cerebus
Honorary Master
Or just make that, it looks fantastic.
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Help me Reinvent Peppermint Surprise
- Thread starter Ancalagon
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Or just make that, it looks fantastic.
I make a dark chocolate cheesecake that won the family over from peppermint crisp tart. It was originally called toblerone cheesecake but I swapped out the toblerone for albany dark chocolate.
APoc184
Honorary Master
I.am.Sam
Honorary Master
i thought gifs were meant to be few seconds ...
some crazy ideas there
some crazy ideas there
Guys I think I'm going to be boring and just make peppermint surprise.
Why? I'm already cooking all of the meat, which is actually going to be a full time job. One roast pork shoulder and one roast leg of lamb, plus 3 roast chickens.
As tempting as it is to make something exciting, I'm not sure I'll have the time, energy or money.
I might still make cajeta though.
Why? I'm already cooking all of the meat, which is actually going to be a full time job. One roast pork shoulder and one roast leg of lamb, plus 3 roast chickens.
As tempting as it is to make something exciting, I'm not sure I'll have the time, energy or money.
I might still make cajeta though.
cerebus
Honorary Master
Alright, so I have a few friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night. For homemade pizza on the weber incidentally.
What I've decided to do is make a new peppermint surprise using the following:
Base: Crushed Marie biscuits mixed with butter and sugar, and then baked for a bit
Filling: Thick pastry cream. Like what you would get in a custard slice. Vanilla flavoured
Topping: Stripes of caramel treat and pieces of peppermint surprise
So it will look like a cheese cake but it won't actually be a cheesecake. I'll deliberately use less sugar in the pastry cream, to avoid it being overpoweringly sweet. I could mix the caramel treat in, but I'd prefer to have it separate, on top.
I will probably still make just regular peppermint surprise for the party next weekend, but at least tomorrow I'll test a more inventive recipe.
What I've decided to do is make a new peppermint surprise using the following:
Base: Crushed Marie biscuits mixed with butter and sugar, and then baked for a bit
Filling: Thick pastry cream. Like what you would get in a custard slice. Vanilla flavoured
Topping: Stripes of caramel treat and pieces of peppermint surprise
So it will look like a cheese cake but it won't actually be a cheesecake. I'll deliberately use less sugar in the pastry cream, to avoid it being overpoweringly sweet. I could mix the caramel treat in, but I'd prefer to have it separate, on top.
I will probably still make just regular peppermint surprise for the party next weekend, but at least tomorrow I'll test a more inventive recipe.
So, I made it yesterday.... And tried it last night. But, no photos. I'll explain why below.
I made the pastry cream - 2 liters of it. I don't know if I made it properly, I cobbled something together based on reading some recipes on the internet. I used 1.75l of milk, 250ml of cream, 50g of butter, 240g of sugar, 8 egg yolks, 120g of corn starch (Mazena), pinch of salt, teaspoon of vanilla powder. It came hot and quite thick.
I poured it over the biscuit base and put it in the fridge for supper. I went to a friend's house, and after supper, we were discussing what to do for pudding. I said, I've made this desert and its so massive that although everyone is coming over again tonight, we wouldn't be able to finish it. So, we came back to my place to try this desert. It had been sitting in my fridge since about maybe 5:30, and it was now about 8:30. So, 3 hours.
The problem was, as soon as I removed it from the springform pan, the edges collapsed. Upon eating it, we could taste that the pastry cream was still warm. In other words, I don't think it had time to set yet.
How did it taste? Good - but not outstanding. I don't know why. Maybe the fact that the presentation was a bit off affected my perception, I don't know. Individually, the elements were nice. The pastry cream was sweet but not too sweet, and not too rich either. It wasn't too pasty, but I guess it's a little bland. Or something. I'm keen to have a look tonight when it has had a few more hours to set. It may be that I need to use more butter and/or sugar to give it more kick.
We will probably try it again tonight, so I'll be able to taste the difference.
I made the pastry cream - 2 liters of it. I don't know if I made it properly, I cobbled something together based on reading some recipes on the internet. I used 1.75l of milk, 250ml of cream, 50g of butter, 240g of sugar, 8 egg yolks, 120g of corn starch (Mazena), pinch of salt, teaspoon of vanilla powder. It came hot and quite thick.
I poured it over the biscuit base and put it in the fridge for supper. I went to a friend's house, and after supper, we were discussing what to do for pudding. I said, I've made this desert and its so massive that although everyone is coming over again tonight, we wouldn't be able to finish it. So, we came back to my place to try this desert. It had been sitting in my fridge since about maybe 5:30, and it was now about 8:30. So, 3 hours.
The problem was, as soon as I removed it from the springform pan, the edges collapsed. Upon eating it, we could taste that the pastry cream was still warm. In other words, I don't think it had time to set yet.
How did it taste? Good - but not outstanding. I don't know why. Maybe the fact that the presentation was a bit off affected my perception, I don't know. Individually, the elements were nice. The pastry cream was sweet but not too sweet, and not too rich either. It wasn't too pasty, but I guess it's a little bland. Or something. I'm keen to have a look tonight when it has had a few more hours to set. It may be that I need to use more butter and/or sugar to give it more kick.
We will probably try it again tonight, so I'll be able to taste the difference.
funny how I must have gotten the same search results because according to Google I'll be making it this afternoon
akescpt
Honorary Master
No pics bro? Seems to be a pattern with you.
My friends were there, and it was more important than we dish up than I take a photo! Sorry!
Plus it really wasn't much to look at.
But I'll take a photo later today when I get home.
You don't have to use goat's milk, you can use cow's milk if you want. Just be sure to use the biggest pot you have, and stir it a lot. It will almost certainly boil over.
Incidentally, the nice thing about cajeta compared to caramel treat is that cajeta is more liquid and more spreadable than caramel treat.
Plus it really wasn't much to look at.
But I'll take a photo later today when I get home.
You don't have to use goat's milk, you can use cow's milk if you want. Just be sure to use the biggest pot you have, and stir it a lot. It will almost certainly boil over.
Incidentally, the nice thing about cajeta compared to caramel treat is that cajeta is more liquid and more spreadable than caramel treat.
cerebus
Honorary Master
Have you tried dulce de leche?
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/homemade-dulce-de-leche-395011
The recipe looks very similar to the one that I use. My recipe is from an ice cream book by David Lebowitz.
EDIT:
Probably the main difference between what I make and cajeta, is that cajeta is supposed to use goat's milk and its also supposed to be flavoured with cinnamon. What I make is probably technically dulce de leche.
cerebus
Honorary Master
I see okay. Yeah that stuff is delicious.
Alright... there is a photo of the dessert below. No peppermint crisp or caramel treat, because those were added later to individual portions.
How did it taste? Pretty good actually! It was much better after it had a proper amount of time to cool and set.
I was originally going to just make a gewone peppermint surprise because everybody loves it. But then I realized, every time I cook something fancy, like ice cream from scratch, or bolognese from scratch, my aunt always comments and seems impressed. So, because she is pretty amazing and this is her 70th, I thought I'd make something fancy.
And this is what I have decided to do:
Bottom layer: Marie biscuit crumb base as seen in the image above. Same thickness
Second layer: Custard as seen above, but maybe a little bit thicker. The stuff you see above is about the consistency of jelly - it wobbles. I'll add a few more egg yolks and keep it at boiling point for longer (I didn't really even let the last one boil)
Third layer: Marie biscuit crumb base, but half the thickness of the first one.
Fourth layer: Cajeta
Fifth layer: Piped whipped cream.
Topped with peppermint crisp, but crushed finely. Maybe even grated.
So, a few things I'm not sure of. The biggest concern is how to change my custard recipe to make it thicker, without turning it into either wood glue or cement. I might go buy a custard slice from a store to see what consistency it is, because I want to match that. The thing is, it has to be fairly solid because otherwise it will collapse. You can see the one above did exactly that because I took it out too early. I suppose if I let it cool properly before removing it, it would not have collapsed.
Second concern is the thin layer of biscuit crumb. To make this, I need to bake it in the springform pan (to make sure its the right diameter), then cool it properly in the fridge. I then need to remove it and store it until it is needed. I'll probably "butter" it with cajeta before putting it on top of the pastry cream, because the movement of the knife might disturb the entire structure.
Wish me luck. Will have to start it on Saturday at the latest, to get it finished in time. But I can do things like make the cajeta well in advance because that will keep for ages. Technically the biscuit crumb should keep in the fridge for quite a while, but to be safe I'll make it as close to the time as I can.
How did it taste? Pretty good actually! It was much better after it had a proper amount of time to cool and set.
I was originally going to just make a gewone peppermint surprise because everybody loves it. But then I realized, every time I cook something fancy, like ice cream from scratch, or bolognese from scratch, my aunt always comments and seems impressed. So, because she is pretty amazing and this is her 70th, I thought I'd make something fancy.
And this is what I have decided to do:
Bottom layer: Marie biscuit crumb base as seen in the image above. Same thickness
Second layer: Custard as seen above, but maybe a little bit thicker. The stuff you see above is about the consistency of jelly - it wobbles. I'll add a few more egg yolks and keep it at boiling point for longer (I didn't really even let the last one boil)
Third layer: Marie biscuit crumb base, but half the thickness of the first one.
Fourth layer: Cajeta
Fifth layer: Piped whipped cream.
Topped with peppermint crisp, but crushed finely. Maybe even grated.
So, a few things I'm not sure of. The biggest concern is how to change my custard recipe to make it thicker, without turning it into either wood glue or cement. I might go buy a custard slice from a store to see what consistency it is, because I want to match that. The thing is, it has to be fairly solid because otherwise it will collapse. You can see the one above did exactly that because I took it out too early. I suppose if I let it cool properly before removing it, it would not have collapsed.
Second concern is the thin layer of biscuit crumb. To make this, I need to bake it in the springform pan (to make sure its the right diameter), then cool it properly in the fridge. I then need to remove it and store it until it is needed. I'll probably "butter" it with cajeta before putting it on top of the pastry cream, because the movement of the knife might disturb the entire structure.
Wish me luck. Will have to start it on Saturday at the latest, to get it finished in time. But I can do things like make the cajeta well in advance because that will keep for ages. Technically the biscuit crumb should keep in the fridge for quite a while, but to be safe I'll make it as close to the time as I can.
Okay okay okay.
I did some more thinking about it, and I realized I wasn't taking the idea far enough. That and the fact that it would basically be just a huge slab of thick custard. Which is nice, but not fancy.
So this is what I'm going to do instead. The details are not finalized, but this is the basic idea.
Base: Chocolate biscuit crumb base
Layer: Thick vanilla custard
Layer: Dark chocolate ganache
Layer: Thin vanilla biscuit crumb
Layer: Cajeta
Layer: Mint creme. I'm thinking another custard, but not nearly as thick as the vanilla custard. Like the pastry cream used in chocolate eclairs maybe. Coloured green and flavoured with mint.
Layer: Thin chocolate biscuit crumb
Everything will be covered with vanilla icing, so it will look like a regular cake from the outside. When you cut into it, you'll see all of the different layers. I may add crushed peppermint crisp somewhere for texture.
EDIT: Maybe the biscuit crumb discs should all be one flavour? Chocolate or vanilla?
I did some more thinking about it, and I realized I wasn't taking the idea far enough. That and the fact that it would basically be just a huge slab of thick custard. Which is nice, but not fancy.
So this is what I'm going to do instead. The details are not finalized, but this is the basic idea.
Base: Chocolate biscuit crumb base
Layer: Thick vanilla custard
Layer: Dark chocolate ganache
Layer: Thin vanilla biscuit crumb
Layer: Cajeta
Layer: Mint creme. I'm thinking another custard, but not nearly as thick as the vanilla custard. Like the pastry cream used in chocolate eclairs maybe. Coloured green and flavoured with mint.
Layer: Thin chocolate biscuit crumb
Everything will be covered with vanilla icing, so it will look like a regular cake from the outside. When you cut into it, you'll see all of the different layers. I may add crushed peppermint crisp somewhere for texture.
EDIT: Maybe the biscuit crumb discs should all be one flavour? Chocolate or vanilla?
Do you also go by MrBlue or is there someone out there having the exact same thoughts as you?