Okay, so yeah. This is totally ripping off the Julie/Julia Project and consequent blog, but as I've found, Martha Stewart and her wonderful recipes far outweigh anything Julia Child ever came up with (in terms of ease, accessibility to the modern cook, and practicality, not to mention pleasure to the modern palate). So in lieu of going through any particular recipe book (maybe that'll come later), I'm just browsing the incredible expanse of marthastewart.com.
Recipe 1: Blackberry Puffs
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
All-purpose flour, for work surface
1 sheet puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package)
3 cups blackberries (12 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry to a 10-by-12-inch rectangle. With a sharp knife, trim edges and cut pastry into eight 3-by-5-inch pieces. Place pastry on a large baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Transfer sheet to oven and bake until pastry is puffed and golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool, then split each pastry horizontally.
In a bowl, mash blackberries and sugar with a fork until juicy but still chunky. Spread mascarpone on pastry bottoms. Top with blackberry mixture and pastry tops.
First published: July/August 2009
Results?? Perfection. Deliciousness. I used blackberries as well as raspberries, and they were heaven. The puff pastry was delicious (not too dry and flaky, just right), the mascarpone lended the perfect soft texture, and the berries were just sweet enough to balance everything.
Recipe 1: Blackberry Puffs
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
All-purpose flour, for work surface
1 sheet puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package)
3 cups blackberries (12 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry to a 10-by-12-inch rectangle. With a sharp knife, trim edges and cut pastry into eight 3-by-5-inch pieces. Place pastry on a large baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Transfer sheet to oven and bake until pastry is puffed and golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool, then split each pastry horizontally.
In a bowl, mash blackberries and sugar with a fork until juicy but still chunky. Spread mascarpone on pastry bottoms. Top with blackberry mixture and pastry tops.
First published: July/August 2009
Results?? Perfection. Deliciousness. I used blackberries as well as raspberries, and they were heaven. The puff pastry was delicious (not too dry and flaky, just right), the mascarpone lended the perfect soft texture, and the berries were just sweet enough to balance everything.
For the record, and only because I was there for this Martha project, you should also mention that these berry puffs should be served immediately. If left overnight, the pastry shell gets soggy from the berry mixture and they lose their flavor.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the results were good--but it wasn't what most would consider "dessert-dessert". They were only lightly sweet, something to serve at a summer picnic or breakfast, or to complement a heavy, rich dinner. And they did just that, with Julia's beouf bourguigion, which we happened to have that night.