GREECE: Baklava

If you have never worked with phyllo (fillo) dough, you may want to take this as a cautionary tale. When you purchase phyllo dough from the grocery store (usually next to puff pastry sheets, pie crusts, and the lot), it typically comes in the form of paper-thin sheets that are stacked and folded in order to fit into a box. You then defrost these sheets, but if they are not totally defrosted, or if you don't handle them properly, they rip. They shred. They disintegrate.



That being said, today I decided to make a batch of baklava. Baklava is one of my favorite desserts I've had as its attached to some very fond memories. Each year, the Greek Orthodox Church in my town hosts a Greek Food Festival. It raises money for the church and for charities all over the city. They prepare for months in order to have enough food and treats to sell. One of the most popular things they sell is of course, baklava.

In case you are unfamiliar of exactly what baklava is, it is a layered, flaky pastry filled with nuts and drenched in a gooey honey sauce. It is delightful. I had always heard that it is fairly easy to make once you get the hang of the dough, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Recipe yields 16 pieces.

I found a recipe online here, and once again, I modified it slightly. Below are my modified directions.


INGREDIENTS:
1 8-oz. package of phyllo dough
1/2 pound hazelnuts, chopped
margarine... I used about 1/3-1/2 cup, but it wasn't totally exact
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c water
1/2 sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c honey

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8x8 pan. Chop the hazelnuts and toss with cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

                                    

2. Unroll the phyllo dough carefully, avoiding breaking it as you go. Make sure it is entirely defrosted, otherwise it may stick or tear.  Cut the stack down to size to fit into the pan. Cover the dough with a slightly damp cloth to prevent it from drying out. (I actually did not do this because mine was slightly sticky. Allowing it to dry partly allowed me to be able to use the sheets of phyllo more easily.)

                                                

3. Place two sheets of dough in the pan, "butter thoroughly." This last direction was so vague it hurt. I interpreted this to mean as follows: melt the butter in the microwave. Then, take a pastry brush and coat the dough thoroughly. If you do not have a pastry brush, take a spoon, and put small amounts of butter on the layer, using the back of the spoon to spread it.

                                               

4. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of nuts onto the layer. Do not actually sprinkle using the spoons, though. Use your hands to sprinkle, as you have more control and can get a more even coating. Repeat following this pattern: 2 sheets of dough, butter, 2 sheets, butter, 2 sheets, butter, nuts...
The top layer should be 6-8 sheets thick.

                                                  

5. Use a sharp knife to cut either squares or diamonds, 4 by 4 pieces in total. Make sure you cut all the way through the bottom layer of dough. Bake for 50 minutes until the top layer is golden and crisp.

                                                

6. While the baklava is baking, make the honey sauce: Combine the sugar and water in a pot and bring to boil, making a simple syrup. Add the vanilla and honey and bring down to a simmer for 20 minutes. Tip: If you are trying to use the last bit of honey in the jar, pour a spoonful of your warm simple syrup into the bottle and swish it around. It should help it flow more easily.

                                     

7. Remove the baklava from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Immediately spoon the sauce over it, and let cool. Remove from pan carefully, keeping each piece's layers intact. You may wish to take the knife and run it along the edges of each piece before removing them to ensure they are completely loose. Serve in paper cupcake liners.

                                      
                                                                            
8. στην υγεια σας! (I hope that means "cheers!" If not, I blame Google Translate.)
These turned out much better than I expected. The phyllo dough was difficult to work with, but I now realize that it doesn't matter that much if you tear it, as it will all turn out gooey and flaky in the end! If you want an extra special dessert (or if a piece falls apart), take off for a Sundae in Athens--crumble a piece of baklava over vanilla ice cream and add a cherry on top! 
If you give this recipe a try, let me know how it turns out in the comments! Love, Caroline

FRANCE: Madeleines

Clearly I need to start this journey with the recipe that started it all: French Madeleines.  They basically are a butter cookie and cake hybrid that are made in shell-like pans. Light, fluffy, delicious. They can be paired with many different flavors, such as lemon, honey, orange, or chocolate.

Because I wanted to get my proportions of ingredients just right, I used a recipe for lemon madeleines, found at Martha Stewart's website. It yields 3 dozen cookies. I rewrote the directions slightly, adding my own variations and notes to it in bold. These were so easy to make and such a hit with my family, as they came out beautifully, with lightly brown, crisp edges and a soft, fluffy center. I was so surprised at how easily they came out of the pan!

Unfortunately, I can't come up with an idea for how to make these without the signature madeleine pan; however, I found what appears to be a good-quality, inexpensive one here. If you know a way to make madeleines without the pan, please let me know!

Happy baking!

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine--I'm on a budget here! (1 1/2 sticks), melted, plus more for pans
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (not self-rising) (all purpose flour and corn starch will make the same thing--see step #2)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (2 to 3 lemons total) 
• Juice and zest of two large lemons
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional required)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two madeleine pans; set aside. The madeleine pan I used had a special cooking spray to use with it instead. Essentially, you just can't use an alcohol-based cooking spray like pam because it ruins the nonstick madeleine pan.
2.  If you have cake flour, continue to the next step. If not, you can make it with all-purpose flour and cornstarch. For every cup of cake flour called for, take one cup of all-purpose, remove two tablespoons of it, and replace it with two tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe, that means 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 tbsp, and replace those with cornstarch.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.(I know this is a strainer; I didn't have my sifter handy!)
4. Zest and juice the lemons. Juice them into a strainer in order to catch the seeds.
5. Put eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (Or any attachment. I have a $25 mixer so I used its normal attachment.) Mix on medium-high speed until pale and thickened, about 5 minutes. 
6. Mix in butter. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Keep stirring until all of the clumps are gone. It takes a while, but I think it makes a difference. Let rest 30 minutes.And I mean all of the clumps!
7. Pour batter into prepared
   pans, filling the molds 3/4 full. For this, I used a measuring cup with a spout. You could also use a pastry bag or a Ziploc with a little hole cut out of the corner. 
8. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through (You lose heat this way. I just cooked the pans one at a time. Also, who has two madeleine pans?), until edges are crisp and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly in pans on wire racks. Invert, and unmold. They should fall right out. To be sure, I always lightly shake the pan from side to side, then place the cooling rack upside down on the pan before flipping. Dust with confectioners' sugar.                        Serve, and enjoy. They're best eaten hot! Bon appétit!

 If you try out this recipe, let me know how it turns out in the comments! Love, Caroline

Embarking on a Journey

Since I was young, I have always loved to bake. I think it's in my blood, as my Great-Grandmother Vida Mae Brown had a saying she loved and lived by: Life's short; eat dessert first. On another note, I also have always loved to travel. Unfortunately, I have never actually had the opportunity to travel outside of the United States, but I have loved traveling within it and learning about cultures outside of it.

Flash forward to this Christmas. I was sitting on the family couch, opening presents from my loved ones. One by one, I received baking tools: my own personal mixing bowls, silicone spatulas, measuring spoons, and, in all of its glory, a madeleine pan. After taking five years of French classes, I have a particular love for French pastries. A madeleine pan was a perfect gift. 

(The spoons, spatulas, and bowl were purchased at Hobby Lobby; the madeleine pan was purchased at Williams-Sonoma.)

That evening, I broke in my new toys and made my first two pans of madeleine cookies. They were divine. As I thought about all of the different flavors of madeleines I could make and all of the other desserts I wanted to try, I came up with a challenge for myself. Just as it says in the tagline, I decided I want to make a dessert from every country on this earth. Oh, and while I'm at it, why not blog about it? 

Prepare for a blog filled with delicious successes and hilarious baking failures; I am an eighteen-year-old overly amateur baker who is about to tackle some of the craziest treats on this planet. 

(Christmas Eve with cookies I baked for "Santa")