“By baking you show that it’s a party,” says Rudolph.
TV chef Rudolph van Veen is not only a Master Chef, he can also bake like no other. On the way to a festive New Year’s Eve, his latest baking book comes at just the right time. With Elegance he shares his three favorite recipes, so that you can serve them on the table this New Year. Because, as he says: “By baking you show that it’s a party.”
Basic tips
When he was twelve years old, he went to culinary school and at the age of 17, Rudolph went to Switzerland to work as the youngest chef in a hotel. He is now a well-known TV chef who is the only Dutch person to hold both the titles of Master Chef and Master Pastry Chef. His second baking book was recently published: Rudolph’s Bakery 2. We share three recipes, so that you can put something delicious on the table for New Year’s Eve.
Before you start, Rudolph shares three basic baking tips:
- A good start is half the battle. Baking will be easier if you first take your time with the recipe while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea and imagine in your mind what the steps will look like. “You also prepare for a performance, right? So prepare well for baking and make room on your countertop. Then you can frolic through the recipe in no time.”
- Work neatly and tidily to maintain an overview. “Everyone wants to start working on a recipe straight away, but then you’re still half reading and your hands are already in the dough. While you still need something from the kitchen cupboard. That doesn’t work well.”
- Always do dirty work with one hand. “Just in case you have overlooked something and you need to go to the kitchen cupboard again.”
1. South American alfajores
For 24 pieces • preparation time 1 hour • waiting time approx. 1.5 hours
INGREDIENTS
Dulce de leche
• 1L whole milk
• 260 grams of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cookies
• 140 grams of butter
• 100 grams of icing sugar
• Zest of 1⁄2 lime
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 180 grams cornstarch
• 140 grams of flour
Decoration
• Cave sea salt, of your choice
• 25 grams of powdered sugar
Additional needed
• Kitchen thermometer
• Plugs of approximately 5 centimeters in diameter
PREPARATION
Dulce de leche
In a large wide saucepan, bring the milk, sugar and vanilla to the boil. Let the milk boil over low heat, stirring, until it has a light caramel color. This takes 1-2 hours, depending on the height of the heat and the size of the pan. Let the dulce de leche cool to room temperature.
Cookies
Mix the butter with the icing sugar. Add the lime zest, vanilla and egg yolks. Knead in the cornstarch and flour. Knead everything into a firm dough. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, wrapped in plastic wrap. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 3 mm. Cut out circles with a cutter. Place the dough rounds on a baking tray lined with baking paper. This recipe makes approximately 48 single cookies. Bake the cookies in the oven for about 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely.
FINISH
Divide the dulce de leche with a spoon or a piping bag over half of the cookies and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt, if you like. Place the rest of the cookies on the dulce de leche and press slightly. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
2. Italian lemon rolls
for 15 pieces • preparation time 2 hours • waiting time 24 hours
INGREDIENTS
Brioche dough
• 530 grams of flour
• 50 grams of sugar
• 14 grams of dried yeast
• 8 grams of salt
• Zest of lemon
• 200 milliliters of whole milk
• 50 grams of egg
• 50 grams of egg yolk
• 200 grams of butter
Lemon curd
• 120 grams of egg yolk
• 100 grams of sugar
• 120 milliliters of lemon juice
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 60 grams of butter
Lemon-almond glaze
• 130 grams of sugar
• 60 grams of almond flour
• 10 grams of sunflower oil
• 5 grams of cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1/4 lemon
• 40 grams of protein
• Lemon cream
• 600 milliliters of whipped cream
• 50 grams of sugar
• 200 grams lemon curd
Decoration
• 1 tbsp pearl sugar
• 25 GR POWDER SUGAR
Additional needed
• STANDING MIXER WITH DOUGH HOOK
• ROLLING PIN
• 15 JACKED SINGLE TARTELETTE MOLDS OF APPROX. 10 CM IN DIALOGUE
• PIPING BAG
PREPARATION
Brioche dough
Mix all ingredients except the butter in the standing mixer with the dough hook on low for 4-5 minutes. In the meantime, make the butter more flexible and elastic by gently hitting it with a rolling pin. Make sure the butter does not heat up. Turn the mixer to the middle setting and add the butter four times. Let the mixer run until the butter is completely incorporated and a nice, smooth dough is formed. Knead the dough until the mixer bowl is almost clean. Check whether the dough is nice and elastic. Place it in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator until the next day.
Lemon curd
Place all the ingredients for the lemon curd in a heavy-based pan and heat over medium heat while stirring with a whisk. When the curd thickens slightly, reduce the heat and continue stirring until the curd starts to bubble gently. Pour onto a plate, cover with plastic wrap and let it set in the refrigerator until the next day.
Lemon-almond glaze
Mix all ingredients except the egg white together in a bowl. Stir in the egg white little by little until you have a nice ‘slow running’ glaze. Store covered in the refrigerator.
*Lemon cream
Beat the whipped cream with the sugar until stiff and fold in the lemon curd.
COMPOSITION AND BAKING
• Take the brioche dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for 20 minutes. Butter 15 fluted single-serve tartlet molds. Divide the dough into pieces of approximately 70 grams. Roll out each piece into a round slice of approximately 6 mm thickness and spoon 1 tablespoon of cold lemon curd (approx. 12 g) onto each slice. Fold the dough around the lemon curd and carefully roll into a nice ball. Place the filled dough ball with the seam at the bottom in a mold. Cover all filled molds with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours at room temperature. The dough should then have doubled in volume.
• Preheat the oven to 175 °C. Using a spoon, spread the lemon-almond glaze over each dough ball. The glaze may run slightly downwards, but preferably not up to the tartelette mold, otherwise the dough will stick to the mold after baking. Sprinkle the dough balls with some pearl sugar and then generously with icing sugar. Bake the filled brioches in the oven for 20 minutes and let them cool in the tins.
• Fill a piping bag with the lemon cream. Cut the completely cooled brioches open horizontally with a serrated knife and fill them with the cream filling. Serve them as fresh as possible!
3. Monkey bread
For 6-8 people • preparation time 45 minutes • waiting time 1 hour and 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Dough
• 240 grams of whole wheat flour
• Pinch of salt
• 300 milliliters of whole milk
• 35 grams of coconut blossom sugar or light caster sugar
• 14 grams of dried yeast (2 bags)
Coating
• 15 grams of butter
• 120 milliliters of whole milk
• 120 grams of coconut blossom sugar or brown caster sugar
• 4 teaspoon cinnamon
Additional needed
• Standing mixer with dough hook
• Round baking pan of 22 centimeters
PREPARATION
Dough
Form the flour into a circle on the counter and sprinkle the salt on the flour along the outer edge. Pour the milk into the center of the circle and add the sugar and yeast. Wait 10 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble a little. Using your fingertips, mix everything together from the center and then add the flour little by little. Knead everything with both hands into an even and smooth dough for about 5 minutes. Or make the dough in a standing mixer with a dough hook. Let the dough rest while you make the coating.
Coating
Grease the baking tin. Melt the butter and stir it into the milk in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon. Grease the baking tin. Divide the dough into eight pieces and roll each piece into a rope. Divide each strand into ten pieces again and roll them into small balls. You now have eighty dough balls in total. Take one ball of dough at a time, dip it in the milk-butter mixture and then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Place the balls together in the buttered baking tin and let the dough rise under a damp tea towel for about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the Monkeybread in the oven for about 25 minutes. After baking, let the mold stand for 5 minutes and release the bread from the mold.
Source: Elegance archive | Image: Adobe Stock
