Cooking experiment

[Kittish]

Tomorrow I'm going to be trying out a new recipe combination, suggested by my boyfriend. The base is going to be a slightly modified yorkshire pudding, and is going to have an eggless chocolate custard filling. I'm debating whether to use all butter or play around with a bit of bacon fat for the fat in the yorkshire. I've never tried it, but have kind of gotten the idea that bacon and chocolate are very good partners tastewise, and the little bit of bacon fat that would be used wouldn't give an overpowering flavor, more just a suggestion.

I gave some thought to using puff pastry for it, as that's a much more expected thing for a dessert type dish, but meh, why do the expected? Well, that and puff pastry is a pain to make from scratch and I don't want to spend ALL day working on it. That's the reason I'm not using a proper choux pastry either, not that choux pastry is really all that time consuming. For those who don't know, choux pastry is what the pastry part of cream puffs generally consists of.

So... any ideas what to call this thing?

[Caffienated_Caramel]

*thinks* uuumm

Bacon's Sordid Fantasy

I have another one but it sounds like something a shot would be called instead of pudding

[lordlundar]

Yorkshire pudding is a popover which is an item which looks like an item similar to the mold you use (my mom uses muffin trays so they look like muffins) But inside are one giant hole.

To that end, puff pastry doesn't work for this endeavor as it's rising power comes from areas pockmarked with butter which produces a flaky dough, but doesn't create the cavern.

This recipe makes a solid pudding (minus the roast obviously ) and you can use CLARIFIED butter in place of the drippings or lard and it will not affect the cooking but will change the flavor. The butter MUST be clarified because the water and milk solids will throw off the recipe and regular butter can't handle the high heat needed for the recipe. Bacon fat works just as well as well.

It sounds like you're making a cream puff which really does require a proper choux recipe or you won't get a stable result (yorkshire puddings like most popovers get really unstable the larger they get. Even the muffin tray example I said earlier tends to collapse slightly.

[Kittish]

lordlundar, you are mostly correct in your comments. I've actually made yorkshire pudding, so I know what to expect from it. And I suspect you're correct about butter not being able to handle the high heat when the dish and the fat are preheated before the batter is added. I don't know if you've made them (sounds like you have) but with mine, the center DOES rise, just not quite as high as the edges, and collapses again when the heat is reduced. I've noticed that the dish I use hugely impacts how large an area in the middle collapses, with smaller dishes that keep the batter more confined tend to produce larger sunken middles, especially in proportion to the poufy edges. Which is why I'm going to experiment with using a considerably larger baking pan, I'm thinking that may at least reduce the area in the center that's sunken back in, and even if to turns out to be unsuitable for my purpose, I'll have a tasty snack available for a few days (it's good with a bit of jam or honey if you're not having it with roast or stew or chili).

Puff pasty WOULD work just fine for what I have in mind, I'd just have to bake the layers of pastry seperately and assemble them and the custard filling after the pastry had cooled. As I said before, making puff pastry, from scratch, is a bit of pain to do it properly, and takes a while. You have to keep rechilling the dough, so that the butter stays solid, so it forms those sheets and pockets that make puff pastry puff.

Choux pastry, likewise, would work, just behead the puffs after they'd cooled and had some time to dry, and do any cleaning needed of the inside of the puffs then pipe the custard into them. Putting the lids back on them is optional. A bit time consuming, but not at all difficult, as long as you let the dough cool properly before you add the egg.

Caffienated Caramel- Hmm. I'll have to see just how much influence using bacon fat has on the final taste, I kind of suspect it'll be just a here and there hint. I love the sound of that name though, even if I don't use it here I may have to come up with something to use it for.

[Food Lady]

It would be a good name for a band, as Dave Barry would say. But, back to the subject at hand--at least a rough puff pastry would be less time-consuming than the traditional recipe.

[Kittish]

It would be a good name for a band, as Dave Barry would say. But, back to the subject at hand--at least a rough puff pastry would be less time-consuming than the traditional recipe.

Agreed, it would. But, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like that, if I'm not going to do it properly, then why bother at all? Makes my friends sigh and shake their heads at me sometimes, but they all dig in and nosh when I bring the goodies 'round.

[Kittish]

Bit of an update on this. The eggless custard was WONDERFUL, and I'll definitely be making that again, frequently.

The yorkshire... didn't come out as I'd hoped, and the flavor didn't go well at all with the custard, but still it was tasty and edible, even if it was completely flat. I guess it does actually need sides to be able to climb.

So, I'll be using a traditional choux pastry after all and making proper puffs to hold the rich chocolate goodness of the custard. I'll also, at some point, be experimenting with making the custard fluffier, closer to a mousse. It has quite a lot of cream in it, it might be possible simply to whip it as it's cooling to fluff it up.

[lordlundar]

The yorkshire... didn't come out as I'd hoped, and the flavor didn't go well at all with the custard, but still it was tasty and edible, even if it was completely flat. I guess it does actually need sides to be able to climb.

Yeah, unlike a choux pastry, a popover batter is really good at climbing but not nearly as stable. It is possible to make a sweet version (though I don't know a recipe off the top of my head) which would work better but a high walled tray is mandatory.

So, I'll be using a traditional choux pastry after all and making proper puffs to hold the rich chocolate goodness of the custard. I'll also, at some point, be experimenting with making the custard fluffier, closer to a mousse. It has quite a lot of cream in it, it might be possible simply to whip it as it's cooling to fluff it up.

Hmm, a better option might be to take a fairly fatty cream (whipping or heavy are good options, whip the cream separately then fold it into the rest of the custard. It makes it easier to maintain a stable foam and is actually how mos mousses are made.

[Kittish]

Hmm, a better option might be to take a fairly fatty cream (whipping or heavy are good options, whip the cream separately then fold it into the rest of the custard. It makes it easier to maintain a stable foam and is actually how mos mousses are made.

True, that would be a better way to fluff up my custard. But I don't have enough cream to do that and make the custard. The custard takes nearly a cup of heavy cream, and I'll be making a double batch to fill my puffs for this weekend. And if whipping it as it cools doesn't make it all fluffy, no biggie, it'll still be just fine.

[Der Cute]

fluff up my custard ...just sounds wrong!

[lordlundar]

True, that would be a better way to fluff up my custard. But I don't have enough cream to do that and make the custard. The custard takes nearly a cup of heavy cream, and I'll be making a double batch to fill my puffs for this weekend. And if whipping it as it cools doesn't make it all fluffy, no biggie, it'll still be just fine.

hmm, take half of the cream you're using and whip it, then fold it back into the remaining custard. Should work well.

[dalesys]

fluff up my custard ...just sounds wrong!

... but so so right ...