National Napoleon Food Day is September 7th

A classic napoleon served with caramel sauce

Napoleons are one of those desserts few at home would make since it seems to be a lot of work. But those layers of flaky crust with rich buttery whipped cream which assault your taste buds can get anyone interested in learning how to make these incredible desserts.

But before we get there, here is an excerpt from wikipedia.com on the incredible napoleon dessert in case you were wondering:

The Mille-feuille (French ‘thousand sheets’), Napoleon (U.S.), vanilla slice, cream slice or custard slice (Commonwealth countries) is a pastry made of several layers of puff pastry alternating with a sweet filling, typically pastry cream, but sometimes whipped cream, or jam. It is usually glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white and brown (chocolate) strips, and combed. The name is also written as “millefeuille” and “mille feuille”.

There are also savory mille-feuilles with cheese and spinach or other fillings.

Variant names and forms

In Italy, where the pastry is thought to have originated in Naples, it is called mille foglie and contains similar fillings. A savory Italian version consists of puff pastry filled with spinach, cheese or pesto, among other things.

In the Commonwealth (Quebec excepted), mille-feuille is known as ‘vanilla slice’ or ‘cream slice’, and usually has only a top and bottom pastry layer. The filling is often flavored with chocolate. In Australia, popular icings include vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, and passion fruit. In New Zealand, it is usually called a ‘custard square.’

A variation popular in England is the Bavarian Slice which has a layer of raspberry or strawberry jam and rippled icing, although there is no evidence that this is a traditional Bavarian dish.

In Australia, there are varying forms of this pastry. Balfours, claiming to be Australia’s largest bakery^[1], produce their own form of Napoleon Cake which is multi layered and contains icing, pastry, cream, jam and sponge cake. This differs from the more widely known vanilla slice which is composed of icing, pastry and custard.

In Sweden as well as in Finland the Napoleonbakelse (Napoleon pastry) is a mille-feuille filled with whipped cream, custard, and jam. The top of the pastry is glazed with icing and currant jelly.

The Netherlands and Belgium eat the tompoes or tompouce. Several variations exist in Belgium, but in the Netherlands, it is iconic and the market allows preciously little variation in form, size, ingredients and colour. See tompouce.

History

The origin of the mille-feuille is unknown. The Hungarian city of Szeged may have something to do with its origins. Carême (writing at the end of the 18th century) considered it of ‘ancient origin’. It was earlier called “gâteau de mille-feuilles” ‘cake of a thousand leaves’.

Origin of the name ‘Napoleon’

The name appears to come from napolitain, the French adjective for the Italian city of Naples, but altered by association with the name of Emperor Napoleon I of France. There is no evidence to connect the pastry to the emperor himself.

In France, a Napoléon is a kind of mille-feuille filled with almond paste.

Competitions

An annual competition for the best vanilla slice baker is the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph held in Ouyen in western Victoria (Australia). Judging criteria include “when tasted, should reveal a custard with a creamy smooth texture and a balance of vanilla taste with a crisp, crunchy pastry topped with a smooth and shiny glaze/fondant”. ^[2]

Popular culture

• The time-travel card game Early American Chrononauts includes a tongue-in-cheek card called Napoleon’s Napoleon which players can symbolically acquire from the year 1815.

• On the cd label for the 1998 Sonic Youth album A Thousand Leaves the phrase “mille feuille” is crossed out and “a thousand leaves” is written under it.

• Milfeulle Sakuraba is a character in the anime Galaxy Angel. She is highly skilled in cooking, but especially enjoys making pastries and other desserts.

• In the Woody Allen film Love and Death, Napoleon berated his chefs for a pastry attempt at a Napoleon (they’d included raisins, among other things). Napoleon declared himself in competition with Wellington, who was “inventing” Beef Wellington.

• In the video game Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, the cake is the most expensive one when found in the hidden bakery of the City of Haze, at $1000 per single payment. It will reappear on sale once the player consumes it, but is also found again in another hidden bakery later on in 13th Street.

• In the video game For the Frog the Bell Tolls, The Princess Tiramisu lives in the Mille-Feuille kingdom.

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As I searched for appropriate photos (the one above came from bonappettite.com) I was shocked by the photos that did come up as samples of the real thing – I kid you not, most of these photos of desserts were not very appealing…but I assure you there are a variety of ways to make napoleon’s but I found a good recipe to create the perfect dessert for your next shingdig.

Now that you have learned a thing or two about Napoleon Pastries here’s your most basic recipe for making your very own flaky pasties for your eating pleasures…

Napoleon Dessert Recipe:
Courtesy of Baking.About.com

Prep Time: 1 hours, 00 minutes

Ingredients:

• 17-ounce package frozen pastry
• chocolate or vanilla pastry cream*
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 ounce semisweet chocolate, melted

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lighly flour bread board and rolling pin. Roll dough to 13 x 17 inch triangle, 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to cookie sheet. Prick dough with fork. Cover with another cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove top sheet and continue to bake for 5 more minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

Cut pastry into thirds, lengthwise. Mix powdered sugar and water. Stir until smooth. Turn over 1 pastry strip on rack. Pour sugar glaze over strip. Smooth with spatula. Quickly pour stripes of chocolate over glaze. Drag knife over top to make decorative design. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes.

To assemble: Place one unglazed strip on serving platter. Spread half of pastry cream on top. Top with the other unglazed strip. Top with rest of pastry cream. Top that with glazed strip. Chill until firm, about and hour. (Don’t chill longer than 3 hours. It may get soggy.) For serving, cut with serrated knife.

Vanilla Pastry Cream Filling Recipe:

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 02 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Preparation:

Boil 2 cups of milk. Beat yolks with sugar and remaining milk. Whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch and flour until combined. Gradually whisk hot milk into egg mixture. Return to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce to low and stir for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a shallow disk. Cover with plastic wrap. (Make sure wrap touches surface to prevent a skim from forming.) Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Makes approximately 2-3/4 cups.

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Also interesting on this September 7th – Some historical facts:

St. Gratus of Aosta, protector of vineyards
St. Regina, patron of shepherdesses

1840 Luther Crowell was born. He invented a machine to make square bottomed grocery bags.

1847 Henry David Thoreau left Walden Pond.

1912 David Packard was born. Founder with William Hewlett of the Hewlett Packard Company. Before they became famous for computers and printers etc., some of their early inventions were an automatic urinal flusher and a weight loss shock machine!

1971 The final episode of ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ TV show is aired.

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I won’t be making napoleons for today, but will be making my coconut oatmeal cookies for a church community function that is happening tomorrow, weather permitting.

Have a great September 7th. ~Chef Maven

National Coffee Ice Cream Day is September 6th

Photo courtesy of restaurantwindows.com

So on this date, the National Food Day for September 6th happens to be one of my favorite desserts to splurge on: coffee ice cream. Have you ever thought to learn how to make some yourself?

I do not recall the very first time I had coffee ice cream, but I remember even back then I enjoyed the taste of it – though I certainly was not a coffee drinker back then.

As I got older, my tastes would shift as to what was a favorite flavor – I am no longer a huge fan of vanilla, too plain for me, I prefer a rich dutch chocolate or a good coffee ice cream and simply adore to make my own sauces for toppings. In fact I even have somewhere in this blog a recipe for making your very own coffee caramel sauce, a recipe I created and which is truly amazing and decadent to serve up to guests who will easily be impressed. The recipe couldn’t be any easier to make.

Here is a standard recipe for making homemade coffee ice cream.

Homemade Coffee Ice Cream From Scratch Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons fresh coffee (finely ground)
• 8 oz (200g) soft brown sugar (light)
• 1 pint (500ml) milk
• 6 fl.oz (approx 185ml) very hot water

Tip: Make sure you use good quality, fresh coffee

Directions:

1. Take the finely ground coffee and pour the water onto it then let it stand for about 10 mins.
2. You then need to remove the coffee grounds so strain the mixture.
3. In a heatproof bowl mix together the sugar and egg yolks, then whisk until thick and pale.
4. Whisk in the milk and the coffee, then put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering (though not boiling) water or use a double boiler.
5. Cook until the mixture is thick (ie. until it forms a layer on the back of a wooden spoon) being sure to stir it all the time.
6. Take the saucepan off the heat and place the bowl to one side to cool.
7. If you want to prevent a skin forming on the mixture you can try covering the surface with a piece of damp, greaseproof paper.
8. When cool, transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Once your ice cream has thickened in your ice cream machine, then put ice cream into a bowl with lid into your freezer to completely freeze (might take at least four hours) until ready to serve.

Here is one ice cream machine that seems to be worth investing in after I read its many reviews – available at Amazon.com: Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Makers

You can also try different types of flavored coffee too. As for what sorts of coffee to use, I would personally use that coffee which I had just grinded which frankly in my book, makes the best coffee regardless of what type or flavor the coffee is. My particular favorite flavor is Hazelnut, but at your local large grocery store, should you have a coffee grinder Krups Fast Touch Coffee Grinders(I have seen them for $20 on amazon.com) there are many flavors available to you. Make up your own concoction and make your own coffee ice cream today!

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Other interesting tidbits that happened in history on this day September 6th:
Courtesy of foodreference.com

St. Magnus of Fussen’s Day, patron of crops.

1620 The Pilgrims set sail from England aboard the Mayflower.

1800 Catherine Esther Beecher was born. American educator and author of ‘Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book’, etc.

1892 John Froelich made the first gasoline powered tractor.

1899 Carnation began producing evaporated milk.

~Chef Maven

September 1st is National Cherry Popover Day, Partridge Day and St. Fiacre’s Day, Patron of Gardeners

For September 1st – it’s a busy day for National Foods being that it is National Cherry Popover Day – and yes we just had National Cherry Turnover Day- so what’s the difference… I am sure to find out and share that research with you.

Other than that, September 1st is also National Partridge Day – which I will not be sharing with you how to catch, kill, hunt, pluck nor roast for dinner tonight – just saying, so don’t ruffle your feathers please over this one point that I will not be making…

On another note, September 1st is also when Oyster Season begins, I never knew there was an Oyster Season, now I know…September 1st is also St. Fiacre’s Day which is the patron saint of gardeners.

Other important food related things that are marked by the First of September:

1826 Alfred Ely Beach was born. American inventor and publisher of Scientific American magazine.

1848 Auguste-Henri Forel was born. The next time you are on a picnic and become overtaken by ants, think of Forel. If you would like to know about ants, find a copy of his 5 volume ‘The Social World of the Ants.’

1906 Karl August Folkers was born. He was the first to isolate vitamin B12.

1914 Martha, the last surviving Passenger Pigeon died on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo, the species having been commercially hunted to extinction.

1918 J.J. Wood patented a plow with interchangeable parts.

1940 Lillian D. Wald died. She was a scientist and nurse, and among her activities, she helped initiate the enactment of pure food laws in the U.S.

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So , What is the Difference between a popover and a turnover?

Well their shape for one…real popovers will look a little like yorkshire pudding; light, fluffy and super airy inside where turnovers are usually made up of pie pastry and are folded over pockets of baked pie pastry with sweet or savory fillings. There are even special pans created to make the best popover’s ever:

Courtesy of KingArthurFlour.com

Popover pans

Popovers demand a pan with specially shaped cups, in order to attain their full height. Sized in regular (to make six large popovers) or mini (to make 12 smaller ones), popover pans feature deep, narrow wells, which force the baking batter to rise up and then out (rather than flatten), producing the typical popover shape. Popover pans made of dark metal will produce the best crust.

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Here’s a recipe from a foodie pal of mine for Dried Chery Popovers:

Ingredients:

1 Tbs butter and more for the pan
3 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup sugar plus 1 tsp more
3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup dried cherries ( you can also use dried blueberries, cranberries etc. )

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Butter a 2 qt baking dish or your popover pan, muffin pan

In bowl combine eggs and 1/3 cup sugar.
Whisk in flour till lump free.
Whisk in milk and melted butter.
Pour into dish and scatter cherries over the top
Sprinkle with remaining sugar
Bake until puffed and golden
Serve warm.

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September 1st is St. Fiacre’s Day patron saint of Gardeners

Though some believe is St. Fiacre’s Day is August 30th – I have seen both dates, but regardless of that…

here is some info from http://www.stgeorgeofboston.org

St. Fiacre was born in Ireland at the beginning of the seventh century and entered a monastery at a young age. Much of the worlds learning and knowledge was brought to the monasteries and left in the care and protection of the monks. Travelers brought seeds and plant material, as well as cultural enlightenment from as far away as Africa and the Holy Land and Asia. St. Fiacre’s days at the monastery taught him a deep love of silence, the joys of planting and harvesting crops and an appreciation of nature. Drawn to the contemplative life and the desire to serve God in greater solitude, Fiacre decided to establish a hermitage for prayer. He traveled south and chose a wooded area by the Nore River for his home, with a cave for meditation, a well for drinking water and the river for irrigating his garden.

Monks in those days were regarded as physicians of the body as well as the soul. Soon people were flocking to Fiacre for prayers, food and healing. He fed the hungry and healed the sick with herbs from his garden and prayed for all who came to him. Longing for greater solitude, Fiacre traveled to France where the Bishop of Meaux granted him land in a wooded area near the Marne River.

The first miracle attributed to Fiacre, occurred when he asked the Bishop for additional ground for his garden. The Bishop told Fiacre he could have as much land as he could entrench in one day. According to legend, the next morning Fiacre merely dragged his spade across the ground, causing trees to topple and bushes to be uprooted. He cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell with a garden, built a chapel in honor of the Virgin Mary, and made an inn for travelers which developed into the village of Saint-Fiacre in Seine-et-Marne. Many people came to him for advice, for food, and for cure from illness. His charity moved him to attend cheerfully those that came to visit him.

Thus was established St. Fiacre’s famous monastery where he welcomed all who sought his counsel and healing. A culinary garden that fed the poor, a physic garden that cured the sick, a flower garden and an herb garden occupied the expanse of property surrounding the monastery.

Even after his death around 670 A.D., people continued to visit the monastery and, as legend would have it, receive physical and spiritual healing. To this day crowds visit St. Fiacre’s shrine, where his relics are still believed to contain healing powers.

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So, off I am to remember my herbs in honor of St. Fiacre, since I know how I love my health smart cilantro! Are you at all curious about how healthy cilantro is? Feel free to check out my article I wrote on the many health benefits of this super affordable and versatile herb: Cilantro.

Have a happy September 1st….

Creme Puffs and Vanilla Creme Filling a la Leah – Homemade from Scratch

These extra big and fluffy creme puffs have been made by my mother and I for years, the homemade vanilla filling t’aint bad either! I make them extra big 4 x 5 inches and are usually 3-4 inches tall when completed. As a funny true story, these usually were pre-bought at the yearly church festival when the people knew we were bringing them down…we would usually have to make at least 4 batches….and we would sell them for $5 a piece easily!

Who knew making ’slow food’ could be so good!

Ingredients

I will list for both the creme puffs and the vanilla filling, though you can easily make these creme puffs half their size and fill with savory foods as well.
I include variations on the fillings as well as tips and tricks here for having great fluffy creme puff results.
This creme filling can be used as pie filling as well….
****Creme Puffs Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter unsalted preferred – can use 50/50 ratio of shortening and butter mix as long as butter is at least 1/2 of the ratio.
1 cup boiling hot water
4 eggs at room temperature
2 quart pot with lid
wood spoon
whisk
timer
parchment paper OR clean brown paper bags
large cookie sheet
****Vanilla Filling Ingredients:
double boiler – or bowl over simmering water in pot
2/3 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
2 eggs or 4 egg yolks
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
+ 2 Tablespoons sugar if not using optional additional flavorings
2-3 tablespoons optional flavorings: godiva chocolate liqueur, etc.

Directions

Oven needs rack on middle shelf and should be very well preheated to 425 degrees before you start to make your pastry dough.
This will ensure your creme puffs bake as high as possible.
Once in, do not open oven door for any reason until at least 30 minutes have past…. seriously =-0 – or your creme puffs might deflate
Crack eggs into small bowl so they are ready to be added once at a time without having to stop while stirring them in when you are ready.
With pot on stove over medium heat, add all your dry ingredients and whisk till combined: flour, sugar, salt.
Add 1 cup of boiling water to dry ingredients all at once.
Stir with wooden spoon over medium heat till dough is formed and started to come away from walls of pot/pan.
Let dough (while stirring) cook over heat for at least 3-4 minutes then remove from heat.
I usually place pot onto trivet on counter while adding eggs.
Add eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition until eggs has been completely incorporated into dough. The color of the dough will change from light creme to a nice light yellow yellow.
Once done, take parchment paper or cut up brown paper bags which is what my mom used to do all the time instead of using parchment paper, and line cookie sheet.
Lightly grease parchment paper before adding pastry dough onto cookie sheet and parchment paper.
With large spoon create and divide from bowl: six dollops of pastry dough onto cookie sheet leaving at least 2 inches in between globs of pastry dough.
They will double in size easily once they start baking.
Taking a fork, create small peaks in the pastry dough by pulling up dough slightly with fork….like you might do with the top of a cake when frosting or with meringue to make it look pretty.
Once ready, with oven mitt handy, place cookie sheet onto middle rack of oven and close door gently and immediately.
Bake for 30 minutes – DO NOT PEEK or OPEN DOOR for first two thirds of baking time. After 25 or 30 minutes, your creme puffs are done.
You should though allow them to stay in oven, with oven turned off and oven door ajar (left open slightly) to ensure any beads of moisture no longer is seen on the tops of your creme puffs have dried away – maybe ten minutes.
Keep in a dry and warm place until ready to fill and serve.
This will ensure a dry and crispy creme puff that has more staying power then one which is soggy and flat, think not pretty.
Once cooled, fill with creme filling noted below, or with a filling of your choice including savory fillings such as lumped crab mix salad, mushroom mousse, etc.
***Creme Filling directions:
In double boiler, add the following ingredients: all dry ingredients, sugar, flour, salt over medium heat.
Add 2 cups of milk slowly and whisk in milk.
Stirring constantly, cook over heat until mixture starts to thicken – 5 minutes.
Cover with lid, and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While that cooks, crack eggs into bowl and stir to mix eggs.
Remove from heat (take out that trivet again) add a little bit of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper them, then add beaten eggs back into the hot mixture and stir to quickly combine eggs with hot mixture.
Put back onto stove over heat and allow to cook for 2 full minutes. Remove from heat.
Add butter and vanilla extract and allow to cool.
Once slightly cooled, add to fridge with lid to completely chill.
Once chilled, whip up heavy cream, adding the additional sugar and any extra flavorings you might like, then add whipped cream to creme filling which will be rather stiff now.
The whipped cream will ‘lighten’ the creme filling which you can now use to fill your creme puffs.
You can slice them in half, or cut slits in them and fill with spoon or pastry bag if you are so inclined to use your kitchen gadgets.
Serve creme puffs on pretty plates, serve up plain or the preferred way: sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar plain or with a bit of cocoa in it for extra flair…..
Enjoy these crowd-pleasing favorites which are not too sweet, but instead something really fancy that people will think you labored more than you actually did!
Make ‘em drool with jealousy!!!!
Should there be leftovers – they can stay in the fridge over night, but I would suggest eating them up the next day.