Out & About #1088 | Rainy May, Mugwort Madeleines, Sesame Meringue Crisp + Chocolate Ganache Sponge

April showers are known to bring May flowers. Recent observations have proved us wrong though.

​After Victoria Day long weekend, the GTA was graced with atypically high levels of precipitation. Back-to-back days of dreary skies and downpours reminded of my Raincouver climate - save that gusts were stronger and mountainous views were nonexistent.

​Braving the miserable walking conditions, I sauntered over to Food Basics over lunch, eager to relieve myself from the ongoing work tasks for a brief moment.

​Indeed, some items were observed more economic than my go-to destinations of Loblaws and BTrust. On the other hand, some imported items were priced tragically steep, including Ribena for $18.99!

My umbrella flipped over several times over the course of my outdoor journey. By the time I reached Timmies, my thin, woven gloves were damp and digits frigid. A request for a hot Brown Sugar Latte was received well by the staff. Although the concoction was offered exclusively in an iced format on the mobile app, a customized creation was made possible by ordering at the kiosk. A toasty "BSL" enabled me to continue with my day in a cheerful manner.

​The next morning saw similar climate conditions, albeit with increased amount of fog. Fabric gloves were swapped for a water repellant pair instead. Persisting in tow were an umbrella, waterproof footwear, a hood-less, furry bomber that boasts more warmth and style than water-resistant qualities.

When I had commented on a Toronto-themed tote bag in the office last week, I befriended a friendly soul with which I could engage in chippy chatter. As opposed to the sports-loving fellows in my team, she was inarguably more relatable. At first, we considered exploring the nearby Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM), but shortly found ourselves at the mall for running errands instead. We shared a collective need to visit Shoppers as well as hankerings for afternoon snacks.

​Near the southwest corner of the shopping centre, % Arabica was teasing its opening with an eye-catching kiosk comprised of circular counters. Ongoing promotion for the live action edition of Lilo & Stitch was also witnessed in the form of an attendant-manned photo attraction. Visitors had the opportunity to stand atop the wooden surfboard and pose with Stitch under the oncoming wave.

​We each took to a carby specimen at Saint Germain - a Taro Bun for myself and Apple Cheese Yudane Loaf for my coworker. Then we made haste, speeding back just in time for my wholly unwarranted series of overly chatty meetings. The bun was tasty; the Almond Cookie Crumb topping could have been eliminated entirely though, for it contributed to a messy eating experience while offering neither fragrance nor textural interest.

​Heading home, I chanced across Circle K's Fuel Day promotion. Not only was I able to take advantage of a signficiant discount on gas, an attendant circled about the pumps distributing coupons and gas cards as well! The initiative also provided for the Food Banks Canada by sponsoring one meal for every fuel purchase made.

Snacks/meals of the week included O-Sulloc Green Tea Milk Spread over Whole Wheat Toast, Calbee Granola with Cold Brew, and the grave mistake of Vegemite smothered liberally over toast.

Australia's national spread was a shelf-stable, yeast-forward paste tinted like molasses, yet tasted of salt, sodium, and more salt. The funkiness definitely lingers as well.
The inside of my mouth stung from the sodium content, eventually requiring half the spread to be scraped off before the bread could be consumed. Not even sweetened condensed milk nor plenty of water could nullify its savoury impact.

Creations of the weekend included:

1) Mugwort Madeleines

I've been meaning to continue my expedition in Decoding the Decadent. Many, many instances of mindlessly munching on couverture chunks later though, my yearnings had shifted in the direction of a deeper profile - ideally one that was nutty or earthy. The idea of crafting cookies had also been replaced with making madeleines, as the batter could be constructed ahead of time to reduce day-of labour.

In roughly reading Sunday Baking's foolproof Madeleine recipe, I compiled the ingredients, but set out to execute in a different manner. Sunday starts by mixing the eggs with sugar and honey, incorporating the two without aerating. Next come the flavouring components (lemon zest, vanilla), the dry ingredients, then finally milk and butter.

To contain the batter within one vessel, I start by melting butter in a heatproof bowl. Sugar and honey are added immediately, taking advantage of the residual heat to assist in their dissolution. After whisking vigorously to incorporate, the eggs and egg yolk are added. Milk and vanilla extract follow, then finally the dry ingredients. As a consequence of forgetting to reduce the total amount of flour to accommodate the addition of mugwort powder, I haphazardly added in a splash of milk to prevent the batter from become too dry and gritty.

​Final ingredient amounts are as follows:

• 110 g unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 85 g granulated sugar
• 30 g honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 15 + 19 = 34 g milk
• 125 g AP flour
• 29 g mugwort powder
• 5 g baking powder

Yield: 25 madeleines

​​This batter was transferred to a large piping bag and allowed to rest in the fridge overnight (about 12 hours). When morning arrived, the pans were buttered and batter transferred to the countertop to thaw. Due to minimal surface area inside the piping bag, the first few attempts to pipe the batter did not provide favourable results.
Batter that was too cold emerged gritty and rigid. By placing the piping bag on top of a warm stove, the batter was aggressively warmed to enable fluidity. I succeeded in achieving a few beautiful swirls, though rapidly saw dissolution of the butter in the batter, which caused excessive softness and a looser consistency than desired.

​The 20-count was baked in my ever-unreliable standard oven, while the five-count in my countertop convection oven. The latter rose beautifully, but were found to have exaggerated humps and a somewhat dry cross-section - indicators of exposure to forceful heat and potential overbaking. On the other hand, the ones in the standard oven revealed odd shapes, minimal rise (no trademark humps), and minimal browning. Aside from the inconsistent internal temperature, I was also guilty of cracking open the door on numerous occasions to swap pans between the racks and verify doneness of the Sesame Meringue Crisp that was being baked in parallel.

In an attempt to camouflage the wonky appearance, my bag of Blancor was withdrawn for tempering. Having previously seen success with Sunday's tempering tutorial, I returned to the video once more, noting the temperature for white chocolate to be 30 degrees instead of 31-32 degrees

Alas, despite adhering to both the depicted progress and meticulous temperature check, the chocolate adhered to the pan rather than the pastry. Strangely enough, the excess white chocolate that had been left to set on the side materialized into a perfectly snappy sheet, unaffected by fingerprints and room temperature storage. But why?!

​The madeleines themselves were quite tasty, neither too dry nor too moist after cooling. Bites of white chocolate complemented mugwort's naturally earthy tones splendidly, accentuating its depth while creating harmony. My only gripe: The dismal, crumbly visual.

2) Sesame Meringue Crisp

This wispy, nutty snack was actually a pleasant accident-turned-opportunity. Likely due to a rookie mistake somewhere along the path of forming meringue, my egg whites refused to whip. I could not proceed with a sponge cake wherein both volume and structure were dependent on adequately aerated eggs. Given the inclusion of sugar, I was unable to use the frothed egg whites for savoury applications; they couldn't be used to supplement protein content in meals either.​

Thinking quickly, I toasted the remainder of my black sesame seeds, plus a handful of white sesame seeds. After cooling slightly, they'd be folded into the mixture and spread as uniformly as possible on a Silpat-lined sheet tray. From this point, a slow baking process would dehydrate the slab until the complex aromas of black sesame seeds filled the kitchen.

​The slab was undoubtedly darker than the typical meringue kiss, which persists light in colour with minimal browning even after baking. While I could have opted to bake at a lower temperature for a longer duration, the aforementioned Mugwort Madeleines required a baking temperature of 350 F. I reckoned that my oven's drastic temperature drops would be sufficient in dehydrating the slab if it was placed in the lower third of the oven anyway.

​And I was right. While the thicker pieces featured pale centres and a woven, cotton candy-like structure, thinner sections were comprehensively golden. Regardless of thickness, the meringue crisp was flavourful and crispy, an exemplary presentation of the robust profile of sesame seeds. Being amusingly friable though, the slab required tremendous care in its transfer off the Silpat into a container.

3) Chocolate Ganache Sponge Cake

Its name may be a bit misleading, but the concept of pairing an exceptionally airy sponge cake with rich, luxurious chocolate ganache arose from a craving for chocolate and a desire for tender-crumbed cake. Truthfully, it is seldom that these textures be paired together. But my curiosity settles not for the conventional, and my kitchen is a playground for experimentation.

i) Whipped Ganache

Whipped ganache was prepared the evening prior, using an approximate 1:1.5 ratio of heavy cream and chocolate:

• 205 g chocolate couverture (Lindt Surfin)
• 319 g heavy cream
• 212 g heavy cream, for warming
• 107 g heavy cream, cold
• 21 g corn syrup

From previous trials, I commonly found the 1:1 ratio to be too soft for my liking, and upped the quantity of couverture as a consequence. Corn syrup was added to improve glossiness, though the omission of butter in the face of a thicker ganache eventually led to a rather coarse texture after whipping. That said, it frosted like a dream! Not only did it not cause shredding of the delicate cake sponge, but resisted at least five of my amateur attempts at smoothing.

ii) Sponge

Having received plentiful compliments from my Chinese bakery-inspired Raspberry Mousse Cake, I returned to Sunday's Strawberry Mousse Cake base once more. Composition-wise, the sole deviation was a few drops of almond extract (that ultimately did not materialize in the final product). Baking the entire portion of batter in a 6 in aluminum pan was a process-related variance; results were nevertheless fabulous though.
One could argue that the air bubbles were comparatively less uniform than before, but the airy consistency had been sustained without tremendous effort. It is noted, however, that the surface peeled off by itself after cooling inverted.

​As many know, decorating is not my forte. While I may strive, the outcome is often inferior to the imagined appearance.

​Swirls that flatten and sputter are not uncommon either, as all frosting types tend to become warm after exposure to my anxious palms.

All that said, the cake was still incredibly delicious. The voluminous cake layers juxtaposed the rich, intense ganache, providing an unexpected contrast of near-chiffon-like sponge and silky chocolate to rival that of truffles. For future iterations of whipped ganache, I'd consider a 1:1.3 or 1:1.25 ratio for improved smoothness.

4) Tart Shells

Between the Mugwort Madeleines (2 eggs + 1 yolk), Sesame Meringue Crunch (3 whites + 50 g sugar), and Sponge (3 eggs), there were two leftover egg yolks. By doubling SK's tart crust recipe, I crafted two discs of pâte sucrée - a newly learned term! - in preparation for seasonal fruit picking.

​This approach prevented wasting of ingredients without prolonging my already-lengthy period of active labour.