Fresh Pineapple Tatin for Thanksgiving Day Zoom Party

Prepare Puff Pastry. 

PUFF PASTRY DOUGH - for 1 Tatin - Prep Method:  Croissant dough
Bread Flour: 93.75 g
Cake Flour: 31.25 g
Butter Softened: 15 g
Salt:  2 g
Water, Cold:  70.50 g
Use paddle - knead till nice and SMOOTH.
Set aside wrapped.  Rest while preparing butter block.
BUTTER BLOCK:
Butter:  125 g
Bread Flour:  15 g
Knead butter and flour together.
Place them between parchment paper.  Form into nice square about 1/2 inch thick.
*The dough and butter block should be about the same softness.
I am not going to give a full details on how to of the dough process.  Please review your favorite site's croissant dough making technique or you can find the similar in my previous blogs on Croissant.
Roll out/cut open the ball of Puff dough into a disc size large enough to envelop the butter block.
After enveloping the butter block. Wrap and let them rest in refrigerator for 30 min.  (Overnight is okay also).
Hopefully your kitchen is cool around 60'F.  Bring out the dough and bring them to the room temp - 30 - 45 min.

  

 

 

  

In a slightly floured countertop, roll out the dough following Croissant method.  Leaving the rolled out dough in a circular shape, "cut" the dough to fit the size of the saute pan that you will be caramelizing the pineapple slices in.

Chop one stick of Butter into chunks. Use a Oven Proof Stainless Steel saute pan. 

Place 2/3 of chopped butter in the pan.  Add sugar... *depending on the sweetness of the fresh pineapple - roughly 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup.

Lay Pineapple slices in circular shape, overlapping each other with presentation side down.  Add some more sugar on the top and the rest of the butter on the top.
Do not disturb anything in the pan and cook at medium heat (gas stove's) - sugar caramelize to light color tan.  
The oven rack should be placed top 2nd row. 
When sugar begins to show the sign of amber color - Place the cut puff dough on the top.

Bake till the dough puffs up and turns beautiful golden brown.   

*Do Not Open the Oven the first 5  to 7 min. - the puff pastry needs steam to puff up - the moisture  from butter.  Check through the glass door. 

While the Tatin is still baking, get a serving platter large enough to cover the Saute Pan.

Wearing mittens on both hands.

Remove the Tatin from the oven.  Within 3 minutes, Reverse the pastry without hesitation onto serving platter without splattering the hot syrup onto yourself.  

*Be careful of the hot caramelized sugar in the pan during reversal.

 

More Pictures:

Preparing fresh pineapple.

Slice the pineapple into thirds.

Arrange the pineapple upside when cooking so that when it is reversed onto plate, the presentation side is presented.

Remove from the oven.  Wearing oven mittens, within 3 minutes, place the serving plate on top of the baked puff pastry. 

Top with some Marachino cherries.

Serve by using pizza cutter.

Tatin number 2.  I was a bit more careful with the caramelization time.

Enjoy it while warm.  Serve ice-cream or whip cream or as is.

 

 

Thanksgiving Day Chiffon Cake Sharing - Coconut Pandan, Chocolate Chiffon Cake, MATCHA Chiffon Cake, and Flan

Baked and shared Chocolate Chiffon Cake, MATCHA Chiffon Cake, Coconut Pandan Chiffon Cake and Flan for the Zoom Thanksgiving Day.

All the ingredients and baking information can be found in previous posts.

COCONUTS PANDAN CHIFFON CAKE

The usual ingredients of 7 large eggs separated.  All Chiffon Cakes are without Baking Powder.  They all depend on the well beaten Meringue

Pandan leaves were processed previously and were frozen into ice cubes.

2 Fresh coconuts were cut.  Juice were enjoyed.  Their meat were scooped out and processed into cream with 1/4 C coconut juice.  2 Fresh coconut meats produced over 400 ml of cream.

If you do not 'strain' the cream, there will be some small bits of coconuts in the cream to enjoy in the cake.  As usual, add the weighed, then, shifted flour into the egg mixture.

Well beaten meringue.  Follow previous postings' instruction.

Mix the first two 1/3 of meringue in by swirl motion with spatula at the top with the egg batters.  I find it easier and maintain the meringue's well beaten air even after mixing. 

Add the rest of the meringue with cut at the center and fold over motion.

Pour very slowly into the plain aluminum angel food cake mold.  You will notice the large air bubble disappearing as it pour in.

 

 

 Bake at 325'F for 45 min.  Checking with tester at 40 min.  Bake longer until the test come out clean.

 

  

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE

This one is with 1-1/2 Tbsp on Organic Cocoa Powder to make Chocolate Chiffon Cake.  Instead of Pandan juice, add Organic Cocoa powder and Lactose Free Non-Fat Milk.

Make Meringue

Add to the egg batter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MATCHA CHIFFON CAKE 

Premix MATCHA powder with warm milk first and cooled before adding to the egg mixture.

Normally I would not add green food color, but to distinguish from from the Coconut Pandan cake, I added two drops of green food color.  As you know, the MATCHA oxidize during the baking and the green color would change into tan.

 

 

FLAN 

The first 1 Cup of sugar and 3 TBsp of water did not caramelize.  It got crystallized.  That was unexpected. I didn't think using a aluminum pot or stainless steel pot mattered in making caramel, but I wonder.  But some how, it didn't like my disturbance to the surface too early and or the amount of the heat was too high before all the sugar got melted.  

On the 2nd try, I added 3 TBsp of water first into the stainless steel pot, then, added sugar.  Medium low heat first. 

Waited for sugar to melt and dissolve then increased heat to caramelize.

Add to the 2 molds right away.

Power the egg mixture.

Bake in Bain Marie - follow previous posts for FLAN with condensed milk.

It was a great Zoom Thanksgiving Day.

Potatoes, potatoes - Potatoes during COVID-19

 During these months, I learned to enjoy cooking with Potatoes.  I also learned that I need to be very careful with the bag of potatoes I buy.  Honestly, there are some produce grocers who are dishonest.  If you are not careful, you just bought a bag of potatoes that are repackaged.  Half of the bag of potatoes are exchanged, mixed, repackaged with old potatoes.  Very dishonest.  With those overhead lights in the produce section, you probably noticed those fluorescent light bulbs causes eyes not to be able to see clearly of the freshness of the produce.

Anyways, I learned to make French Fries baked in the oven instead of deep frying.  They turn out great.  Then, I learned to quickly boil the potatoes in the pressure cookers and make mashed potatoes for the Shepherd's pie or Croquettes, Stews, Hash Browns.  Sometimes, I slice them thinly and make potato chips.

How about you?

Baking sliced potatoes. 

In the Chicken Stew

Shepherd's Pie

In Cabbage Stew

Fried Potato Chips

Baked French Fries

 

Baked Potato Chips

These Croquettes/KORO'KE can be freezed and baked later in the oven by drizzling organic avocado oil on them at 400'F for 25 - 30 min or until browned.