How to make Carolinas from Bilbao

Instructions

Make blitz/quick puff pastry.

1. To see the detailed process accompanied by a video to make the blitz puff pastry, you can do so by clicking on this link.
2. Once we have done it we can leave it in the freezer for 30 minutes, covered with film, and proceed to shape the cakes or leave it in the fridge until the next day.

Stretch the dough and place it in the molds.

1. Lightly sprinkle a work surface with flour.
2. Stretch the dough, on this occasion we will do it until we achieve dimensions about 21,6 x 11,8 inches /55 x 30 cm.
3. With the help of a round cookie cutter and with a diameter slightly larger than that of the mould, cut the puff pastry.
4. Place the dough on the hollow of the mould, in my case I have used a muffin mould and curly brioche moulds of 3,9 inch / 10 cm diameter, and we carefully adjust it.
5. Repeat the same process with the rest of the molds.
6. The dough leftovers are kept wrapped in film and inside a bag, they can be used to make a base for a cake, small tarts ...
7. Refrigerate the molds while preparing the filling.

Make pastel de arroz filling.

1. In a bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat. We must integrate both ingredients.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time and wait until the first one is completely integrated before adding the next one.
3. Incorporate the flour, we will do it by batches. We will mix only until it has been integrated.
4. Finally, pour the milk. We will do it in 2-3 batches and mixing after each addition to favor its complete integration.

Fill the moulds and bake.

1. Preheat oven to 374ºF/190ºC.
2. Pour the filling into the moulds with the dough. We must not reach the edge, leave about 0,2 inch / 0.5 cm without filling because it grows during baking.
3. Place in the oven at medium height for 25 minutes.
4. Take it out of the oven, let it rest for 1 minute and remove from the mold.
5. Let them cool completely on a rack.

Make Italian meringue.

1. Incorporate water and sugar in a saucepan. Place at medium heat.
2. We will use a kitchen digital thermometer to know the temperature of the syrup. When it reaches 244ºF/118ºC, remove it and add it to the semi-whipped egg whites.
3. Add the egg whites in a bowl or KitchenAid bowl and begin to whip them.
4. Beat until they are quite firm, but not too much or dry.
5. The syrup will be ready as soon as we reach this point.
6. Incorporate the syrup in a fine continuous thread over the egg whites beating at the same time.
7. We will continue until a firm consistency is achieved and a very brilliant meringue.
8. If we check the temperature, we must whip at high speed until the temperature falls to 104ºF/40°C.
9. Let it rest for 2 minutes before using.

Pipe meringue.

1. Put the Italian meringue in a piping bag with a 0,8 inch /2 cm diameter tip.
2. Pipe the meringue the way I show you in the video.
3. Cover the base of the cake with the meringue, raise it slightly while we continue pressing the piping bag to create another mound and so on until we create four meringue discs. When we finish piping, the meringue will form a peak.
4. If you find it easier, you can create a spiral instead of discs.

Mel the chocolate.

1. Melt the chocolate, we can do it in a bain-marie or in small batches in the microwave.
2. Set aside.

Make the yolk cover.

1. In a saucepan add the yolks along with the sugar.
2. Place at medium-low heat and cook, mixing constantly, until it reaches 165ºF/74ºC.
3. We must reach that temperature to cook them, but we must not exceed it so that they do not thicken excessively.
4. Set aside.

Decorate.

1. Take a Carolina and put a side in the melted chocolate.
2. Let it drain slightly and insert the opposite side. We must create two strips of chocolate.
3. Repeat the same process with the rest of the Carolinas.
4. Now we go on to decorate with the yolk. With the help of a brush, create two strips by brushing with the yolk. We must do it carefully to avoid spoiling the meringue.
5. Let them drain on a rack.
6. If we wish, we can finish decorating with golden sprinkles, edible golden powder and some petals brushed with golden powder.
7. Serve.
   

Notes

• To make quick/blitz puff pastry, ideally, all ingredients should be cold. With the mixing the temperature rises and we want to keep the dough cold, as much as possible.
• Butter brings a lot of flavor, I recommend you to use a good one quality.
• Do not overmix the ingredients more than I detail in the process and show you in the video.
• Respect all the rest times to achieve a good result.
• In case you don't want to make puff pastry, you can buy it... But the homemade one is very good!
  
• If you want to make a laminated puff pastry, you can do it following this recipe.
• This time I have used the classic filling of the "rice cakes", but if you prefer, you can use this filling with coconut which is also traditional from the Carolinas.
• I have used an Italian meringue to decorate them, a French meringue would not give us good results. If you wish, you can also use a Swiss meringue. In this post you can see how to do it.
• It's important to cook the yolks well to avoid problems when preserving the Carolinas. Remember that they must reach 165ºF/74ºC.
• The whole process can be carried out in one day without any problem. In my case, I divided it into two days. The first one I made the puff pastry and the second, I baked and decorated them..
• They can be kept in an airtight, refrigerated container for 2-3 days.
  

Archivado en

• Black Chocolate
• Cinnamon
• Meringue