Burnt Almond Ice-Cream Tartlets

First attempt at making ice-cream in Rwanda

(Yes, I had my itty-bitty ice-cream maker shipped here!)

Chocolate cookie tart crusts

Ice-cream made with local coffee beans:)

Frozen...

"Burnt" (= toasted until dark) almond in chocolate topping

Eh, voila!

My first ice-cream attempt was more ice than cream because of the repeated power outtages and melting the ice-cream probably went through. Ah well, it's about the effort and experience!

Roasted Red Pepper & Poblano Quiche and The Grand Canyon Pie

I spent two and a half glorious weeks in the US, I think for the first time since I started this project. And it reminded me all over again why this project is a challenge, and why it would hardly be one if I were living State side. Just five minutes from my sister's place was a Whole Foods, which had pretty much all the ingredients I needed to bake every pie in the book! And if it wasn't there, I could order it online and have it delivered within a few days. I heart America, if not for anything else, but for the shopping!

So, I got right down to it, targeting pies with "rare" ingredients.

Here: cheddar crust (so cheap!), red pepper, and poblanos (which I was considering growing...)

Using half-and-half for the first time, instead of making my own (=half milk, half cream)

Pies are so pretty right before going into the oven.

First home-cooked dinner: yummy!

And the Grand Canyon Pie

It was a many layered pie: 

Oreo cookie crust, rich chocolate ganache, fresh raspberries, and chocolate & almond whipped cream

Topped with chocolate meringue "boulders" (I think that's what makes it the "grand canyon" pie)

Each bite was chocolaty - creamy perfection!

* * *

And I made apple dumplings (again) and caramel apples with hand-picked apples.

It was a lovely, lovely trip, for many reasons, and a much needed vacation. 

I can't wait to be back again, not only for the baking opportunities, but for the familiar faces and places...:)

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Yes, I’m still here! A lot has happened since I last updated: I moved twice, relearned how to drive, took a vacation, was a bridesmaid for the first (and perhaps last time) in my life, attended to two trainings, and had work pick up even more speed. This all adds up to very little time for baking, and even less time for blogging. In fact, this pie was made like three months ago!

And it was actually one of my biggest flops ever. All I had on hand at the time were really old eggs, and the yolk kept running into the whites, making them unfit for meringue-whipping.

I think I “messed-up” almost a whole carton of eggs! Talk about pure frustration! Faced with utter failure, I ventured out in the middle of the night in search of fresh eggs. I ended up making the nearby corner store reopen its doors for me just after it had closed for the night. (Many thanks to my former housemate for negotiating for me!)

Even so, it didn’t quite work out... No pretty pictures of the perfect slice exist because it turned out to be more pudding than pie and we all ended up eating straight from the pan with spoons. Ah well, you win some and you lose some, I guess!

Gateau Basque

Judging from the name, I’m guessing this pie is from the French side of the border.

I have been trying to step up my baking of late. After all, it has already been 6 months since I got to Rwanda… Which also means that my time here (according to the original plan) is a fourth-way over. It sort of freaks me out how fast time is zooming by. Each day seems to tumble into the next in a fantastically fast-paced gymnastics routine of somersaults and triple flips!

But, on the other hand, I also seem to be going through some sort of a slump. I think the initial “newness” of everything has passed, and I’m going from “Oh, this is new, but I guess this is how it’s done here” to “Crap, not again, when is it going to stop?” Chief among my complaints are a lack of reliable public transportation and faulty internet access at home (and oftentimes at work), and the two elements together are driving me clean crazy. I recently spent three days trying to book a measly plane ticket, something I finally achieved at a coffee shop – which is only accessible by taxi. So it’s not surprising that I’m spending a fortune on taxi fares; last month, I spent nearly as much on taxis as I did on food! This is just not right. I have the numbers of no less than 17 drivers on my phone, and I’m collectively annoyed with all of them for overcharging me (they have a funny custom here where they charge more to regulars… just because they can). Maybe I’ve just been really spoiled in Korea with super fast and cheap connectivity…

As a result, pies are more expensive and harder to coordinate. (This was the point to my very long ramble.) Getting all the ingredients to a pie often feels like sprinkling money along the streets of Kigali. Or across the skies… I brought the almonds (for the sweet almond cookie crust) from Rome and the rum (for the alcohol infused pastry cream filling) from duty-free in Nairobi.

All for this one little pie.

But it does seem enticing!

                It was quite delicious. And hopefully authentic -- I asked a friend who is traveling to Basque country (albeit the Spanish side) to compare and report back. 

When I eat pie, I forget all the work that went into the making. Probably a good enjoyment mechanism…J

Lemon Pucker Pie ™

 This humble pie belies its true exquisiteness.

 Blind-baking the crust. I bought and brought over ceramic pie weights, but these beans I got locally for next to nothing are really the best!

The filling for the lemon pucker pie is actually pretty easy to make, and quite ingenius, too. Instead of putting the meringue on top, you mix it right into the lemon custard. You save yourself a step, lots of time, and the potential to mess up meringue (they are my nemesis).

And what you get is an airy, silky, yet intensely lemony pie:)

It’s easier to make and it tastes better. And it was a big hit with everyone. This really is a no-brainer. Haha! Say hello to my new favorite lemon pie!

Brioche and Marginally Transferable Skills

Aside from fillo, which I can’t find anywhere across three continents, brioche is the last category of pastries that I’m tackling. You could even say that I was actively avoiding it. I mean, it’s so much like bread, I don’t really know why it’s in the book! But since I scoured Rome for brioche tins and even brought back bread flour, I thought I’d finally give it a go.

It took the better part of a Saturday to prepare the dough; so many steps requiring rising and refrigeration! Yes, when I bake on the weekend, I get up earlier than I do for work on weekdays. Labor of love… or obsession?

As I’ve said numerous times before, the skills acquired for specific sub-categories of baking seem to only be marginally non-transferable, at best. For all the pies I’ve baked, I have trouble making a simple cake! And for something as bready as brioche, I’m basically starting from square one again. For pie crust (and cake), you never over-mix because too much gluten is enemy number one for the perfect crisp (or fluff).  So to knead on purpose seems weird. And a little wrong.

Still, I managed somehow. The results weren’t as meltingly puffy and chewy as expected, but it was a pretty good first attempt. I was really just happy to have achieved some sort of bread-like texture! Maybe by the time I get through all the brioches in the book, I’ll get the hang of kneading and stuff.

Everything’s better with a drizzle of honey:)

Cream Puff Pastries

It seems I have made my way through most of the pies and must move on to the pastries in the Pie & Pastry Bible. I’m starting with cream puff pastries. Here’s a swan!

I guess I should also mention – the original deadline I gave myself for finishing the project has officially passed! Yes, I turned 30 over the weekend. As horrifying as it is to move into a new decade of life, I actually feel quite good about it. I think I am a leettle bit better at not giving a crap about stuff and a teensy bit better at trusting that things will work out. And I think I might be learning to enjoy the tranquil pitter-patter of the everyday – right here in Rwanda:)

Adding to the general good mood, I just got back from Rome. Yes, I’m still basking in the afterglow of all that art, fun, and gelato. There is just something grand and uplifting about Rome… Of course, I also stocked up on pie ingredients. And bought all sorts of weird kitchen gadgets I don’t really need and may not actually use, but nonetheless totally want. I’d say the trip was very fruitful!

Yes, Doe has accompanied me to Rwanda. She’s examining a tiny bottle of white truffle oil from Rome (from my first trip). When I saw the tiny spec (think booger-sized) of truffle in the bottle I was skeptical as to what difference it would actually make. But the intense aroma that wafted out as soon as I opened the bottle was something else…

Savory cream puffs: plain savory cream puffs and the white truffle oil variation. Thankfully, the truffle oil wasn’t overpowering and the puffs came out perfectly scented (= just a hint of truffle).

The puffs were appetizers for Easter lunch at Chez Jooey. (Yes, this post is very very late in coming…) Even though I’m not actually religious, I’m no longer an atheist.  I guess I’m a cop-out agnostic who celebrates Easter culturally. (It’s really just an excuse to cook and invite people over!)

Since I was in the cream puff pastry “zone,” I made swans the following week. This requires some assembly: body and head made separately, glued together with whipped cream. My housemate thought the heads were snakes. And when I freaked out, she thought they were tadpoles. Haha!

A gaggle of swans, of the genus cream puff pastry.

They taste exactly like regular cream puff pastry, but somehow they’re much more exciting:) 

Chocolate Cream Pie and the Food in Rwanda

My inaugural pie in Rwanda – tada!

I thought I should start out with an easy one for my first pie in Rwanda. No need to dive right into something like croissant-making, be trumped by new ingredients (not to mention lack of practice), and go down the hole of discouragement. Starting out easy!

For starters, I’d been really craving not only baking, but also good food. And by “good,” I really mean good-tasting, not good-for-you:P  When I first landed in Rwanda, I was quite excited about learning to cook the local cuisine, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that not much (of what I considered) cooking went into preparing the local food. You literally just take edible things out of the ground or off the trees, apply some heat, or eat as is. With almost every “dish,” you can pretty much tell where it came from. Food here is fresh, unprocessed, healthy. Let me demonstrate.

Pictured: beans, unknown vegetable mash that I assume is spinach but is more likely cassava leaves, meat (almost always beef), rice, and potatoes. Add to that drops of pili-pili (super hot chilli oil), and you have the typical Rwandese meal. Well, that is except for the cooked bananas, which is a major staple of the Rwandese diet but I don’t seem to like very much for some reason, and maize ugali, which queerly enough tastes and feels a lot like rice cake. And the mounds of fresh tropical fruit, like mangoes, passion-fruit, papayas, pineapples, and avocados, which are available everywhere for a pittance!

Not that these foods aren’t good – I actually much prefer the canteen here to Korean cafeteria geupsik (ick!) – but I just really really need my sugar-and-fat-fix from time to time. You know, the comfort foods that people raised on heavily processed meals are addicted to to varying degrees.

So, back to baking!

Luckily, even after months of staring into my computer, running around all across Rwanda, and basically NOT baking, I still remember how to make pie crust! After all, I do have over a hundred pies under my belt. Hehe!  The chocolate had me grocery-aisle-debating again. Anyone who’s done any sort of cooking knows that taste is directly related to the quality of ingredients you use. So, it basically boiled down to 1) should I use the Lindt, which is of proven quality but upsettingly expensive in this hilly landlocked country, or 2) should I go for the local brand at a fraction of the cost? In the end, I went for Cadbury (which, actually, may or may not be local) thinking that in the continent that produces cacao, how could I go wrong?

And I bet right because the pie was chocolaty-good! It tasted like chocolate pudding in an edible pie- crust dish, and satisfied my cravings for bad “good” food:)

I invited my new work colleagues over for a tiny sliver of pie each (like just the width of the buttercream decoration...), which I think most of them took for lunch before going back to work. Probably had the same number of calories as a plate full of food here. Haha!

Creamy and Spicy Crab Tartlets

I have finally arrived in Rwanda!

Or rather, I arrived over two months ago and I have finally settled in – more or less. Many things are still up in the air, but things have normalized enough for me to think about non-impending activities again. Like baking! Not to mention that my oven has also arrived awhile ago and is sitting a tad bit too decoratively in my new kitchen. And maybe I have a tugging feeling that I need to revive my old coping strategy-cum-obsession. It’s been much too long…

Baking in the land of a thousand hills will definitely be a challenge. The original deadline for the completion of this project is fast approaching; I have to make exactly 50 pies in about 50 days! But seeing as how I will encounter new obstacles in a new land (will I even be able to find the right flours?), I shall give myself a generous extension. Perhaps to finish the project in the 2 years that I’ll be here in Rwanda? A very generous extension, indeed! But who’s keeping track, anyway?

I begin the thousand hills chapter with the last of the morning calm chapter. These crab tartlets were made too long ago in what seems to have been my previous life, so much has changed since then. But if I remember correctly, the whole wheat crust was divine! Its cracker-like hearty crunchiness was made even better by its buttery flakiness. Really, I could snack on it the whole day long!

The filling, however, was somewhat less impressive. I’d chosen the spicy crab as my last in Korea because I knew I’d have very limited access to things marine and Asian in a landlocked African country.  But despite the homemade tobanjan and heaps of roe, it failed expectations. Perhaps it was not the best way the end a chapter. But oh well, not everything’s perfect!

***

Looking back – Baking has really made the last couple of years quite enjoyable for me. It is methodic, honest even. And to me, it is orienting. Calming. Comforting. Reassuring. And I’ve come to know that some things are just ‘good’ and there is no meaning beyond that to analyze or ponder. I mean, come on, what’s better than homemade pie? Yes, this is the essence of why I bake.

Looking forward – Who knows what the future holds? It’s hard to tell in the beginning what the end will look like. But whether you’re pleasantly surprised or unwarily dismayed along the way, it’s important to steadily plod through. So, here’s to the final fifty pies in the land of a thousand hills!

Twelfth Night Galettes & the Christmas Jinx

Part I: Individual Chocolate Twelfth Night Galettes

Or

Perfection manifested

I decided to attempt the twelfth night galette with the puff pastry I made way back during the Chuseok holidays. Also known as galette des rois, it is the French version of the “king cake” that is enjoyed on the twelfth night of Christmas. (I actually know nothing about the twelfth night of Christmas, except that you should expect a dozen drummers drumming.) When it comes to food, French cuisine is undoubtedly the best. So perhaps this is the king of king cakes?

Instead of the usual almond filling, I used hazelnut, since it goes so well with chocolate (and because I had it in my freezer).

These designs are traditional too, though, again, I don’t know what they stand for. Being so scrupulously faithful to traditions the meaning of which I know not… Must be a strange personality trait.

Crispy deliciousness with rich, nutty, chocolate paste… They were absolutely delightful! So delightful, in fact, I’d like to make these again for the actual twelfth night of Christmas, whenever that is! All despite the fact that I don’t really like hazelnut. (I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I’m not a big fan of Nutella. Or Ferrero Rocher. Don’t hate me.)

I’m really glad I got to share these with my friend, who I only get to meet once in a blue moon~ Especially considering what happened to the other twelfth night galette…

Part II: Christmas Flops

I saved most of my morel mushrooms for a special occasion, and what’s more special than Christmas? Despite all the helter-skelter of packing, I saved a day of nothingness for some Christmas cooking. This tiny “[spring] windfall morel quiche” is probably the most expensive pie in book, what with its Alaskan midnight-sun-dried mushrooms and all. They’ve really traveled a long long way to end up in my stomach!

But it was a bit disappointing; the filling never gelled and the morels had a “deeply earthy” taste (probably a little burnt). How’d that happen?

And this was only the prelude to the Christmas dessert disaster.

The “original” twelfth night galette

Ruined.

The pan twisted early on during the baking and the top slid right off the bottom! (I actually yelped as my heart fell about a mile.) And the exposed almond filling burned. And the egg glaze burned, too. Indisputably the worst disaster of the entire project. Spectacular, almost!

This, on top of last year’s disappointing Christmas éclairs, has me convinced that I have a Christmas baking jinx. Oh dear…!

Fortunately, the galette didn’t taste half bad with all the burned portions scraped off.

A Christmas miracle, perchance? :D