H: Hazelnut Dacquoises

Last weekend I had a lovely time in Manchester where I was visiting my friends Ailsa and Dave. It was so nice catching up and just taking it easy. They were also pet sitting so there were lots of cuddles to go around from Monty the cat and Mia the dog. I didn't get a chance to do any baking that weekend but thankfully I have a recipe and evidential photos for the hazelnut dacquoises I made a few weeks back when I was still in London. 

Once again I paid a visit to the pages of The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book: Essential Recipes for Today's Home Baker for this recipe. It is a really good book with a diverse selection of dishes (that all start with a variety of letters in the alphabet--perfect!) so it will probably be featured on here a few more times.  In this version of the recipe the dacquoises are prepared like cookies but there are recipes around where single tart-shape is formed; I am not sure which version is more traditional.
 
A more detailed description of this version is that it is a sandwich of two meringues with a hazelnut flavoured pastry cream in the centre. The yield is only 8 cookies (16 meringues) and although they were delicious, a lot of effort went into making them. One has to roast and de-skin the hazelnuts, bake the meringues, cook up the pastry cream, and then put everything together. When I copied down the recipe before I left home, I forgot to record the recipe for pastry cream that's at the back of the book.  Luckily I was able to find a recipe on the Williams-Sonoma website but I am not sure if it produces the same amount as the recipe in the book.  I am only mentioning this because there was A LOT of filling leftover. One is supposed to add extra ingredients to the pastry cream. It didn't seem like it was lacking in flavour but maybe it would have been better if the 'pastry cream' to 'extras' ratio was a bit higher on the 'extras' side.  So if you were to make these you could either halve the pastry cream recipe or keep it as is and just use what is leftover as topping for..say..pancakes? (mmmmmm...) Also, the recipe says to keep the dacquoises refrigerated but another option is freezing them. They are generally quite chewy but using the freezer gives them a bit of an extra crunch which is nice too.

I made these around New Year's Eve which I think was a very fitting occasion. They are decadent yet delicate and would be perfect for a holiday party. I am just a bit ashamed that I have taken so long to create a post for them. I promise that from now on I am going to try to tighten the gap in between the baking and posting processes just in case anyone in the nearby vicinity wants to try any of the leftovers. :-)

Ingredients:

PASTRY CREAM
1 cup milk
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ Tbs cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract


1 ¾ cups (9½ oz / 270 g) hazelnuts, toasted
2 ¼ cups (8 oz / 225 g) confectioners' (icing) sugar, plus extra for dusting
3 large egg whites, at room temperature (save yolks for pastry cream, below)
¼ cup (2 oz/ 60 g) granulated sugar
⅔ cup (5 oz/140g) plus 1 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tbs Cognac

For the pastry cream, bring the milk to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add the hot milk to the sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens slightly, 7 to 10 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks, then cook, stirring, until slightly thicker, about 2 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Add the vanilla, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Pastry cream will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 3 days. (Makes about 1½ cups.)

Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and toast in a preheated 350F (180C) oven until the skins start to darken and wrinkle, about 8 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, wrap in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove the skins. 

In a food processor/blender, finely grind ⅔ cup (3½ oz / 100g) of the hazelnuts and 1 cup (3½ oz / 100g) of the confectioners' sugar using short pulses.

Lower the temperature to 300 F (150 C). On a piece of parchment paper, draw 16 circles, each 2½ inches (6 cm) in diameter and 1½ inches (4 cm) apart. Put the paper, marked side down, on a 12-by-18-by-1-inch baking sheet.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on medium speed until they start to foam. Add a third of the granulated sugar and beat until the whites are opaque, then add another third of the sugar. When the whites start to become firm, add the remaining sugar and increase the speed to high. Beat until the whites form stiff peaks but still look wet. Carefully fold in the ground hazelnut mixture in 2 additions, making a hazelnut-meringue mixture.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch (1-cm) plain tip (or a plastic sandwich bag with a hole cut into one of its corners) with the meringue mixture. Starting in the centre of each paper circle, pipe a continuous spiral, filling the circles. Using a fine-mesh sieve (if available), dust the meringue disks with confectioners' sugar. Bake until the disks are browned and firm, 45-50 minutes. Transfer the disks, still on the paper, to a wire rack.

Using the electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (if available), beat the butter on medium speed until creamy.

In the food processor/blender, finely grind ¾ cup (4oz/110g) of the hazelnuts and the remaining 1¼ cups (4½ oz / 125 g) confectioners' sugar using short pulses. Add the ground nut mixture to the butter and beat until thick. Add the Cognac. Reduce the speed to medium-low and beat in the pastry cream in 4 additions.

Put half of the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain tip (or a plastic sandwich bag). Pipe the mixture on top of 8 of the meringues, dividing it evenly. Press the remaining meringues on top. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Using a spatula, cover the sides with the remaining filling. Chop the remaining ⅓ cup (2 oz / 60 g) hazelnuts and spread them on waxed paper. Roll each pastry in the nuts to coat the sides. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve.

Makes 8 Cookies