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Saturday, June 19, 2010

Victorian Tea Party--Cream Puffs and Ribbon Tea Sandwiches

The last thing we were studying in English was the Victorian Age.  They are known for their generosity and welcoming personalities and therefore every year the english 3 honors classes host a tea party for the rest of the school.  After searching for the recipe packets high and low in her class room, we finally found one! I got nominated to make the cream puffs (oy vey) and chose to make the ribbon tea sandwiches.  I had to make two batches of the dessert and a loaf of bread's worth of sammies.  

Since the tea party was Wednesday, I couldn't start baking the puffers until Monday. Luckily, both batches of mine puffed up pretty perfectly (with a few minor defects)! While yes, they do take time and probably was the biggest arm workout I had in a while.  

Ingredients per la puffers: Water, butter, flour, sugar, eggs

Add water

and butter in a pot

allow for the mixture to come to a boil, but stir a bit so it doesn't get all funky

add 1 cup of flour and stir (I used a spoon) Part 1 of the arm workout

now add 1 tablespoon of sugar and stir

remove the dough from heat and let it cool a bit, I kept stirring and mixing to get rid of all the flour specks. 

Crack three eggs into a small bowl

Give them a slight whisking--don't hurt the eggs (believe me your arms will be tired as it is!)

After a majority of the flour was incorporated I spooned some into hot dough into the eggs and stirred it around to temper the eggs

Then, pour VERY little eggs into the dough and stir stir stir!

Continue until all the egg is incorporated
Arm workout take 2

Now, spoon onto a greased cookie sheet.  I made this batch small but you can certainly make them larger (I did so in the next batch)
20 minutes in a 375 degree oven

Cut them in half and return to an OFF oven for a bit to dry them out

Remove from baking sheet and allow for them to cool completely before filling (dont worry--the pudding takes forever to cool too!)

Filling the puffs? Yes I said pudding before.  Over the years our teacher discovered that custard and teenagers doesn't always work so she has us filling the puffs with something else: A pudding mousey type thing.  Descriptive, I know.  

Anyways, here's what you'll need:
Chocolate and Vanilla pudding (the cooking kind), heavy whipping cream, milk (any kind to cook the pudding)

Make the pudding according to package instructions except use half of the milk! 

Recipe calls for 3 cups of the liquid calcium  however I used 1 1/2 for each box 

Pour the packet in an cook until it boils.  Stir stir stir! Otherwise a yucky film is born and well not good for pudding.  However, use a spoon, not a whisk.

Allow for them to cool in little plastic containers (fridge will speed it up--but not by much) Oh boy did it take long for the pudding to cool!

However, once the pudding is cool, grab the heavy whipping cream and whip an equal amount (to the milk used)  I used 3 cups total for both puddings so I used 3 cups of whipping cream.  

Then, divide equally into two bowls and add vanilla pudding in one and chocolate pudding in the other.

Fold each in, you DON'T want the whipped cream to deflate (that wouldn't be pretty)

I used two ziploc bags and cut a small hole in the corner of each.

Then used my fancy piping skills to fill each puffer 

They were surprisingly yummy! I ate a bunch while filling, you know, to taste test ;)

The chocolate creme had more flavor on its own however the vanilla tasted better as a cream puff.  I would definitely make these again, however, I would love to use a different recipe, one with more sugar and the squeezes real custard into the center.

Now for the sandwiches: my teacher told us we could use any white bread besides Wonder bread.  What do I use? Wonder bread.

Not that I'm defiant or anything I just didn't tell my mom no Wonder bread when she went to the store.  Were they soggy? Nope :)

Both my mom and I have always enjoyed the butter on one side and cream cheese on the other type of sandwiches so no surprise when we both enjoyed these!  I couldn't eat too many because I had to bring them in, but I did enjoy the white part still left on the crusties :)
Using the mini chopper, "blend" 4 oz cream cheese with 4 tbsp butter, 1/4 cup parsley, 2 tbsp chopped chive and salt and pepper to taste.  Spread a thin layer on to one side of bread and top with a plain slice.

Cut off the crusts and cut into triangles.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

These are just two of the many desserts and sandwiches present at the tea! My favorite was the lemon pound cake! Yummy in my tummy :) 

With love and cupcakes,
CookTeen

Recipes:
Cream Puffs
Ingredients:
1/4 cup water
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 eggs, beaten

Chocolate and vanilla pudding
Heavy whipping cream

Puffs: Melt the butter and water in a saucepan and continue until it comes to a boil.  Stir in the 1 cup of flour.  Remove from heat and mix in the sugar.  Allow to cool slightly.  Temper the eggs and little by little add the eggs into the hot flour mixture.  Stir constantly so the eggs do not cook!  Once all the eggs are incorporated and a homogenous mixture is formed, drop by tablespoon full onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and split each puff open while still hot, return to an off oven for a couple of minutes to dry the center out.  Allow to cool completely.

Filling: Make vanilla and chocolate pudding according to package directions EXCEPT use half of the milk! Store in fridge until pudding is completely cool.  Whip equal amounts of heavy cream as you used milk.  Example: 2 cups of milk used in the pudding, whip a pint of heavy cream.  4 cups of milk used for pudding, whip a quart of heavy cream.  Whip until stiff peaks form.  Fold the chocolate pudding into half of the cream and vanilla into the other half.  Fill ziploc bags with the pudding mixtures and cut a small hole when ready to fill.  Pipe onto the bottom puff and top with the top puff.  Filled puffs last about a day (otherwise they get soggy) in the refridgerator while the shells last 2-3 days stored in an airtight container.

Ribbon Tea Sandwiches
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 oz cream cheese (I used Philadelphia whipped)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
loaf of white bread

Combine butter, cream cheese, parsley and chives in a food processor and "blend" until green.  Salt and pepper to desired taste.  Spread and even layer on 1- slices of bread (1/2 of the loaf) and cover with the remaining slices.  Cut off crusts and cut into fancy triangles.  Makes about 32-36 triangles.

2 comments:

  1. To save your arms from a work out you can also just put your cooked dough in a stand mixer, turn on low and start adding your eggs. You can also put the dough mixture in a piping bag and form it in to whatever shape you like. I am in culinary school now and that is how we do it. I enjoy reading your blog keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tip! I will definitely try that next time! Any good recipes to share??!!

    With love and cupcakes,
    Cookteen

    ReplyDelete

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