Out & About #1168 | Pecan Phenomenon + Ma Lai Goh (Round 4)

With time, Pecan Pie has become one of my signature creations. Mastery had not come easy, though I'm glad to declare that a lunch hour at home was all I needed to achieve a splendid slice of fresh pie. Having a pre-shaped pie crust in the freezer helped of course.

I had forgotten the whiskey this time around, but at long last achieved the desired crust thickness without much shrinkage. Par-baking the crust from frozen definitely assisted with preserving integrity.

My schedule permitted participation in a Monday evening Zumba class. I arrived early, hoping to use the empty studio for warm-up and practice. The instructor turned around, seemingly shocked to see someone in the same space. She noted that, while I could use the space in her presence, I should not use the room alone, as I could be liable for any missing equipment.

Her stern remarks had me slightly taken back, causing me to approach the start of her class with caution. However, her attitude transformed entirely when the music started. Embodying high-energy Latin fundamentals with toning exercises woven in between, I was impressed with the challenging but cheerful session. It was precisely what I hoped for: a fun, sweat-filled Zumba session.

​Heading to the office enabled me to inform colleagues about my impending departure. As anticipated, the wretched scrap of feculence had not initiated any communication with neither the immediate nor extended team, let alone handover procedures! Consequently, due diligence was enacted on my part.

​The remaining mall lunch walks are now numbered.

Although I revel in conducting errands during off-peak hours with complimentary underground parking, the shift from a sleepy, suburban setting towards a busier, grimier urban centre is necessary for personal growth (and sanity).

"We invent barriers and we invent challenges." But we can also invent solutions.

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1) Ma Lai Goh/馬拉糕 (Round 4)
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A variation of 馬拉糕 strictly using Taiwanese black sugar resulted from an impromptu decision to create and a general impatience to wait for slab cane sugar to dissolve over low heat. With a significant increase in surface area, I deduced that black sugar would dissolve more readily to form a sugar syrup, thus reducing the lengthiest step of active labour. Furthermore, the output product could potentially garner a darker hue (compared to past trials) and enhanced robustness.

Once again, Papa Fung's guideline served as the foundation, and my converted version as the control recipe

Ingredients:

• 155 g Taiwanese black sugar
• 250 ml water

• 3 eggs​

• ​5 g / 1.5 tsp instant yeast
• 20 g warm water​​

• 220 g cake flour
• 30 g custard powder
• pinch of salt​

After fermentation​

• 30 g milk powder
• 5 g baking powder
• 1.5 tbsp / 21 g unsalted butter, melted
•  ̶1̶/̶2̶ ̶t̶b̶s̶p̶ 1 tsp lye water * use caution!!
• vanilla extract

​Yield: 1 lofty 8 in x 8 in square cake

Consistent with my predictions, relying solely on Taiwanese black sugar indeed resulted in a darker hue and improved flavour. That said, it is important to note that, due to the stark increase in surface area (and increased moisture content), the resulting amount of syrup amounted to 399 g - about 40% more than when using a 1:1 ratio of rock sugar/slab sugar and Taiwanese black sugar. This 112 g increase in liquid resulted in plenty of surface foam when whisked vigorously to combine with beaten eggs. Agitating a mixture with a high proportion of liquid readily resulted in surface foam, however it was a mandatory step to prevent the eggs from scrambling due to hot syrup. Frankly, the foam was hardly a concern as the mixture would be strained once before fermentation anyway.

By using 1 tsp of lye water, the Ma Lai Goh attained sufficient rise and a beautiful structure without unwanted alkaline qualities and lingering acridity on the tongue.

While depth of flavour was enhanced by increasing the quantity of black sugar, this variation lacked the distinct, aromatic qualities of cane sugar. The treat was also observed to be incredibly soft and fluffy on the day of steaming, but succumbed dense the following day, even after microwaving.

​Suffice to say, I will be reverting to some combination of slab cane sugar and black sugar for gustatory and olfactory successes.

2) Pecan, Chocolate Chip + Butterscotch Chip Mini Levain Cookies

Cookies are infinitely customizable, which makes them an ideal medium for ridding the house of any nuts or (chocolate) chips that are nearing expiry, or have been sitting unused for an extensive period of time.

With my departure from the suburban work environment looming, it was in my best interest to deplete as many ingredients as possible with a baking reputation established. Crafting a larger quantity of baked goods than usual would also serve the purpose of bidding farewell.

Sunday Baking's Levain Cookie recipe was doubled and scaled up by 5%. Walnuts were swapped for pecans and chocolate chips (or my customary choice of chopped couverture) were subbed with a combination of The Decadent's version and Nestle Toll House butterscotch chips.

Ingredients:

• 250 g unsalted butter, softened
• 125 g dark brown sugar
• 114 g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 320 g AP flour
• 15 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• 242 g The Decadent chocolate chips
• 46 g Nestle Toll House butterscotch chips
• 170 g pecans, chopped

Yield: 40 cookies, 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop

​The cookies definitely puffed more than they spread, likely due to the quantity of baking powder. Mix-ins were abundant, so I opted out of topping each mound with a hexagon of Surfin or Blancor, as I usually do to encourage an indulgent first bite; there wasn't much dough to begin with.

Browning was impressively uniform on the underside, with the edges attaining a satisfactory crunch and the interior boasting airy, Levain-like qualities.

3) Pecan Frangipane Tart with Oat Crust

​Having reached the Aprons in Action minimum donation amount required to submit an original recipe, I was excited to commence prototyping, effectively tying in testing of an oat tart crust with my pecan depletion mission.

The recipe was adapted from Sunday Baking's Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart (Members Only), involving the following adjustments:

• Swapping ground almonds for toasted, ground pecans in the frangipane
• Incorporating oats into the tart crust for a fibre boost
• Eliminating the cream cheese cream, strawberries, and meringue kiss garnishes for a streamlined Pecan Frangipane Tart

A) Tart

The Oat Tart Crust posed the biggest challenge, for incorporating oats into a roll-able sheet is not nearly as straightforward as adapting a cookie recipe to include rolled oats.

Oatmeal Cookie recipes used for reference utilized the following quantities and ratios:

• 190 g AP : 231 g oats = 1 : 1.21
• 95 g AP : 120 g oats = 1 : 1.26
• 80 g AP : 140 g oats = 1 : 1.75

Consequently, I initiated testing by using a ratio of 1 AP flour : 1.3 oats. This equated to 57 g of AP flour and 74 g of rolled oats. As Sunday's recipe had accounted for an 8 in tart crust, I scaled up by 1.19x to fit my 9.5 in pan.

Ingredients:

• 119 g unsalted butter
• 60 g icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 100 g AP flour
• 74 g whole grain rolled oats
• 15 g almond flour
• pinch of salt

Alas, the dough ridiculously soft and became tacky even in a cold kitchen. Increasing the amount of AP flour to 100 g assisted in alleviating some of the stickiness, though the dough was still difficult to handle. After rolling between two layers of parchment as directed, the sheet was transferred to the fridge to chill for about 1h.

​Extensive periods of chilling was not recommended, for the sheet merely becomes rigid and resistant to shaping. Thankfully, the dough softened readily after being removed from the fridge. In just five minutes, the tart crust was soft and malleable again.

B) Pecan Frangipane

​Pecan frangipane is, by no means, a revolutionary concoction. In fact, it has existed for at least 18 years based on SK's archives. ​Having no desire whatsoever to use both a whole egg and egg white though, I adhered to the "Almond Cream" component of Sunday's Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart recipe.

Ingredients:

• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 90 g icing sugar
• 100 g toasted, finely ground pecans flour
• 2 eggs
• 18 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp gold rum
• 2 tsp vanilla *opt
• pecan halves for garnish *opt
  

Fourteen pecan halves were reserved to adorn the top of the tart. Visually prominent before baking, they eventually became submerged within the puffed frangipane after baking.

I compared my finished product against an AI rendering, in which the surface was depicted brimming with pecan halves. Admittedly, I found this amount to be overkill, as being too liberal could lead to endless chewing with counterparts of an oat crust and a frangipane constructed of toasted, ground pecans (not finely milled almond flour). 

​When sampled warm, the filling is extremely fluffy but lacking in complexity; meanwhile, the crust is a tad soft and oozes grease. The slice was lighter on the stomach than envisioned, but beckoned the addition of chocolate for improved depth and minor boost in sweetness. Several hours later, after the tart had cooled thoroughly, the filling had settled and came to embrace the subtly sweet, slightly gritty denseness synonymous with frangipane. Moreover, the oat crust was no longer greasy, albeit somewhat crumbly on the underside. The craggy qualities were maintained, contributing to a splendid toothsomeness. I'd also advise against adding too many pecans to the surface, for being too liberal could lead to endless chewing with counterparts of an oat crust and a frangipane constructed of toasted, ground pecans (not finely milled almond flour).

​Both components had exceeded expectations. The oat tart crust, in particular, was confirmed as a viable creation - not simply a concept conjured in my mind.