They call me ‘shoe cream’… Puff cake blues.

Les choux à la crème are probably the most successful French cake in Japan. Chou was easy to pronounce, but à la crème was too long. Everybody knew that meant cream. So the name became シュークリーム shu-kuri-mu chou cream, which is also how they say “shoe cream”.

Well we can see them everywhere from the luxury hotel tea room to the discount kombini (convenience store). They can be extraordinary, great, good, meh, abominable. The choice is huge. Some stands prepare them fresh all day.
I still find home-made fresher.

First let’s make the little choux. Then a cream at local taste including anko (azuki bean sweet paste) an ingredient borrowed from wagashi (Japanese tea sweets).

Simple, 125 g of water, 25 g of oil, 80 g of flour. I included about 2 eggs, a little vanilla extract and sugar.

Baked at 200 degrees, 25 minutes.

I really love the inside still wet. So I don’t fill them, I keep the cream on the side.

I passed boiled azuki beans through a sieve to get the creamy texture, added sugar and a little brandy. That’s koshian (‘passed’ bean paste, recipe here). More about it here.

The whip (here veg’) plus anko bean paste mix. It is very popular now.

Savarin battle

Savarin is the crown cake.

Well, the crown sponge. LOL.

Blog-checking lines:Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!

There will be several posts about it :

Stohrer’s old baba

baba au chocolat

Plaza baba

au rhum et creme anglaise

sesame Ali-Baba

Baba Osaka

The classic French “savarin” or “brillat-savarin” was made with the help of the famous food writer Brillat-Savarin, and named like him to thank him.
It has this shape in small. The large one is a huge donut, which represents a crown, and the hole is not filled as you would not be able to serve it nicely. The syrup is kirsch (cherry liquor flavor). The chantilly (vanilla whip cream) is a decoration or can be served as a side. Creme anglaise (vanilla custard sauce) is an optional side. When it’s not a savarin, it’s a baba. Well, that doesn’t matter.

On the photo, it’s nearly classic. I had no kirsch so I’ve used crème de framboise (raspberry liquor).

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I compared Natalia’s recipe for the challenge with mine.

So this is the battle of the two savarin doughs :

*New* is the challenge’s recipe. The big difference :
The *classic* is 50 g of egg per 100 g of flour (all purpose or cake flour) and of course, hand made (light kneading). So about 1/2 the amount of egg. It’s replaced with milk. My classic batter was harder.

I have only individual savarin molds. I’ve used a mini-cannele mold to make “babas bouchons” (cork babas), and a small kouglof mold.
They were baked the same time, which was short due to size.

From the outside, the new is more regular, nicer, looks more pro.

Inside that looks similar. The new is dryer. Maybe it’s convenient if you want to soak it the same day.
So the new recipe might seem better in appearance.
For the taste, the difference is big. The new one tastes of egg mostly. The classic tastes more of butter. The syrup covers most of the taste anyway. As I usually eat a few dry, I prefer the classic.

Challenge’s recipe from Daring Bakers

Savarin

Servings: 8/10

Ingredients
2½ cups (600 ml) (12-1/3 oz) (350 gm) bread flour
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, lukewarm
6 (320 gm) large eggs at room temperature, separated
½ satchel (1½ teaspoons) (4 gm) instant yeast or 15 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast
4 teaspoons (20 ml) (20 gm) sugar
2/3 stick (1/3 cup) (80 ml) (75 gm) butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) orange and lemon zest (optional)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (55 gm) butter for greasing the work surface, hands, dough scraper & baking pan

Directions:

Sponge
In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lukewarm water, 3 tablespoons (1 oz) (25 gm) flour and yeast , cover with cling film and let rise 60 minutes

Dough
1.After 30 minutes put the egg whites in the mixer bowl and start working with the paddle at low speed adding flour until you have a soft dough that sticks to the bowl (about 2 cups or 270 gm) and work until it comes together , cover with cling film and let rest 30 min
2.Add the sponge to the mixer bowl along with a tablespoon of flour and start mixing at low speed (if you wish to add the zests do it now)
3.When it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl add one yolk and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour
4.Add the second yolk , the sugar and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour
5.Raise the speed a little
6.Add the third yolk and the salt and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour
7.Keep on adding one yolk at the time and the flour saving a tablespoon of flour for later
8.Mix the dough until is elastic and makes threads
9.Add the butter at room temperature and as soon as the butter is adsorbed add the last tablespoon of flour
10.Keep on mixing till the dough passes the window pane test
11.Cover the dough with cling film and let it proof until it has tripled in volume 2 to 3 hours.
12.You can prepare the Pastry cream now if you chose to use it, and refrigerate it
13.While you wait prepare your baking pan buttering it very carefully not leaving too much butter on it
14.Grease your dough scraper, your hands and your work surface and put the dough on it and fold with the Dough Package Fold two or three times around (5 folds twice or three times). Cover with cling foil and let it rest 15 minutes on the counter
15.Turn the dough upside down and with the help of your buttered dough scraper shape your dough http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2_h6Qogp0 in a rounded bun
16.Make a hole in the center with your thumb and put it in the prepared pan
17. Cover with cling film and let rise in a warm spot until the dough reaches the top of the pan about 1 hour
18.Pre-heat oven to moderate 340°F/170°C/gas mark 3
19.Bake the Savarin for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown
20.Meanwhile prepare the Syrup
21.When the Savarin is done take it out of the oven, let it cool and remove carefully out of the pan
22.You have two choices now : you can immerse it in syrup right now or you can let it dry out (so it will lose some of his moisture that will be replaced by the syrup) and soak it later on.
23.To immerse it in syrup it is a good idea to place it in the mold you baked it in (I’m afraid a spring-form one wouldn’t work for this) and keep adding ladles of syrup until you see it along the rim of the pan. Or you can just soak it in a big bowl keeping your ladle on top of it so it doesn’t float. Once the Savarin is really well soaked carefully move it on a cooling rack positioned over a pan to let the excess syrup drip
24.The soaked Savarin gains in flavor the next day
25.Whatever you decide the day you want to serve it glaze it and fill the hole with your filling of choice and decorate it. You can serve the Savarin with some filling on the side
26.Enjoy it !

Mine (you know me, it’s shorter) :

Gourmande’s baba/savarin
A :
100 g flour (all purpose or cake or a mix. Roughly 9 or 10% protein)
50 g beaten egg
50 g milk
1 tbs honey (liquid or melted in the milk)
1/2 ts yeast in 1/4 cup of milk, 10 minutes before
1 tbs vanilla extract
(more milk)
B :
30 g butter (salted) or add a pinch of salt

Mix the ingredient A in a bowl. Let 15 minutes. Turn slowly with a pair of bamboo chopstick or a wooden spoon to knead the dough, till it gets a bubble gum texture.
Melt the butter without cooking it, combine with the dought, knead a little more. Let covered in a hot place (40 degrees),
When it raises, put in molds, let raise, bake.

My dairy free diary

I hope that can give ideas to anyone needing to replace dairies from their diet, or just looking for new flavors. Here is my guide book.
It’s about variations. So, no, I’m not renouncing to the wonderful French cheeses. I eat less dairies than I used to for a number of reasons.
I am not going to make you a list of the infamous industrial recreations, margarines and blocks of soaps marketed as cheese. I don’t find those products interesting. They are extremely processed, and not even cheap.
I found or rediscovered many cousins of dairies, mostly plant based cousins. Cheese-less dishes are not less good nor better than the others. They are different, new dishes. Don’t compare !
Disclaimer : I tried to organize it by ingredients (soy, coconut, millet, sesame, oil… and by use as “subs” (cottage cheese, cream, butter, stinky cheese, runny cheese…), and… you get that confusion ! Sorry, it’s a random mix. The topic is so vast…

PLANT MILKS

Soy milk : It’s thicker and richer than milk. The drink you buy is diluted and sweetened, so to reproduce just add sweetened water to the “whole” soymilk. You can use it as a drink, as ingredient and also to make tofu or yuba.
DIY soy milk
tonyu milky cake
French-Chinese milky chervil soup

Almond milk :DIY almond milk

Corn milk : DIY sweet corn milk

Hemp milk : I didn’t find the one I made was good raw. Well, I make it from whole hemp seeds, maybe if they are hulled it’s different. But it’s delicious cooked.
hemp milk quiche
spouted hemp seed bread
hemp seed pain brioché

Coconut milk : I take big cans of thick milk, I chill and open to separate the floating cream and the skim milk. I don’t usually make it into butter to cook (and we can’t buy it here), but I sometimes clarify a small amount for cosmetic purposes.
The whole milk is very fat, too much for my gut, I make sure I use it diluted into sauces or in small amounts.
hot carobcinno
Café au lait, revisited
Coconut cauliflower creme soup

Butters, hard creams : I use mostly coconut cream. I sometimes buy cocoa butter but it’s a pricey rarity here. Both are perfect for chocolates, ganaches…
silky chocolate tarte
nama choco,vegan ganache sweets
coconut cream vegan scones

The whip question :
Commercial soy based whip is convenient, but very chemical and not very tasty. Pure coconut cream whip is really too fat to digest. A solution is to mix half coconut cream and half of either tofu or some starched based cream when everything is at room temperature, and to whip in a bowl bathing in iced water.

TOFU
It exists in different textures, and you’ll get different results if you change.
DIY tofu

The silky tofu can become creamy if you whip it. Use it whipped instead of sour cream, cream cheese…
a vegan flower of marron cream
silky tofu cream
tofu pumpkin cake
tofu chi cakes, 3 flavors
shira-ae Japanese creamy dressing

The medium soft tofu, particularly tasty hand-made can be served like fresh mozzarella, either cold, or topping a pizza (slice thin as it won’t spread much, drizzle olive oil and salt and bake).
tofu in Caprese salad
tofu on a pizza

The firm (cotton, momen-dofu) can be crumbled and salted to be like a cottage cheese, served cold. To get it more grainy, place it 20 minutes between 2 plates with something a bit heavy on top, so most water gets out.
silky tofu broken as fromage blanc cottage cheese
fromage de tofu (tofu cheez loaf)

Also in the tofu family :
Yuba : It is tofu skin. Fresh, it’s served like a cottage cheese. I buy it but you can make yours (it’s a bit long and tricky).
Okara : It’s the fiber you obtain when you make soy milk. Using it as a base for cake, you don’t need dairies.
cakes made with okara

OIL CAKE BAKING
To replace butter in cakes, cookies… Any oil can be used but you get different added flavors.
I find white sesame oil, the odorless cold pressed type, is excellent and very comparable to butter in taste in fine cakes. Almond oil has the same properties and brings an Oriental flavor.
White sesame oil chiffon cake
Bayonesa sweet pie with almond oil pastry
olive oil oatmeal scones
olive oil baked donuts

SESAME (and peanuts, etc)
Pasted sesame is a whole world. It’s the tahini of Middle-East and the neri goma of Asia. They are similar and they are not… If you paste raw or roasted sesame, if it’s white, yellow or black sesame, if you use a mortar or a mill, you get different flavors and textures. These tahinis are perfect to cream a sauce and replace butter as your fat spread. Sesame powder can also bring the “milk touch” to smoothies and soups.
DIY tahini
creamy sesame sauce for wine mandarin sauce tofu
DIY gomadofu sesame tofu (a creamy custard)
goma dare (Japanese sesame creamy dressing)

And as a butter alternative for baking :
tahini Venitian snails (not fully dairy free)
black sesame croissant pastry

Peanuts can also be used to cream sauces, make peanut butter, peanut tofu. Of course, there are possibilities for other types of seeds or nuts, but I don’t get them easily.
creamy peanut sauce on gado gado
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TEXTURES :
Millet : The upper photo shows a runny cheez sauce, nice for gratins and casseroles.

millet cheez on canneloni
millet cheez in tarragon gratin
millet cheez in moussaka

Mayonnaise
That sounds weird. Let’s be frank, if I were you reading this, I’d say “that’s gross…”. But I was given to eat mayonnaise pizza without knowing what it was, and it tasted good. It’s really much less heavy than what you expect. Even if the mayo is fat, you don’t put so much so the result is lighter than a classic cheeese pizza. So you can make your melted toasts with mayonnaise. Well I’ve tried with classic egg yolk mayo, but I think it would work with mayonnaise without egg, since the main ingredient is the oil.
Japanese pizza
Nattolita
Brown rice natto pizza

Others :
Some veggies have a sluggish texture (moloheya, nagaimo yam, etc…) and the most known is okra (gumbo) :
okra and coconut chizz chilled sauce
To make white sauces, corn starch, rice flours, powdered oatmeal are white and creamy.
Starch replaces the cream in ice-cream. Turkish ice-cream is based on arabic gum, and I’ve used kudzu to get a similar result.
Banana can give the creamy texture in ice-creams and smoothies.
Natural yummy banana pudding

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CHEEZESQUE FLAVORS :

Nutritional yeast is well know. I don’t think it’s a wonder on its own. I add a little amount to many savory cheez dishes, but I find it brings a weird taste to sweet dishes or in big amounts. I also adds salt, paprika, wheat germ, other spices.

The Japanese trinity :
Natto
Sake-kasu
Miso
Sake kasu is sake lees, a white paste of very fermented rice. The closest I know is goat cheese. Like natto, it’s not salted. It can be used to make a milky soup, and a milky drink. It can be grilled, and you get like a goat cheese melted toast.
Miso, the different types have that fermented flavor, but are extremely salty, so use by touch like very salty aged Holland or Parmesan cheese.

miso + sake kasu toast
miso + sake kasu dip
miso marinated tofu (bought version)
pide, Turkish pizza with grilled sake kasu

NATTO :

Fermented soy beans. It is like a strong French cheese already. It has the smell, the strong flavors, the slugglish factor… It’s a cheese, it’s the vegan cheese. Not some recreation. The only thing is it’s not salted.
Munsterious natto (the stinkiest)
black natto

Banoffi daredevils

A big twist on the classic banoffi pie (original story and recipe by the inventor here).

Posing with ingredients.
WAIIIIIITTTT ! Don’t leave. I can explain !

Blog-checking lines: Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients!

we’re requiring that you use at least one ingredient from each of our three lists

List 1: Parsnips, Eggplant (aubergine), Cauliflower
List 2: Balsamic Vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers
List 3: Maple Syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas

My pick :

List 1: Eggplant
List 2: Balsamic Vinegar, (powdered, I can’t get anything else)Chipotle peppers
List 3: Instant Coffee, Bananas

Well, “Coffee” ! Where have you been when I took the group photo ?

What I did :

A.Eggplant cinnamon jam (a Mediterranean specialty)
My recipe in a future post, be patient, visit again later this week.

B.Balsamic and a hint of chipotle make a marinade for bananas

C.Coffee to flavor whipped cream.

You pile up A-B-C on crispy toasts.
And you have your banoffi daredevils !

Tasting notes :

The aubergine jam is a delight. You have to try.
The vinegar and hot pepper are in small amount, you can’t identify them, but they contrast the banana starchy flavor and makes its aromas develop.
I’m not a fan of real whipped cream (that I don’t digest). It’s veg’ light whip and there is not a so big amount as it seems as the bananas make the volume and are hidden in it. So it’s very easy to eat. And YUMMY !