pastry – morestomach

surely you know what i mean
when i describe the feeling of “behind”
the constant running in place
the lack of any kind of results
despite all the effort
it’s shitty, yo

my gpa passed some weeks ago
after living a full & long life
he is the first male role model i looked up to
he taught me how to buy cigarettes for him
at age 9
i learned to pick lottery numbers
by looking at license plates
he found a tricycle in the dumpster,
painted it fire engine red
and then stood outside for hours
while i furiously tryked around the courtyard
he was the personification of
grace, humility and love
when i first encountered our transgender neighbor,
a viewpoint that i hold most close & dear to my heart
to this day

this dessert is an ode to him
he introduced me to mille feuilles
many many many years ago
i have a life-long wish to taste
these treats in france one day
(dw are you reading this? let’s make it happen…)
normally this pastry is
layered with pastry cream
and then topped with a swirly
chocolate icing
i’ve lightened it up with
citrus curd
in an effort to move forward,
to go into the light

citrus curd mille-feuille – dairy free & semi-homemade
makes 3 3-layered napoleons

1 pkg of puff pastry, i used pepperidge farm as it’s pareve, i used just one sleeve, thawed

citrus curd –
3 eggs
1 TBL lemon zest
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 TBL of coconut oil

for the pastry:

preheat oven to 425F
the pastry is folded in thirds, unfold them on a lined cookie sheet. with a sharp knife cut into 3 strips, along already formed fold
for each strip, cut 3 even pieces. alternatively you can bake the strips, assemble the entire concoction and then cut it, up to you

lay out the pieces/strips on the lined cookie sheet and then layer with another piece of parchment paper. place another cookie sheet on top (this keeps the pastry from puffing up too much). bake for about 15-18 minutes, remove top sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes further, until lightly golden

remove from oven, allow to cool before assembly

for the curd:
in a saucepan, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest and honey, until lightly colored

add the lemon juice and the coconut oil, whisking constantly to prevent lumps and promote even melting

cook over medium heat, whisking consistently until mixture thickens

remove from heat, and if necessary, strain curd through a fine mesh sieve

fridge for a few hours to cool and thicken further, will keep for about a week

to assemble:
lay down first layer of pastry and smear on a healthy dose of curd, top with another layer of pastry and again, smear. top with final layer and top with powdered sugar.

bam!

i don’t read the paper much anymore
in this day & age
i get my news from the internet
the occasional radio or tv in the background
facebook
twitter
and from dw, who gets it from reddit
of all the outlets
newspapers are my favorite
the way the paper stains your
forefinger and thumb black
the way it is light but bulky
the sound it makes when you flip the page
you can’t get your news any other way

the thing is, though,
i don’t read the news from newspapers
invariably i turn to the advice columns
(i adored Dr. Abby as a kid)
and the birth & wedding announcements,
and then the obits
morbid i know
there is just something to reading
about beginning of life,
the beginning of a life together,
and then the ending of it
i like it

when dw & i made the decision to have a wedding
i knew i wanted to make our favors
it had to be something completely us,
that when people took it home
they would be reminded of us
blueberries are dw’s absolute favorite fruits
berry picking is something we enjoy doing together
and jamming was something i had always wanted to do

on july 4th,
with dear friends nuria & jesse, her husband
we picked 22lbs of blueberries
and then spent the next day jamming the entire batch
it took 6 hours
on september 28th
we handed out 4 oz jars
to every guest to take home
we have a few jars leftover
and they are obsessively hoarded
we’ve slathered them on vegan biscuits
eaten them by the spoonful
and on sunday, november 3rd
with our 2nd to last jar
i made jam danishes
we needed breakfast for the week
the jam had to be blogged,
in part to finally bring closure to the whole wedding thing,
and mainly because it’s so good
and i’m so proud of the work ~~i did~~ nuria did

i would imagine the birth,
life
and end of this jam to be quite successful
yes?

bluberry jam danishes ~ vegan
adapted from oh, ladycakes
*note: while i realize i went on & on about the jam, the recipe i’m posting is for the danishes. jam is jam, we didn’t really deviate from the recipe, which is linked below, but these pastries that highlight said jam. well. let’s just say that they are not hard to make, do not be intimidated by the steps/process, and for the record, i only did 2 turns and it came out just fine. boom.

Danish pastry dough
3/4 cup warm almond milk, warmed in microwave for 1 minute (admittedly, my microwave is weak, just don’t let it scald, but make it warmer than lukewarm)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 TBL sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 TBL vegan butter, cold (this will be used to form the dough)
1 cup vegan butter, room temp (this will be used to spread on dough)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup AP flour

Filling
1 cup good quality blueberry jam, in my case, it was homemade! recipe found here.

Icing
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lime juice

add the yeast and almond milk to a small bowl; stir to combine then let sit for 10-15 minutes, until foamy

in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flours, sugar, and salt; mix until combined

add two tablespoons of the butter, cut in small pieces, and continue mixing until the mixture resembles coarse meal, pour in the yeast mixture and mix on medium speed

add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour one tablespoon at a time (you may or may not need the entire 1/4 cup), and mix just until everything is combined. wrap the dough tightly with plastic and refrigerate for 90 minutes. (note: it will rise in the fridge, mine busted out through the plastic.)

sprinkle counter with flour and roll dough out into an 12X24″ rectangle . cover 2/3 of the dough with the remaining cup of butter. i took the butter out for an hour to bring to room temp, made for much easier spreading. fold the unbuttered third of dough over the buttered center, then over again. pinch the edges of the dough to seal and roll it out into another 12X24″ rectangle. repeat the folding process by folding the dough into thirds again, but without the butter.

cover with plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

do the rolling and folding and chilling thing 2 more times (technically, i only did it once more. i got lazy, went to bed early. whatever.)

refrigerate overnight.

the next morning, line baking sheet with parchment paper. dush counter with flour and roll out the dough into 9X18″ rectangle. (truth be told, i think i ended up with 10X18″ rectangle)

cut into 3″ squares, or whatever shape you want. i used my square biscuit cutters to maximize dough and not waste anything. transfer squares to baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes.

preheat oven to 375F.

once squares are chilled, use bottom of a 1/8 measuring cup to press into center. you want it slightly indented and there to be a small pit area for the jam. spread jam into pit, about 1 tsp or so.

bake for 15 minutes, until golden. cool on wire rack

make icing by stirring powdered sugar and lime juice. drizzle over pastries

will keep for up to 2 days in container, doesn’t have to be airtight

i baked 6 at a time, the rest i froze. to bake those, thaw overnight and then do the remaining steps the next day