Living the sweet life with Vanillamore Restaurant

NEW YORK — Vanillamore has been open since 2017, offering popular sweet and savory dishes on a tapas-style sharing menu.

Following COVID-19, the restaurant has reopening with outdoor dining and has pre-set times for seatings that must be reserved in advance.

Risa Boyer, chef and owner of Vanillamore Restaurant shows PIX11 how to make a couple of desserts from new new cookbook, “Sweet, Savory, Social.”

Vanillamore is located along Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, New Jersey.

BUTTER CAKE (Makes 24 muffin-sized cakes)

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE GOO

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (170 grams)
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 egg (50 grams) 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams)
• 1⁄4 cup corn syrup 2 tablespoons whole milk 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

FOR THE CAKE

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature (115 grams)
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams) 1⁄2 cup brown sugar (110 grams) 2 eggs (100 grams) 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (208 grams) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda 1⁄2 cup sour cream (189 grams)

PREPARATION

TO MAKE GOO:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 12-cup muffin pans, or line with cupcake liners.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and granulated sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.
• Add salt and egg and mix to combine. Add flour and mix until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together corn syrup, milk, and vanilla paste. Add that mixture to stand mixer bowl and mix to combine. Transfer all of the mixture back to the separate bowl and set aside.

TO MAKE CAKE:

• In the same stand mixer bowl (no need to wash!), combine the butter and sugars and cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla paste and mix to combine.
• In a third bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add half of those dry ingredients to the stand mixer bowl and mix to combine. Add half of the sour cream and mix until smooth. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and then the rest of the sour cream.

TO BAKE

• Fill muffin cups 2⁄3 full with cake batter. Top each with 1 heaping tablespoon goo. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until cake is golden and springs back when pressed lightly. Cool 5 minutes. Run a knife along the edge of each cake and flip onto a cooling rack.

STRAWBERRY CREAM PUFFS (Makes 36 cream puffs)

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PÂTE À CHOUX:

• 1 cup water (236g)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed (125g)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt 1⁄2 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180g) 5 to 6 whole large eggs (250 to 300 grams)

FOR THE STRAWBERRY CRAQUELIN:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (85 grams)
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams) 3⁄4 cup all-purpose flour (96 grams) 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freeze-driedstrawberry powder (or ground and sifted freeze-dried strawberries)

PREPARATION

TO MAKE THE PÂTE À CHOUX:

• In a medium sauce pan, bring water, butter, salt, and sugar to boil over high heat. As soon as mixture reaches a boil and butter is completely melted, stir in flour. Reduce heat to medium and stir vigorously until dough thickens and forms a mass that does not stick to pan, about 30 seconds.
• Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until the batter stops steaming. Crack 5 eggs into a separate bowl and whisk to combine before adding to mixer. Add eggs gradually to batter, pausing to scrape bowl, and waiting until fully incorporated before adding more. Mixture will be firm but smooth. Use 6th egg if mixture is not silky in texture. Set aside while you make the craquelin:

TO MAKE THE STRAWBERRY CRAQUELIN:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add flour, salt, and strawberry powder, and mix to combine. Roll between two sheets of parchment paper until 1/8 inch thick.

TO BAKE

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer pâte à choux batter to a piping bag with a 1⁄2-inch round pastry tip. Pipe 1 1⁄2-inch rounds onto sheet pans, leaving 2 inches between each round.
• Use a 1-inch-round cookie cutter, to cut circles out of the strawberry craquelin dough. Lay one circle on top of each cream puff. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden. Puffs can be split and filled with Vanilla Pastry Cream.