Blackberry Mousse

I may be one of the few people who feel this way, but I love cold weather.  This was one of the many irrational reasons I fought my parents to let me go out-of-state to Missouri for college.  I craved a real winter, getting snowed in, and bundling up for my trek to class.

Its not that I am incredibly fond of standing outside in the freezing cold with sharp wind stabbing my face, toes completely numb, but its the overall feeling I get (or got when I lived in Missouri) between October and February.  During these months I felt more alive, more awake, more appreciative of the things around me.  I think I probably had the opposite of Seasonal Affective Disorder (I get that in these Texas summers instead).

This may have had something to do with the striking fall leaves that set campus on fire, the excitement of freezing my tush off at football games, the beginning of a school year brimming with opportunity, all quickly followed by the festivities of the holiday season, but it’s my favorite time of the year and it will forever make me think of my wonderful university, extraordinary friends, and the best five years of my life.

I am also extremely fond of fall and winter fare.  Hearty soups and chilis, slowly braised meats with root veggies and mashed potatoes, holiday treats, and a bounty of apples and citrus!

Alas, the temperature always warmed bringing another summer and landing me one year closer to the real world.  Luckily the real world isn’t so bad and warmer temperatures mean lots of berries.

It’s March 31st and spring is pretty much over here in Houston, the humidity has rolled in, and the mosquitos are claiming their territory.  But this also means we already have beautiful berries.  Plump raspberries have begun dotting my morning oatmeal, I’ve been whipping up some fruit smoothies, and making this fluffy blackberry mousse.  With berries as my crutch, I guess I can make it till October or at least until the tomatoes are ready to carry me the rest of the way.

Makes about 4 cups of mousse.

Note:  We make a lot of different mousses at work, including a blackberry and raspberry mousse.  I don’t make them, but I like to observe.  This my interpretation of the recipe and is a much scaled down version.  I piped my mousse over miniature chocolate tart crusts, but it is also good simply topped with fruit and I bet some high quality granola sprinkled on top would be great as well.

1 10-oz bag of frozen blackberries, thawed

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled well

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combined blackberries, sugar, and water.  Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved and berries begin to break apart some.  Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender until mixture is very smooth (you can also blend in a blender, just be carful, it’s hot!).  Place a strainer over a bowl and press mixture through strainer to remove seeds and any remaining solids.  You will be left with about 1 cup of blackberry puree.  Set aside and cool for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  On medium speed, whip mixture until well combined and fluffy.  Adjust speed to low and gradually pour in blackberry puree and beat until well combined.  Pour mixture into a medium bowl and place in refrigerator while preparing the whipped cream.  Clean mixer bowl if you don’t have a second one.

Pour whipped cream into mixer bowl and fit stand mixer with whip attachment.  Whip cream until fairly firm and stiff peaks form.  Retrieve blackberry mixture and gently pour it into whipped cream.  As gently and efficiently as possible, fold blackberry mixture and whipped cream together until evenly incorporated.  Mousse with keep well, covered, in the refrigerator for two days.  See note above for some serving suggestions or be creative!

 

Roasted Rhubarb and Strawberry Tartlets

Every Monday I cook dinner for my entire Houston family.  It is our chance to take a moment away from our busy schedules, catch up, and take advantage of this time when we all live so close to each other.

This week I made a special dinner for my mom’s birthday.  I recreated that wonderful pasta and for dessert, baked these tartlets topped with the season’s first strawberries, roasted rhubarb, and a quick strawberry sauce.

Rhubarb and strawberries are one of my favorite combinations, but strawberries are often the star of the show.  This tart highlights the dueling sweetness and tartness of rhubarb with strawberries playing the supporting role; a great way to get to know rhubarb if you ask me.

Remember my reconciliation with tarts?  Well, our relationship is moving on quite nicely and tartlets, baby tarts, have also become dear to me.  What an elegant way to present a dessert and each of your guests gets their own!  I even made my niece a super-mini tartlet (see below), she gobbled it up.

Welcome Spring and Happy (belated) Birthday Mom!

Makes 6 5-inch tartlets

Sweet dough recipe from the Tartine cookbook

Inspired by the Gourmet Today cookbook

Note:  The recipe for the sweet dough will make more than you need for this recipe.  The extra dough can be frozen for 3 weeks or rolled and cut to make sugar cookies.

For the dough:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the tart filling and sauce:

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

10 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1 10-ounce package frozen strawberries

1/4 cup water 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup creme fraiche

Fresh strawberries thinly sliced, approximately 6 per tartlet

Special equipment: 6 5-inch tart pans. If you don’t have these, you can make a regular 9-inch tart.  If you don’t have that…you need a tart pan!

Make tart dough:

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, and salt and mix on medium speed until smooth.  Mix in 1 egg.  Add the remaining egg and mix until smooth.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the flour all at once and mix on low speed just until incorporated.

On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into 4 equal balls and shape each ball into a disk 1/2 inch thick.  Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

Roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness, rolling from the center toward the edge in all directions.  Lift and rotate the dough a quarter turn after every few strokes, dusting underneath as necessary.  Cut out a circle 2 inches larger than the pan.  Carefully transfer the circle to the pan, easing it into the bottom and sides and then pressing gently into place.  Do not stretch the dough.  Trim the dough level with the top of the pan with a sharp knife.  Dock the bottom of the tart with a fork.  Place the lined pan in the refrigerator while preparing filling and sauce. (Don’t forget to freeze your extra dough!)

Make filling and sauce:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Lightly oil a baking sheet with sides.  Arrange the rhubarb in one layer on baking sheet.  Sift 5 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar evenly over it.  Roast rhubarb until tender, 15-25 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.  Lower oven temperature to 325°F.

Place strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and water in a small saucepan and simmer until strawberries are thawed and sugar dissolves.  Puree strawberries in a food processor.  Force puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; discard solids.

Sift remaining 5 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar over creme fraiche in a small bowl and whisk to combine.

Bake tartlets for 10-12 minutes, until light golden brown.  Cool completely.

Assemble tartlets:

Distribute sweetened creme fraiche evenly over tartlet shells.  Garnish decoratively with fresh strawberries and top each with an equal serving of the roasted rhubarb.  Drizzle with strawberry puree.

Strawberry, Goat Cheese, & Thyme Muffins

Last week at Central Market, we introduced our new muffin recipe and flavors.  I may be biased, but they are darn good and full of interesting ingredients.

Pear ginger, fig and star anise, banana granola, antioxidant punch (goji, acai, cranberries, and pomegranate), chocolate hazelnut toffee, and strawberry goat cheese to name a few.

We can hardly keep them on the shelves.  Let’s just say I have consumed more than my share of muffins this week and any Houstonians out there should come check them out along with all of our other tasty treats!

I absolutely love savory-sweet combinations, so despite swearing off strawberries after the strawberry dipping fest that was Valentine’s Day (I estimate we dipped close to 13,000 strawberries…by hand), the first muffin I dove into was the strawberry goat cheese variety.

Sweet strawberries (and yes we use real fruit in our products) and musky goat cheese play tug-of-war with your senses and eventually meld to create the perfect balance of sweet and savory.  Simple ingredients yes, but these are no ordinary muffins.

While I love what we bake at work, I figure if I can bake it on my own, why buy it?  So, after dreaming about my new favorite muffin, I decided to give it a whirl at home.

I typically use frozen berries when I bake because they are frozen when perfectly ripe and I think they hold-up much better than fresh fruit during the baking process.  This recipe was no exception and I used frozen strawberries, but if you have some fresh strawberries, there is no reason you can’t use them.

The biggest difference between my muffins and those from work, is the addition of fresh thyme, an herb whose woody flavors pair wonderfully not only with savory ingredients but also with sweet, floral berries.

I used a basic muffin batter base from my The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book; the batter is not overly sweet, but is the perfect backdrop for the berries and cheese.  If you have a favorite muffin batter, feel free to use that and just use my recommendation for filling measurements.

Makes 12 muffins

Inspired by Central Market.  Batter recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Note:  Frozen strawberries are ginormous so I chopped them (while still frozen) into bite-sized pieces.  This batter yields billowy, tender muffins.

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

2 large eggs

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 (about 7 oz) cups roughly chopped frozen strawberries (not thawed)

4 oz fresh goat cheese (no rind), very coarsely crumbled

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and thyme together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt and eggs together until smooth.  Gently fold yogurt mixture into flour mixture with a rubber spatula until barely combined, then fold in butter, strawberries, and goat cheese until just distributed.

Using a greased 1/3-cup measure, portion the batter into each muffin cup.  Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs, 25-30 minutes.

Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before serving.