Ready for Dessert (42 page)
Authors: David Lebovitz
The recipes in this chapter are not only the foundations
of many of the desserts in this book, but many can be used as springboards for creating your own inspired combinations. To start things off, there are a few pastry doughs, including a very simple
galette dough
that takes just a few moments to make. It’s a very forgiving mixture that’s nothing to fear—and I’m not just saying that because I’ve made it at least 5,000 times in my lifetime.
When I first learned to make pie dough a few decades ago from my friend’s Norwegian grandmother, she told me “If the dough doesn’t fall apart when you make it, it’s not going to be good.” It’s true: the enemy of any pastry dough is overworking the mixture in an effort to bring it together. For the tenderest, flakiest results, keep your movements and mixing swift and don’t overdo it. Don’t worry if the dough falls apart slightly or doesn’t look like a professional rolled it out. Any dough made from scratch, no matter how questionable it looks, tastes infinitely better than store-bought refrigerator dough or one made from a boxed mix.
Pastry cream, sabayon, and crème anglaise often serve as the bases for desserts like soufflés and ice creams, but they are also accompaniments to cakes, pies, and tarts. A mound of
Cider Sabayon
is a natural alongside a wedge of
Apple-Frangipane Galette
and who wouldn’t want a pool of cold
crème anglaise
with a slab of
Chocolate Pavé
?
In addition to two recipes for chocolate sauce, plus one for white chocolate sauce, this chapter contains a colorful variety of fruit sauces and caramel accompaniments. Caramel doesn’t always want to share the stage with anything else, so I’m offering options—a couple thick, rich sauces and a few thin, lighter ones— depending on if you want a full-on, gooey experience or a neat, sophisticated drizzle of flavor.
Preserving also plays an important role in my kitchen, so I’ve included some favorite recipes for candied fruits and homemade jams. These get served inside, alongside, and sometimes on top of, many of my desserts. I hope you’ll find some ways to use them creatively in your own baking as well.
And because man cannot live by dessert alone (although I know of one who is working on proving that dictum wrong), I sometimes like a little something to drink before and after dinner.
Vin d’orange
a slightly bitter orange-flavored fortified wine, makes a wonderful aperitif that’s meant to perk up your appetite before you sit down at the table.
After dinner, a digestif is equally inviting and balances the meal. I have many friends with walnut trees who provide me with green walnuts to make
nocino
a syrupy, mildly spiced Italian liqueur.
Nocino
is wonderful digestif, but it’s also superb poured over
Vanilla Ice Cream
or made into
smooth custards
.
MAKES ONE 9-INCH (23-CM) TART SHELL
This dough is cookielike and sturdy, and it doesn’t need to be weighed down with pie weights for prebaking. But best of all, it’s pressed into the tart pan, so there’s no need for rolling.
6 tablespoons (3 ounces/85 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup (50 g) sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon salt
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on low speed until just smooth, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolk and mix for 30 seconds on low speed. Add the flour and salt and mix just until the dough comes together in a smooth, homogeneous mass. Don’t overmix. Pinch off a jelly bean-size piece of dough, wrap it in plastic wrap, and set aside.
Place the remaining dough in the center of a 9-inch (23-cm) tart pan with a removable bottom. Use the heel of your hand to press the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan; try to get the dough as smooth as possible. Use your fingers to press the dough up the sides and to the rim of the pan; make sure that the dough is not too thick in the corners.
Freeze the dough-lined tart pan until the dough is firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
Set the tart pan on a baking sheet and prick the frozen tart dough about 10 times with a fork. Bake the tart shell on the baking sheet for 7 minutes, then check if the bottom has puffed up; if it has, gently press it down with the back of a metal spatula. Continue baking until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more.
Remove from the oven. While the tart shell is hot, if there are any large fissures, pinch off small pieces of the reserved unbaked dough, and use your fingertip to gently smooth them into the cracks until the cracks are filled. (There’s no need to bake longer as the heat from the still-warm tart shell will firm it up.)
STORAGE:
Tart dough can be frozen for 1 month, either formed into a disk or pressed into the tart pan. The tart shell needs to be used the day that it’s prebaked, so don’t bake it until you need it.
MAKES ENOUGH FOR ONE 9- OR 10-INCH (23- OR 25-CM) DOUBLE-CRUST PIE OR TWO 9- OR 10-INCH (23- OR 25-CM) SINGLE-CRUST PIES
There’s lots of controversy about which fat makes the best pie crust: butter, shortening, or lard. I’m not a fan of shortening or lard because I always feel like I’m being unfaithful to butter by not baking with it. And besides, I like its taste. As long as you keep the butter cold and the ice water to a minimum, this dough bakes up plenty flaky.
I prefer to use glass pie plates as they make it easy to check on the browning underneath, but metal pie pans work well, too.
2½ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch (3-cm) cubes and chilled
6 to 8 tablespoons (90 to 120 ml) ice water
In a large bowl using a pastry blender, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter cubes and mix just until the butter is broken up into rough ¼-inch (6-mm) pieces.
Add 6 tablespoons (90 ml) of the ice water all at once and continue mixing just until the dough begins to hold together. If necessary, mix in the additional 2 tablespoons (30 ml) ice water.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a disk about 1 inch (3 cm) thick. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 1 hour.
STORAGE:
The disks of dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
PREBAKING A PIE SHELL
• For a prebaked 9- or 10-inch (23- or 25-cm) pie shell, lightly flour the work surface and roll out one disk of dough into a 14-inch (36-cm) circle. To make it easier to move, fold it in half, and fit it into a 9- or 10-inch (23- or 25 cm) pie plate.
• Unfold the dough, centering it and gently pressing it into the dish with your fingers. Tuck the excess dough under itself, leaving a generous amount of pastry around the rim. Use your fingers or a fork to decoratively crimp the edges. Freeze for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Line the dough-lined pie plate with a sheet of aluminum foil, fill halfway with pie weights (or dried beans), and bake until the bottom of the crust is beginning to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, and continue baking until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes more.
TIP:
If the dough is chilled for more than 1 hour, before you roll it out, let it stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes until it becomes slightly malleable again.
MAKES ENOUGH FOR ONE 12-INCH (30-CM) GALETTE
Anyone intimidated by making dough will quickly get over it in the 3 minutes that it takes to make this one. It’s very easy to put together, very forgiving, and almost impossible to botch. Any flaws, cracks, or imperfections are part of its rustic charm, although I’m confident that even the most inexperienced baker will master it with the very first try. It will likely become your favorite dough to use for any number of open-faced fruit tarts.
This recipe can be doubled—an extra disk is good to have on hand in the freezer for later use.
1½ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (4 ounces/115 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch (3-cm) cubes and chilled
6 tablespoons (90 ml) ice water
In a large bowl using a pastry blender, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter cubes and mix until the butter is broken into pieces about the size of large corn kernels. Don’t worry if a few pieces are in larger, rough chunks; they will make the dough nice and flaky.
Add the ice water all at once and continue mixing just until the dough begins to hold together.
Shape the dough into a 5-inch (13-cm) disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 30 minutes. Use as directed in the recipe.
STORAGE:
The disk of dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
TIP:
This dough can be used to create a rustic tart using almost any type of fruit. Cut 3 pounds (1.5 kg) of fruit such as nectarines, apricots, plums, or peeled pears or peaches into ½-inch (1.5-cm) slices. Roll out the galette dough according to the directions for
Apple-Frangipane Galette
and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Top with the fruit, leaving a 2-inch (5-cm) border. Fold the edges over the fruit, sprinkle with ¼ cup (60 g) sugar and bake in a 375°F (180°C) until the fruit is tender and the crust is deep golden brown, about 1 hour.
MAKES 25 TO 30 PASTRIES
The batter for these French puffs is made on the stovetop, then shaped and baked until the eggy mounds balloon into airy, hollow spheres. The puffs take to all sorts of fillings, from simple
whipped cream
to scoops of ice cream, as for
Anise-Orange Ice Cream Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce
. No special equipment is required to make them, and they come together with ingredients you probably already have on hand.