besides, it was about time Zach was introduced to the magic that is dulce de leche.

And I've always wanted to make alfajores.

And they are one of the most delicious cookies I have ever eaten.

And that is not an exaggeration.

I think it'll be a pretty successful presentation.

homemade samoas

I'm a judgmental person.

Not in a particularly pretentious way; I just form highly scrutinized opinions about people based on their often poorly executed life choices.

It's not like I can help it, either. It just...happens. Instinctual. Out of my control.

Not that you have anything to worry about, I assure you.

Unless you happen to fall into the above category.

In which case I'll metaphorically shake my head in disappointment and pity. Or literally. Either one.

Just this sort of thing happens whenever I enter or observe any sort of competition. Whether it be an essay submission for publication in a journal, a graphic design contest,  American Idol, fighting against a good friend in Super Smash Bros Brawl, what have you. This weekend, it happened to be a bake-off.

I'm not a very competitive person by nature, particularly when it comes to academics [to each his own; read: I don't care how well or poorly you do as long as I have access to caffeine and a comfortable sofa in which to study my butt off], but I can't say the same holds true if you hand me a video game controller or a spatula.

I feel the need to prove myself.

And when that happens, things get ugly.

To my dismay, this weekend's competition was not in my favor. The bake-off was held earlier today, and I must say some of my competitors were very skilled. Noosh was by my side the entire time, as only the best of best friends would, so the blow wasn't too hard-hit when I didn't hear my name called to the podium.

But now I'm just being melodramatic.

I actually wasn't too bummed about it, mainly because I felt as though some of the more skilled competitors (particularly one girl who baked an almond torte layered with a balsamic raspberry reduction and topped with a white chocolate mousse, a cake which I regret not having begged a recipe for) were overlooked completely by some less...well...

*ahem*

Let's just say, my cynical judging of others came in full force today when I witnessed nothing but cupcake pops, Oreo truffles, 7-layer-bars, and other desserts even your middle-school-aged younger brother could recreate if he had access to some butter, flour, sugar, and the most popular recipe submissions on Tastespotting.

But I suppose it was worth the four hours of my life that I will never get back, since Noosh and I are now able to cross one more dessert off of our list.

Homemade Samoas
Adapted from Once Upon a Plate

For the shortbread cookie, you'll need:

• 1 cup [2 sticks] butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• up to 2 tbsp of whole milk

For the topping, you'll need:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 12 ounces good quality chewy caramels
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 8 oz chocolate (semisweet if using sweetened coconut, milk if using unsweetened)

To prepare cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt on low speed. Add in vanilla, and add in small quantities of milk until dough comes together without being sticky (you may not need all 2 tbsp of milk). Add in a bit of extra flour if the dough seems too sticky. Gather dough together into a ball, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll dough out onto a floured surface until it is just about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 1.5 to 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough. Make a smaller hole in the center (I use the end of a small, round piping tip). Lay cookies evenly on lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.


To prepare the topping, preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a 12-inch tray with aluminum foil. Toast shredded coconut for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden brown, to release its flavor. Cool on a baking sheet, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, begin melting the caramels with the milk and salt. Stir continuously until the mixture is smooth. Remove pan from heat and stir in the cooled coconut.

Using a spatula or knife, spread the coconut-caramel mixture on top of the cooled cookies. If caramel begins to firm up, reheat until it is soft and spreadable once again.

While the topping sets up, melt the chocolate in a small bowl, either in the microwave or over the stove using the double-broiler method. Dip the base of each cookie into the melted chocolate and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate to a piping bag or ziplock bag with a corner snipped off, and drizzle the finished cookies with chocolate.

Store cookies in an airtight container. Cookies stay fresh for up to 3 days.

We made three batches and ended up with...hundreds of cookies. Literally. We still have so many left over, which I suppose is good news for all of our friends. Nevertheless, despite taking hours to make [6, to be precise], Noosh and I had a blast blowing off work to bake these.

And even though the competition didn't exactly end in my favor, I had an amazing time with Noosh, raising money for a good cause, tasting and critiquing other girls' desserts (because if you can't let your prissy, elitist, competitive side shine through during a bake-off, when can you?), and chatting with supportive friends who came by to visit and omnom.

And even though these weren't an "official" winner, these cookies are gold.

[Could be why I saved quite a few of the leftovers for myself, but you didn't hear that from me.]

toffee bars

There are a few things I want to do in my life.

Well, I mean, there are a lot of things I hope to do in my life.

But there are a few things I would kill to do. Travel the world, travel the world to eat, open a bakery, meet iron chef Michael Symon and Anthony Bourdain, have both of the aforementioned invite me over for dinner, have a dessert Throwdown with Bobby Flay, etc. etc. But you know what else I would love to do more than anything? Voice a Disney princess.

How epic would that be?!

unfortunately finished this before rapunzel became an official princess :( but she's here in spirit!

While driving home at 11 pm tonight, I was blasting and singing along to my Disney playlist. Mostly to keep me from falling asleep at the wheel, but also because any time is a good time for Disney music. Particularly the "Tangled" soundtrack. So addicting! Plus, Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore do a phenomenal job voice acting and singing.

Oh man, I would just love to do that. But as much as I love all things Disney, that is not what this post is about.

Toffee bars. Hershil came over to the apartment last night to help me bake before we went to see Black Swan [which is an incredible movie, by the way, but also the one most disturbing things I've seen]. It was quite fun, duking it out on the Wii while these were in the oven, chatting about anything and everything. Thank goodness he's taking J-term classes, because there are only so many reruns of Iron Chef I can watch before the ability to list their dishes within the first five minutes makes the entire hour of programming rather dull.

Now, I love this recipe. In fact, it was the first recipe I tried from The Cookie & Biscuit Bible, and compelled me try more immediately afterward. I've gifted these a few times in the past, because they're always a huge hit. Luckily, this time was no different.

These babies went to my good friend, DUSTIN HIGGINS, despite his poor taste in movies and rap music [Avatar and Lil Wayne, really?], as a promised, belated birthday gift. I spent the evening with him and Beth after I got off of work, which was a fantastic way to break up the monotony of my workweek. Especially after a fun evening with Hershil yesterday. Two for two, man, I'm on a roll.

Toffee Bars
Adapted from The Cookie & Biscuit Bible

You'll need:

• 1 pound [4 sticks] of butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts [this is optional, but highly suggested]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add in egg yolks and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. Lower speed and slowly add flour and salt. But until just mixed. Pour batter into pan and spread and press down evenly with the back of a spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is golden-brown.

As soon as shortbread is out of the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top. Wait 2-3 minutes for chocolate to begin melting, and then use a knife to spread chocolate evenly across the top of the shortbread. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of the chocolate. Let cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Bars keep well in an airtight container for up to a week.

I seriously love these things. They're not overly sweet, sort of melt in your mouth, and the nut crunch on top is delightful. Plus, Dustin, Beth, and Hershil loved 'em, so I was pretty satisfied.

I actually didn't eat any from this batch, which was both extremely depressing and extremely difficult. I'm working on low-carbing it for a few weeks, just to kind of clean the refined flour and sugar out of my system [after the past few...months...of gastronomic frivolity]. But boy, did they smell good when they came out of the oven.

Ugh. I'm one more omelette away from just buying a baguette and eating it whole.

No.

I will persevere. 

...maybe.

Let's just say, it's a good thing that there are none of these left in the apartment...