Cookbook 202: Dessert Person

This isn’t my cookbook, it belongs to James who loves Claire Saffitz (which is fair, because she’s lovely), and so he was excited when Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence was published and bought a copy of it.

The recipes all look amazing, the photography is beautiful and sound like something you want to try to make. I use the would “try” there purposefully. This is a book for people who are already very familiar with baking cakes and other sweet items, written by a classically trained patisserie chef. This is not a book for an enthusiastic amateur, unless you’re willing to make several versions of each dish, improving as you go. Many of the cakes/desserts in this book take a very long time to cook, because there are several parts to each recipe before it finally comes together.

The cakes I made for this were at varying degrees of success. I am happy to leave James to cook through this book, but I’m not going to return to it. I love cakes and desserts, but I want mine to be much less effort overall. Three out of five stars.

I’m including the metric measurements provided in the book (except for oven temperatures where I am converting them myself because they weren’t included), because US cup measures and tablespoons are a different size to metric/Australian ones.

Rice Pudding Cake with Mango Caramel serves 10

Ingredients:

Mango caramel sauce:

• 1 cup sugar (200g)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsley chopped, fresh mango (227g), about 1 large mango
• 1/2 cup heavy/double cream (120g)

Rice pudding cake and assembly

• 1 cup arborio or carnaroli rice (200g)
• 3 cups whole milk (720g)
• 340g tin evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (3g)
• 3/4 cup sugar (150g)
• 1/4 cup dark rum (57g)
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean, plus the pod
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter (57g), cut into 1cm cubes, chilled
• butter for the pan
• 2 large eggs (100g)
• 2 large egg yolks (50g)
• 1 large mango, peeled and thinly sliced, for serving

Method:

Mango caramel sauce

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and 1/3 cup of water (75g). Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir with a heatproof spatula to dissolve the sugar. Stop stirring when the mixture comes to a boil and cook, brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve any crystals and swirling the pan often, until the mixture turns a deep amber colour, 7 – 10 minutes.
2. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the chopped mango. Return the pan to medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mango starts to release some liquid, about 5 minutes.
3. Carefully add the double cream in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly (the mixture may sputter), then stir in the butter a piece at a time until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the salt, then adjust the heat to a gentle simmer.
4. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is slightly thickened, 5 – 10 minutes longer.
5. Remove the caramel mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly. User a standard or handheld blender to blend until the sauce is completely smooth (you should have about 2 cups, but if you have less, stir in some more double cream). Set the caramel aside.

Rice pudding cake

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the rice, whole milk, evaporated milk, salt, sugar, rum and cardamom. Add the vanilla seeds and pod. Bring it all to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar and to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom.
2. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and continue to cook, stirring often, until the rice is translucent and tender and the liquid is thickened, 25 – 30 minutes. You’ll know the rice is done when, rather than settling to the bottom of the pan, the individual grains float about suspended in the liquid.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the 4 tablespoons of butter, a few pieces at a time, until they have melted and incorporated into the liquid. Let the rice pudding mixture sit until it’s warm, but not too hot, stirring occasionally to encourage cooling and to reincorporate any skin that forms on the surface (you can stir the pan over an ice bath to speed up this process).
4. Arrange an oven rack in the centre position and preheat the oven to 180C. Butter the bottom and sides of a 10 inch (25cm) cake pan. Line the bottom with a round of baking paper, then butter the baking paper. Set the pan aside.
5. In a small bowl, beat the whole eggs and yolks until no streaks remain, then stir into the warm rice pudding mixture until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour the entire mixture into the prepared cake pan (you can remove the vanilla pod if desired). Bake until the surface is lightly browned in spots and a cake tester comes out clean, 40 – 50 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Serving:

1. Cut around the sides of the pan with a small offset spatula or paring knife. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, peel off the baking paper, then reinvert onto a serving place. Rewarm the caramel sauce if necessary. Cut the cake into slices (remove the vanilla pod if you haven’t) and serve with a drizzle of caramel and fresh sliced mango.

Notes on this recipe:

• I have absolutely no idea how to make the sugar brown. It refused. So instead we had a not-caramel, sweet mango sauce. It was still tasty.
• This is a lot of work for a cake (but less work than the next one)

Meyer Lemon Tart serves 8 – 10

(yeah, I know)

Ingredients:

• Lemon Curd (see below for recipe)
• 1/2 cup plane whole-milk Greek yoghurt (120g)
• Sweet tart dough (see below for recipe), parbaked into a 9-inch (22cm) removable-bottom tart or springform pan and cooled
• 1/3 cup raspberry or blackberry jam (100g)

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the curd and yoghurt until smooth. Cover the bowl and set aside to allow the filling to come to room temperature.
2. Arrange an oven rack in the centre position and preheat the oven to 180C
3. Place the parbaked tart crust on a foil-lined baking sheet. Spread the jam evenly across the bottom of the tart, working it all the way to the sides. Bake just until the jam is set 5 – 7 minutes (this forms a layer between the filling and the crust so the crust remains crisp). Remove the tart from the oven and leave the oven on.
4. Scrap the filling into the hot crust to the very top, then use an offset spatula to smooth the surface. (Depending on the height of your crust, you may have a bit of curd left over). Carefully transfer the tart to the oven and bake until the filling is set and puffed around the edges and the centre wobbles gently (it should wobble as a cohesive mass, not ripple), 28 – 33 minutes.
5. Let the tart cool completely on a wire rack before removing the ring. Place the tart on a serving plate and chill until cold, at least 1 hour. Slice and serve.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar (150g)
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• 4 large egg yolks (70g)
• 1 large egg (50g)
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (170g), from 5 – 6 lemons
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 113g unsalted butter cut into 1cm pieces, chilled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon zest and user your fingertips to massage the zest into the sugar until the mixture is fragrant and looks like wet sand. Add the egg yolks and whole egg to the pan and whisk vigorously, making sure no unincorporated sugar is trapped around the sides, until the mixture is very pale, light in texture and thick, about 2 minutes
2. Slowly stream in the lemon juice, whisking constantly and scraping around the sides, until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the salt. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the curd turns opaque yellow, is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, and barely holds the marks of the whisk (about 76C on an instant read thermometer), 7 – 10 minutes. Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat.
3. Whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, waiting for each piece to disappear into the curd before adding the next, until all the butter is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the vanilla.
4. Scrape the curd into a medium glass or plastic bowl or container, and press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface (this will prevent a skin from forming). Refrigerate until the curd is cold and set, at least 3 hours.

Sweet tart dough

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup almond meal (40g)
• 1 cup plain flour (130g) plus more for hands
• 1/4 cup icing sugar (30g)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 113g unsalted butter, cut into 1cm pieces, chilled
• 1 large egg yolk (16g)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Arrange an oven rack in the centre position and preheat the oven to 180C. Spread the almond flour in an even layer on a small rimmed baking tray and bake, stirring with a heatproof spatula once or twice, until the almond meal is fragrant and golden brown, 6 – 9 minutes. Transfer the almond meal to the bowl of a food processor and let cool (turn the oven off).
2. Add the plain flour, icing sugar and salt to the food processor, then pulse several times to combine. Add the butter and process in long pulses until the pieces of butter are no larger than a pea, about 10 pulses. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk, vanilla, and 4 teaspoons of cold water with a fork until smooth. Remove the food processor lid and drizzle the yolk mixture evenly over the flour mixture (use a flexible spatula to get every last drop). Replace the lid and process in long pulses until a ball of dough forms around the blade and no floury spots remain, about 10 pulses. Scrape the dough out of the food processor and onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Pat the dough into a 1.5cm thick disk, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
3. Unwrap the chilled dough and use a knife or bench scraper to cut it in half, then cut one half into 6 strips. Roll the strips beneath your palms on the work surface to form ropes that are about 1.5cm thick, then arrange the ropes around the inside perimeter of the tart or springform pan, pressing into place and overlapping slightly so there are no gaps. Using a lightly floured, straight-sided 1-cup dry measure, press the dough against the sides in an even thickness all the way around. If using a tart pan, press until the dough extends slightly above the edge of the pan. Using lightly floured hands, press the other half of the dough into and across the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Where the bottom meeds the sides, smooth and press the dough together to seal. For an extra smooth surface or if you notice any unevenness, use the floured measuring cup to flatten the bottom.
4. Freeze the lined pan until the dough is completely hardened, 15 – 20 minutes
5. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 180C.
6. Remove the pan from the freezer. If using a tart pan, hold a paring knife parallel to the work surface and slice horizontally along the rim of the pan, removing excess dough and creating a smooth edge flush with the top of the pan. Reserve the scrapes of raw tough to patch any cracks in the crust after baking. If using a springform pan, you can leave the edge unfinished or trim around it with a paring knife to create a smooth edge with an even height. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and prick the bottom all over with the tines of a fork. Press a layer of foil directly onto the surface of the dough and up the sides, especially working it into the space where the bottom and sides meet (this will help prevent the dough from slumping as it bakes – no dried beans or pie weights needed).
7. Bake the tart crust until the edge is golden brown (peek under the foil to check), 15 – 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and carefully peel off the foil.
8. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the crust is golden all over, another 10 – 20 minutes for a parbaked crust, or until deep golden brown around the edges, 10 – 15 minutes longer, for a fully baked crust. Set the crust aside to cool.
9. Use the reserved dough scraps to patch any cracks. Let cool completely.

Notes on these recipes:

• Eugh, this took SO long to make. I spent almost an entire day making it and then because it wasn’t set (it rippled versus wobbled), I left it in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes longer, and then the outcome is the photo above. So disappointing
• Apparently it tasted great, but I was quite bummed about the whole thing.