Despite what you might have heard, preparing delicious, attractive, gluten-free and low sugar-desserts is not that hard.
For years I’ve been trying out different methods and using new ingredients in my quest to come up with alternative recipes. So you can imagine how excited I was a few weeks ago when I came across Sophie Deli in Hod Hasharon. At this gluten-free establishment you can find every kind of dessert you’d find at any other bakery, without having to compromise on flavor, texture and appearance. Moreover, Sophie makes everything with less sugar. Right away I was entranced and wanted to taste everything and find out how she makes all these delicacies.Learn more about Pascale's Kitchen here>>
Pastry chef Sophie Saragosti immigrated to Israel with husband, Alex, and two children five years ago. Back in France she completed a bachelor’s degree in literature and had been planning to do another degree in film. Then a friend asked her to help out with her catering business, since it was known that Sophie loved to cook. And the rest is history. Instead of continuing with her university studies, Sophie switched gears and registered at L’Ecole Hôtelière de Paris and embarked on an internship for famed chef Alain Ducasse. Trained as a pastry chef, she began working in three-star Michelin restaurants in Paris. When she and Alex began toying with the idea of moving to Israel, he too decided to switch gears and began studying food technology.
Soon after arriving here, they found out their younger son had celiac disease. At first, they were disappointed he would be unable to enjoy all the tasty food he was used to eating. Researching what it meant to eat only gluten-free foods, they discovered that many gluten-free flours contain unhealthy amounts of sugar. Thus the couple set out to develop their own gluten-free flour.
The unique flour they created is a mixture of almond, whole rice and corn flours, with a little teff and other ingredients mixed in. Sophie succeeded in producing incredible Napoleon cakes and puff pastries with this special dough. Three years ago she opened Sophie Deli, where she sells sweet and savory French-style pastries and baguettes that look and taste as if they were made with regular wheat flour. Sophie also sells her special flour, and notes that her recipes can be made with other gluten-free flours sold in shops.
Pour the orange juice into a pot and bring to boil over a medium flame.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar and corn flour. Temper the egg mixture by slowly adding the hot orange juice to it. Then pour mixture back into the pot and bring to a boil while stirring constantly, until cream has thickened. Remove from the flame, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.
In the bowl of a mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the chilled egg mixture and then add the seeds from the vanilla bean. Put the bowl in the fridge.
Roll out the filo dough on baking paper that was sprinkled with flour. Prick the dough with a fork and then transfer it with the baking paper to a baking tray. Cover it with another sheet of baking paper and then place another baking dish on top of it that keeps the dough flat while it bakes. Bake for 8 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 180°C.
Remove the tray from the oven and sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar. Place the tray back in the oven so the cake can brown a little.
Cut the cake into strips that are 25 cm. long and 5 cm. wide. Place them on your work surface and spread the orange Chantilly cream on two of them. Then, cover one of the strips with cream with the other strip that has cream on it. On top, place a third strip.
Turn the long cake on its side.
Transfer the cream to a pastry bag with a flat tip and squeeze the cream to make mounds on the top of the cake. Adorn the top with pieces of orange, candied orange peel pieces and nana leaves.
Level of difficulty: Medium-difficult.
Time: 40 minutes.
Status: Dairy.Napoleon with orange Chantilly cream (Photos: Pascale Perez-Rubin)
CARAMEL CREAM PUFFS
Makes 12 puffs.
Dough:
125 ml. water
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
50 gr. butter
80 gr. gluten-free flour
100 gr. eggs (you might need another half egg to reach the desired texture, which is similar to mayonnaise)
Toppings:
1 egg, beaten
½ cup pearl sugar crystals, which doesn’t dissolve during baking
Salted butter caramel:
200 gr. sugar
180 gr. sweet cream, 38% fat
75 gr. salted butter, cut into cubes
Pinch of salt
Diplomat cream:
200 gr. sweet cream
250 gr. prepared Chantilly cream (use directions explained in Napoleon recipe)
To make the cream puffs, pour the water into a medium pot and add the sugar, salt and butter. Mix while heating and bring almost to a boil, at which point you should remove the pot from the flame and add the flour to it all at once. Mix quickly with a spatula until smooth and there are no more lumps. Continue mixing until the dough thickens. Remove from the flame and let it sit for five minutes so the dough can dry a little more.
Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on medium speed. Gradually add the eggs while mixing until dough is smooth. Preheat your oven to 240°C.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a flat tip (number 12). Line a tray with baking paper and squeeze out 5 cm.-diameter balls of dough, with space between each one. Drip the beaten egg on top of the dough balls using a fork, and then sprinkle with pearl sugar crystals.
Put the tray of puff balls in an oven that has been preheated to very high temperature, and then turn the oven off and let the dough balls rise for 15 minutes. Set the oven to 180°C and bake the puffs for 20-25 minutes until they turn golden brown. Remove them and let them cool completely. Cut off the top 1/3 of each puff.
To prepare the salted caramel, pour the sugar into a small pot and heat over a low flame until it turns amber-colored. Heat the cream in the microwave a few seconds at a time and then add it to the caramel while mixing carefully with a whisk until it’s smooth. Remove from the flame and add the butter cubes and the salt. Mix well. Let cool for 30 minutes.
To prepare the diplomat cream, whip the cream with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold in the prepared Chantilly cream and let cool for 10 minutes.
Add a spoonful of caramel to each puff bottom. Transfer the diplomat cream to a pastry bag with a star nozzle and squeeze out cream on top of the caramel to fill up the bottom puff. Then place the top sections of puffs on top of the cream.
Level of difficulty: Medium-difficult.
Time: 90 minutes.
Status: Dairy.
TIGRÉS COEUR CHOCOLAT (CHOCOLATE HEART TIGERS)
This is Sophie’s gluten-free version of a recipe created by French pastry chef Cyril Lignac.
Makes 8 servings of mini-Savarin cakes.
120 gr. butter, melted
145 gr. sugar
75 gr. ground almonds
115 gr. egg whites
58 gr. gluten-free flour
45 gr. chocolate puffed rice
Chocolate ganache:
85 gr. sweet cream 38% fat
70 gr. bittersweet or milk chocolate, broken into small pieces
10 gr. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Melt the butter in the microwave a few seconds at a time, then let it cool a little. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar with the ground almonds and then gradually mix in the egg whites. Add the gluten-free flour and then gradually pour in the melted butter. Mix until smooth. Add the chocolate puffed rice and mix well.
Grease a mini-Savarins cake pan and pour in the dough. Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 170°C for 10-15 minutes until the cakes have turned golden brown. Let the tray cool on a wire rack.
To prepare the chocolate ganache, pour the cream into a pot and bring to a boil. Put the chocolate pieces in a bowl and pour the boiling cream on top of them. Mix until smooth. Add the butter cubes and mix well. Fill the inside of the mini cakes with the chocolate ganache and place in the fridge for them to set.
