Category: Pastry Components

Making Clotted Cream

The texture of clotted cream is really unlike any other dairy product I’m aware of. It’s smooth, incredibly thick, full of big, curd-like blobs and just a little gooey. “Mud-like” is the term I usually use, and it’s apt.

For a one-time Devon resident like myself, the realization that I had the resources available to make my own clotted cream caused waves of both nostalgia and lust — butterfat lust — to wash over me. I had to rush out immediately and try it. If you have small, local dairy cream available to you (un-homogenized and especially un-stabilized) this recipe will be a snap. If not you probably won’t get quite the same result, but to my way of seeing things that’s no reason not to try. The potential rewards are simply too great.

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Making White Chocolate Mousse

I think of white chocolate mousse a medium for another flavor versus an end in itself. I mean honestly…is there anyone out there who’s really that into white chocolate? However we can use the cocoa butter that white chocolate contains to give an ethereal herbal flavor like mint a form and a texture. Since we only need the white chocolate for its foam-reinforcing cocoa butter, not its flavor, we can go lighter than we would with a chocolate mousse. I make mine with:

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Making a Flourless Chocolate Bombe Base

This is actually very much like a sponge cake, though it has no flour whatsoever. It’s just the type of nifty and versatile invention Rose Levy Beranbaum is famous for. Yes it has some steps, but if you’ve made spongecake before it’ll be second nature. Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Then prepare your pan. Using two sheets of parchment lay one down on a sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray, but let several inches hang over the edge. Spray the top.

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Chocolate Mirror Glaze

Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a beautiful and simple alternative to the high-gloss tempered chocolate coating that so many of us envy but doubt we can pull off without an industrial tempering machine. This glaze produces a very satisfying sheen, albeit without the “snap” of a true chocolate glaze. Thanks to reader Paul for submitting his favorite version.

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Making Linzer Batter

I’ve become a convert from Linzer dough to Linzer batter because it produces a torte that is more like, well, a torte…not a tart. Tart crusts are hard and flaky. By comparison the crust you get from this batter is like a dense, nutty cake. Use this as a base for a Linzer torte, or pipe it into small rounds and use it for Linzer cookies. Either way you will not be disappointed.

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Linzer Batter

So…let’s try that again. Here’s a pipe-able Linzer batter. This is enough for one 11″ torte or many cookies. If you plan on making piped cookies with this, omit the cinnamon and cloves. I also recommend adding an extra ounce of flour for cookies, so the batter doesn’t run quite so much. So here we go:

9 ounces whole blanched almonds, peeled hazelnuts or a combination
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoons cloves
11 ounces cake flour
1 teaspoons lemon zest
10 ounces butter
8 ounces granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature

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Making Mincemeat

Not many people make real mincemeat anymore. I think it’s high time we turned that trend around! Meat gives mincemeat a superior texture and flavor, not to mention a satisfying historical frisson that really completes the experience. Start by cooking your ground beef.

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