In the Hands of a Chef (53 page)

The torta keeps for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, although it should be brought up to room temperature before serving. It will keep for up to a month in the freezer.

MAKES 12 TO 16 SERVINGS

¾ pound (3 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, or as needed

1 cup sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons espresso or very strong brewed coffee

¾ pound semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1-inch pieces

¼ pound unsweetened chocolate, chopped into 1-inch pieces

6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

6 extra-large yolks, at room temperature

2 tablespoons cocoa powder for garnish

Vanilla or coffee ice cream (optional)

DO AHEAD:
Make the torta batter (minus the eggs, which are added the next day) and allow it to sit covered and refrigerated for 12 hours. (It can sit overnight.) Since the cake is actually better if allowed to rest for a day before serving, start the torta 2 days ahead.

1.
Melt ¾ pound of the butter with the sugar and espresso in a nonreactive saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir until completely melted. Do not let the mixture boil, or the chocolate will separate and seize up. Whisk off the heat until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Let stand, covered, for at least 12 hours, or overnight, at room temperature. After standing, it should have the consistency of peanut butter.

2.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Grease the pan with as much of the remaining butter as needed, and line it with the
circle of parchment paper, pressing the paper firmly onto the bottom of the pan.

3.
Beat the eggs and egg yolks together in a large bowl until just mixed—not until foamy. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Pour the batter into the lined pan.

4.
Put the cake pan in the middle of a roasting pan. Pour enough warm water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake in the middle of the oven until the batter is almost set—it should still be slightly wiggly in the center—about 1 hour. Cool on a rack. If possible, allow the torta to rest overnight in the refrigerator.

5.
When cool or chilled, remove the torta from the pan, invert it onto a serving platter, and carefully peel away the parchment paper. Invert it onto a serving platter. Sift a thin even layer of cocoa over the torta just before serving. Accompany with ice cream, if you like.

I
first encountered this unctuous Provençal
indulgence on a trip to France. I was instantly seduced by its wonderful gamut of textures, the crusty outside yielding to a warm creamy interior, as though chocolate had been given the texture of a soft-ripening cheese. Soon after my return, I tried a recipe in a cookbook of traditional Provençal cooking by Jean-André Charial-Thuilier. Ultimately I came up with a version that calls for about as much chocolate as the recipe can handle and still produce the spectrum of textures. It is far and away the most popular dessert I’ve ever served at Rialto—and it’s a breeze to make.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

9 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour

½ pound semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1-inch pieces

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

6 tablespoons sugar

DO AHEAD:
You can make the chocolate mixture a day ahead; prepare the mixture as instructed, then refrigerate. Let come up to room temperature before continuing with the recipe.

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease four 4-ounce ramekins with 1 tablespoon of the butter and then dust each one with ½ teaspoon flour.

2.
Melt the chocolate with the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over low heat. As soon as the chocolate starts to melt, remove from the heat and beat until the mixture is smooth. (If making ahead, cover and refrigerate the mixture, for as long as overnight. Allow it to come up to room temperature before continuing.)

3.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl with the sugar until the sugar dissolves and the eggs are foamy. Fold the chocolate mixture into the eggs.

4.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared ramekins. Bake for 12 minutes, or until just set—the centers will still be slightly liquid. Let stand for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn them out onto warm plates and serve.

M
y husband and I used
to shun peaches. Ripe peaches are quite fragile—they travel poorly unless properly packaged—and about fifteen years ago, it seemed that almost overnight mealy peach impersonators had supplanted the luscious fruit that had been available in supermarkets. In Europe, peaches are sold either ripe or within a day or two of ripening, but these new hybrids were sold when still quite hard. While it is not true that peaches have to ripen on the tree, not all peaches ripen at home equally well. Many rot before ripening or lose their moisture or just have little taste—all of which seems remarkably similar to the fate of the American tomato. In recent years, however, the growth of farmers’ markets has provided an outlet for peaches that don’t have to travel. They still aren’t sold ripe, so we keep them in a closed shoe box under the kitchen table, letting them ripen almost to the point of collapse before eating them, but they do taste good. New England peaches are smaller than those grown in the South or Southwest, but, like a lot of things in life, size isn’t everything. When I can’t get farmers’ market peaches, I use organic or “tree-ripened” ones.

Peaches and black pepper are a great match, a fact I discovered while grilling them with pork and searing them with rabbit, and I decided to try the same combination in a dessert. Adding black pepper to a classic peach tart gives the dessert an exotic flavor reminiscent of chutney, while the caramel sauce and whipped cream don’t let you forget that you’re eating a sweet dessert.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TARTS

4 ripe peaches

⅓ cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar

4 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 recipe Basic Pastry Dough (recipe follows)

4 teaspoons unsalted butter

SAUCE

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup heavy cream for whipped cream garnish

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Dip the peaches into the boiling water for 10 seconds—no longer. If they cook longer, the flesh will begin to bind with the skin, and peeling the peaches will become a nightmare. Immediately immerse the peaches in the ice water.

2.
When they are cool enough to handle, drain and dry the peaches, then peel them. Cut in half and remove the pits. Cut each peach half into 4 slices. Gently toss the peaches with ⅓ cup of the sugar, the flour, and pepper. Set aside.

3.
Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and form into disks. Roll each one into a 6-inch circle about ¼ inch thick. Put the dough on the sheet pans. Arrange 8 peach slices on the dough, spoke-fashion, leaving a border of 1 inch. Pull up the edges of the dough around the peaches, and crimp. Dot each tart with 1 teaspoon of the butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar. Chill the tarts for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

4.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

5.
Arrange the tarts on a sheet pan (with sides, in case the juices run out during baking). Bake for 40 minutes, or until the peaches are tender and the crusts are golden and crisp. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack.

6.
While the tarts are baking, make the sauce: Mix the sugar with the water in a heavy saucepan. Add the ginger and cook over medium heat stirring with a metal spoon, until the sugar is golden and caramelized. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for 30 seconds to avoid the possibility of splattering when you add the butter. Whisk in the butter, making sure it’s thoroughly incorporated. Slowly whisk in ½ cup cream—if you add the cream too fast, the caramel may bubble over, and possibly burn you. Strain to remove the ginger, if desired. Set aside.

7.
Whip the remaining ½ cup heavy cream in a medium bowl until it stiffens and holds its shape.

8.
To serve, place each tart on a plate. Zigzag the caramel sauce over each tart and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

I
love a good crust
almost more than whatever it’s holding. My favorite part of a pie is the crimped edge of crust and the first inch or so, the top of the pie where the juices have caramelized into the dough. If there’s a leftover pie on the kitchen counter when I come home late at night, I’m the one who nibbles at the edges.

Books have been written about pastry, but basically it’s a hands-on activity that improves with experience. Even novices can make a decently flaky crust as long as three simple precautions are kept in mind. The chilled butter must be worked into the cold flour quickly so that the butter and flour can form layers; if the butter becomes too soft or (God forbid) melts, then it simply coats the particles of flour instead of forming layers with it. Second, the dough must be manipulated as little as possible so that the gluten fibers remain undeveloped. The more the gluten develops, the chewier the final product (hence, bread dough is kneaded purposely to develop the gluten). Finally, the water should be added as sparingly as possible; the more water, the heavier the dough—and the denser the pastry.

This is a good general-purpose recipe for either sweet or savory dough, depending on whether you use the sugar or not. The dough will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator, and for several months in the freezer if tightly wrapped in plastic, then in foil.

MAKES ABOUT ¾ POUND; ENOUGH FOR ONE 10- TO 11-INCH PIECRUST OR ONE 11-INCH TART SHELL

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, chilled

¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar (for sweet pastry dough)

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces and chilled

3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

1.
Pour the flour into a mound on a countertop. Add the salt, and sugar, if you’re making sweet pastry, and toss well. Work the butter into the flour with the tips of your fingers until the butter is in small pea-sized pieces. Add the water 2 tablespoons at a time, tossing with your fingers to incorporate the water into the dough. Add more as needed. The dough should be crumbly.

2.
Form the dough into a mound and then, using the heel of your hand, gradually push all the dough away from you, flattening out the lumps. Continue until all the dough is flat. Form the dough into a mound and repeat the process one more time. Do not work the butter completely into the mixture—the streaks of butter are what will make the crust flaky.

3.
Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour to allow it to rest before using.

P
rebaking a piecrust or tart
shell without the filling is called “blind baking.” By baking the crust ahead of time, you avoid the problem of a juicy filling soaking into the raw pastry dough and preventing it from cooking thoroughly.

1 recipe Basic Pastry Dough (page 343)

1.
Place the dough on a floured pastry board, countertop, or plastic pastry sheet and roll it out to the desired size. Be sure to roll the dough to an even thickness, or the thinner parts of the crust will burn when baking.

2.
Carefully fold the dough in quarters, transfer to the pie plate or tart pan, and unfold. Ease the dough into the corners of the pan; if you stretch it, it will tear. Pull the dough up over the edge of the pie plate or tin so it hangs over by about 1 inch. Then roll it to rest just over the edge and crimp the edge decoratively. The dough will shrink a bit as it bakes, so this slight overhang will help it from falling to the bottom. Put the crust into the fridge for at least 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes. Chilling will help to keep the dough from shrinking.

3.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

4.
Line the dough with baking parchment or foil and then fill with weights. You can use uncooked beans, rice, ball bearings, loose change, or the marble-shaped ceramic pie weights designed specifically for this purpose. The point is to fill the pan with something that will keep the dough flat when it bakes.

5.
Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights. If the edges of the crust have already started to brown, cover them with foil. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let the crust cool on a wire rack.

A
s soon as a holiday
food tradition begins to feel oppressive, it’s time to give it a rest, if only temporarily I love pumpkin pie, but I’ve grown to prefer it during pumpkin season in late October and early November rather than waiting until Thanksgiving (if I were king, Thanksgiving would be in October, but that’s another story). By then, the experience of baking several dozen pies for charity has pretty much blunted whatever appeal a straightforward pumpkin pie might hold for me, and my dessert receptors are looking for a new thrill. This is a New England riff on a traditional Norman apple tart. Instead of the almond cream in the original, the tart uses pumpkin custard; the apples lend a slightly acidic quality, and amaretti crumbs add a little bit of crunch. It’s an altogether sharper, lighter dessert that still tastes like comfort food, a necessary element for any holiday tradition.