Apple Strudel (Part 2), Quiche Lorraine, Spinach Quiche

Chef's Roundabout Strudel

After 2 intensive days of making Gateau Opéra & Tiramisu with brain-surgery precision, we caught a break with today's strudel and quiches, quick, easy-peasy throw-togethers with hardly any scales, speed or stress required - just the way I like to cook when I feel like unwinding in the kitchen.

Strudel is an Austrian dessert consisting of a light pastry dough wrapped around an assortment of fillings, most popular being apple and cinnamon, so popular in fact, some even consider it to be Austria's national dish.

Chef's Spinach & Lorraine: Grab 'Em While They're Hot!

Quiche is a French open-faced pie of sorts made with a rich egg-and-cream custard known as royale, and any filling of your choice. We made spinach and bacon-and-onion, aka Lorraine, but if you don't fancy spinach, try roasted pumpkin and pine nuts instead, or your favorite ham and cheese combo. Whatever strokes your Buddha.

Sweating Bacon & Spinach

We first sweat the onions and bacon for the Lorraine, and replaced the bacon with spinach leaves for the vegetarian version. I browned the bacon bits a little longer for the smokey flavor to come through, and seasoned with extra pepper and paprika for a spicy kick.

Straining Royale For A Smoother Custard

Pate Brisee, Filling, Royale

We rolled out  the short crust dough we made yesterday, and added the fillings and royale. Last but not least, cheese. Not just any cheese, but the finest the Swiss has to offer: Gruyere. So fantastic is its signature mildly sweet and salty flavor that it prompted the French to rename any quiche with its inclusion quiche au gruyère or a quiche vosgienne.

Stretching Strudel Dough

You may take the easy way out and use filo pastry for the strudel, but the texture will be dry and flaky, not pillowy soft like only a proper strudel dough can be. The dough is unbelievably elastic as a result of the high gluten flour and olive oil used in the making, which makes the vigorous stretching exercise possible.

Rules of perfection would decree you stretch the dough out so thin that a love letter can be read through it, hence the paper test above.

 Fillin' & Rollin'

Butter Up For The Oven

Into the strudel goes some bread crumbs, Granny Smiths, raisins, walnuts, sugar and cinnamon, gently rolled into a log with the help of a tablecloth to keep it from tearing, brushed with melted butter and baked.

Oodles of Noodles

Had some time on my hands so I made pasta today. It's a wonderful thing, making food from scratch. Crossing this one off my list and I'm happy as a lark.

Sunny Quiches, Towering Strudels On Cloud 9

My quiches turned out pretty well, what with all the Gruyere and mozzarella I stuffed in. The strudel may look like a mess, but it didn't bother me: eaten warm from the oven with icing sugar and whipped cream, it was pure bliss.

Gateau Opéra (Part 2), Tiramisu Gateau, Apple Strudel (Part 1)

Chef Gert's Tiramisu

Tiramisu was one of the first desserts I ever made back when I was a wee little girl with neither the skill nor dexterity for anything complicated: it was an easy yet decadent put-together treat that also introduced me to the wunderbar world of coffee and rum. Needless to say, I was hooked!

Like Baklava, Tiramisu's origin is marked with great debate: some say it is an old Italian version of the English trifle, others credit a chef whose maiden name was Tiramisu. One version even places its birth at an Italian brothel, hence the name Tiramisu, aka "pick me up".

Sponge Fingers Base

Sponge fingers form the trademark look of Tiramisu so a long strip of fingers alongside some discs were piped, sprinkled with sugar and baked quickly in a high temperature to retain its moisture. They are then lined around the outside and base of a cake ring.

Stars Of The Show: Mascarpone Filling & Coffee Punch

Mascapone and cream cheese is further enriched with egg yolks, sugar and Tia Maria (rum or Kahlua works beautifully too). Gelatin is added for stability and meringue to lighten the filling.

Strong coffee with a vanilla bean added for good measure makes the punch that is liberally applied onto the sponge for added moisture, color and flavor.

Building The Layers, Chocolate Overflow

A layer of cheese filling follows the sponge and the whole sponge-punch-cheese routine is repeated again. Finally a pool of chocolate ganache is poured on to finish the gateau.

By now you probably note some similarities between the Opéra and Tiramisu: the layers, flavors and technique. The former a dense cake meant to be savored in thin slices while the latter, light enough to be devoured in its entirety.

 

'Nuff Said

Like a Tom Cruise movie, the gateau looked great but tasted uninspiring and left me unsatisfied. I blame not the recipe, but the fact that the first Tiramisu I made and tasted remains to this day, the best I've ever had. ;p

Strudel Dough, Pate Brisee (Savory Short Paste)

Probably as exciting as watching a your hair turn gray, the doughs are mise en place for tomorrow's apple strudel and quiches.

I Did It My Way

Being a delinquent for the day, which I strongly advise against, I made a couple ofadjustments to my gateau. Like a real pick-me-up, the first date, first kiss and the eventual proposal, I'd like to have it done my way, if I can.

For the filling I omitted the meringue, enriched it with more egg yolk and sugar and gave it a kick-ass personality with a big hit of Tia Maria and rum. Ditto for the punch: more coffee and rum to deliver a real punch.

A thick coat of cocoa powder blankets each layer of cheese, and as I thought the ganache  overpowered the delicate coffee and alcohol flavor, I replaced it with cocoa powder as well.

Woohoo! Kick Ass Crazy Good!

What a relief when my Opera turned out well! The glaze could have been warmed up for a darker and glossier finish, but I was so preoccupied with my Tiramisu that I forgot the time and had to wing it. I'll be sure not to repeat the folly come assessment day.

The Proof Is In The Pudding

Check it out! The layers were even, the buttercream could have been whipped longer for more volumn and the sponge soaked with more punch, but overall, I am very pleased with the result. Well done, me! :)

Gateau Opéra (Part 1), Biscuit Jaconde, Dark Chocolate Ganache, Coffee Buttercream, Stock Syrup, Coffee Syrup

Chef Luigi's Opera

I tasted my first Gateau Opéra at Delifrance, the McDonald's of pastry shops back in Singapore, of all places. To my surprise, not only was it good, it was a revelation: syrup soaked sponge, cold coffee buttercream and smooth chocolate ganache, contrasting textures and flavors all rolled into one tiny package.

Famous as it may be, the Opéra's history is sketchy at best. First introduced to Paris in the early 20th century, it was later modernized by renowned pastry chef Dalloyau to commemorate the Paris Grand Opera, agreed by many to be a fitting tribute "as the cake is comprised of several layers, similar to 'acts' in an operatic presentation."

Chef Luigi: Animated, Entertaining, Full Of Italian Flair

Preparing Jaconde Sponge

For mise en place today we first made the Jaconde, an almond sponge cake sturdier than a normal sponge which can therefore absorb the coffee syrup better without breaking.

Speaking of which, the syrup is nothing more than a quadruple shot of espresso with 10 packs of sugar thrown in. By now it should come as no surprise that I spiked my syrup with a big wallop of rum. Just the way I take it in the mornings. *hic*

Coffee Buttercream, Dark Chocolate Ganache

The other components to this great operatic act are butter churned with coffee paste, and ganache made with chocolate and cream. Glucose will be added to the same ganache formula for the shiny glaze top.

Assembling L'Opera

The layers of the Opéra may seem random, but they are not. There is a set order to the layers, and we respect the order, we fear it, we obey it. They are, as follows:

      1. Chocolate base on Coffee Syrup-ed Jaconde

      2. Coffee Buttercream

      3. Coffee Syrup-ed Jaconde

      4. Chocolate Ganache

      5. Coffee Syrup-ed Jaconde

      6. Coffee Buttercream

      7. Dark Chocolate Glaze

Slicing & Piping

The cake is trimmed to the required 20cm x 20cm square (giving you the Best Scraps Eh-vah) and finally piped with flair: "Opera". The final glazing and slicing (and taking home and eating) will be done tomorrow, fingers crossed mine will turn out well. I'm syched all the same, making my own Opéra!

The Final Act

Oh yes, have I mentioned we will be recreating this magnificent Gateau for our final assessment? Toes crossed as well, I'd better not screw this one up!