1) Bake and decorate a tiered cake (using fondant)
2) Create a multi-course dinner
3) Make pasta noodles from scratch
4) Fillet a fish
5) Be able to consistently crack and release an egg with one hand
6) Light my food on fire
While I work hard to improve my egg-cracking skills I can read Gourmet magazine! I drove home recently to visit my parents and was surprised to see an issue of Gourmet The Magazine of Good Living at my doorstep with my name on it. My uncle, with whom I share a love of cooking, had subscribed me to the magazine! First thing I did, of course, was flip through the pages looking at the photographs. Instantly I saw something I knew I had to make immediately when I had the chance.
Almond Tortes
For the crisps:
3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 butter
1 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. heavy cream
For the filling:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 dash ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or pure bourbon vanilla extract)
For the Crisps:
Preheat oven to 375 with rack on lower shelf.
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients and heat over medium-low heat until everything is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
Line a baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop teaspoons of batter 5 to 6 inches apart on backing sheets.
Note: Try to use a light-colored baking sheet because the crisps are more likely to burn on darker ones.
Bake until lightly browned (around 8 minutes).
Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet rack for 5 minutes before removing completely to rack to cool. Let cool completely.
Note: This is what happens when you do not properly read instructions. I failed to place the drops 5 - 6 inches apart on multiple baking sheets. My crisps turned out as one giant, beautiful rectangle crisp. I rectified this situation by taking a scissor and cutting the rectangle into about 20 small squares.
For the Filling:
Beat cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form.
Gradually add sugar. Be careful not to over beat. A good indication of over whipping is when the cream starts to look like curds. Although this consistency is not exactly whipped cream, it tastes the same.
Did you know? When whipping cream, the agitation caused by the whisk adds air bubbles into the cream. Fat globules in the cream partially coalesce (unite) in clusters, spread and surround the air bubbles. The fat-surrounded air bubble becomes more stable (less likely to pop) and will link to other fat-surrounded bubbles. In between the fat globules are water, lactose, and protein molecules. This crystalline fat structure, along with the other molecules, helps the cream stabilize into those well-known fluffy clouds and become stiff. If the cream is whipped too far, the fat will churn and butter particles are formed.
Fold in cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. You can adjust the amount of spices based on your taste preferences.
How to Assemble Almond Torte
Take one almond crisp and top with whipped cream and berries. Cover with a second crisp. Top off the whole thing with more whipped cream and berries. The crisps are very fragile and break easily. These small broken pieces can be used as garnish. Or you can always use my alternative which is to eat the broken pieces immediately to remove any misshapen crisps. We might as well put them out of their misery.
For the crisps:
3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 butter
1 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. heavy cream
For the filling:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 dash ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or pure bourbon vanilla extract)
For the Crisps:
Preheat oven to 375 with rack on lower shelf.
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients and heat over medium-low heat until everything is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
Line a baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop teaspoons of batter 5 to 6 inches apart on backing sheets.
Note: Try to use a light-colored baking sheet because the crisps are more likely to burn on darker ones.
Bake until lightly browned (around 8 minutes).
Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet rack for 5 minutes before removing completely to rack to cool. Let cool completely.
Note: This is what happens when you do not properly read instructions. I failed to place the drops 5 - 6 inches apart on multiple baking sheets. My crisps turned out as one giant, beautiful rectangle crisp. I rectified this situation by taking a scissor and cutting the rectangle into about 20 small squares.
For the Filling:
Beat cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form.
Gradually add sugar. Be careful not to over beat. A good indication of over whipping is when the cream starts to look like curds. Although this consistency is not exactly whipped cream, it tastes the same.
Did you know? When whipping cream, the agitation caused by the whisk adds air bubbles into the cream. Fat globules in the cream partially coalesce (unite) in clusters, spread and surround the air bubbles. The fat-surrounded air bubble becomes more stable (less likely to pop) and will link to other fat-surrounded bubbles. In between the fat globules are water, lactose, and protein molecules. This crystalline fat structure, along with the other molecules, helps the cream stabilize into those well-known fluffy clouds and become stiff. If the cream is whipped too far, the fat will churn and butter particles are formed.
Fold in cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. You can adjust the amount of spices based on your taste preferences.
How to Assemble Almond Torte
Take one almond crisp and top with whipped cream and berries. Cover with a second crisp. Top off the whole thing with more whipped cream and berries. The crisps are very fragile and break easily. These small broken pieces can be used as garnish. Or you can always use my alternative which is to eat the broken pieces immediately to remove any misshapen crisps. We might as well put them out of their misery.
OMG! looks delicious!
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