Raspberry Creme Fraiche Puff Food

SIMPLE RASPBERRY CREME PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or silicone mat.
• In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar and salt. Slowly heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar and melt the butter. Once sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, increase the heat to medium high heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
• When the mixture is boiling, remove the saucepan from heat and add flour all at once. Quickly mix the mixture until all the flour is absorbed. (We just made panade!)
• Replace the saucepan back to burner and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the dough, continuously mixing with a wooden spoon. The dough will start to form into a ball. Keep mixing for another 3-4 minutes until light crust forms on the bottom of the pan. (Note: It's important to cook for at least 3-4 minutes to dry out the panade.)
• Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl with paddle attachment and mix it for a few minutes on low speed until the mixture is at room temperature, about 2 minutes. (No mixer? No problem. You can mix it with a wooden spoon!)
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. This will help to get egg absorbed into the dough quicker. Don't add more than 2 eggs at a time! This is important, as you might not need to add all the eggs. The dough should be smooth and shiny, thin enough to slowly fall into a ribbon, but too runny. (Read more details in this post!)
• At this point choux pastry is done and ready to be piped into whatever size you want. Uncooked dough can also be refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
• Transfer the batter into a pastry bag and pipe into 1.5-inch rounds couple inches apart. Level peaked tops with a wet fingertip.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, one baking sheet at a time. The pastry shells should be golden brown, crispy and puffed up. (Note: If the creme puffs go flat as they come out of the oven, it means they are slightly undercooked and needs to be bake a bit longer. Simply put them back in the oven and bake for a few more minutes.) Transfer the shells onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
• To make raspberry whipped cream, pour cold heavy whipping cream in a mixing bowl with whisk attachment.
• Beat the cream on low speed (speed 2 or 4 on stand mixer) until slightly thickens.
• Add raspberry jelly. Continue to mix on medium speed (speed 4) for a minute or two. You can increase the speed to 6 on stand mixer until the mixture reaches hard peaks. Keep a close eye on it, you don't want to over-beat it, or it'll turn into sweet butter. Transfer the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip of your choice. (I used Wilton here.)
• To assemble, using a sharp pairing knife, slice top of each creme puff horizontally. You don't have to cut all the way through.
• Pipe the filling into each pastry shell and place the top of the creme puffs back.
• Arrange the filled creme puffs on a platter and dust with powdered sugar and serve.

RASPBERRY CREME FRAICHE PUFF

Steps:

• 1. Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400F 2. Unfold pastry sheet and cut a 3 inch square from pastry with sharp knife. (reserve remaining pastry for another use). 3. Bake pastry square on a ungreased baking sheet until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer pastry to a rack to cool completely, then cut pastry horizontally into 2 layers. 4. stir together creme fraiche and sugar until sugar is dissolved. 5. Just before serving, put bottom half of pastry on a plate and top with creme fraiche and raspberries, letting some berries spill onto plate. Cover with top half of pastry and dust with confectioners sugar.

RASPBERRY JAM BUNS WITH CRèME FRAîCHE FROSTING

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until it is body temperature (you can also use the microwave for this). Transfer the warm milk to a large bowl and stir in the yeast. Let the mixture sit until the yeast is dissolved and looks cloudy (almost like miso soup), about 5 minutes. A few bubbles on the surface is also a good sign that your yeast is ready.
• Crack one of the eggs into a small bowl and beat with a fork. Add the beaten egg to the milk-yeast mixture, along with the flour, granulated sugar, salt, and butter. Use a wooden spoon to mix everything together until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If after a minute or two of mixing it doesn't pull away from the bowl, add a little more flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, until it does. On the other hand, if the dough seems far too dry and impossible to mix, add a little more milk, 1 Tbsp at a time, until it becomes a little more forgiving. This is the nuanced part of baking where all the tiny variables-how humid the air is, how you measured your flour, etc.-all come into play. Don't worry too much and trust your instincts.)Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a large ball and knead it by pressing it with the heel of your hand and pushing it away from you, then immediately pulling it back, folding the top of the dough back on itself. Kneading is all about this push-and-pull. Turn the dough clockwise a little bit each time you push and pull it so that it gets evenly worked, and knead it until its surface is completely smooth and the whole thing feels both solid and soft at the same time, not unlike a baby's bottom (probably my favorite line in this book). It will take a solid 5 minutes of kneading.Put the dough back in the large bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in the warmest spot in your kitchen until it's soft and puffy and just about doubled in volume, about 1 hour.Return the dough to the lightly floured work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a large ovalish rectangle measuring roughly 18 in [46 cm] long and 12 in [30.5 cm] wide. If the dough resists while you are rolling it, simply let it rest until it yields to the rolling pin; dough responds well to patience. Spread the surface of the dough evenly with the raspberry jam, leaving a ½-in [12-mm] border. Starting from a long side, roll the dough up tightly so you end up with an 18-in [46-cm] rope. Cut the rope into a dozen even slices (I like to cut it in half and then cut each half in half, and so forth, so that it's easy to get even pieces). The ends might not have much jam-you can still add them to the bunch to make a baker's dozen.Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the buns, spiraled-jam-side up, on the prepared baking sheet in relatively even rows. The buns should be touching each other but not shoving each other and the seams on the rolls should be facing inward in the "huddle" so that they don't unravel in the oven. Cover the buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until they've risen a bit and are soft and puffy, about 1 hour. Or, so you can prepare them the night ahead, let them rise at room temperature for just 30 minutes, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, pull them out and let return to room temperature, about 1 hour, before proceeding.Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F [180°C].Crack the remaining egg into a small bowl and whisk it with 1 Tbsp water. Uncover the buns and brush them with the egg mixture (I use my hands for this so I get to be very gentle, achieve even coverage, and don't have to wash a brush afterward). Discard whatever egg mixture is left over (or save for another use such as a tiny omelet).Bake the buns until they're beautifully browned and the exposed jam is caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.While the buns are in the oven (ha!), in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, crème fraîche, and vanilla.Drizzle the hot buns (yeow!) with the crème fraîche mixture-this should be a wonderfully messy moment. Serve immediately (an even more wonderfully messy moment). These buns are best served warm out of the oven rather than at room temperature.

RASPBERRY CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• For the cream puffs: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the butter, granulated sugar, salt and 3/4 cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it boils, take off the heat and add the flour. Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixtures comes together and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until slightly cooled. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. After adding the last egg, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Use a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop to place rounds about 1/2 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake the cream puffs for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and continue to bake until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely, then use a serrated knife to cut the puffs in half.
• For the filling: Beat the cream, mascarpone and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until it just holds stiff peaks, then gently fold in the jam.
• When ready to serve, use a large spoon to dollop the cream on the bottom half of the puffs and add 1 raspberry to each. Then top with the other half of the puff.

RASPBERRY CRèME FRAîCHE PUFF

Steps:

• Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Unfold pastry sheet and cut a 3-inch square from pastry with a sharp knife (reserve remaining pastry for another use).
• Bake pastry square on an ungreased baking sheet until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer pastry to a rack and cool completely, then cut pastry horizontally into 2 layers. Stir together crème fraîche and granulated sugar until sugar is dissolved.
• Just before serving, put bottom half of pastry on a plate and top with crème fraîche and raspberries, letting some berries spill onto plate. Cover with top half of pastry and dust with confectioners sugar.

RED, WHITE AND BLUEBERRY CREME FRAICHE PUFFS

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry shells according to the package directions.
• Beat the cream and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in the creme fraiche.
• Spoon 2 tablespoons whipped cream mixture into each pastry shell. Top each with 1 tablespoon berries. Repeat the layers. Top each with 1 tablespoon whipped cream mixture and 1 berry. Sprinkle with additional confectioners' sugar, if desired.

RASPBERRY CRèME FRAîCHE TART WITH LAVENDER HONEY

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Pulse together all crust ingredients in a food processor just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put tart pan on a baking sheet and press dough evenly onto bottom and up side of tart pan with your fingertips. Chill shell, covered, on baking sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line shell with a buttered sheet of heavy-duty foil (buttered side down) and fill shell one third of the way up with pie weights.
• Bake (on sheet) until edge is pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove pie weights and foil, then bake until edge and bottom are golden, about 20 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack.
• Make filling:
• Beat cream cheese in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until smooth, then add crème frache and 1 1/2 tablespoons honey and beat until combined well. Spread filling evenly in shell, then top with raspberries. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons honey in a very small saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until liquefied, then drizzle over raspberries. Serve with additional melted honey on the side.

RASPBERRY CREME FRAICHE TART

Steps:

• Place baking sheet in bottom of oven.
• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Wrap outside of 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom with foil.
• Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1/2 cup sugar and salt in large bowl until blended.
• Add 3 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat until smooth.
• Add flour, beat just until blended. Spread batter over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan.
• Beat 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and creme fraiche in bowl until well blended.
• Spread custard over batter.
• Arrange berries 1/4 inch apart atop custard.
• Sprinkle tart with 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Bake tart until set and brown around edges, about 45 minutes.
• Cool.
• Remove pan sides.
• Place tart on platter. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
• **Creme Fraiche - heat 1 cup whipping cream to 85 degrees. Remove from heat; mix in 2 tablespoons of buttermilk. Cover; let stand in warm draft-free aea until slighty thickened, 24 - 48 hours depending on temperature of room.