Vanilla Sugar Lemonade and Mint Lemonade Slushies

I had my mac and cheese post all ready to go, but it's just way too hot today to think about turning on the oven or the stove.  So here's another post I've been working on that seems a better match for today's weather.

A couple of weeks ago, Food52 posted a video to show how to make The Best Lemonade You've Ever Had.  Strangely, there was no recipe attached, just a method involving rubbing the lemons in the sugar to scent them before making a simple syrup out of the sugar.  You had to dig into the comments to find that they recommend using equal volumes of lemon juice and simple syrup and that the simple syrup was made with equal volumes of the lemon scented sugar and water.

I tried the method, and on a whim, decided to use vanilla sugar* instead of plain sugar.  Wow.  This was definitely the best lemonade I had ever had.  It's been over a week since I made it, and I've made it several times since then, but I still can't put into words what makes it so great.  The vanilla just elevates the lemonade to another level but in a subtle, understated way.

Vanilla Sugar Lemonade (adapted from Food52)
makes 4 servings

2 large organic lemons, washed and dried
1/2 cup vanilla sugar*
Water

Place the sugar in a wide bowl.  One at a time, rub the outside of the lemons with the vanilla sugar.  Wipe off any sugar that remains on the lemons back into the bowl.

Roll the lemons on a hard surface to make juicing easier.  Slice the lemons in half and juice into a measuring cup.  I was able to get a little more than half a cup of juice.

Add more sugar if you want to match the volume of lemon juice.  Add an equal volume of hot water to the sugar and stir until dissolved to make a simple syrup.

Add the lemon juice and simple syrup to a pitcher or bottle.  Dilute with enough cold water to taste.  I add about 4 parts cold water to 1 part lemon juice/simple syrup solution.  It's still just the tiniest bit too strong for me to drink straight up but perfect once you add a few cubes of ice.  =)

*To make the vanilla sugar, I've been adding the spent vanilla bean pods to an air-tight container of sugar every time I make something that uses fresh vanilla beans.  After letting it sit there for a few days, the sugar absorbs the scent of the vanilla and becomes vanilla sugar!  You can use it in just about anything sweet:  cookies, cakes, ice cream, etc.

Then a couple of days ago I get a text from my friend Paula asking me if I wanted any of the mint she and her family had just picked from their backyard!  I immediately accepted even though I wasn't sure what I would do with it yet.  Then when I was making my third batch of lemonade in probably as many days, I started wondering if maybe I could rub the mint with the sugar and add some mint flavor to the lemonade that way.

So after rubbing the lemons in the sugar, I dropped in a handful of mint leaves and rubbed those all around.  I left the leaves in the sugar while pouring the hot water in and let it steep for a bit before straining out the leaves.  I found that I was able to extract a lot of the mint flavor this way without having to leave the mint leaves in the actual lemonade.  And if you really like the taste of mint, I'd recommend tearing the mint leaves up before adding them to the sugar to release even more oils.

To take it one step further, I decided to blend the mint lemonade with some ice to make a mint lemonade slushie, inspired by Ilene's post.

Yisss.....

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Homemade Cronuts

I got a request from a friend last week to make some cronuts so that he would know whether or not they were worth waiting in line for at Dominique Ansel's bakery.  If you haven't heard of the cronut yet, it's a cross between a croissant and a donut created by Ansel.  Basically, croissant dough is cut into a donut shape, deep-fried, filled with pastry cream, and then glazed on top.  Only 200-250 are made a day so now there's a whole black market for them with some scalpers selling them for upwards of $40 per cronut (normally priced at $5).  Crazy, right?

At first I was hesitant to make my own because from my previous experience with making croissants, it would take at least 2.5 days, but then while surfing the web for other bloggers' attempts at home, I found this post using "20 minutes croissant dough".  That sounded much more feasible!

I made a few changes to the original recipe:  instead of using a food processor to cut the butter into the flour, I grated frozen sticks of butter and then added that to the flour mixture, partly because my food processor is too small to handle the volume of butter and flour in the recipe and partly because it was fun to do.

Instead of using caster sugar (a finer sugar than granulated, but not as fine as confectioner's), I used plain granulated sugar for the lemon sugar.  I realized my mistake when I had a hard time making the lemon sugar stick to the just-fried donuts.  Since caster sugar isn't readily available in the States, I'd recommend using a food processor to grind regular granulated sugar into a super-fine, but not powdered, consistency.

Lastly, I tried making the filling in the recipe, but it came out way too thin and drippy for me to consider piping into the cronut.  I guess I was expecting something more the consistency of the cream inside a Dunkin' Donuts Boston Cream donut, which is basically pudding-like.  The filling I made was already dripping out of the pastry bag before I could even apply any pressure to it!  So I ended up just rolling the cronuts in the lemon sugar and glazing it with the lemon icing.  I think it would've been nice to have had a cream filling, but it was fine without it, too.

Lemon Glazed Cronuts (adapted from The Boy Who Bakes)
makes about 10 large cronut, 6 medium size cronuts and 16 mini-cronuts

For the cronuts
120 ml milk, 90-95°F
130 ml water, 90-95°F
12 g dry active yeast
250 g all-purpose flour
250 g bread flour
60 g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
300 g unsalted butter, frozen

For the lemon sugar and glaze

75 g sugar

1 lemon
Confectioner's sugar

Place the milk, water and yeast into a small bowl and mix to combine, set aside. Place the flours, sugar, and salt into a large bowl and mix to combine.

Grate the butter using the largest holes of a grater and toss with the flour mixture once you get a handful grated butter.  Keep grating and tossing with the flour mixture so that the butter doesn't clump together.

Once all the butter has been tossed into the flour mixture, add the yeast solution and stir gently just until combined, trying to moisten everything without making the butter any smaller. Gently knead the dough until it comes together into a ball.  Cover the bowl and let the dough rest in the refrigerator for a few hours.

After the dough has rested place it on a well floured work surface. Roll the dough out into a roughly 15"x15" square. Fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off any excess flour.  Turn the dough 90° and repeat the rolling,folding, and rotating process two more times, giving the dough a total of three turns.

Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle in half crosswise.  Wrap both pieces of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before using.

The next day, roll out one of the two pieces of dough to about 1 cm thick, much thicker than you would roll the dough if making a croissant. Using a 3 1/2" cookie cutter (I used a large jar lid), cut out 5 donuts and then using a 1" cutter cut out the holes.

If you want, cut out a hole in the 1" circle with a straw to make mini-cronuts.  I also cut out medium-sized cronuts from the scrap dough.  Repeat with the other piece of dough.  Allow the cronuts to proof at room temperature while you prepare the lemon sugar and lemon glaze.

To make the lemon sugar, add the sugar to a food processor and grind until the sugar has a super-fine consistency but is not yet powdered.  Carefully empty the contents into a wide bowl.  Zest the lemon, and add the lemon zest to the sugar.  Rub the zest and the sugar together until thoroughly mixed.  Cover and set aside.

To make the glaze, juice the lemon.  Add enough confectioner's sugar to the lemon juice until you have a thick, pipeable mixture; you are looking for a thickness similar to toothpaste. I think I ended up using over 2 cups of confectioner's sugar, although I stopped keeping track after a while.  Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the glaze to prevent it crusting over and set aside until needed.

When ready to fry fill a thick bottomed saucepan two thirds full with vegetable oil and place over medium heat and bring to 170°C. When at temperature fry the cronuts two at a time (I also put in a few of the smaller cronuts in at the same time).

Fry the cronuts for a couple minutes each side, or until deep golden brown.

Using a metal slotted spoon remove from the pan and place onto a wire rack set over paper towels. Once cooled enough to handle roll the outside of the cronuts in the lemon sugar, set aside to cool completely.

For the decoration place the glaze into a piping bag, snip off the end, and pipe a ring around the top.  Serve immediately.

So the verdict?  When I took my first bite, it reminded me of something else, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  Then I realized, it tasted a lot like the sugared donut holes you sometimes see at Chinese buffets.  Which, don't get me wrong, are delicious.  But I'm not sure making a cronut was worth all the effort, even though I had only made a simplified version.

As you can see from the cross-section, I didn't really get the layers you expect from a croissant dough, although there was definitely plenty of air pockets.  If anything, the texture reminded me of the lilikoi malasadas I made, which while really delicious, are definitely not worth $40.

If I were to ever really crave a cronut, I'd probably just pick up a package of frozen croissants from Trader Joe's, thaw them in the fridge, roll and cut them out, and then let them proof before frying them.

Update:  So the other day while I was cleaning out my freezer, I happened upon some of the homemade croissant dough that I had stashed away and forgotten about.  I saw no other option than to try making cronuts out of it, and the result was drastically different than my above attempt with the "20 minute" croissant dough.  Just look at this:

Even without a pretty ring of glaze you can immediately see how much better it looks with all the different layers.  The texture was a lot crispier, and my friend Christine took to eating her cronut layer by layer, which would've been impossible with the other cronuts I made.  This time I also filled the middle with some coconut whipped cream sweetened with lemon sugar.  The whole thing was still a little too greasy for me, but I'm glad I tried it out nonetheless.

Three years ago:  Elote (Grilled Mexican Corn)

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Rosemary Honey and Lemon Frozen Yogurt

I'm back, both figuratively and literally!  I got back last week from a 2 week vacation to Europe.  My friend, Ces, and I went on a Celebrity cruise to Italy, Greece, and Turkey and then stayed an extra couple of days in Rome.  Being on a cruise, we definitely ate our fill, but the most memorable food I ate was all in Rome.

Before we had left for the trip, I had looked up the best gelato in Rome to make sure that we didn't waste any space in our tummies on inferior product.  We tried San Crispino when we were at the Trevi Fountain and Grom near(ish) the Pantheon, but the one that blew me away was Gelateria del Teatro, in between Piazza Navona and Ponte Sant'Angelo.

I chose the Rosemary Honey and Lemon and Sicilian Almond flavors and could not stop raving about them while we made our way to the Vatican.  I love almond flavored anything, and this was the first time that I had tasted an ice cream that really captured the pure almond flavor without tasting buttery or artificial.  And the rosemary was an unexpected first note that mellowed out with the honey and lemon in a way that was completely and perfectly balanced.  Ask Ces; I think I actually stopped walking several times because I was just enjoying the gelato so much.  It was so good we went back for a second round after returning from the Vatican!

I knew I had to try to make the rosemary honey lemon flavor when I got home so I pulled out Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home and searched for a honey flavored base but didn't find one.  So I tried using her ice cream base, substituted honey for the sugar, and steeped the mixture with rosemary and lemon peel before thickening it.  It ended up tasting way too sweet for me, and I think the honey kept it a little softer than I would have liked.  I decided to try making it again with less honey and using the frozen yogurt base to lighten it up a little and give it a little more tang.  I was really pleased with this version; it's not an exact duplicate of the gelato from Rome, but I think it's just as good!

Rosemary Honey and Lemon Frozen Yogurt (based on on the Frozen Yogurt Base from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)
makes about 1 quart

1 1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup honey plus more, to taste
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Zest from half a lemon
1 1/4 cup Greek yogurt (I used 2% low fat, but I think nonfat and regular would work fine)

Mix about 3 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.  Whisk the cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth.  Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Combine the remaining milk, cream, honey, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat, add the rosemary and lemon zest, and let steep for 20 minutes.

Remove the rosemary and zest with a slotted spoon.  Taste the mixture; if it's not sweet enough, add some more honey (I ended up adding about another tablespoon).  Gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture and return the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the yogurt and blend well.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath.  Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour the frozen yogurt base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the frozen yogurt into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.  Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Four years ago:  Black Sesame Ice Cream

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Tartine's Lemon Cream Tart

I had enough pine nut crust dough from making Thomas Keller's lemon tart to make one more tart, so I figured I would make one more lemon tart for comparison.  Tartine's lemon cream recipe had caught my eye a while back so I decided to try that as the filling.  Comparing the three recipes, this one has almost the same ratio of ingredients as Keller's except it has twice the amount of butter.  And it's a little easier than Keller's because it uses Lazy Mary's method of using a blender to incorporate the butter instead of doing it over a steaming hot pot of water.

Lemon Cream Tart (from Tartine)
makes 1 tart

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons lemon juice (Meyer or regular, I used regular)
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 pre-baked tart shell at room temperature (I used Thomas Keller's pine nut crust)

Pour water to a depth of about 2 inches into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer.

Combine the lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, sugar, and salt in a stainless steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of a saucepan over, not touching, the water. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will cook the yolks and turn them granular.)

 

Place the bowl over the saucepan and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very thick and registers 180° F on a thermometer. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. If you don't have or trust your thermometer, don't worry. It should thicken to the point that your whisk leaves a trail through the curd.

Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool to 140° F, stirring from time to time to release the heat.

Meanwhile, cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces. When the cream is ready, leave it in the bowl if using an immersion blender, or pour it into a countertop blender. With the blender running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition until incorporated before adding the next piece. The cream will be pale yellow and opaque and quite thick.

 
Pour the cream into your pre-baked tart shell and cover with plastic wrap.  Cool to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours.

 
Out of the three, this was definitely my favorite lemon tart.  The lemon cream was a perfect balance of sweet and sour, of acidity and creaminess.  I was afraid that it wouldn't set enough to cut into slices, but after a few hours in the fridge, it was actually firm enough to cut.

 
I was lucky enough to go to Tartine recently for my birthday and try an authentic Tartine lemon cream tart.  They didn't use a pine nut crust, but other than that, I'd say that it tasted pretty much exactly the same as the one this recipe makes!

Three years ago:  Gaufres de Leige (Belgian Waffles)
Four years ago:   Buckeyes

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Lazy Mary's Lemon Tart

Compared to Thomas Keller's lemon tart, this lemon tart recipe that I found on Food 52 is incredibly simple.  In fact, the hardest part might be finding a Meyer lemon.  I had never bought one before, so I was expecting a larger than normal lemon, especially since the recipe only calls for one Meyer lemon, but they turned out to be smaller than the lemons I was used to.  And the fragrance--do all Meyer lemon rinds smell like jasmine?  Because if they do, I might have to seriously consider moving to California just so I can have my own Meyer lemon tree.

One big difference you'll notice about this recipe is that the entire lemon (seeds, too, although I chickened out and tossed at least half the seeds) goes into the filling.  Meyer lemons have a thinner skin than normal lemons, and it's common to see the whole Meyer lemon being used in recipes like Shaker pies.  I wouldn't recommend using a regular lemon for this recipe; I've eaten lemon bars made with whole lemons before and the pith made them way too bitter.

 
Lazy Mary's Lemon Tart (from Food 52)
makes 1 tart

1 large Meyer lemon (about 4 oz.) cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
Your favorite tart shell, pre-baked (I used Thomas Keller's pine nut crust)

 
Put all ingredients (except tart shell) into a blender and whirl like crazy!

 
Pour into tart shell.

 
Bake 40 minutes at 350°F (watch that the top does not burn).

 
This tart tasted a lot more like a lemon bar to me than what I think of when I think of a lemon tart. I wasn't crazy about how it looked either; it probably would benefit from a dusting of powdered sugar on top like lemon bars do.  It was really quick and easy to make, though, so I'd recommend it if you're short on time, but the next (and last) lemon tart that I made is really my ideal lemon tart, and it's easier to make than Keller's!

Three years ago:  Creamy Delicata Squash Soup
Four years ago:  Hua Juan (Steamed Scallion Buns)

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Thomas Keller's Lemon Tart

 
After years and years of not owning a tart pan, I finally bought one, and the first thing I wanted to do was make Thomas Keller's lemon tart. My friend, Ellen, had made one with her family and they had raved about how good the pine nut crust was, so I knew I needed to try it.

The pine nut crust recipe makes enough for 3 tarts but is hard to divide since it only uses one egg. Go ahead and make the full recipe and keep the leftover dough in the fridge where it will keep for a couple of days or the freezer, where it will keep for a month, because after you taste it, you'll just want to make more.

Pine Nut Crust (from Bouchon)
makes enough for 3 tart crusts

2 cups pine nuts
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 
Place the pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times.  Add the sugar and flour and continue to pulse until the nuts are finely ground.  Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

 
Add the butter, egg, and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate all the ingredients (the dough can be mixed by hand or in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment).  Divide the dough into three equal parts.  Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before using.

 
Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Generously butter and flour a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and refrigerate it while the oven preheats.

 
Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator.  Use your fingertips to press the chilled pine nut dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  I found that the easiest way to do this was to fill in the sides of the pan first, and then press down whatever dough is left into the bottom. That way you don't have to worry about making sure there is enough dough to evenly press into the sides if you started in the middle.

 
Prick the tart crust with a fork to prevent it from puffing up unevenly.  Bake the crust for 10 to 15 minutes, then rotate it and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown.  Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.

The filling for this lemon tart is made using the sabayon method, which means the eggs, lemon juice, and sugar are first cooked over boiling water and then incorporated with the butter.

Lemon Tart (from Bouchon)
makes 1 tart

1 pre-baked Pine Nut Crust
2 large eggs, cold
2 large egg yolks, cold
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Bring about 1 1/2 inches of water to a boil in a medium pot.  Meanwhile, in a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is smooth.

 
Set the bowl over the pot and, using a large whisk, whip the mixture while you turn the bowl (for even heating).  After about 2 minutes, when the eggs are foamy and have thickened, add one-third of the lemon juice.  Continue to whisk vigorously and, when the mixture thickens again, add another one-third of the lemon juice.  Whisk until the mixture thickens again, then add the remaining lemon juice.  Continue whisking vigorously, still turning the bowl, until the mixture is thickened and light in color and the whisk leaves a trail in the bottom of the bowl.  The total cooking time should be 8 to 10 minutes.

 
Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the water.  Whisk in the butter a piece at a time.  The sabayon may loosen slightly, but it will thicken and set as it cools.  Pour the warm sabayon into the tart crust and place the pan on a baking sheet.

 
Preheat the broiler.  While the sabayon is still warm, place the tart under the broiler.  Leaving the door open, brown the top of the sabayon, rotating the tart if necessary for even color; this will take only a few seconds, so do not leave the oven.  Remove the tart from the broiler and let it sit for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve at room temperature or cold.

 
As you can see from the picture above, I didn't do a great job with broiling the top evenly.  It would've been a lot easier with one of those mini blowtorches that you use for creme brulee, I think.

 
As with all Thomas Keller recipes, this is not simple to make, but delicious to eat.  Since I still had enough crust for 2 more tarts, I decided to try a super easy lemon tart recipe next.

Three years ago:  Homemade Waffle Face Off
Four years ago:  Hot Pot, Tang Yuan

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