HOW TO FILL A PASTRY BAG
Whether you’re using a washable, reusable pastry bag or just a gallon-size zip-top bag, the principle of filling a bag to decorate snacks with marshmallow, frosting, or other sweet goop remains the same.
Fit the pastry bag with your decorating/piping tip of choice. If using a zip-top bag, snip no more than 1/2 inch off a corner. A coupler, or screw-together plastic tube, helps hold your piping tip in place and makes it easy to swap out different decorative piping tips. It’s absolutely not necessary for any recipe in this book, but it does keep your piping tip from accidentally sliding back into the bag as you work. Messy.
Place the tip end of the bag in a pint glass or small mixing bowl, then fold the open end of the bag down over the lip of the glass or bowl to form a wide cuff and hold the bag open. Spoon in your filling, using a silicone spatula or spoonula. Unfold the bag and lift it out of the glass or bowl. Gently press the filling down toward the tip and twist the bag’s open end to close it loosely and hold in the filling.
Pipe your filling at a 90-degree angle to the pastry or baking sheet. Use one hand to hold the twisted bag end closed and gently squeeze the filling, the other hand to guide the tip. For some, it’s easiest to squeeze with the dominant hand and guide with the weaker hand, but experiment until you know what’s comfortable for you. If you like, grab a tub of ready-made frosting from the store and try a few rounds on waxed paper to get the hang of the piping process.
ICE CREAM 101
I’m just going to come out and say it right off the bat: yes, you need an electric ice cream maker to make the ice cream recipes in this book.
I’ve heard the arguments from apartment-dwellers; I know the machine takes up space in your cabinet and the bowl takes up space in your freezer. I know it’s a uni-tasker, though I’d make a case that the sheer variety of flavors you can produce with a home ice cream maker far outweighs that fact. It only does one thing, but it does it nearly flawlessly. The problem with many alternative methods is that the texture of the final product is often closer to sorbet or granita than true ice cream. We’re going for full-fat creaminess with these recipes, because no one wants ice chunks in their ice cream sandwich!
My weapon of choice is the Cuisinart ICE-21 ice cream maker, which comes with two bowls—very handy for recipes such as Toasted Almond Bars (page 103) and Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwiches (page 101). (You don’t have to keep both bowls in the freezer 24/7.) If you’ve got another model or an ice cream attachment for your stand mixer, by all means don’t run out and buy a new one. Just check your manufacturer’s instructions to see how long a typical cycle runs. The following recipes are timed for a 20-minute machine freeze cycle, but your mileage may vary. Cuisinart also sells extra bowls for its ice cream makers via retailers such as Amazon, Chef’s Catalog, and Chef’s Central.
Once the ice cream’s made, you’ll need something in which to mold your pops and bars. Most of this chapter’s recipes use standard 3 to 4-ounce Popsicle molds. After extensive trial and error throughout the recipe development process, I’ll give two sticky thumbs-up to one brand: Tovolo. Its Groovy pop molds and star-shaped molds are ideal for these recipes, with wide-mouth openings that make it easy to fill the molds and then extract the frozen pops. They’re readily available from big-box retailers such as Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Walmart, as well as from Amazon.
If you’re not in the market for Popsicle molds—and if you only buy one piece of equipment for these recipes, my vote goes to the ice cream maker—Dixie cups are a decent, if not perfect, substitute. For the recipes in this chapter, the 3 or 5-ounce cups will suffice. (Though if you want to make massive 9-ounce Fudgsicles to get you through a humid summer, I’m not going to stop you!)
THE QUICK-COOL METHOD
Don’t want to wait 4 hours for your ice cream base to chill? Cool it down in minutes with this handy trick:
Transfer the liquid to a zip-top bag and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. Fill a large bowl with ice water and submerge the bag for 7 to 10 minutes, squeezing periodically, to cool the liquid.
DEEP FRYING 101
Working with boiling oil isn’t the medieval torture so many home cooks consider it to be. Like rolling out pie dough and shucking oysters, it’s a technique that becomes less nerve-wracking with practice and is simple when you’ve got the right equipment on hand.
Though you can lay out up to $300 for an electric deep fryer, the machine takes care of all your tools in one fell swoop. If you’re thinking about taking the plunge, look for a model that comes equipped with a digital temperature panel as well as a fry basket for easy dunking and removal of your goodies. Some models even filter and store the used oil for you, which is breading on the nugget, in my opinion.
But you absolutely don’t need an electric fryer to make the recipes in this chapter; everything has been successfully tested with the stovetop deep-frying method as well. For best results, here’s my method for frying on the stove:
Fill a deep, heavy-bottomed pot with canola or vegetable oil. Le Creuset or other enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens are perfect for the task, since they both distribute and retain heat evenly. Stainless steel stockpots and Dutch ovens are your second-best bet. Just make sure your pot has high sides and a sturdy bottom.
Don’t overfill your pot with oil. Once the food hits the hot oil, it’ll boil and bubble, and you’ll be in a lot of trouble if the oil starts pouring over the edges like a volcano. In all deep-frying recipes, I specify oil to a depth of at least 2 inches, since that’s generally deep enough to completely submerge the food as well as shallow enough to prevent boilover. My general rule of thumb is to use 1 quart of oil (that’s 32 fluid ounces) for every 3 quarts of stockpot capacity, and to make sure that the oil doesn’t come more than halfway up the pot’s sides.
Attach a candy/oil thermometer to the side of the pot, and make sure its tip is submerged deep enough to clear the “dimple” above the tip but isn’t touching the bottom of the pan. Bring the oil up to heat uncovered. Depending on your pot’s size, shape, and heat retention, this can take as little as 15 minutes or as long as 45 minutes.
Unlike a meat thermometer, which probably only hits 200°F max, a candy/oil thermometer is designed to register much higher temperatures and to stay immersed in the hot liquids it’s monitoring for long periods of time. Again, it’s a one-time investment, but there’s really no substitute for the safety and monitoring features it provides. It takes so much of the guesswork out of frying and working with hot sugar, and pays for itself in peace of mind.
Have your draining station at the ready. I take a cue from the inimitable Alton Brown and line a baking sheet with paper towels, then cover that with a wire cooling rack flipped upside-down to put the metal in direct contact with the paper towels. This helps wick away additional oil to keep fried foods crisp instead of soggy from hanging out in oil puddles.
Use a metal skimmer or a flat mesh strainer to flip foods and to simultaneously scoop up your goodies and drain excess oil back into the pot. Metal tongs work in a pinch, too (get it?), but the skimmers and strainers are wide enough that you can grab more than one piece of food at a time. And when you’re doing multiple batches of fried food, you want to get to the eating part as quickly as you can!
What Should I Do with the Leftover Oil?
When filtered and stored properly, that oil can be reused for your next crispy adventure. First, let it cool to room temperature in the vessel you used for deep frying. Don’t try to decant it into anything else just yet; simply move the pot off the hot burner and leave it uncovered until it cools.
Place a funnel in the mouth of a clean, sealable container. (The plastic jug your oil came in is absolutely perfect, if it’s empty—if not, a Mason jar, wine bottle, or seltzer bottle works equally well. Just make sure the container is large enough to hold all the oil.) Place a fine-mesh strainer or paper towel in the mouth of the funnel to catch any fried bits and bobs that might be clouding up your oil—they’ll make it go rancid more quickly.
With a friend’s help, if necessary, pour the oil through the strainer and funnel into the container, then seal. You can reuse the oil, filtering each time, until you notice it darkening significantly. Usually you can get about 8 to 10 uses out of your oil before it’s kaput, but frying foods with a distinct odor (such as seafood or salami) will leave a flavor on the oil from there on out.
When the oil’s no longer usable, don’t pour it down the drain! Cooking oil clogs pipes and sewers. Check earth911.com for local oil recycling facilities, or talk with a neighborhood restaurant about adding your oil to their recycling pickup.
Why Canola or Vegetable Oil?
These oils have both a high smoke point (that is, they won’t start to smoke and burn before they hit almost 450°F) and a neutral flavor that won’t interfere with the taste of your snacks. I love peanut oil, too, but it’s definitely got a taste. Don’t use olive oil; it’ll start to burn at 375°F.