08 August

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August 24, 2011

Peach Pie Hats

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Peach Pie Hats

Peach Pie Hats

August 24: National Peach Pie Day

Islander wishes that her girlfriends around the globe live closer so she can get together with them more often. Then she would host tea time for everyone on the back patio of her home and serve savory snacks and dainty desserts, such as petite peach pies that look like summery straw hats.  But her guy friends are always welcome to join her and her hubby, Highlander, too. Then tea time would become a tasting party with small plates (appetizers as a meal) and tiny treats! When an occasion calls for cute cuisine, or when it is National Peach Pie Day, try baking a batch of peach pie hats.

Recipe

(Adapted from TeaTime magazine, July-August 2011, pages 36-37)

Ingredients

  • 4 canned peach halves
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
  • 1 tablespoon butter, quartered into pats
  • 1 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (2 sheets), thawed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • fondant flowers
  • green tube frosting

Directions

Drain the canned peaches. Dry with paper towel. In each cavity, sprinkle ½ teaspoon of brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Press a pat of butter onto the filling and pack it down gently. Set aside.

Peach Pie Hats

Roll out sheets of packaged pie dough on a lightly floured surface. On one sheet, cut four 4 ½-inch circles. On the other sheet, cut four 5-inch circles. On a 4 ½-inch circle, carefully invert a filled peach in the middle. Use a 5-inch circle to cover it and seal the edges with a little water. Mold gently on the top mound to show the shape of the peach. Press down on any creases.

Peach Pie Hats

With the end of a chopstick, press ridges to seal the dough.  Use a sharp paring knife to cut the top mound in criss-cross lines to create textures and vents. Re-roll and flatten out the pie dough scraps and cut into ½-inch strips. Position a strip on the hat to make a band around it. Cut the strip where it overlaps. Lightly beat the egg with water to make an egg wash. Brush on the peach pie hats.

Peach Pie Hats

Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks. Where the band strip overlaps and is cut, place a fondant flower secured with a little icing. Pipe in leaves with the green tube frosting to complete the peach pie hats.

Peach Pie Hats

Notes

  • Sprinkle a little granulated sugar after brushing on the egg wash to give the peach pie hats a sparkly texture and sweeetness. Bake as directed, watching the oven to ensure that the pies do not over brown and burn.
  • Try another petite pie recipe! Make cherry pie pockets for National Cherry Pie Day on February 20.
  • For a fondant flower basic tutorial, check out our cherry blossom cake and chocolate cupcake posts.
  • Search our blog for other tea time, peach and/or pie recipes.
 

August 23, 2011

Matcha Kasutera

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Matcha Kasutera/Castella

(Green Tea Sponge Cake)

Matcha Kasutera

August 23: National Sponge Cake Day

Happy birthday to Islander! Just as Highlander’s birth date on April 20 is National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day, today also marks National Sponge Cake Day. Islander wanted to commemorate the date with a snack cake like the ones sold at some Asian grocery stores. Typically, they are unfrosted and feature flavors that reflect the region. She likes the vibrant colors seen through the slices, such as purple for taro/ube/purple yam and green for pandan and matcha/green tea flavors. For this particular post, we prepared a Japanese-style sponge cake called kasutera (or castella in Portuguese, who were among the first European traders and explorers in the Far East). We flavored our kasutera with Japan’s traditional tea to give it a green hue. Make this moist sponge cake for snacktime, birthdays and National Sponge Cake Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from A World of Cake by Krystina Castella)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cake flour
  • ¼ cup honey (we used Big Island Bees brand Hawaiian honey) 
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar (plus 2 teaspoons for preparing the cake pan)
  • 2 tablespoons green tea powder (we used Teavana brand matcha)
  • butter (for greasing the baking pan)

Directions

Grease an 8×8-inch square cake pan with butter. Line it with parchment paper with a slight overhang on the pan edges. Grease over the parchment paper. Sprinkle two teaspoons of sugar in the pan. Sift the cake flour until light and airy.  In a small saucepan, melt the honey in the milk but do not boil. Alternatively, mix the honey and milk in a microwave-safe cup or bowl and heat until well-incorporated. Stir until smooth and set aside.

Matcha Kasutera

In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and the color turns to a pale yellow. Mix in the milk and honey. Gradually add the flour to make a thick batter.

Matcha Kasutera

Stir in the green tea powder until well blended and the color is evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the buttered pan, filling no more than ¾ of the way. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes on the top rack. Lower the heat to 325 degrees F and transfer the pan to the bottom rack of the oven. Continue to bake for 45 minutes, testing the cake with a toothpick for doneness.

Matcha Kasutera

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Lift the cake from the pan using the edges of the parchment paper and continue to cool the cake completely on the wire rack. Remove the parchment paper. Slice off the edges of the cake to reveal the inside green color to contrast with the brown top. Slice into portions, brushing off the crumbs from the cake, and serve.

Matcha Kasutera

Notes

 

August 16, 2011

Rum Macarons

Posted by HI Cookery under 08 August | Tags: , , |
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Rum Macarons

Rum Macarons

August 16: National Rum Day

Ahoy there, macaron mateys! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! It is National Rum Day and we have filled our macarons with booze (instead of our bodies, as we do not really drink much alcohol). The rum in the buttercream filling tempers the sweetness of the rum-flavored macaron shells. We also dusted them in edible gold glitter for a treasure trove effect to make a pirate proud. Our recipe follows this month’s MacAttack theme of “Kick-It-Up Liquor Macs” for the MacTweets website challenge. Bite into our booze-infused rum macarons and you’ll be hooked! Aye!

Recipes

For the rum macaron shells (Italian meringue method)

  • 1 cup almond flour/meal
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 egg whites (fresh, unpasteurized and aged overnight at room temperature)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract (we used the latter for a complementary flavor)
  • 1 tablespoon rum (we used Bacardi gold rum)

Directions

Sift the almond flour/meal with the powdered sugar. Grind in a food processor in batches to remove any lumps (optional). Whip the egg whites until peaks form. Make a simple syrup to stabilize the egg whites by boiling the sugar and water together until it reaches a temperature of 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer (or until it reaches a soft ball stage).

Rum Macarons

Pour into the egg whites and whip again until stiff and glossy. Stir in the vanilla or coconut extract and rum. Fold in the almond flour/meal-sugar mix until the consistency “flows like magma.”

Rum Macarons

Pipe one-inch discs on a parchment paper on top of an insulated baking sheet. Let the discs air dry to develop a thin skin for at least 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Watch the “feet” develop, but be careful not to brown or burn the macarons. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Peel off the macarons from the parchment paper. Sort by size and match pairs.  Make the filling.

Rum Macarons

For the rum buttercream filling

  • ¼ cup (½ stick) butter, softened
  • pinch of salt
  • 3-4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons rum (we used Bacardi gold rum)
  • edible pearl dust (we used Wilton brand gold color to match the gold rum theme)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with a pinch of salt until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Thin to a spreadable consistency with rum a few tablespoons at a time. Add more powdered sugar if the filling is too thin. Fill a pastry bag with a large round tip. Pipe in the filling and sandwich the macarons together. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the filling set.

Rum Macarons

Using a dry, food-safe brush, paint both sides of the macaron shells with edible pearl dust to give them a golden luster.

Rum Macarons

Notes

  • Thanks to our matey Lisa L. for the almond flour/meal from Germany. Aaaarrr!
  • For more rum recipes on National Rum Day, check out our blog post for Bacardi Rum Cake.
  • The technique for these rum macarons are similar to our champagne macarons which we made on December 31 for National Champagne Day.
  • Get more alcoholic “kicks” and click on the MacTweets website to see other “lush-ous” liquor-flavored macarons.
 

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