Alice Medrich's simple low fat pastry cream and a Joconde imprime /entremets which is not!

T is convinced that I am obsessed with Alice Medrich. It's true- I am! It all began very innocently. I needed a quick baking fix and so made this batch of cocoa brownies which took about 20 mins to make, with really simple ingredients. Then there was this Mocha tart- again simple to make, but a decadent chocolate experience. Since then Alice has become my chocolate Guru. I was elated to hear about her chocolate patiserries here in the Bay area and then heart broken to hear that they were no longer open. So now my mission is to collect every single cook book she ever wrote and will, because she is pure genius and coaxes tremendous flavour out of very simple ingredients and that my friends, this magpie appreciates very much.


My favourite thing to eat these days is pudding. Warm, uncomplicated, familiar like a good friend, pudding. So the first thing I made out of Alice Medrich's gorgeous Chocolate and the art of low fat desserts is this pastry cream or chocolate pudding which is rich and sinfully decadent although it has no cream, no butter or other naughty ingredients- and gets its rich chocolate flavor from Cocoa powder!
I added some Baileys ( yes my other current obsession) as well as some coffee powder and was thrilled with the results. But you can skip that or add your own variations- like orange essence and a shot of triple sec maybe?


Recipe Source- Vanilla Pastry Cream from Chocolate and the art of low fat desserts by Alice Medrich
Ingredients  ( Makes 1-1/3 cups)
3 tbsp sugar + 1/4 cup sugar ( skip the 1/4 sugar to make vanilla pastry cream)4 tsp flour4 tsp cornstarch1 whole egg1 egg yolk1 cup low fat ( 1%) milk3/4 tsp vanilla extract1/4 cup cocoa ( skip to make vanilla pastry cream) I used Ghiradellis Natural cocoaOptional ( not part of original recipe but I think totally ooomphed it even more)2 tbsp Baileys Irish cream1 tsp instant coffee powderMethod:
Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch in a bowl
Add egg and egg yolk to the bowl and beat with a hand held mixture until the mixture is pale and thick (1 to 2 mins) Keep aside
Add the cocoa ( and coffee powder if using) and all the sugar with about 1/4 cup of the milk in a saucepan and make a paste with it making sure no lumps of cocoa remain. Now pour the rest of the milk and stir well.
 Heat the milk and cocoa mixture in a medium saucepan on medium flame until the edges start to bubble ( Scalding)
Pour hot milk gradually over the egg mixture whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from becoming scrambled
Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat stirring and reaching all corners and sides of the pan until it begins to thicken.
Continue to cook and whisk for 30 to 45 seconds
Whisk in the vanilla and Baileys if using.
Pour into little bowls and serve or cover keep in fridge to chill. If you don't like a thick "skin" to appear over the custard, then cover the surface of the pudding pressing cling wrap over the surface.


It can be eaten as is, or poured over ice cream or strawberries, into tarts or used as cake, napolean or eclair filling. Yes I see your eyes sparkle at the many possibilites! So did mine and I decided to use it as my filling of choice for my first ever Daring Bakers Challenge


I was so excited to be participating for the very first time, especially when I read about the challenge, posted by Astheroshe from the Blog, accro for a breathtakingly beautiful Joconde Entremets. It would be such a learning experience I had thought starry eyed. It was.


I learned:
1. That a joconde imprime (French Baking term) is a decorative design baked into a light sponge cake providing an elegant finish to desserts/torts/entremets/ formed in ring molds. A joconde batter is used because it bakes into a moist, flexible cake. The cake batter may be tinted or marbleized for a further decorative effect.
2. That wax paper and parchment paper are not the same thing. No matter what the guy at Target says.Stay away from wax paper. It will burn and melt and smoke and do crazy things over a temperature of 250 F.
3. That I can turn off the smoke detector with  the end of a  long spoon

Suffice to say my joconde was a tremendous flop- it cracked ( probably from being over baked)
and then the filling leaked out so it looked like this:



I feel embarassed and wretched and have been in a foul mood for the last two days. Especially after seeing the beautifully perfect creations the other Daring Bakers made. Look at Ria's dreamy Moca Bavarian cream Gateux  for example and Happy Cook created prefect beauties with here obedient joconde too.
Seeing these compared to my big flop only made me feel more determined and so I actually tried again. But this time the cake was too soft/ underbaked and wouldn't come off the baking sheet at all! Expletives were used and I may even have cried a little.Joconde imprime- I concede defeat. I won't be attempting you again. Unless maybe the third time is the charm?Hmmm no. Not for some time anyway! The wounds to my hurt pride have to heal :(
The only thing that can cheer me is the delicious cocoa pudding which we licked clean. An the best part? It only takes about 10 mins to make, and even less to finish off!

Recipe for the Joconde if you are daring enough is here
Am sending this to the Kitchen of love blogging event.

On that note, don't forget to send in your entries by tomorrow to the Kerala Kitchen blogging event featuring dishes inspired by Kerala