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Happy Birthday, Dorie!
In honor of Dorie Greenspan’s birthday today, the French Fridays crew is having a virtual birthday party. I love birthdays, anyone’s birthday! And who doesn’t like an excuse to celebrate?
This week, I’m visiting my sister for a couple days. My niece Rachel and I baked cupcakes for the occasion. Rachel, age 11, is an accomplished and enthusiastic cook. She’s been working on perfecting strawberry cupcakes so that’s what we made, in miniature. The cupcake batter has strawberry purée in it, giving it a lovely light pink hue. Rachel likes to frost them with whipped cream and top them with a strawberry, like a strawberry shortcake in cupcake form.
Rachel Sifting
Ready for Baking
Everyone got in the act. My sister Jennifer was in charge of piping the whipped cream. It looked very professional.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DORIE, from Betsy and Rachel! We hope you have a fabulous day!
Rachel’s Strawberry CupcakesMakes 2 dozen mini cupcakes plus a few regular sized ones
2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen (thawed) strawberries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
Whipped cream
24-30 fresh strawberries, for garnishing the cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a mini-muffin tin (with 24 muffins) with cupcake lines and set aside.
Puree strawberries in a food processor. Measure out 1/3 cup of puree. Mix the puree in a small bowl with the milk and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together sifted flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce speed and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture, mixing until just blended. Add the strawberry mixture; mix until just blended. Add the remaining flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until just blended.
Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling just 2/3 full. If there is extra, make a few full-sized cupcakes. Transfer the muffin tin to the oven, and bake until the tops are just dry to the touch (and the inside of the cake is cooked). For mini-cupcakes, bake for 15-20 minutes. For full-sized, bake 22-25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.
When cooled, ice with whipped cream and top with half a strawberry. Enjoy!
caramel-almond custard tart {ffwd}
I’ll admit that I was skeptical about this week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie. The choice was a Caramel-Almond Custard Tart. The recipe reads like a sweet quiche with nuts on top and that just didn’t seem appealing. However, I enjoy my Fridays with the Doristas, so I soldiered on.
Each time we use it, I remember that the sweet tart crust is one of my favorite discoveries in Around My French Table. The cookie-like crust comes together easily, and I love the press-in method, with no rolling or waiting required.
The filling starts with a simple caramel. I think I’m gradually losing my fear of molten sugar. This caramel is slower to brown than others. I think because it’s more like caramelizing a heavy sugar syrup than just plain sugar. That also made it less scary. It boiled madly for a few minutes and then turned a lovely shade of brown and was ready. My caramel did seize up when I poured room-temperature cream over it, but it smoothed out, just as Dorie promised, after sitting for a few minutes.
While the caramel rested, I whisked eggs with sugar, salt, and milk to make a custard base, then added the caramel cream. At this point, I was still reminded of quiche filling.
Toasted sliced almonds are scattered over the tart crust, then the filling gets poured on top. The tart was practically overflowing, so it was challenging to move the pan to the oven. I did manage to do it without spilling a single drop.
The tart needed to bake for a long time. After 35 minutes, it had not puffed at all. After 45 minutes, it started to puff on the edges, but not the middle. After 55 minutes, the middle was puffed but still very jiggly and not feeling firm. I finally decided it was enough after about 65 minutes, which was 20 minutes more than the recipe said.
It was also much later than I anticipated. I was hoping the tart would cool down to close to room temperature so we could try it before bedtime. Wanting to taste won out over waiting for it to reach the ideal temp, so the first try was on the warm side. To my surprise, it didn’t taste quiche-y at all. In fact, it reminded me of a warm pecan pie made with almonds, even though the fillings are drastically different. I really liked it. Howard was less sure.
I had a cold piece with breakfast to see if the texture changed after the tart cooled down. I found the filling smoother this morning and still delicious.
To see what the other FFwD participants thought of this tart, follow their links here. I can’t find the recipe online, but you can always find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
A Plateful of Happiness 