Monday Must Have: Le Creuset Pastry Brush

Picture from Sur la Table

I know there are many brands of silicone pastry brushes out there, but my favorite is the Le Creuset brand. I have several brushes in a few colors and each one looks brand new, even though I've had them for years.

Top 5 reasons why the Le Creuset Pastry Brush is a MUST HAVE:
1) Easy to clean & stain proof (the brush is removable from the handle and is dishwasher safe).
2) Heat resistant up to 800 degree F. (You may not ever be dealing with that extreme type of heat, but good to know that if you accidentally leave it in a boiling pot, it won't become part of your food).
3) Great for applying butter or egg wash to pastries; flexible but won't damage even the most delicate doughs.
4) Gentle on bakeware or cookware & will not scratch or leave unwanted bristles (as some synthetic brushes break off at times).
5) AWESOME color choices to match any kitchen!

Picture from Sur la Table

Which is your favorite color and which kitchen task do you use it for?

Harvesting the Grapes

After a long summer of canning many fruits and vegetables, the early fall produces one of the last fruits that need to be preserved; GRAPES!

We have put up grape juice for years, ever since I was a little girl. When the leaves begin to turn colors and the nights are cooler (but not yet freezing) it's time to pick them.

Putting up grape juice also happens to be one of the EASIEST canning processes of them all. Because the high heat of the steam, we don't need to process them in a Boiling Water Bath (which is one less step) because the juice is hot enough to seal the lids from the steam process. Plus, it's like my little reward after putting in so many hours of canning and now I can just sit back and let the Steam Juicer do all the work.

Making Grape Juice with a Steam Juicer

1) Fill the bottom pan up to the line with water. *Make sure that you check the water level during the juicing process and add more if necessary. You don't want it to run dry!

2) Wash grapes and drain off excess water before putting them into the steamer. Steams do not need to be removed.

3) Place grapes in the steamer.

*We place them higher than the top, as they will eventually cook down and you won't have to make as many separate batches.

4) As the water in the bottom compartment begins to boil, the steam will cook down the grapes and the middle compartment will begin to collect the juice. Steam over continuously boiling water (medium heat) for about 60-75 minutes, or until all the juice has been extracted from the grapes.

5) Have your prepared quart jars ready (hot and sterilized) for the juice. Using the tube on the side of the steamer, fill the jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

*You'll see some juice begin to fill the tube; don't worry because you have it clipped at the top and if you have the spout pointing up, the juice won't leak out.

*When you get close to filling the jar, use the clip to slow down the juice and be very careful, the juice is VERY HOT and can BURN you which is very painful.

6) Wipe the rim and place lids and bands on the jars. Set on a towel on the counter undisturbed for the next 12 hours to cool and seal.


*We made several types of grape juice (from left to right):

• The darkest one on the left is a mixture of cherry and grape juices.
• Then the next three jars are from concord grapes.
• The next two pinkish ones are also concord grape, but the juices were extracted earlier than the previous three. *The longer you let the grapes steam, the more concentrated (or darker in color) the juice will become.
• The next two jars are a combination of green and concord grapes.
• The final two on the end are from the green grapes only, and they make a white grape juice.

Mix Grape Juice:

*Because the grape juice is a concentrate, you will need to add the following:

Add sugar (about a 1/3 to 1/2 cup; to taste)
Add water (about 3 1/2 cups; to taste)

More Juice Ideas:

Use half of the prepared grape juice (with the water and sugar added) with cranberry juice and part 7-up. Very delicious and makes a nice drink for holiday celebrations (it's perfect that the grape juice is ready by Christmas time!)

*We have found that waiting about 3 months before using the juice, helps to develop a stronger flavor and allows the sediment (which is primarily crystals of tartaric acid) to separate from the juice and settle on the bottom of the jar. These are not harmful, just unappealing. When you pour the grape juice into another container, the sediment will stay at the bottom and you can discard it.

Monday Must (Have) Make: Homemade Fruit Syrups

Last week during the early hours of the morning, I was baking some dessert orders and when I looked out the kitchen window, I saw this beautiful sunrise! I quickly grabbed my camera and was able to capture a few pictures of a foggy, yet lovely sunrise.

With the fall season upon us, comfort foods seem to be very appealing and well, yes comforting. One of the things I love to make for dinner, is breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast, omelets, pancakes, and my favorite Belgian waffles. And what is a delicious topping? Homemade fruit syrups!

Last week, we canned over 40 quarts of grape juice (oh yes, I will be posting about the "fruits of our labors"--don't you just love a good pun?) and to make some room in our freezer for a meat order arriving soon, we decided to juice the frozen cherries we put up last year. Black cherries make a wonderful juice and a tasty syrup. Although we used a juicer/steamer to extract the juices, if you don't own one, you can still make syrup and it's very easy to make.

Cherry Syrup
Adapted from So Easy to Preserve, pg. 225

Yields = About 3 pints

3 cups prepared cherry juice
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
3 Tbsp. lemon juice

To Extract Juice
If you own a juicer/steamer, this is a great way to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. If you don't own one, here is a link that explains how to extract juices using a saucepan.

To Make Syrup
1) Sterilize canning jars. Combine ingredients in a saucepan.
2) Bring to a rolling boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
3) Pour into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.
4) Process 10 minutes in a Boiling Water Bath.
*If you will be using syrup right away, you don't need to process in a water bath. When the syrup is cool, store in the refrigerator.

Monday Must Have: The Bench Scraper

Today was a busy day and it included teaching great 4H group of kids (ages 7 to 13 years old) how to make French Galettes & Mini Turnovers, getting the rest of the grapes picked, and putting away the garden hoses and getting ready for the cold weather coming our way.

And this was how my day off went by so fast.

While I was teaching the group how to make Flaky Pastry Dough by hand, one of the parents asked me why I used the bench scraper instead of a pastry cutter. I love it when people ask me this question, because I think that sometimes this handy tool is often overlooked. I explained that ever since I began using one in culinary school, I've never gone back to a pastry cutter, because you can use this handy tool for so many steps in baking.

Here are a few ways you can use the Bench Scraper in your baking & cooking projects:

1) In making pie dough, it cuts cold butter quickly and then when you are finished with making the dough on a cutting board, you can use it to easily scrape up the leftover flour and clean up the board.

2) It's a great tool for dividing bread dough for loaves or rolls.

3) You can cut bars (brownies, shortbread, etc.) easily in a sheet pan, without scratching the pan like a sharp knife would do.

4) It's helpful when transferring delicate desserts to a serving tray or lifting pastries from the pan.

5) It also is a great way to chop some vegetables quickly and then use it to scoop up the cut vegetables to be used in cooking.

*Bench scrapers come in a variety of sizes and materials, I have several white plastic ones that are great for scraping bowls clean and not wasting any batter.

What task do you use your Bench Scraper for and why?

October is the Month of Birthdays

It's all about the birthday cakes this month. Most of the orders for October so far have been birthday cakes. A favorite cake design that many people love to order is the Gift Cake. I think that the idea of cake all wrapped up like a present is very appealing (like getting two for the price of one). I have to admit, it is one of my favorites to make and today's might be my favorite to date. The client ordered it for her friends that were both turning 50 and there was a surprise party being given for them.

She wanted the colors from the invitation to be incorporated in the design on the cake, so we decided on making the main color the apple green from the invitation.

I colored the fondant into the three colors; apple green, sky blue and navy blue and then cut out various sizes of circles.

Since the colors were bright and cheery, I wanted to only add small accents of black and that was in the slightly pearlized black sugar pearl details.

Around the base, I added the three colors (apple green, sky blue & navy blue) to accent the piping with sugar pearls colored to match the fondant circles.

I choose the gold cake board, since it was a nice contrast to the colors and because the recipient's were turning 50, which is usually denoted as the "golden years."

Gift Cake Details:

12-inch square cake is a Dark Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

Last, but not least, here's a little shout out to my sister who also has a birthday today--Happy Birthday Sandi Rae!! I hope you have a great one!