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Category: faye

  1. Tuesday, December 21, 2010

    Pink Elephant on Parade…and Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

    For her birthday, Cate selected the elephant cake from my handy dandy Cakes for Kids book. Honestly, I think the main reason she picked the cake was because it was pink. I was happy to oblige – it was a straightforward design and super cute. And I could make cupcakes for all the kids, topped with Circus Peanuts to tie it all together (see photo near the end of this post). The cake and the cupcakes were a hit!

    Like I mentioned on Sunday, Cate’s elephant cake tasted light years better than Anna’s ghosty cake. And not just because chocolate cake will kick angel food cake’s patootie any day of the week. But the icing I used for the elephant cake is to die for. The book had suggested frosting the cake with a recipe that uses shortening, because it’s easier to handle and would work for creating texture on the elephant’s skin. But, uh, hello? Shortening? Blech. I promptly picked up the phone and called my good friend Faye, the pastry chef in my life. She suggested I whip up a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which would also be easy to work with and have the added benefit of actually tasting like food.

    I’m not exaggerating. Swiss Meringue Buttercream is the creamiest, smoothest, most flavorful frosting I’ve made. I don’t even usually like frosting that much. I love this stuff.

    And, sure enough, I was able to gently press a sieve into the surface of the icing to create a super cute texture that every pretty pink elephant aspires to.


    Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
     
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    As described over the phone to me by my friend Faye Stein
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 4 egg whites
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 15-20 ounces butter (american style, the regular stuff you get at the store), room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    Instructions
    1. Combine the egg whites and the sugar in a KitchenAid bowl. Place over a pan of simmering water. Whisk thoroughly until the temperature reaches 165 degrees (which actually happened faster than I was expecting). The mixture will be shiny and the sugar dissolved. Remove from heat, place on mixer.
    2. With the whisk attachment, whisk at high speed until it’s a meringue, stiff peaks forming. Stop whisking, let mixture cool until bowl is cool enough to touch and the mixture is room temperature.
    3. Whisk at medium high speed, breaking off pieces of butter and adding, mixing after each addition. The mixture will stay quite soupy and you’ll think there’s no way that this is going to turn into frosting”¦and you’ll get ready to grab your phone to call me and find out what you’re doing wrong even though I told you it would work (that’s what I did with Faye)”¦but you just keep whisking and whisking, and then all of the suden it’s right. It suddenly turns into creamy frosting wonderfulness. (I added about 15 ounces of butter total the first time I made it, 12 ounces the second time I made it). At the point that it looks like actual frosting, add your vanilla and any food coloring and whisk again for a few minutes.
    4. Leftover frosting can be frozen for future use. Once you’ve refrigerated or frozen the frosting, if you want to mix it in the mixer again you should use the paddle attachment, not the whisk attachment.

    For the cupcakes, I stuck with my usual buttercream frosting, which is also very tasty and delicious.


    Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
     
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    From How to Cook Everything
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
    • 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
    • 6 tablespoons cream or milk (cream is better)
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    Instructions
    1. Use a fork or electric mixer (I use my KitchenAid with the paddle attachment) to cream the butter. Gradually work in the sugar, alternating with the cream and beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. If the frosting is too thick to spread, add a little more cream, a teaspoon at a time. If it is too thin (which is unlikely), refrigerate; it will thicken as butter hardens.

     

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:00 am   12 Comments
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  2. Tuesday, September 21, 2010

    Honey Goat Cheese Pizza

    Menlo Park Week was oodles of fun for me, but I’m a little happy it’s over so I can finally share this honey goat cheese pizza with you! It’s divine. I can’t take credit for the idea of this pizza…that goes to my dear friend Faye. Yet another reason I’m grateful Faye is in my life.

    honey goat cheese pizza with caramelized onions from @janemaynard

    honey goat cheese pizza with caramelized onions from @janemaynard

    Here’s why I love this pizza. The sweetness of the goat cheese and the caramelized onions balances perfectly with the saltiness of the parmesan cheese and the salt that you sprinkle on the pizza. And the texture of the mozzarella cheese balances out the goat cheese oh so nicely. It’s perfection on a pizza crust.

    Honey Goat Cheese Pizza
     
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    Author:
    Ingredients
    • Honey goat cheese from Trader Joe's (If you don't have a TJ's, then I would recommend using regular goat cheese and drizzling some honey over the pizza before baking - you gotta get that sweetness in there. You could even mix some honey in with the goat cheese before putting dabs on the pizza.)
    • Caramelized onions
    • Fresh mozzarella cheese (or shredded if that's what you have in the fridge, but the fresh is just so yummy)
    • Fresh parmesan cheese (sorry, this one has to be fresh, folks)
    • Olive oil
    • Salt & pepper
    • Pizza crust (Obviously! Click here for the recipe I use.)
    Instructions
    1. Make your crust. When it's ready to be topped, drizzle some olive oil on the crust and spread around with your fingers. Sprinkle salt all over the crust, and a bit of pepper. Top with the caramelized onions, mozzarella cheese and fresh parmesan cheese. Like I mentioned in the ingredients list, if you can't get your hands on the Trader Joe's honey goat cheese - I would just drizzle a bit of honey over the pizza before topping with the cheeses and onions. You could also mix your plain goat cheese with honey before putting dabs of the cheese on the pizza.
    2. Bake on a pizza stone at the highest heat your oven can put out until cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned (or bake your pizza how you normally bake it).

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 11:12 am   47 Comments
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  3. Tuesday, June 15, 2010

    Faye’s Spanish Nut Tart

    Remember this Spanish-inspired nut tart?

    faye's spanish nut tart from @janemaynard

    I am finally sharing the recipe with you! This Spanish nut tart is pretty gourmet…which means I didn’t actually make this recipe…I just ate it. 😉 But it was delicious, so I have to share it with you just the same. I had the pleasure of enjoying this nut tart about a month ago when my friend Faye, the pastry chef, made these tarts for her son’s elementary school class (lucky class, eh?). This tart is based on a Spanish (specifically Catalan) treat. Faye was nice enough to sit down and write the recipe out for us, which is quite the task actually. Everyone tell Faye “Thanks!” next time you see her. 😉

    faye's spanish nut tart from @janemaynard

    Faye's Catalan Nut Tart
     
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    Author:
    Recipe type: Dessert
    Ingredients
    • The dough (pâte sucrée):
    • 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • pinch of salt
    • 3 tablespoons butter, cubed ( 1 stick? )
    • 1 yolk
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla
    • 2 tablespoons cream
    • The filling:
    • ⅓ cup pear juice (or juice to your taste)
    • ¼ brown sugar
    • 4 oz dates (could do any combo, such as; apples/dates, apricots/figs, cherries/figs, etc.)
    • The topping:
    • 6 tablespoons butter
    • 6 tablespoons sugar
    • 3 tablespoons corn syrup
    • 6 oz total of dry roasted nuts of your choice (Faye used 2 oz pistachios, 2 oz cashews, 2 oz almonds)
    • 1½ tablespoons cream
    Instructions
    1. For the dough (pâte sucrée): Mix the egg yolk, ½ teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoons cream and place in the fridge so that it's cold and ready to go. Cube 3 tablespoons of butter and refrigerate also.
    2. In a food processor, pulse the 1¼ cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, pinch of salt. Add 3 tablespoons chilled butter and pulse to crumble. Add the refrigerated egg yolk mixture and pulse until you have a cohesive dough, like a cookie dough. Smoosh into a disk in plastic wrap, and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
    3. For the filling: In a saucepan, allow ⅓ cup pear juice (or other juice) and ¼ cup brown sugar to dissolve. Add the 4 ounces of dates (or other fruits). Bring to a boil over high heat then cook for 1 minute. Process the mixture in the food processor to form a thick paste then let it cool.
    4. For the topping: Preheat the oven to 400º F. Roll out your chilled dough, fill your tart shell, and blind bake for 15 to 20 minutes. It should be fully baked. To blind bake, place a piece of parchment in the tart and fill it with beans. This will keep it from bubbling up. Remove the parchment and beans at the end and put it back in the oven for a few minutes. Now it's ready to fill.
    5. Cook first 6 tablespoons butter, 6 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons corn syrup in heavy large saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to boil. Boil vigorously 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add nuts and 1½ tablespoons cream.
    6. Spread fruit filling in crust; smooth the top. Set tart on a cookie sheet. Spoon nut topping over the fruit filling. Bake until filling bubbles, about 20 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, loosen tart pan sides but do not remove. Cool tart completely in pan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Remove pan sides. Cut tart into wedges.

    Lucky me…a few friends are getting together on Thursday and Faye is bringing goodies. What deliciousness will I be ‘subjected’ to, I wonder?

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:00 am   13 Comments
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  4. Sunday, May 23, 2010

    Week 174 Menu

    This weekend was all about my friend Faye, which is a very good thing. Faye is an amazing pastry chef who creates wonderful delights like this nut tart.

    faye's nut tart web

    Yesterday I attended Faye’s artisan bread workshop at my local Sur La Table, which I am going to have to share more of with you in a separate post. As for the nut tart, it was awesome and I’m going to hopefully share the recipe with you in yet another post…although I’m pretty sure it’s one I’ll just let Faye make for me rather than attempt myself! I may as well let the artist do what she does best, right? 😉

    I need to confess, my menu pretty much didn’t happen last week. I’m too tired right now to even remember what DID happen! Anyway, that explains the multiple repeats from last week. Forgive me!

    MONDAY:
    – Baked stuffing-coated chicken with a nice veggie

    TUESDAY:
    – Black Bean Flautas with Avocado-Tomatillo Sauce (thanks to Jessica for sharing this recipe…can’t wait to try it!)

    WEDNESDAY:
    – Cannelloni

    THURSDAY:
    – Leftovers

    FRIDAY:
    – Frittata

    SATURDAY:
    – Eat out

    SUNDAY:
    – Creamy Potato Leek Soup (without any cream – it’s a fab recipe!)

    I want to take a moment to THANK YOU for your menus every week! They are wonderful! The blog wouldn’t be what it is without them! THANK YOU!!! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got this week! (Good job to me for using exclamation points at the end of every sentence in this paragraph!)

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:32 am   26 Comments
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  5. Thursday, November 26, 2009

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    Have a happy thanksgiving, filled with great food and even better company!

    pumpkin pie2 web

    And, no, I did not make this beautiful pie. I happily handed my money over to my friend Faye the pastry chef. Word on the street is that she has perfected the pumpkin pie. We can’t wait to dig in later today!

    (If you live in Silicon Valley and are interested in buying one of Faye’s pies sometime, email info@thisweekfordinner.com. The apple pies she was baking yesterday I swear were 10 feet tall and unbelievably scrumptious looking. Aren’t I lucky to have Faye in my life?)

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:19 am   No Comments
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