Stressed is desserts spelled backwards

That should be the motto for competing on a dessert competition show.  After I found out that I had a place on Sweet Genius, and right after I screamed my head off to my twins who are obsessed with Food Network, I became extremely anxious.  I am a home kosher baker and cookbook author; why did I think I could compete against fancy pastry chefs?  

I know I can make stunning desserts given several hours, time to plan and knowledge of the precise location of equipment and ingredients.  As a mom of four who runs a business, I am a planner.  My lists have lists.  On Sweet Genius, I would have to create on the fly.  

After spending a few weeks in my own personal pastry boot camp, reading about every weird fruit out there (prophetic!), and walking the supermarket aisles and considering how I would make a dessert out of mustard, quinoa or Starburst candies, I was as prepared as I could be, and my anxiety shifted to pure excitement.  What an amazing opportunity.

It was an exciting day for me.  The first awesome moment was when we competitors walked onto the spectacular kitchen set.  My jaw dropped.  I thought to myself, “Ok, send me home now because I have already experienced something truly magnificent today.”  I couldn’t believe I got to work in that kitchen.  Yet, when I saw all the sophisticated equipment around the arena, I knew, with an uncomfortable certainty, that I was clearly out of my league.  I would have found the inside of the space shuttle more familiar.  I just told myself not to be intimidated and to just stick to using equipment I knew.   So much for that plan.  The child in me trumped the adult and I found myself looking longingly at the ice cream machine, thinking, “That looks like fun; I should play with that,” when I had never made sorbet or ice cream before in my entire life.  I recall that I watched someone do it in a Swiss pastry shop in 1996. 

photo courtesy of Food Network

We taped back in early July and I have spent these months wondering what the show would look like and how I would be portrayed.  In the few hours leading up to the show, my heart started racing.  I felt like I was about to be judged all over again – this time by family, friends and complete strangers.  Ultimately, I was extremely pleased with the show and really enjoyed watching it.  My intro profile captured my pastry philosophy as well as featured The Kosher Baker to the entire foodie world.  I am thrilled for sweet genius Mauricio Santelice, who is truly talented and a really nice guy too.  I wish him continued pastry success. 

As I walked out of the taping into the steamy streets of NYC after a very long day, I had an epiphany that made me smile.  I realized that I knew with certainty what I am uniquely talented at as a pastry chef.  Maybe I kind of knew before, but never with clarity.  I am GREAT at putting deep flavors into my desserts and combining interesting flavors.  Ron Ben-Israel kept saying “delicious” as he ate my desserts.  That was a huge compliment and made me feel great.  It tells me what I do best and what I should continue to focus my creative energies on.  I also learned what I am less skilled at and could improve.  Maybe my desserts simply weren’t fancy enough.  You know, I can live with that.  I will always maintain that food is about flavor first, presentation second, no matter the medium.  

Above is the photo of my sorbet cake from The Kosher Baker that served as the inspiration for my dessert during the first round of competition on Sweet Genius.  The recipe appears below. My thinking was that making that dessert with homemade, fresh raspberry mint sorbet, and with a lemon rosemary sponge, would be fabulous.  I never got to taste the finished product.  

Sorbet Cake

Makes one 9-inch triple-layer cake, 12 to 16 servings

Spray oil containing flour or spray oil plus 2 tablespoons flour for greasing and flouring pan

Cake

1 large egg plus 3 whites

1 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup parve plain soy milk

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup mango sorbet (from 1 pint container)

1 cup raspberry sorbet (from 1 pint container)

Mango Sauce

2 cups mango cubes

¼ cup hot water

1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar

Strawberry Sauce

2 cups halved strawberries

¼ cup hot water

1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch-round baking pan.

Separate the whole egg and place the yolk in one medium bowl and the 4 whites into another. Into the bowl with the egg yolk, add the oil, soy milk, sugar, flour, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat with a hand-held or stand electric mixer on medium-high speed or whisk by hand for 1 minute.

With an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Use a silicone spatula to fold half the whites into the batter and, when almost mixed in, add the rest of the whites and mix until combined and you don’t see any more egg white clumps. Place in the prepared baking pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, and then turn the cake out of the pan onto a rack and let cool completely.

When the cake is cool, take the sorbet pints out of the freezer and let sit for 15 minutes to soften. You can also place the sorbet containers into the microwave for 15 seconds or until when you squeeze the container. Don’t let it melt.

Slice the cake across into three pieces so that you will have three layers.  Place the bottom slice on a serving plate. Place the 1 cup of mango sorbet in the center of the cake. Use a spatula to spread it out to the sides as evenly as you can, moving the spatula back and forth. Place the middle slice of cake on top of the mango sorbet. Place the 1 cup of raspberry sorbet in the center of that cake and spread an even layer. Place the third, top piece of cake, on top.

Place in the freezer for 8 hours or overnight and keep in the freezer until you serve the cake. It can survive outside the freezer no longer than 30 minutes and then it will start melting.

Make the Mango and Strawberry Sauces by putting the ingredients for each sauce separately into a food processor and process until smooth.  Add more water if too thick.  You may strain the strawberry sauce, if desired. 

Summer of the Sandwich – Challah Pita

spent

At every speaking or baking event I have done over the past year, the question I hear over and over is "why are you not obese if you make desserts all the time?"  My humorous answer reveals my philosophy of the 3 S's: sweat, salad and Spanx.  If you want to justify sweets now and then, you really have to exercise.  If you want to keep your weight as it is, you really cannot eat meals dominated by carbs and then overindulge on desserts.  And finally, if you want to look like you do not eat any desserts, well, Spanx will do the trick.


The reality of my relationship with food and my weight is much more complicated.  I am blessed with a fast metabolism, yet I still miss my teen years, and then my pregnancy years, when I could freely eat whatever I wanted.    I have a deep and meaningful relationship with vegetables.  But I also adore pasta and my annual milkshake.  In my view, risotto is like edible gold; I savor every bite as if it is a treasure.  I resent the fact that at my age, I have to watch my weight.  The fact that I am reasonably successful at it, or at least skilled at dressing to hide extra pounds ten months of the year, should not obscure my pain at looking at a sandwich and thinking that it is the tipping point that would cause me to gain 10 pounds in the first bite.  I also spent the summer watching Food Network Star, where winner Jeff Mauro made mouthwatering sandwiches every week.  It seemed that I was missing out on one of life's great pleasures.  A sandwich merges your childhood with your adult life: you combine sophisticated flavors that you get to eat with your hands.


At the beginning of the summer, I reached my weight goal after the Passover Eight invaded my body in April.  Part of it was the kids going away to camp and there was no reason to cook pasta, white rice or the beloved potato.  My summer meals consisted of a lean protein accompanied by four salads or vegetable sides.  The other successful albeit funny weight loss program that worked was competing on the upcoming new Food Network dessert competition show, Sweet Genius.  Want to lose those last five pounds??  Get cast on a food competition show that will be broadcast to millions and you will promptly lose your appetite for a few weeks.  As a home baker, the thought of competing against restaurant chefs was terrifying.  Over the few weeks before the show, I spent time practicing basic skills, thinking about how to best keep my hair out of my face and considering what wacky ingredients could come my way.  By the time we taped in July, my appetite returned and I was excited about challenging myself and just wanted to have fun with it.  It was an experience I will never forget.  Sweet Genius premieres September 22nd at 10:00 EST on Food Network, and my episode airs on October 27th.  After the show taped, I walked out of the set onto the steamy streets of NYC and realized that I was extremely hungry.


Back to the sandwich.  Most weeks, I bake challah on Tuesday and freeze it because I have too many other dishes to prepare on Friday for Shabbat.  Some weeks, the only time I can bake challah is on Friday morning, but then I give myself a treat.  After the first rising, I break off some of the dough and shape it into a ball.  I use a rolling pin to roll it out flat and bake it as pita bread.  At lunchtime, I sit down to a sandwich in my homemade challah pita pocket.  My favorite has arugula, avocado, tomato and cheese.  Life is just too short to live without a sandwich.

One evening at Camp Ramah Palmer this summer, I was taking a walk and came upon a group of Israelis making fresh pita in a pan on a propane burner at a small picnic table.  Israelis fully appreciate the joy of fresh pita.  Now you can too.  Here is the recipe for the challah pita, but you can also make 2 braided challah loaves and 8 pitas instead.  During testing, I tried baking the pitas in a grill pan (too flat), toaster oven (too toasted) and found the oven worked best.  Watch them carefully as they bake.  They are best fresh, but can be rewarmed later. 

 

Challah Pita

makes 16 6-inch pitas

½ cup canola or vegetable oil, plus one teaspoon for greasing bowl 

1 tablespoon salt

3/4 cup sugar     

1 cup boiling water      

½ cup cold water                                   

2 packages dry yeast (1/2 ounce) 

1/3 cup warm water                      

3 large eggs, plus one yolk

7 cups bread flour

In a measuring cup, dissolve the yeast in 1/3 cup warm water and mix in a teaspoon of sugar.  Let sit until thick and foamy, about 8 minutes.  Pour the oil, salt and sugar into a large bowl.  Mix with a whisk.  Add 1 cup boiling water and whisk to dissolve the sugar and salt.  Add 1/2 cup cold water and mix again. 

Beat the eggs and yolk in a separate, small bowl and add to the oil mixture, reserving 1 tablespoon to brush on top of the loaves.  Add the yeast mixture and stir.  One cup at a time, add six cups of the flour and mix well after each addition.  Place dough on a floured surface and add the last cup of flour, ¼ cup at a time, and knead the flour in until smooth.  You may not use all of the flour.  Place the teaspoon oil in the bowl and rub around.  Return the dough to the bowl, rub your oiled hand on top, and cover with plastic or a damp towel.  Let rise one hour.

To make the pita, preheat the oven to 450°F.  Divide the dough into 16 pieces.  Roll into a ball and then use a rolling pin to roll into a 5 inch pancake.  Place on a cookie sheet.  Bake on the center rack for six minutes, flip over and then bake for another two minutes.  You want the pitas puffed and lightly colored, not browned. 

If making challah loaves, braid the dough, place on a parchment-covered baking sheet and let rise 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Brush the top and sides with the reserved egg mixed with a teaspoon of  water.  Bake for 35 minutes or until golden. 

A Dessert for Everyone

Every once in a while, I am reminded that baking is my destiny.  In May it was teaching a cooking class in my grandparents' former house in Brooklyn, in the very kitchen where my grandmother first taught me to bake.  This month it is a week that began with taping a dessert competition show in New York City (details to follow when they can be released) and ended with baking 200 gluten-free cupcakes for the Gluten-Free Food Expo in Washington, DC.


I started my pastry career adapting fancy dairy French desserts into dairy-free desserts that I, as a kosher girl, could not eat immediately after a meat meal.  I found that I liked the challenge and I was really good at it.  People simply cannot believe my desserts are dairy-free.


After I moved back to the United States from Switzerland, I began developing sugar-free desserts for my father who, after 10 years of being a diabetic, is still mourning his loss of Entenmann's cakes.  It became clear that the same skill set that I used to convert dairy to dairy-free was easily employed to create sugar-free desserts.  When I started writing The Kosher Baker over 6 years ago, I decided that if I was going to write a book for the Jewish community, then it had to have desserts for EVERYONE in the community.  Consequently, I included sugar-free, gluten-free and vegan dessert recipes.


I truly believe that every person deserves a delicious dessert no matter what special diet they are on.  Every adult and child is entitled to a tasty birthday cake.  No dinner guest should sit at a table eating fruit while the other guests enjoy a gooey, chocolate confection.


As a kosher person, I know what it feels like not to be able to eat everything you want when you want it.  People who live with special diets, whether for health or medical reasons, religious strictures or personal choice, just want a little tenderness and a lot of r-e-s-p-e-c-t.  I have learned from the gluten-free girl herself, Shauna Ahern, the extent to which cross-contamination at restaurants can cause many days of severe physical pain.  Parents of kids with allergies just want to keep their children safe.  I have strived to create desserts for the allergy set that anyone at your table would be happy to share too.


Many months ago, I decided that my second book would cover Passover desserts.  The book will have some completely gluten-free desserts and an icon marking the desserts that are nut-free.  When my friend with celiac, Andrea Neusner, called to ask me to do cake decorating at the Gluten-Free Expo in DC, she reminded me that I had given her a gluten-free cupcake recipe years ago.  It is Passover-friendly as well.  

The day of the Expo was the first day for my summer intern, Shawn Eliav, who is proving to be a talented and able assistant and baker.  That day we spent four hours baking furiously, but then again, I had been zooming around a TV kitchen set two days earlier and am a really fast baker.  I only aspire to zip around as fast as my grandmother did in the kitchen at the age of 88.

I didn't think I had the energy to do any baking two days after the competition, but I remembered that I am happiest in the kitchen, especially baking for people with challenges. At the Expo, adults and kids came to my table to decorate their own cupcakes.  When I was practicing law, I never got one smile as big as any of the smiles I saw after people stuffed their self-decorated cupcakes into their mouths.  


As a pastry chef, I get to use my skills to help people who have been deprived and thereby spread joy in the world.  I will continue to use every platform available to spread my message that everyone has a dessert with their name on it.

Gluten-Free Vanilla & Almond Cupcakes


3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup, plus 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup potato starch
3/4 cup ground almonds


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place 12 paper muffin cups into a muffin tin.  Place the yolks into a medium bowl.  Add the 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla and almond extracts and beat on high speed for 2 minutes.  Add the potato starch and ground almonds and mix in.  Set aside.  Place the whites into a large bowl and beat on high speed until stiff.  Turn the speed to low and add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.  Turn the speed back up to high and beat another minute.


Use a silicone spatula to fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool on a rack.  May be frozen for up to three months.

Quick Gluten-Free Icing

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening          

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine (or butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pound confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons almond milk (soy milk ok too if not 

using during Passover, or regular milk)

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the shortening and margarine together.  Add the vanilla and beat to mix in.  Add the confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the milk and beat at high speed for two minutes or until fluffy.  Add desired colors.  Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.

From Pie to Rabbi: The return to my grandmother's kitchen

A few months ago, I received an email from Brochi, of the Chabad of Sea Gate synagogue, Brooklyn, asking me to do a baking demonstration.  She had heard about me from the national Chabad network.  Sea Gate is a small gated community at the end of Coney Island in New York and is where my mother grew up.  I called Brochi and asked her whether they were located at 3844 Lyme Avenue and, with great surprise, she said, "Yes."  That was the home of my grandparents.  

I knew that it was Chabad house as the rabbi had officiated at my grandmother's funeral when she died at the age of 98 after a long life of lemon sponge cake.  Brochi couldn't believe that the person she wanted for the cooking class was the granddaughter of the Altman family she had heard so much about from the old timers.

Last week I returned to my grandmother's kitchen and taught a class in the very kitchen where my grandmother first introduced me to delicious homemade desserts.  The Kosher Baker is dedicated to her memory and contains some of her recipes.  The kitchen is now larger and modern, unlike grandma's fuchsia and marigold 1970's design, but much of the house is the same (though it appeared smaller to my older self).  A marble mantel by the window in the dining room is the same, and a framed photo of Rabbi Schneerson, z"l, the revered Lubavitcher Rebbe, now occupies the spot where grandma placed her giant apple pie every Thanksgiving.  Grandpa Joe, a pillar of the Sea Gate Jewish community, would have liked that.

The cooking class was extraordinary and attended by over 45 women, including my mother and aunt who grew up in the house and my daughter Emily who had never been there before.  My mother was quite emotional being back in her childhood home, but enjoyed remembering her idyllic life growing up there.  Some of the women had connections to my family.  I served a healthy fish dinner followed by my 6-layer chocolate ganache layer cake that was as tall as grandma's famous yeast cake.  

I expected to be overwhelmed with emotion.  Instead, I felt surprisingly calm, happy and at peace; it was the most natural thing in the world to be back there after 24 years.  Only later when writing about the experience did I fully appreciate the moment and got teary that it was over.  I emailed the Chabad and asked if I could return next year.  

When I described my experience to my friend Limor, she said I sounded like Oprah and sent me to the "love letter" that Oprah read to her audience on her final show.  Oprah talked about how everyone has a "calling" and your job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it.  She said, "A calling lights you up and lets you know that you're exactly where you are supposed to be, doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing."  That is how I felt back in grandma's kitchen.

Oprah described a "spark" that ignites you.  My spark came from the hours I watched grandma cook and bake, never complaining about all the steps demanded by her stuffed cabbage, tiny Swedish meatballs or blintzes.  Of course I did not recognize the spark at the time; I had to go out into the world and try other careers first.  But ultimately I came right back to where I started.  Oprah's wish for her audience was that once they know what sparks the light in them, they should then go out and illuminate the world.  I only wrote a cookbook, but I know that by doing so I have spread joy in the world and look forward to continuing to do so.  

I often hear from young brides that my book has connected them to their grandmothers' baking traditions.  By writing The Kosher Baker, I have become the Grandma Sylvia to a new generation.  I think that is what is meant by the wish:  "May her memory be a blessing."

The blintz filling is grandma's.  When she was 88, she came to visit me in Washington, DC and showed me how to make her blintzes.  As she shuffled around my kitchen, I tried to estimate the measurements of her handfuls.  Her crepes were so thin you could see through them.  I have never been able to get her crepe recipe to work, so I use my French crepe recipe.  Wishing you a happy and tasty Shavuot!

Cheese Blintzes   makes 16 blintzes


Crepes
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 3/4 cups milk
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons melted butter, plus 1 teaspoon butter for pan
Filling

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1 pound farmer cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon canola oil plus 2 tablespoons butter for frying

Place the flour, sugar, salt, oil, milk, eggs and butter into a medium bowl and whisk vigorously.  Strain into another bowl, pressing to get out as much batter as possible and then discard solids.  Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.  To prepare the filling, place the cream cheese into a bowl and mash with a fork.  Add the farmer cheese and mix well.  Add the sugar and egg and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate until using.

Take parchment or waxed paper and tear into 16 8-inch pieces.  Heat an 8-inch non-stick or crepe pan over medium high heat.  Brush with a little butter.  Lift the pan off the hear, scoop up a little less than 1/4 cup batter and pour into the pan, just above the center, and then turn clockwise 2-3 times to cover the pan with the batter.  Add a little more batter to cover any holes.  By the third crepe, you will know exactly how much batter you need.  


Cook for 45 seconds to one minute and when the edges are brown, use a silicone spatula to lift the crepe, turn over and cook 15 seconds more.  Turn onto a plate.  If the crepe start to brown too fast, turn down the heat.  I usually turn down the heat anyway after 5 crepes.  Repeat for the rest of the batter and place the parchment or waxed paper pieces in between the crepes.  Let cool 15 minutes.

To fill the crepes, place one in front of you, the more browned side up.  Place about 2 tablespoons filling just above the center and spread about 2 inches wide.  Fold the right and left sides 1-2 inches towards the center and press into the filling.  Roll up and set aside.  You can freeze them at this point and cook later.  To cook, heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add the blintzes and cook for about two minutes per side or until browned.  Serve hot.  You can freeze them already cooked with waxed paper pieces between them.

three generations in my grandparents' house 5/24/11

Hot Dogs and Soufflé

  
I ate my last hot dog at the Kosher stand at Yankee Stadium in 2009.  Hot dogs and I have a strained relationship.  While growing up in New York, my favorite was slathered with creamy cole slaw and mustard.  As an adult, my love for them is unrequited.  They abuse my stomach, yet I hope they will return my affection one day.  The back story: three years ago I ate myself sick in Paris doing research for The Kosher Baker and since then, I have to live a life without tomato sauce, orange juice, red meat and hot dogs. 


While in Los Angeles in February, my Kosher blogger buddies all directed me to Jeff's Gourmet Sausage.  Armed with Rolaids, I ordered the smoked chicken/apple sausage.  It may have been a girlie choice, but it came covered with manly fried onions and dark mustard.  I couldn't resist the sweet potato fries which were perfection.  The sausage was light yet flavorful and  confirmed Jeff's worth the stomachache.  I was actually ok, so maybe a hot dog and I can go out on a date every once in a while.


If eating at Jeff's was like the joy of Toy Story 3, then La Seine was like Inception with lingering questions about how dishes were prepared.  The place is hip with edgy decor.  The cuisine is French/Asian fusion and fascinating: the chef makes cheese from cashews for a pasta and marries sushi with chimichuri.  The Bordeaux braised short ribs were the winning entree.  For dessert I had chocolate souffle with coffee sauce.  The meal confirmed my belief that Kosher food can be as creative and delicious as any other food.


As I do not cook on Shabbat, I baked these souffles prior and served them to my guests BEFORE dinner, to enjoy them warm and gooey.  We had a second dessert course later and learned that the cooled souffles were just as tasty.  It is imperative that if baking parve (dairy-free), use the best quality chocolate you can find such as Aprose, Schmerling or Camille Bloch.  This recipe makes 6, but 14 of us grabbed spoons and shared.  Finally, if you have time, bake one souffle at 18 minutes and see how it comes out; then adjust the time for the rest depending on how gooey or dry you like it.

Chocolate Souffles            makes 6
1 tablespoon butter or margarine for greasing
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
5 large eggs, separated, whites at room temperature for at least 2 hours
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces


If baking immediately, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Rub the butter or margarine around the sides and bottoms of 6 small ramekins.  Add the tablespoon sugar to one, turn to coat and then tap out excess into the next ramekin.  Repeat until all coated, using more sugar if needed.  Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate.


In a medium bowl, place the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of the 1/2 cup of sugar.  Mix vigorously with a hand whisk.  Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave: heat for one minute and mix well, another 45 seconds and mix well and then 30 seconds and mix well, each time stirring the unmelted pieces into the melted parts.  Add the chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and whisk.  


Beat the egg whites on high speed until thick.  Turn the mixer speed to low, add the remaining sugar, about a tablespoon at a time, and when all added, turn the speed up to high for 30 seconds or until whites are shiny and stiff.  Mix into the chocolate mixture in four parts, mixing a little slower each time until all the whites are mixed in.  Divide among the ramekins.  If baking later, cover with plastic and refrigerate until baking.  Bake for 18 minutes.  Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.