Dominican
Figs
Ingredients:
==========
1 pound of whole, firm, figs /
washed well and dried
1 cup of granulated white
sugar
1 cup of water
Flavorings for the syrup (I like
to use cinnamon stick, vanilla bean and a little lime
zest)
Procedure:
=========
1- Boil sugar and water and
flavorings for 7 minutes
2- Add figs and simmer gently
for 5 minutes (time will vary depending on ripeness and size of
figs)
3-transfer figs to cool,
flavored syrup
Dominican Republic food
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"Pan de
Maiz"
--------------------
Makes 2 loaves
---------------------
INGREDIENTS:
===========
2 1/2 cups yellow corn
meal
1 1/2 cups all purpose
flour
3 tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
8 ozs. Unsalted butter
2 cups of grated fresh coconut /
grated fine
1/2 tsp anise seed
(optional)
1/2 cups evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh coconut
milk
4 large eggs / whisked
well
PREPARATION OF FRESH GRATED
COCONUT & FRESH COCONUT MILK:
===================================
1. Split 2 dry coconuts* in
half; drain and reserve the water
for another used.
2. Separate / scrape the white
coconut meat away from the brown
outer coconut shell and then
grate the meat using a food processor
or a hand grater. Reserve your 2
cups of freshly grated coconut.
3. Allow the remaining freshly
grated coconut to infuse with 10 oz.
of milk for at least two hours,
then strain using cheesecloth,
squeezing out all the
liquid..or...all the "goodness".
4. This is your coconut
milk.##
PREPARATION OF THE CORN
BREAD:
===============================
1. Sift all the dry ingredients
together.
2. Cream the butter until it is
light and fluffy and then gradually
add it to the dry
ingredients.
3. Add the grated coconut and
anise seed (if using) and mix well.
4. In another bowl gently
combine the evaporated milk, coconut milk
and the well whisked
eggs.
5. Add the combined milk and
eggs from step 4.
6. Mix thoroughly, beating for
two minutes.
7. Grease two 9" x 5"
loaf pans and fill with the mixture. The mixture
should be very soft, like a
thick batter.
8. Bake in the center of a
preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about
30 minutes.
9. The bread will shrink away
from the sides of the loaf pans and turn
golden brown on top when done.
To check for complete completeness pass
a wooden skewer into the center
of the loaf and if it comes out dry the bread is done.
<< =========Comments,
footnotes and explanations follow below ======= >>
* Can usually be purchased at
Latin American, Cuban or Dominican grocery
stores called
"colmados".
## Unsweetened canned cream of
coconut or coconut milk may be substituted,
but is not recommended.
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Here is a recipe for the
Dominican National Cake. It is a local version of
Pound Cake. Typically it is
split in half and filled with fresh pineapple jam
and then dusted with powdered
sugar or covered with Creole Meringue which
can be left naturally white or
given a quick browning under the flame of
broiler or hand torch.
Also included is the
modification to make this into a coconut cake and another
different recipe for Coconut
Cake from Chef Hugo Patron.
CAKE or SPONGE
INGREDIENTS
¥ 1 LB. Butter
¥ 1 LB. Granulated
Sugar
¥ 10 Whole eggs
¥ 1.5 lbs. Cake
Flour
¥ 1/2 Oz Baking
Powder
¥ 1/2 Oz Vanilla
extract
¥ 1 cup Fresh Orange
Juice
¥ Dash of salt
TO PREPARE The CAKE
1) Cream butter and sugar
together for about 10 minutes at medium high
speed using an electric
mixer.
2) Add eggs 5 at a time to the
above mixture and beat each addition for
about 1 minute or until well
incorporated.
3) Sift all dry ingredients
together and then ADD them to the above wet
ingredients. At medium speed,
mix and combine
for 5 minutes.
4) Then add the vanilla extract
and the orange juice and continue to mix
for about 2 more
minutes.
5) Bake in a preheated oven at
400 degrees F. If you have a convection
oven bake at 350 degrees
F.
MERINGUE INGREDIENTS
¥ 5 oz egg whites (about 10
egg whites)
¥ 10 oz powdered
sugar
TO PREPARE MERINGUE
Place egg whites and powdered
sugar in a very clean, greaseless and dry
mixing bowl and at high speed
mix for about fifteen
minutes or until the whites
become a stiff consistency.
NOTE:
The normal ratio of egg whites
to powdered sugar, BY WEIGHT is 2 parts
sugar to 1 part egg white. So,
for example, if
you have 5 ozs, of egg whites
use 10 ozs. of powdered sugar.
Medium size eggs should have
about 1/2 an oz. of egg white
each but it is best to weigh
when using this procedure.
TO SERVE CAKE
¥ Split cake in half and
spread with the pineapple filling.
¥ Cover cake with meringue
or powdered sugar and serve.
back to the top
" About 6 cups
1.5 cups /granulated
sugar
6 egg yolks
3/4 cups sifted all-purpose
flour
2 whole eggs
3 cups milk + 1 cup cream of
coconut (Coco Lopez or similar brand)
; brought to a boil
4 teaspoons vanilla
extract
1 tbs. butter, softened
# Bring the milk mixture to a
boil then remove from the
heat--be very careful not to
scorch this.
(stainless steel pans are not
recommended for this)
# Off the heat, in a non
aluminum, heavy bottomed sauce pan (enamel is good)
add all the sugar and then one
by one add
the egg yolks being sure to
(hand) beat well with a whisk or wooden spoon after
the addition of each of the 5
yolks to
insure that the sugar absorbs
the yolk. Gradual incorporation and absorption
will insure that the yolks will
not turn a red
color when heated and will also
maintain their quality.
# Continue to vigorously beat
this sugar+egg yolk mixture until it turns pale
yellow-almost white in color and
has a
consistency that is thick,
smooth and creamy.
# Now beat in the flour with one
whole egg. Beat until the mixture is smooth
and homogenized and then add the
other
whole egg and beat until fully
incorporated.
# Place milk mixture back on a
heat source to bring to a boil. While this is
happening, place the enamel
heavy bottomed pan
onto a heat source at a low
setting, to warm the contents up a bit
(be sure to be stirring this as
you do it).
# Pour the boiling milk into
this mixture all at once, stirring rapidly
to blend everything together and
then continue to cook
and stir, scrapping the bottom
of the pan constantly to avoid scorching
the pastry cream.
# When it begins to bubble, cook
for 3 minutes more and then pour the cream
through a strainer and then into
a bowl, add
the vanilla, stir to evenly
distribute, and then immediately butter the
surface of the pastry cream to
prevent a "skin" or
crust from forming. This can be
done by "painting" the surface with the
softened butter.
# If you would like a richer
pastry cream you can beat in and additional
1/2 cup of sweet butter when it
is lukewarm, in the
final bowl.
# This pastry cream will keep
nicely in the refrigerator.
NOTES__ The quantity of sugar in
a pastry cream recipe will vary depending
on what the cream will be
sweetening so if it
is used to fill a cake it does
not have to be really sweet because the cake's
sponge is also sweet.
Dominican Republic food
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COCONUT
CAKE
by Chef Hugo
Patron
1# butter
1# sugar
1# flour
10 eggs
8 oz grated coconut
1 teaspoon banking
powder
2 cups milk
1tbs vanilla
1tbs coconut flavor
TO PREPARE The CAKE
1) Cook the cake at 350 degrees
F.
2) Cool down and cut in three
pieces
3) Fill with regular pastry
cream
4) Ice with meringue
back to the top
About 6 cups
----------------
1.5 cups granulated
sugar
6 egg yolks
3/4 cups sifted all-purpose
flour
2 whole eggs
3 cups milk + 1 cup cream of
coconut
(Coco Lopez or similar brand) ;
brought to a boil
4 teaspoons vanilla
extract
1 tbs. butter, softened
1. Bring the milk mixture to a
boil then remove from the heat--be very careful
not to scorch this. (stainless
steel pans are not recommended for this)
2. Off the heat, in a non
aluminum, heavy bottomed sauce pan (enamel is good)
add all the sugar and then one
by one add the egg yolks being sure to (hand)
beat well with a whisk or wooden
spoon after the addition of each of
the 5 yolks to insure that the
sugar absorbs the yolk.
Gradual incorporation and
absorption will insure that the yolks will not
turn a red color when heated and
will also maintain their quality.
3. Continue to vigorously beat
this sugar+egg yolk mixture until it turns pal
e yellow-almost white in color
and has a consistency that is thick,
smooth and creamy.
4. Now beat in the flour with
one whole egg. Beat until the mixture is smooth
and homogenized and then add the
other whole egg and beat until fully incorporated.
5. Place milk mixture back on a
heat source to bring to a boil. While this is
happening, place the enamel
heavy bottomed pan onto a heat source at a
low setting, to warm the
contents up a bit (be sure to be stirring this
as you do it).
6. Pour the boiling milk into
this mixture all at once, stirring rapidly to
blend everything together and
then continue to cook and stir, scrapping the
bottom of the pan 7.# When it
begins to bubble, cook for 3 minutes more
and then pour the cream through
a strainer and then into a bowl, add the
vanilla, stir to evenly
distribute, and then immediately butter the surface
of the pastry cream to prevent a
"skin" or crust from forming. This can be
done by "painting" the
surface with the softened butter.
8. If you would like a richer
pastry cream you can beat in and additional
1/2 cup of sweet butter when it
is Luke warm, in the final bowl.
9. This pastry cream will keep
just fine in the refrigerator.
NOTES__ The quantity of sugar in
a pastry cream recipe will vary depending
On what the cream will be
sweetening so if it is used to fill a cake it
does not have to be really sweet
because the cake's sponge is also sweet.
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Dominican Republic food
offers excellent desert recipes.
