Ben's birthday cake #3 (Génoise à la crème pâtissière) - Testing

https://www.femmeactuelle.fr/cuisine/recettes/dessert/gateau-a-la-creme-patissiere-16134

1 - This is in fact the second time I make this cake. I feel like the génoise is too tough, perfect for something like a strawberry shortcake, so I wonder if the flour should be gently folded in instead of beaten in. Also, in this version I made a double batch of pastry cream and poured half over the top and garnished with lots of blackberries. It was too much. Even trying to cut it, it squished and slithered and was a mess. I think a single recipe of the pastry cream and retaining maybe a fourth to slather on top, and garnished with fresh fruit.

2 - Much better. After whipping the eggs, I used a whisk to gently fold in the flour. The problem is that the yeast didn't dissolve. Is it even needed? What does it do? I think doubling the amount of pastry cream is a good idea, but one recipe in the middle, and the other on top. And fresh soft fruit in the middle and on top is also better.

 

For the génoise cake:
4gr (1 tsp?) active dry yeast 

4 eggs, separated

Salt
130g sugar

130g flour

pastry cream

Fresh soft fruit

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Dissolve the yeast in some cold water.
3. Separate the egg whites and yolks.
4. With a pinch of salt, whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks. Continue to whisk, adding the sugar slowly to combine well. 
5. Add the hydrated yeast and then egg yolks, one at a time.
6. By hand, very gently add the flour but only until a homogenous batter is achieved.
7. Pour into a lined spring form pan and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Once baked, cool completely before assembling.
9. Meanwhile, make the pastry cream. For the pastry cream, follow this recipe, using the liquid cream option. 
10. Cut the cake lengthwise, slather the base with 3/4 of the pastry cream to sandwich with the top half.
11. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Ben's birthday cake #2 - Untested

https://astucesaufeminin.com/gateau-a-la-creme-patissiere-2/

Also look at https://www.mesrecettes.info/gateau-moelleux-a-la-creme-patissiere/

For the Pastry Cream

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

Optional - 1 Tbsp rum

For the sponge

175g of room temp soft butter

150g sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

80g almond flour

The grated zest from 1 lemon

220g of flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Optional : 1 egg yolk

NOTE: This is a dessert that requires 8 hours of rest before serving.

For the Pastry Cream

1. Put the milk in a saucepan. Heat to a simmer, remove from heat, cover, and add the vanilla. Set  aside to cool.
2. Beat the yolks with the sugar until pale. Beat in the flour.
3. Very slowly whisk the milk into the egg mixture. 
4. Pour back into the saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook one minute. Remove from the heat (optional: stir in 1 tablespoon rum or liqueur of your choosing). 
5. Strain into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to cool. 
6. When chilled, stream the cream in and mix with whisk until smooth.

For the Cake

1. Beat together the butter an sugar until pale. Add the egg and 1 egg yolk, then the almond flour and the lemon zest.
2. Add the flour, the baking powder and the salt. Knead until the dough forms into a cohesive ball.
3. Wrap, flatten lightly, and chill the refrigerator for 2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F.
5. Divide the ball of dough (weigh and divide) into uneven pieces, one smaller than the other (when weighing, record what I decided on). Roll each piece out with a rolling pin. Place the larger one in a pie dish (or would a cake pan look better?), the edges coming up onto the rim.
6. Spoon the pastry cream onto the dough.
7. Roll out the smaller piece of dough.
8. Dampen the edges of the dough in the pie dish, place the smaller round on top and pinch the edges to seal. Let rest a few minutes.
9. Meanwhile, you can brush the top with another egg yolk, and then make patterns with a fork.
10. Bake for 40 minutes

Ben's birthday cake - Testing

https://mesdelicieusescreations.com/gateau-coeur-de-creme/

https://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/coeur-a-la-creme/9140/

1 - Interesting and good, but I'll need to work some things out. Like, for example, making choux pastry. It seemed a bit weird but we did like it. The pastry cream with the mascarpone was a real hit, though. I don't think I should try my usual. But, the choux pastry? I may try the Profiteroles or the Gougere to compare.

2 - Looks at these for the choux cake:

https://www.lavenderandmacarons.com/chocolate-eclair-cake-recipe/

https://www.scrumdiddlyumptious.com/karpatka-cake/

https://www.barbarabakes.com/triple-berry-choux-cake/

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/choux-pastry/#tasty-recipes-66691

https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/tiramisu-choux-cake/#recipe

HANG ON A MINUTE! Why am I trying to make a choux pastry cake layer when I could just make a bunch of choux pastries and arrange them in a layer?!?

Pâte à choux
 3 oeufs
 75 ml de lait (1/3 cup)
 75 ml d'eau (1/3 cup)
 85 g de farine
 65 g de beurre
 1 c-à-c de sucre
 1 bonne pincée de sel
Crème pâtissière crémeuse 
 3 œufs
 120 g de sucre
 60 g de Maïzena
 ½ l de lait (2 1/4c)
 1 c-à-s de vanille liquide
 250 g de mascarpone
Décoration
 1 pot de sucre glace

Pâte à choux

1. Pour préparer la pâte à choux, versez le lait, la vanille, l'eau, le beurre, le sucre et le sel dans une casserole. Portez le tout à frémissement.
2. Versez d'un coup la farine et mélangez à l'aide d'une cuillère en bois. Séchez la pâte. Elle doit se décoller des parois et une fine pellicule doit se former sur le fond de la casserole.
3. Laissez tiédir puis ajoutez les œufs battus en versant progressivement. Mélangez pour les incorporer.
4. Dans un moule beurré de 18 cm de diamètre, versez la moitié de la pâte.
5. Enfournez dans un four préchauffé à 350°F chaleur statique. Faites cuire entre 25 et 35 minutes.
6. Une fois cuit, démoulez sur une grille. Puis renouvelez l'opération avec le reste de pâte.

Crème pâtissière crémeuse

1. Dans une casserole, versez le lait et la vanille. Portez le tout à frémissement.
2. Pendant ce temps, dans un saladier, fouettez le sucre avec les œufs. Ajoutez la Maïzena et fouettez de nouveau. Il ne doit pas y avoir de grumeaux.
3. Versez le lait chaud tout en mélangeant. Puis transférez l'appareil dans la casserole.
4. Faites cuire le tout à feu doux sans cesser de remuer. Une fois que la crème pâtissière commence à buller, laissez cuire 3 minutes.
5. Hors du feu, versez le mascarpone et mélangez énergiquement.

Montage

1. Une fois cuit et refroidi, placez la première pâte à choux dans le fond d'un cercle rétractable ou dans un moule à charnière du même diamètre. Puis versez la crème pâtissière.
2. Étalez à l'aide d'une spatule puis refermez avec la seconde pâte à choux.
3. Réservez minimum 5 heures au frais voir toute une nuit.
4. Démoulez le gâteau. Saupoudrez de sucre glace et dégustez !

CATÉGORIE
Pour le montage, placez la première pâte à choux dans le fond du cercle et versez la crème (photo 1). Puis étalez avec une spatule (photo 2). Enfin, déposez la seconde pâte à choux sur le dessus (photo 3).

Gratin de patisson (Summer squash gratin) - Untested

 https://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_gratin-de-patisson_12807.aspx

1 - It was good, the cheese on top nice and browned. We noticed that on it's own, it is missing something, but with crust toasted bread, it was much better. So, something like that to go with it. I also noticed that it was very wet, which to me signifies more draining or even pressing out excess liquid from the scaloppini. Next time I will adapt the Cheese Souffle recipe to this.

1-2 basil leaves, sliced

1lb scaloppini squash (pattypan)

1 cup milk

3 eggs (separated)

70g + 30g grated Gruyère

1/4 tsp ginger

1 Tbsp sugar
50g butter
(optional) 1 Tbsp chives

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F. (?)
2. Peel the pattypan and cut into 1/4" cubes.
3. Boil in plenty of salted water with the bay leaf for about 20 minutes. 
4. Drain well as the pattypan can absorb a lot of water. Run the squash through a food mill or blender, let it sit and then drain off as much liquid as you can.
5. Beat together the yolk and the milk - add the cheese, ginger and sugar.
6. Beat the whites to stiff peaks with a pinch of salt. Stir a spoonful into the yolk mixture, then pour the yolk mixture onto the remaining whites and gently fold together. 
7. Gently fold into the egg and cheese bowl, along with the butter cut into small cubes.
8. Grease a gratin dish and pour in the batter. Sprinkle over this the 30g of cheese and a few more cubes of butter. Salt the surface as your last flourish, unless you're also using the optional chives.
9. Brown in the oven for about 45 minutes. (?)

Warm Scaloppini Salad - Testing

1 - I made this for a potluck (pretty much my invention) with brie. It was good, but the brie melted and pooled into gloms. The trick is likely to toss it frequently as the pasta cools, or wait until everything is at room temperature until adding the cheese.

2 - Made it with chevre cheese and served it on a bed of lettuce. The chevre dissolved into the tomato and squash juices and turned it into a salad dressing. Very nice.

1 1/2 lb patty pan, cut in 1/2" wedges
Olive oil

8 oz dry chunky pasta like farfalle or rotini
1/4lb brie, skinned and cut into cubes OR Chèvre cheese (see note #2)
8oz - 1 lb cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 tsp minced thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

?lemon or lemon rind?

Lettuce leaves

1. Turn on oven to 425F.
2. Put patty pan wedges on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping occasionally, until squash is tender but still quite firm.
3. Meanwhile, bring salted water to a boil and cook the pasta.
4. When the squash and pasta are cooked, drain the pasta and combine it with the squash in a large bowl, including the squash juices. 
5. Add the brie and mix thoroughly. You may have to do this several times as the mixture cools to a lukewarm temperature - the salad should be warm, not hot. Too hot and the cheese just congeals on the bottom of the bowl.
6. Add the tomatoes and toss again. Adjust the seasoning to your liking
7. Sprinkle the thyme (and lemon rind?) on top and serve on a bed of lettuce.

Dilled Summer Squash Casserole - Untested

https://www.mygourmetconnection.com/hungarian-style-summer-squash-dill/

3 medium zucchini, about 1-1/2 lbs
2 Tbsps butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsps milk
2 Tbsps sour cream
2 Tbsps white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Coarsely grate the zucchini using the largest holes on a box grater.
2. Place in a colander, toss with a little salt and set aside to drain while you make the roux.
3. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and stir to combine with the butter. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the flour develops a pale golden color.
5. Whisk in the milk and cook until the mixture thickens to a creamy paste.
6. Add the zucchini, combine well and continue cooking for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often.
7. Once the liquid given off by the zucchini has combined with the roux to form a light sauce, stir in the sour cream and vinegar.
8. Add the dill, combine well and season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with a little extra dill if desired.

Apple Brown Betty - Testing

https://www.mygourmetconnection.com/apple-brown-betty/

1 - Perhaps I should not have substituted fresh breadcrumbs for Panko. The flavour is nice (I used Poudre Douce) but the topping did not have the crunchy/chewiness I had hoped for. I shall make another crust and re-bake this just as a filling. Not sure where to take this or if it's simply a FAIL. Oh, but the apple cider vinegar as replacement for lemon seemed to work just fine.

3 lbs tart apples (about 6 medium)
1+3 Tbsps brown sugar
1+1 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (try 3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar and 3/4 tsp water)
1 cup panko  fresh bread crumbs
5 tablespoons melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and generously butter a 9 x 9-inch baking dish.
2. Peel and core the apples, slice them into thin wedges, then place them in a large mixing bowl.
3. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.
4. Drizzle the lemon juice over the mixture and toss to thoroughly coat the apple slices with the spices and sugar.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the panko bread crumbs with the remaining brown sugar and cinnamon.
6. Slowly pour in the melted butter and combine well.
7. Arrange half of the apples in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish and top with half of the butter and crumb mixture.
8. Repeat with the remaining apples and crumbs.
9. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the crumbs are nicely browned, then remove from the oven and cover with foil.
10. Continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the apples are tender when pierced with a knife.