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Desserts From The Dahlia

Desserts at the Dahlia

Sunday, November 20, 2012

Grandma Douglas’ Schnecken

Yield : Makes 12 to 14 schnecken

Pair with Tazor (recipe below)

Tom Douglas said, “As long as I can remember, and long before that, my family has made these rolls (similar to cinnamon rolls) for most every holiday. My brother and sisters always fought for the gooey middle rolls, but I love the ultra-caramelized golden-brown corners.”

Ingredients

For the dough:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more to butter bowl and pans, as needed

1 cup milk

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

3 to 3½ cups all-purpose flour, as needed

For the sugar-pecan topping:

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter

¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

¾ cup chopped pecans

For the cinnamon sugar filling:

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

To make the dough, melt the ½ cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the milk and granulated sugar and heat just to lukewarm (about 100°F), stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Pour the warm milk mixture into a bowl. Stir in the yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the salt. Beat the whole egg and yolk together and add to the yeast mixture. Stir in the flour I cup at a time until you have a sticky dough.

Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead, about 5 minutes, adding a little more flour as necessary, until you have a nice smooth dough. Butter a large bowl. Place the dough in the prepared bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours until tripled in volume.

Meanwhile, prepare the pan. Spray a 9 × 13-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray or brush it with butter.

To prepare the sugar-pecan topping, melt the butter with the brown sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat and spread the mixture over the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.

Punch down the dough and turn it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for a minute then use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle about 15 × 12 inches and 1/8 inch thick.

To make the cinnamon sugar filling, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and allow it to cool. Brush the butter thoroughly over the surface of the dough. In a bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the melted butter. Roll the rectangle up, like a jelly roll, along one long edge.

Slice the log of rolled dough into 1-inch-thick slices and arrange the slices, cut side up, in the prepared pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap (you can spray the wrap with vegetable oil spray to be sure it doesn’t stick to the dough) and allow it to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the schnecken until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Check them occasionally during the baking time and, if they seem to be browning too quickly, cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Remove the pan from the oven. Allow the schnecken to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then turn them out of the pan while still warm by inverting the pan over a large platter or a baking sheet. Serve warm.

A STEP AHEAD: You can prepare the schnecken a day ahead up to the point of forming the rolls and setting them in the prepared pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and store them, unbaked, in the refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to bake the schnecken, remove the pan from the refrigerator and set it in a warm place for about an hour. Then bake as directed in the recipe.

Tazor

Chilled pilsner glass with 1 scoop ice

4 ounces cold passionfruit tea

4 ounces Float

½ ounce blood orange bitters

1 ounce lemon simple syrup

Garnish with a slice of lemon

Lemon Simple Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon vodka

Bring the water to a boil. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water, stirring constantly. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat and add juice. (Note: Do not allow the syrup to boil for too long or the syrup will be too thick.)Allow to cool completely and thicken, then bottle. Add vodka to prevent crystallization.

Five Spice Angel Food Cake

Pair with Tickle Me Tiki (recipe below)

From the book Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen by Tom Douglas

Culinate editor’s note: This light, airy cake is a summertime favorite when served with fresh or lightly cooked sugared berries, but you can also serve it plain or with a bit of crème anglaise. The addition of the five-spice powder gives the cake a subtle spiciness and complexity. Try this recipe if you’ve been making a lot of ice cream and have egg whites left over.

Ingredients

	1	cup cake flour
	1	tsp. Chinese five-spice powder (see Note)
	¼	tsp. kosher salt
	10	large egg whites, at room temperature
	1	tsp. cream of tartar
	1	tsp. pure almond extract
	½	tsp. pure vanilla extract
	1¼	cups sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, five-spice powder, and salt, then sift the mixture again.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and extracts together at medium speed. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until just before the peaks are stiff. The egg whites should be glossy and smooth. Be careful not to overbeat; overbeaten whites will not expand well in the oven and the cake will not be as tall.

Fold half the flour mixture into the beaten whites with a rubber spatula. Then fold in the remaining flour mixture, being careful not to overwork the batter. Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan and place on the middle oven rack.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake sit for a few minutes before inverting the pan onto a cake rack or the neck of a wine bottle to let the cake cool in the pan.

When the cake is completely cool (about two hours after baking), turn the cake pan back over and gently run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate.

Notes

You can buy five-spice powder at most grocery stores, but you can also mix your own from freshly ground spices (use a propeller grinder for the fastest grinding). All you need are equal parts ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground fennel seeds (toasted first), ground star anise, and ground Szechuan peppercorns (toasted first). Store in an airtight jar.

This cake keeps, well wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Pineapple Poached Pears

3 Bosc pears

1 bottle Pineapple Express

½ cup sugar

Peel pears. Place in sauce pan with sugar and wine. Simmer until knife inserts smoothly in pear. (If the pear is not completely cooked it will brown.) Cool in the liquid. When it’s cool remove pear from liquid and dice. Serve cold over cake.

Tickle Me Tiki

Chilled hurricane glass with 1 scoop ice

5.5 ounces pineapple juice

4 ounces Float

1 ounce grenadine

½ ounce blood orange bitters

Add a cherry on an umbrella and a straw

Butternut Squash Gingerbread

Pair with Ginger Snap (recipe below)

“Who can resist an upside-down cake with a gooey, caramelized sugar topping? Most times, you top a cake like this with fruit such as sliced plums, pears, or pineapple rings. But I like the way thin wedges of squash bake in a brown sugar and butter glaze until they're candied and almost translucent. The combination of roasted butternut squash and moist, spicy gingerbread makes this a great dessert for any autumnal dinner, and it's always on my table for the Thanksgiving feast!” --Tom Douglas

Makes one 10" cake (10-12 servings)

For the Squash Topping
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus a little more for buttering the pans
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

For the Cake Batter
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup hot strong coffee
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Sweetened Whipped Cream (see note)

Butter a 10-inch by 2-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

To prepare the squash topping, Cut the peel from the squash, then cut the squash in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds and fibers with a spoon. Slice the squash into wedges about 1/3" thick, and place them on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Bake until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 20 to 25 minutes, turning the squash pieces over with a spatula halfway through the cooking time, then remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Pour the butter-sugar mixture evenly into the cake pan. Arrange the squash wedges in a decorative pattern (like the spokes of a wheel) over the bottom of the pan, trimming them to fit if necessary. You may have a few squash slices left over. Using your fingers, press down on the squash slices gently, so you’ll be able to see them through the sugar topping when the cake is unmolded. Sprinkle the pecans over the squash. Set the prepared cake pan aside.

To make the cake batter, mix together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the coffee, molasses, and ginger. In a large bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar, then whisk in the butter. To the egg-butter mixture, add the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the coffee mixture, and beating with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until smooth. (The batter will be thin.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the cake pan on a baking sheet lined with foil because the brown sugar mixture may bubble over as the cake bakes. Bake at 350 degrees F until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. If the cake is browning too quickly before it is done, cover it loosely with a piece of foil. Remove the cake pan from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack for about 5 minutes. To unmold, run a thin knife around the cake to loosen it. Cover the cake pan with an inverted plate, then invert the whole thing. Remove the pan and the cake should slide right out onto the plate. Peel off the circle of parchment paper and replace any squash or pecans clinging to the paper. Cool the cake to room temperature before slicing.

To serve, slice the cake into wedges and serve with dollops of whipped cream.

Note: To make sweetened whipped cream, whip 1-1/2 cups heavy cream with 3 tablespoons sugar and 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract until soft peaks form.

Ginger Snap

Chilled martini glass with a nutmeg sugar rim

In a cocktail shaker add ice and

4 ounces ginger simple syrup

4 ounces Float

Shake and strain into the martini glass

Nutmeg Sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon ground nutmeg

Ginger Simple Syrup

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1-1/2 cups grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon vodka

Strawberry and Mascarpone Trifles with Riesling Syrup

Pair with CosmiKaze (recipe below)

Make Ahead:

1 cup Riesling

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped

1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream

Six 1/2-inch-thick slices of pound cake, each slice cut into 4 triangles

In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the Riesling with 1/2 cup of the sugar and the vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil, undisturbed, until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 8 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Put the strawberries in a bowl and strain the syrup over them. Save the vanilla bean for another use.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the mascarpone with the cream and the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks form. Place 2 cake triangles in each of 6 dessert bowls and top with half of the strawberries. Repeat with the remaining cake and strawberries. Spoon any remaining syrup over each bowl, dollop on the mascarpone cream and serve.

Vanilla Batter Pound Cake

Melted unsalted butter

6 eggs,, at room temperature

6 egg yolks, at room temperature

1 Table spoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon water

1 pound soft unsalted butter

1 pound, 2 ounces Vanilla Sugar or granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

14 ounces cake flour, sifted

Brush melted butter over the inside of two 8 x 8 inch loaf pans and then line the pans with baking paper. Set aside.
Place the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and water in a small bowl. Mix to break up the eggs and combine the ingredients without beating in any air. If the mixture is cooler than 70 degrees, place the bowl in a water bath and stir for a moment to warm it. Do not heat to the point of cooking the eggs. Set aside off the heat.
Place the soft butter in a mixer bowl and beat using the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar gradually and continue beating for 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture is light in color and fluffy. With the mixer running, pour the egg mixture in very gradually, taking about 5 minutes to add all of it. Beat in the salt. Fold in the sifted cake flour one-fourth at a time. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. A wooden skewer inserted in the top of the cakes should come out clean. Unmold from the baking pans and cool to room temperature. Wrap and store at room temperature for up to one week.

CosmiKaze

Chilled martini glass

In a cocktail shaker add 1 scoop ice and

5.5 ounces cranberry juice

1 ounce lime simple syrup

4 ounces Float martini

Top with orange zest.

Lime Simple Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon vodka

Triple Coconut Cream Pie, Dahlia Lounge, Seattle

Paired with Aloha Colada

When Seattle chef Tom Douglas opened his upscale Dahlia Lounge in 1989, he put a decidedly down-home coconut cream pie on the menu as a lark. Little did he know that the pie would take on a sweet life of its own.

Douglas sells 1,000 coconut cream pies a month. The pie's popularity was also an inspiration for Douglas's Dahlia Bakery. The pies are so highly regarded that they've fetched hundreds of dollars at charity auctions.

All this fuss over a pie? You bet, when it’s this luscious—with coconut in the crust, shredded coconut in the filling, and big shards of toasted coconut atop ripples of whipped cream and curls of white chocolate. Even coconut-haters love it.

“That’s because it doesn’t taste like suntan lotion,” Douglas says. “Every other coconut pie out there has fake stuff in it. When you use real ingredients, you realize how good it can taste.”

The recipe appeared in the chef’s first cookbook, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, and will show up again in a forthcoming Dahlia Bakery cookbook. It’s based on a recipe by celebrity pastry chef Jim Dodge. Any confident home cook can make it, Douglas says, although the ingredient list may seem long. (Unsweetened coconut chips or large-shred coconut can usually be found in natural foods stores or in the bulk section of supermarkets.) Because the recipe is time-consuming, he suggests making two pies at once. Give the extra one to a neighbor or to a local charity and make friends for life.

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Makes one nine-inch pie.
Adapted with permission from the recipe of chef Tom Douglas.

Crust:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup ice water, or more as needed

Pastry cream:
2 cups milk
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Pie:
1 coconut pie crust (recipe above), prebaked and cooled
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 ounces unsweetened “chip” or large-shred coconut
Chunks of white chocolate (4 to 6 ounces, to make 2 ounces of curls)

To make the crust:
1. In a food processor, combine the flour, coconut, diced butter, sugar, and salt. Pulse to form coarse crumbs, gradually adding the water a tablespoon at a time. Use only as much water as is needed to hold the dough together. (Test it by gently pressing a bit of dough between your fingers.) The dough will not form a ball or clump in the processor. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap on the counter and pour the dough onto it. Pull the plastic wrap around the dough, then flatten it into a rough round. Chill 30 minutes to an hour before rolling.

2. Unwrap the round of dough and place it on a lightly floured work board. Dust the rolling pin and your hands with flour. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick, adding more flour if it begins to stick. Trim to a 12- to 13-inch circle.

3. Ease the rolled dough onto a 9-inch pie pan. Don’t stretch the dough to fit; it will shrink again when baked. Trim any excess to a 1- to 1 1/2-inch overhang. Turn the dough under along the rim of the pie pan and use your finger to flute the edge. Chill the unbaked pie crust at least an hour before baking.

4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper in the pie crust and fill the cavity with dried beans or pie weights. Bake the crust until the edge is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, lift off the foil and beans, and return the crust to the oven. Bake until the bottom of the crust shows golden-brown patches, 10 to 12 minutes more. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the pastry cream:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and sweetened shredded coconut. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add both the seeds and pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir the mixture occasionally until it begins to steam and tiny bubbles start to form around the pan’s edges. (But don’t let it come to a boil.) Remove the pan from the heat.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well combined. As you whisk, temper the egg mixture (to keep it from curdling) by pouring about 1/3 cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the milk and coconut mixture in the saucepan. Place the pan over medium-high heat and whisk until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the pastry cream is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. Remove and discard the vanilla pod. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl, then place it over another bowl filled with ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming, and refrigerate until cold, about an hour. The cream will thicken as it cools.

3. When the pastry cream is cold, pour it into the prebaked pie crust, smoothing the surface with a spatula. In an electric mixer with whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium speed. Gradually increase the speed to high, and whip to peaks that are firm enough to hold their shape. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with the whipped cream and pipe it over the surface of the pie, or spoon it over.

To finish the pie:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a baking sheet, spread the coconut chips, then place the baking sheet in the oven. Stir the chips once or twice while they toast, watching carefully—coconut burns easily—until they are lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Use a vegetable peeler to shave about 2 ounces of the white chocolate into curls. Just before serving, decorate the pie with the toasted coconut and white chocolate curls.

2. The coconut pastry cream can be made a day ahead, covered with plastic wrap as above, and chilled in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to serve the pie, fill the prebaked crust with the cream, then top the filling with the whipped cream, coconut, and chocolate.

Aloha Colada

Chilled hurricane glass with 1 scoop ice

4 ounces pina colada mix

4 ounces Float

Stir well. Add an umbrella with a cherry and a straw. Put on some Hawaiian music, close your eyes, and relax.