Two of my favorite flavors come together right here, in this Coffee Caramel Panna Cotta, which offers up the rich flavor of caramel with a few strong shots of espresso. I seem to have good caramel karma and when I baked professionally, the executive pastry chef at one restaurant told me that I was the one she wanted to make the caramel desserts since I had a knack for getting caramel just right.

While I was flattered, in reality, caramel isn’t that hard to make. Like riding a bike, or when you wake up one morning and they upgrade the software on your phone for whatever reason, there’s a learning curve. (However, I still haven’t figured out how to use my photo editing software. Someone recommended a book that’s a whopping 533 pages long, but honestly, can’t they just make these things more intuitive?)

Unlike unintuitive tech, once you get the hang of making caramel, you know the pitfalls and issues that can arise, and you’ll feel like a pro when you take a taste of the finished caramel dessert and realize – whether a chef tells you so or not – that you’ve done a good job. You are a good person, and I know you can do it, too!

Here I use a dry caramel with no liquid added; it’s just sugar. The picture above may look scary, as in “What do I do wrong?” But dry caramel is pretty foolproof. I’ve given tips on making caramel here, but the basic action starts with spreading the sugar in a wide pan or deep saucepan (use a good-quality one for best results as thin pots and pans don’t heat evenly), heating it until it starts to liquify, then stirring it gently as you go, until it’s completely liquified.

Once it’s liquified, keep gently stirring it, and start watching carefully as things will now move quickly and you want to pay close attention to what’s going on in the pan. Don’t let anything distract you as a few seconds can make all the difference. Make sure the warm cream ready to go.

The caramel quickly goes from what it looks like above, to what it looks like below. When the caramel is bubbly, amber-colored (the color of an old penny), and smells just slightly smoky – as in, if you let it go a few more seconds, it’ll burn – turn off the heat and immediately add the warm cream to stop the cooking.

You want to get it to just the right color, aroma, and flavor where it’s cooked enough so it’s in the middle ground between being not sugary sweet, but not burned either. (I recently did a caramel video tutorial on Instagram that you might find interesting where I explain and demonstrate it in detail.)

Once the caramel is done, and the cream has been added, it’s hard not to want to pour the caramel below in a bowl and spoon the whole thing up. Right?

I made this Coffee Caramel Panna Cotta recipe a few times the past week, playing around with different amounts of espresso and caramel. The caramel made with 3/4 cup (150g) sugar is more caramel-forward and made the coffee flavor a little less-prominent in the finished panna cotta. So I gave you a range to choose from in the recipe.

Panna cotta is different than its custardy counterparts as it’s made with gelatin rather than eggs. There’s no water bath or constant checking in the oven to check for doneness. Although the name in Italian means “cooked cream,” the dessert has a relatively light profile since whole milk is used, rather than all cream. Here I use just enough cream to ‘stop’ the caramel (whole milk can curdle in caramel) then I add whole milk later, although lowfat will work, too. I’m not against lowfat milk. Nor am I against decaf if you want to use that.

When I had to give up coffee for a while, I turned to an instant roasted grain-based substitute, which can fill in for coffee in baking, too. Just make it as strong as espresso. Most natural food stores and well-stocked supermarkets carry different brands of them. If anyone gives you a hard time for not drinking coffee, which happened to me when I had to give it up, many espresso bars in Italy offer caffè d’orzo made with roasted barley. And anyone who wants to argue with Italians about anything coffee-related, let me tell you, it will not end in your favor.

Once you’ve mastered caramel, chocolate curls are always fun to try, which you can make by either scraping a chef’s knife down a bar of milk or dark chocolate. If using dark, use one that’s not too cold or the curls will shatter. Pastry chefs will sometimes rub a chocolate bar briskly up and down with their (clean and dry) hands to warm it up a bit before trying to make curls.

Place the block longwise at the edge of the counter you’re standing at and, holding the bar in place against you with your waist, holding the handle and the top of the blade, scrape curls toward you with the knife at a near 90º angle, angling the blade just a bit away from you as you drag it down. You don’t have to press down very hard and after few tries, you’ll find the angle and pressure that works best for you. Of course, be careful dragging the knife toward you and make sure the blade is facing away from you. You can also use a sharp swivel-bladed vegetable peeler and make shorter curls by running it down the long side of a chocolate bar. Once again, milk chocolate is softer and easier to use than dark if you want more cohesive curls. But there’s no shame in shards, either.

As mentioned, I made a few batches of this Coffee Caramel Panna Cotta before settling on the proportions here. I know some of you may have questions about using gelatin and gelatin substitutes, which I answered here. In Europe, sheet gelatin is more prevalent but sheets vary in size and in strength, ranging between five different strengths. The best approximation here would be to use two sheets of gelatin: a general rule is 3 sheets of gelatin equals one 1/4 ounce (7g) envelope gelatin. To use sheets here, soften them in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes then wring them out and add them to the warm (not boiling hot) caramel mixture after you’ve added the cream.

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Coffee Caramel Panna Cotta

If you want a fuller caramel flavor, use the 3/4 cup (150g) of sugar to caramelize in step 2. The caramel flavor will be a bit more pronounced than the coffee flavor but I tried it both ways and like it, for different reasons. And you can use lowfat milk rather than whole milk, although it'll be less-smooth, but I wouldn't call this an overly rich dessert.

It goes without saying that the stronger the espresso, the more forceful the coffee flavor will be. I tried it with a few long (allongé or lungo) shots of espresso as well as espresso made in a moka pot, and both were good. If you don't have an espresso maker, use good-quality instant espresso powder dissolved in hot water. Taste and make sure it's quite strong as it'll be diluted later with the other ingredients. I've mentioned some coffee alternatives in the post.

I've not had experience using agar-agar, but fish-based gelatin is available and is said to work the same as standard gelatin. For more on gelatin, including using sheet gelatin, check my post on how to use gelatin. If you do try sheet gelatin, or another type, feel free to share how they work out in the comments.

When done, because these aren't baked, you can simply pour the finished mixture into coffee or espresso cups or other decorative glasses. The number of servings will depend on how large or small you make them. The recipe plug-in I use to write up recipes so they're printable doesn't allow me to add a range of serving sizes (which I learned when they kept disappearing after I added them...) but this recipe will make 4 to 6 servings.

Course Dessert

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250ml) whole milk (lowfat can be used)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 2/3 - 3/4 cup (130-150g) sugar (see headnote)
• 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream warmed
• 1/3 cup (80ml) liquid espresso
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

• Pour 1/2 cup (125ml) of cold milk in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin granules over it in an even layer. Set aside for at least 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to soften.
• Spread the sugar in an even layer in a medium skillet or wide, deep saucepan. Warm the sugar over medium heat until it starts to liquify. (Generally it'll start to liquify in certain spots, depending on your pan.) When it starts to melt, gently stir the sugar with a heatproof utensil so it liquifies evenly. It will get grainy as you stir it, but as you continue to cook it, it should smooth out as it begins to take on a light amber color.
• Continue to cook the sugar, swirling the pan more than stirring it, until the caramel starts to smoke and is a deep amber color. Smell the caramel and when it just starts to smell smoky, turn off the heat and add the warm cream gradually, stirring, until it's incorporated into the caramel. If there are any lumps, continue to stir the mixture until the lumps are melted. (You may need to rewarm the mixture over very low heat to get them all melted.)
• When the mixture is cooled down a bit, until it's the temperature of a very warm cup of coffee, add the softened gelatin and stir until dissolved, then stir in the remaining 1/2 cup (125ml) of milk, espresso, vanilla, and salt.
• Transfer the mixture to a large measuring cup so it's easier to pour, and divide it into custard cups or glasses. Depending on the size of servings you want, choose whatever cups or glasses you'd like to use. Chill until firm, about 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.

Notes

Serving: Serve the custards cold, on their own or with a dollop of whipped cream. They can be decorated with chocolate shavings, a sprinkle of cocoa powder, or toasted sliced almonds.

Storage: The custards will keep for up to five days in the refrigerator. 

I wasn’t planning on beginning this post for a pie recipe with anything other than a story about how much I liked it, encouraging you to make it. (Which I’ll get to later.) But after I had started writing it, several neighborhoods in Paris came under attack, including mine, and I put everything on hold.

Cafés and restaurants that I knew, and areas that I frequent, were targets, as was the area around the theatre where my outdoor market is, which suffered the worst of it. Everyone I know is okay, but others were not so fortunate. It’s a crazy world we are living in and often we just see it on television and switch the channels to something more entertaining, so we don’t have to think about it. But when it happens right outside your door, or in a city that you love so much (whether you live there or are just an occasional visitor), you can’t avoid the shock and the grief. In addition to some introspection, my hope is that this will bring a conversation and dialogue that will somehow address why – and how – this happened, and where to go from here.

I couldn’t think of a very good transition from the heartbreaking tragedy, to pie, and I’m not used to being short on words, so I’ll just say that I was happy to have this pie sitting on the counter after all that happened this weekend. It made us feel a little better.

Some say baking heals and while I’m not much for catch-phrases and slogans, it did feel nice to be rolling out some dough to have a pie around. And a new one to me, at that. A few years ago I gave pecan pie a makeover using dark chocolate chunks, which came out so well that it became my go-to pecan pie.

But with the upcoming holidays arriving, I was perusing First Prize Pies from Allison Kave of Butter & Scotch, looking for another pie to make for the fêtes, and landed on her Bourbon ginger-pecan pie.

As luck would have it, in addition to a bag of beautiful pecans, I also had a bottle of Knob Creek smoked maple bourbon that was so good that it was freaking me out. It was a gift from my bourbon-loving friend Elizabeth Karmel and I was looking for an opportunity to crack it open. Recent events make me realize that you don’t necessarily need to squirrel everything away until another time or save it until later. Maybe now it that time.

This dialed-up pecan pie won first prize at the Brooklyn Pie Bake-Off, and if you’ve visited Brooklyn in the last few years, you’ll know that there’s some heavy competition out there in the cooking and baking categories. So that’s saying something. Allison noted that a heavy hand with the bourbon is always appreciated. (And I agree.) But it’s also special because of the triple-whammy of ginger, courtesy of a handful of candied ginger, a spoonful of dried ginger, and a dose of freshly grated ginger in the nutty filling.

It was hard to interrupt him while he was eating the pie so ravenously. But when he came up for air, Romain said it was the best thing he’d ever eaten. And that’s coming from someone who’s often looked at me quizzically when served some of the foods associated with Thanksgiving that perplex the French: Gravy? Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix? A one-week obsession with cranberries? Marshmallows? Sweet potatoes? Marshmallows and sweet potatoes together?

It helps that he, like any sane person, loves maple syrup, as well as fresh and candied ginger, which the French call gingembre confit. I gotta say, I loved this pie as much as he did. The zing of ginger really took it up beaucoup de notches, not just one notch, and the shots of bourbon helped temper what is traditionally a rather sweet dessert, which this pie isn’t. Or wasn’t, I should say. Because it’s now long-gone.

Whipped cream is always the classic to serve with pecan pie. If you’re looking for an ice cream to pair with it, I recommend white chocolate-fresh ginger ice cream, or it might also be nice with milk chocolate ice cream instead, if you’re someone – like me – that has a hard time imagining dessert without chocolate. And if that’s the case, bourbon always plays a good second fiddle to chocolate. The pecans and maple syrup-rich filling are an added bonus.

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Pecan Pie with Bourbon and Ginger

Adapted from First Prize Pies by Allison Kave I loved the idea of adding three kinds of ginger to pecan pie and using maple syrup as a sweetener. If you don’t have maple syrup, you can go with golden syrup, which is available in well-stocked supermarkets (depending on where you live), or online. I’ve not used it, but some recommend sorghum syrup as another substitute. Because I’m like that, I veered from the original proportions a bit. One was that I added a few more pecans, and toasted them first, adding an additional handful to the baking sheet to make up for the ones that I nibbled on. ; ) I also added some melted butter to the filling to give it a little extra silky richness. If you don’t want to use bourbon, dark rum would be a nice substitution, as would Cognac or rye whiskey. If you want to leave out the liquor, just add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and a few drops of lemon juice to counterbalance the brown sugar and maple syrup. Although I didn’t do it, you could brush the rim with an egg wash – one egg yolks mixed with 1-2 teaspoons of milk, and brush it over the rim before baking the pie. If glazing the rim, it may need to be covered during baking if it gets too dark before the filling is done. You can fashion strips of aluminum foil to cover the rim of the pie if that happens.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 1/4 cups (175g) flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces (115g) chilled unsalted butter cubed
• 3-4 tablespoons ice water

For the pecan pie filling

• 1 cup (215g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (125ml) dark amber maple syrup
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons melted butter salted or unsalted
• 3 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground (dried) ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (225g) pecans lightly toasted, very coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup (50g) candied ginger finely chopped

Instructions

• To make the dough, mix the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (The dough can also be made by hand, in a bowl with a pastry blender, or using your hands.) Add the chilled butter and mix or pulse the dough until the butter is broken up into small pieces about the size of peas.
• Add 3 tablespoons of ice water and mix until the dough begins to come together. If necessary, add 1 more tablespoon of water if the dough needs it to come together. Turn the dough out on a work surface and give it a few turns with your hands. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, or between two pieces of parchment paper until it’s about 13-inches (33cm) in diameter. Brush off any excess flour and transfer it to a 9-inch (23cm) pie plate or pan. Tuck the overhanging edges under, between the rim of the pie plate and the dough, and crimp the edge of the dough. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm.
• To bake the pie dough, preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Prick the pie dough a few times with a fork. Line the pie dough with aluminum foil and fill halfway with beans, rice, or pie weights. Bake until the dough is set and starting to get lightly golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Lift out the foil with the weights and bake until the dough is well-browned, about 5 to 8 minutes more. Turn the oven down to 350ºF (180ºC).
• To make the filling, in a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs, melted butter, bourbon, fresh ginger, ground ginger, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the pecans and candied ginger.
• Pour the filling into the prebaked tart shell and bake until the center of the pie is seems just about set. It should still jiggle a little. Begin checking it at the 40 minute mark, but it may take 45 to 50 minutes to reach that point of doneness. Remove it from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Notes

Serving and storage: Pecan pie is best served at room temperature and it’s easier to cut when it’s cooled completely. Although it’s no slouch if slightly warm, as long as you don’t mind the pieces looking a little sloppy. Ice cream or whipped cream are fine accompaniments.

The dough can be made up to two days in advance and refrigerated, or frozen for up to two months, either unrolled, or rolled out and fitted into the pan.

The baked pie can be kept at room temperature for up to four days. I’ve not frozen pecan pie but it can probably be done, if well wrapped.

Related Recipes

Cranberry Raisin Pie

How to make candied ginger

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Apple Harvest Tart

French Apple Cake

During the current lockdown in Paris, you can still get most things at the supermarket. True, there’s less of a selection as some items are more popular than others; butter, of course, is popular, and so is flour. Fortunately I always have a good stock of both on hand, lockdown or not, but I did neglect to replenish my chocolate supply. But the pasta and rice aisles have suffered the most damage, and the selection of what’s available has been sparse.

Since I’m limiting my time going out, and food shopping, the other day I went to the frozen food store, Picard. Everyone in France loves Picard, although I’m usually happy to dice an onion and don’t need to buy frozen pre-diced onions, nor do I need to buy ice cream. (Theirs is rather good, but I’ve usually got several batches of my own in the freezer.) But I was craving pizza and they have a frozen one with arugula and speck that’s pas mal, as they say in French, which actually means “not bad.” However frozen pizza seems to be as popular as rice and pasta, so I had to get another kind that wasn’t so great (pas terrible.) But I did pick up a bag of those onions and some ground beef because I’ve also been craving Pasta Bolognese, and they were there, and so was I. So I caved.

Continue Reading Pasta Bolognese...

When it comes to baking and desserts, one doesn’t necessarily think of salt as a flavor. But more and more, I keep considering, and reconsidering, the role that salt plays in just about everything I bake. And because I keep both salted and unsalted butter on hand – I can’t imagine my morning toast without a little salted butter spread over the top – I’ll sometimes reach for the salted variety when tackling a baking project or making dessert.

I wasn’t the first person to put salt on dessert; people from various cultures have been sprinkling salt on fresh fruit for ages. And many pastry chefs, as well as some big chocolate companies, have gotten in on the “salt in chocolate” act as well.

But I’ve gotten so used to sprinkling it on sweets that sometimes if I’m having my last course in a restaurant and I think the dessert needs a little perking up, you’ll find me looking around the table for a little bowl of flaky sea salt. Salt is so important to me that I’ll sometimes carry a little wooden box of fleur de sel, which when I’d bring out in restaurants, my co-diners would give me a look as if I was being pretentious. (Then – of course – they’d ask if they could have a pinch too.)

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