Fashion Pie: It's All About Layers - Seven Layer Red Velvet Cream Pie

Long ago I worked at a couple of restaurants. Both of them happened to specialize in pies. At one of the restaurants they served Boston Cream Pie, which I love, but they served it with a twist on the old cake version. They actually had a pie crust on the bottom. It was extremely tall and I loved it.

As I was thinking about what to make for my contribution to my Pies as a Fashion Statement Theme for this month's You Want Pies With That? Event, I kept coming back to that pie. I've always had an issue with the fact that it seems like when people are looking for a dessert to be a show stopper for an event it doesn't seem like pie gets enough attention. Since that is what this event is all about to me, I decided to make my take on the Boston Cream pie, with some more fall-like colors and flavors.

As for the fashion part of things, with me, it is all about layers really, and solid colors. I'm not really much for patterns or prints. If you look in my closet, you might find a few, but not really. More likely you'll find a lot of dark colors and solid fabrics. Fall is especially my favorite time of year for fashion because this is when I can really layer a bit more and bring out some more colors that work together. Among my favorites are creams, dark browns, reds, whites. So, that is what you get here.

To reinvent my Fashion Pie I went with lots of layers of flavor too. This pie, I must say, turned out really fantastic. As you can see from the lame interior pictures I had no patience and had to dig in. If you make this, just let it chill for a couple of hours before cutting into it... or accept the fact that it is going to ooze all over itself and cut away. Either way, I guarantee this is one delicious show stopper of a pie.

So, here are the layers. This pie was a bit involved to make, but all the different components can be made ahead at different times, then held and assembled when you have time.

Top Layer: Chocolate Ganache
Layer 5: Red Velvet Cake
Layer 4: Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Layer 3: Red Velvet Cake
Layer 2: Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Layer 1: Chocolate Ganache
Bottom Layer: Pecan Tart Shell

The recipes aren't in order of how I made them, but below is the order I think is best to make the components in. I actually did this over a couple of days to break up the work. I'm also posting the actual assembly of all the components at the end so that it makes sense as to how this works.

Day 1:
Make first: Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream (because it has to chill)
Make second: Chocolate Ganache (because it has to chill)

Day 2:
Make first: Pecan Tart Shell (because it has to chill, bake and cool)
Make second: Red Velvet Cake Layers (because they have to bake and cool)

Pecan Tart Shell
(Adapted from Epicurious)
1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
raw rice for weighting the shell

Make the shell:
In a food processor grind coarse the pecans with the sugar and transfer the mixture to a bowl. In the food processor blend together the flour, the butter, and the salt until the mixture resembles meal and add the flour mixture to the pecan mixture. Add the ice water, toss the mixture until the water is incorporated, and press it onto the bottom and up the side of a 9-inch (1-quart) tart pan. Chill the shell for 1 hour, prick it all over with a fork, and line it with foil. Fill the foil with the rice, bake the shell in the lower third of a preheated 425°F. oven for 10 minutes, and remove the foil and rice carefully. Reduce the heat to 375°F., bake the shell for 12 to 15 minutes more, or until it is golden brown, and let it cool on a rack.

Chocolate Ganache
(Adapted from Epicurious)
6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1/4 cup heavy cream

For the Chocolate Ganache:
In a small metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water melt the chocolate with the cream, stirring until the mixture is smooth, spread the mixture in the bottom and halfway up the side of the shell, and let it cool. Chill the shell.

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
(Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home To Yours) - Recipe coming soon

Chocolate Ganache
(Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home To Yours) - Recipe coming soon

Red Velvet Cake
(Adapted from Paula Deen)
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 ounce red food coloring
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well.

Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla.

In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 2 (8 -inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place in pans on a rack to cool completely.

Assembly:
Measure about 3/4 cup of the chocolate ganache into a small heatproof bowl. Leave the remaining ganache out to come to room temperature or loosen enough to be spreadable. Heat over a small pan of simmering water, enough to loosen it and make it pourable. Pour the warmed ganache into the tart shell. Place the shell into the freezer to chill and harden, about 3o minutes (more if you want very defined layers).

When the shell is well chilled, remove it from the freezer and remove the outer ring of the tart shell and place the shell onto your dessert platter, with a good sized rim to catch any excess ganache.

Measure about half of the pastry cream into the tart shell on top of the chilled ganache and spread evenly.

Place one of the cake layers on top of the pastry cream. Gently spread a thick layer of the remaining pastry cream on top of the cake layer and top with the remaining cake layer, placing the layer with the bottom of the cake at the top for the most smooth surface.

Gently stir the remaining ganache a few times with a rubber spatula to make smooth and spreadable. Pour gently onto the top of the cake and gently spread to almost the sides of the cake layer. Push just to the edge to let it slowly glaze down the sides a bit.

Place the whole thing in the refrigerator to set before serving, at least 1 hour (or, as I mentioned before, cut and take the messy consequences).

Daring Bakers in August: Chocolate Eclairs

Welcome to the August 2008 challenge. This month's hosts were Tony Tahhan and MeetaK! MeetaK chose a recipe from her "darling sugar daddy Pierre Hermé" from a cookbook written by Dorie Greenspan: Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé . While Meeta has had this book for ages. I have wanted it for ages, so I although the recipe is here for me to make and as I reminder, the month got away from me and I haven't been able to make it yet.

So, make sure to check out the other Daring Baker's blogs for their creations. My apologies to our hosts and all for waiting til the last minute and nissing the boat! I promise to be back on the ball next month!

Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

- Éclairs consist of 3 elements:- Pâte à Choux, also known as Choux Pastry or Cream Puff Dough
- Pastry Cream
- Chocolate Glaze

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(Makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 4 1/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes: The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:

1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(Makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together veryquickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your hand mixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:

1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stopping) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:

1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(Makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(Makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar 1)

Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:

1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.

2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.