"He is not here"

In case you're one of those people who like to inject little lessons on the Faith into everyday life (or you happen to appreciate a bit of bad humor), you might like to join my family's tradition of enjoying cream puffs after Mass on Easter Vigil.

I ask you to use your imagination -a cream puff will be your reward at the end, so work with me here! The lesson comes from the structure of the bread; it's round - a little like a cave shape, and like the original Easter surprise, it's empty inside! The pun comes from the delicious filling piped into the center. Again, like the tomb on Easter morning your little caves are filled with something unexpected - the "odor of sanctity." I know, it's a stretch, but we like it, and it's a great excuse to make cream puffs.

This is one of those recipes that's easy to make but people are always impressed to learn you've done it yourself. In the cooking world this pastry is known as Pate au Choux.

Pastry Recipe:

1 cup water

3 ounces butter (unsalted, if it's available)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pinch salt

1 1/3 cup flour (bread flour, if you have it)

4 large eggs

1 or 2 large egg whites

Yield: Not enough. Make a double batch.

Just kidding - it makes about 4 dozen. But they're small so consider yourself warned.

Filling:

1 box of vanilla pudding made with 3/4 of the milk called for on the box so it's a little thicker than usual.

In a saucepan -Melt butter in water.

Add flour and stir vigorously with a whisk until ball forms or pulls away from sides of pan.

Remove from heat.

Cool slightly.

With an electric mixer, beat in eggs, one at a time.

Beat for about a minute until it looks glossy but no longer wet.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

I used a #60 food scoop, capacity- 1 tablespoon.

You can reuse the same sheet of parchment several times.

Bake at 400 º for 20 minutes.

Cool and use a pastry bag and piping tip to fill the breads.

Notes—bake until thoroughly browned and they will not flatten when cool. They keep their nice texture and height even when made a day ahead of time. I keep multiple baking sheets going at a time so I always have a cool one to put the next batch of batter onto. The breads can be made ahead of time and frozen. Do not fill until the day you'll serve them.

If you'd like to see this demonstrated, watch this two part lesson from the always entertaining Alton Brown:

Zeppole di San Guiseppe

translated and adapted from this source

Pastry cream:

250 ml of milk

3 egg yolks

60 gr of sugar (a scant 1/2 c.*)

20 gr of cornstarch ** (1 T)

the zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp. vanilla

Place the milk, lemon zest, and vanilla over medium-low heat and allow to a simmer. Meanwhile, cream the egg yolks and sugar together very thoroughly, then add cornstarch and continue to stir. ***Temper the eggs with the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly, then pour back into the pan and cook over very low heat, without allowing it to boil, until thickened. Remove from heat and chill.

Zeppole:

125 gr flour (~1 cup)

4 eggs†

100 gr butter (just less than a stick)

125 ml water

a pinch of salt

1 T. sugar

50 ml milk

marachino cherries

vegetable oil (if frying)

Place the butter, milk, sugar and water in a large, nonstick saucepan over low heat. When it starts to bubble, add the flour, a little at a time, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until mixed thoroughly. Remove from heat, and add the eggs one at a time, stirring each until incorporated.

If baking, pipe the dough in small swirls on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper (I used a ziplock bag with the corner cut off). Make them a good distance apart, as they will grow while baking. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 5-10.††

If frying, heat several inches of oil in a large pot or dutch oven and fry, turning once, until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Pipe chilled pastry cream onto the zeppole, garnish with cherries and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*The volume measurements given in parentheses are approximate, and I haven't tested them, so caveat baker.

**The recipe calls for farina bianca, literally "white flour", but that definitely wasn't enough thickening power, so it either refers to cornstarch or something not available in the US.

***The original recipe calls for a piece of lemon rind and one of vanilla bean in the milk. If you use that, you would remove them at this point.

†I used 2 whole eggs, plus the whites left over from the cream.

††The recipe actually says, as best as I can tell, 475° for 30-35mins, but that didn't seem right at all, so I swiped the baking directions from elsewhere. I also used the technique of poking each pastry with a knife after they were out of the oven to allow the steam to escape and keep them from falling, but as they're relatively flat to begin with, I'm not sure if this was worth the effort or not.

Homemade Ingredients

As much as we love to cook, the Church Ladies don't want to turn this into a recipe blog - especially when others do it so well. One if our favorites is the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen forum.

Today's theme is particularly interesting - it's all about recipes for making homemade ingredients. They have so many recipes contributed in fact, that this category now has a tab on their sidebar.

So next time you're out of brown or powdered sugar, Bisquick, buttermilk, ricotta or mascarpone (or Kahlua, Nutella, or Irish Cream), check there before making that trip to the store.

A cure for the winter blues

In the winter, there were bread and crumpets to be toasted in front of the fire and in the summer there were sardine sandwiches filled lavishly with raspberry jam or butter icing. Dolls were treated to a tea party too, from miniature sets of china... and in the nursery 'make-believe' went hand in hand with Garibaldi biscuits and cream fingers.

Although the green baize doors, nannies, and nursery maids have become a thing of the past, the practice of giving children a combined tea and supper still continues with sandwiches, cakes, and biscuits forming the main part of the meal.
[The Book of Afternoon Tea]

Wouldn't your Junior Church Ladies enjoy a tea party supper for a bit of fun on a cold winter's night? Here's a list of tea sandwich recipes for inspiration. Happy baking!

Image: Gianbattista Gigola, Portrait of the Daughters of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, 1807

My favorite thing

If Therese's favorite appliance is her kitchen scale, mine is definitely my stand mixer. I use it most often for making pizza, but the homemade bread, pastries, turn-overs, and Chinese dumplings have let me make home-made convenience foods for less money and better nutrition than store-bought products. Icing and whipped cream stay much fluffier; meringues are a snap. The construction is solid and powerful.

The attachments connect right into the mixer proper, so you don't end up with a series of stand-alones. Options include a pasta roller/cutter, ice-cream maker, food mill, and more.

The biggest down-side to a stand mixer is the cost. I was lucky; the department store my wedding china came from offered a 5% gift card of the total registry purchases, so I paid less than $20 for Max the Mixer. But between Black Friday sales, Craigslist, and manufacturer rebates you might be able to score a deal.

Happy mixing!

Belated Epiphany baking

I held my annual Epiphany party this past weekend (much belated because the local schools weren't in session.)

A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Mid'ian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
[Is 60, 6]

My vintage cookie press has a camel plate.
What better time to use it?

The marzipan top for the cake. A few other people also brought desserts, so I skipped making the traditional buche de noel, and made a layer cake instead. I stuck the plastic baby Jesus in after baking.

And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
[Is 60, 3]

I supplemented the flowers with clementines around the vase.

A POD Christmas

My favorite gift this Christmas was this beautiful cookie mold depicting the Three Kings. The molds can be used for cookies, marzipan, or filled with fondant for a cake top.

House on the Hill sells a wide range of these molds, including many lovely images in the "Faith" category, which includes everything from the days of creation to Adam and Eve to scenes from the life of Christ to the saints and the sacraments. Check them out to add some beauty to your next domestic church celebration.