Din Tai Fung

It is a cold and rainy day and I am not in the mood to cook. So my thoughts went to family and dim sum in the international district. The Jade Garden has really great dim sum. But my daughter said that Din Tai Fung has opened a new restaurant near her home. So we took little buster and headed off for steaming dumplings.

Dim Sum is so fun for kids. It is noisy and busy with steaming trays everywhere. They have a window where you can watch many chef's making dumplings.  The service is excellent and the quality of ingredients superb. Little buster was throwing chop sticks around like there was no tomorrow. The wait staff would bring him a new clean set every time they hit the floor.

The only draw back is that it is not cheap. Jade Garden charges three dollars a plate and Din Tai Fung charges ten dollars a plate. However, the quality of ingredients and service is worth the wonderful occasion. 

Tangerine Curd Cake

Curds can be used for so many things cakes, tarts, pies, steamed puddings, muffins, pancake topping, or on hot toast.

You can make curd from any fruit that the juice can be squeezed from orange, grapefruit, passion fruit and pineapple are just some of the variations. I happened to have some tangerines and thought they would be great in a cake. 

Here is the recipe for the cake.

For the filling:

2/3 cup sugar
3 Tbs. flour
1 cup fresh tangerine juice
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbs. butter

For the cake:
2-1/4 cups cake flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp. grated tangerine zest
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup fresh tangerine juice
For the frosting:
12 Tbs. salted butter, at room temperature
4-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
Dash salt
1 tsp. grated tangerine zest
5 Tbs. fresh tangerine juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon of orange brandy




Make the filling: Combine the sugar and the flour in a heavy-based saucepan. Whisk just to mix. Add the juice and egg yolks and whisk vigorously again to combine. Put the saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils (3 to 4 min.). Cook another 1 min., stirring constantly (the mixture will thicken noticeably and become less cloudy). Be sure it boils for 1 min. so that the filling will thicken enough to support the cake. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (lay the wrap directly on the filling’s surface), and refrigerate. Chill thoroughly before using.

Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Grease two 9x1-1/2-inch cake pans and line the bottom of each with a round of kitchen parchment. Lightly flour the sides and bottom of each pan.

In a mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, and zest. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions and scraping down the sides.

Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the juice to the creamed mixture, beating well on low speed after each addition. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the two prepared cake pans. Tap the pans on the counter before putting them in the oven to remove any air bubbles and to even the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 28 min. Cool the cake layers in the pans for 10 min. and then loosen the layers by running a knife between the cake and the edge of the pan. Remove the layers from the pans and put them on a rack to continue cooling.



Make the frosting: Cream the butter in the mixer. Add the confectioners’ sugar and salt and combine thoroughly. Add the zest, brandy, lemon juice and mix to combine. Add the tangerine juice and mix on high speed until well blended, scraping down the sides. It will be light and creamy. Refrigerate if not using right away.

Cranberry & Chambord Tartlets

Chambord is produced in a Loire Valley chateau. You should goggle the chateau, as it is a story in itself. The spirit is made from red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel, honey  and cognac. Whole raspberries and blackberries are steeped in the spirits for a period of several weeks to produce a fruit infusion. This infusion produces a distinct raspberry flavor and aroma.

After the infusion is extracted, a second set of spirits is added to the fruit and allowed to rest for a few weeks. After this second infusion is drawn off, the remaining fruit is pressed to obtain the natural sugars and juice. The spirits and juices from the final pressing are then combined, and finally, the berry infusion is married with a blend of cognac, natural vanilla extract, black raspberries, citrus peel, honey, and herbs and spices.

If you have not tried Chambord, I highly recommend it. Add it to all kinds of fruit preparations.

I decided to make a fresh cranberry tart and add chambord to the mix. I topped the little tartlets with a meringue. They are really incredible.

Ingredients:

1 recipe of my never fail pie crust

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of cloves
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
several tangerines (1 teaspoon of zest and 1/4 cup of juice)
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tarter
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
3 tablespoons of Chambord



You will need to start out making the pie crust. Roll out the dough to one quarter inch thick. Cut rounds to the size of your tart pan. I used a muffin tin. But you could use any size you would like. Chill the dough well and then cut out parchment to line the crust.  Fill the lined crust with beans and bake in a 375 degree oven for fifteen minutes. Remove them from the tins and bake further until a golden brown, You want them to be quite golden. The reason is that the filling does not quite set.


Now to make the filling, add the bag of cranberries to a sauce pan. Add one cup of sugar and one and one quarter cups of water. Simmer until the berries become a mush. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and toss the solids. But the juice back into the sauce pan and add one quarter cup of sugar, one quarter cup of water, the spices, juice and zest. Combine the water and cornstarch and add to the sauce pan. Simmer the mixture until it becomes a thick jam. Now add the Chambord. Refrigerate until cool.



Now top the tart shells with the cooled fruit mixture and preheat your broiler. To make the meringue it could not be easier. Place the three egg whites into a heat proof bowl. Add 1/4 cups of sugar and the cream of tarter. Place over a simmering bowl of water. You just want the sugar to dissolve. Now take a hand mixer and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Place the meringue over the tarts. I used a pastry bag to do this. Now place the tartlets into the broiler and toast the meringue. Watch out, as this can go quite fast.

Enjoy the tartlet !