Chef in Residence - Stephany Buswell
 This month we have a special treat. I invited Stephany Buswell, a master baker and instructor at the Cabrillo College Culinary Arts program to be November’s chef in residence. When her students learned she would be the featured chef, they offered to have a class cook-off, and to share the winning recipes with The Vanilla.COMpany. So, dear readers, you are reaping the results of a team effort this month.
Stephany began her culinary career in the 1970s, working for a pioneering natural foods bakery. There were no baking formulas for using ingredients like honey and whole-wheat flour, so she learned to convert traditional formulas to create tasty, healthy pastries. This gave her a good introduction to food chemistry and to how and why things work – or don’t. In the early 1980s, she pursued fine  French pastry baking. In 1985 she opened "Stephany's Desserts," and in 1986 won "The Best Dessert of the Monterey Bay" contest sponsored by Monterey Life Magazine. After losing her business in the earthquake of 1989, she became the production manager of The Buttery, a high quality bakery in Santa Cruz. At the same time she began teaching part time at the Cabrillo College Culinary Arts program. Ten years later she became a full time instructor at Cabrillo.
The Cabrillo Culinary Arts program now has a Commercial Baking Program that provides students with on-the-job baking experience. Under Stephany’s guidance, students produce breads and pastries that are sold on campus. As if she isn’t busy enough, Stephany also teaches classes in cake decorating, creating wedding cakes and working with chocolate.
This month Stephany offers tips for creating a perfect butter cream frosting, a recipe for a vanilla white cake – the perfect foil for the butter cream – as well as a no-fail cheesecake and delicate blueberry pancakes. Following her recipes are the winning recipes from the Cabrillo Culinary Arts Vanilla Cook-off.
 Some of Stephany's recipes that follow:
Student recipes that follow:
Mom's Best Cheesecake
"When I was a child my mom made this cheesecake for every holiday or special occasion. My mom died when I was 17 and I forgot about her cooking until
I became a serious baker in my 20s. I began searching for a recipe like the one my mother had made but could never duplicate the recipe.
"Fifteen years later, while sorting through a box of crystal, there was my mom’s recipe box and…the cheesecake recipe! It is like no other and, of course, one of the things that makes it so special is the use of a high quality vanilla!"
Ingredients
3 well beaten eggs
2 - 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups sour cream
Graham Cracker crust (recipe follows)
Instructions
Cream the cheese with the sugar and then add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth.
Blend in the sour cream but do not over mix.
Pour mixture into the prepared crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top.
Bake in moderate oven at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or until just set. Cool slowly at room temperature. Chill for several hours or overnight is best. The filling will be soft. It’s a very creamy cheesecake.
Graham Cracker Nut Crust
Combine 1-3/4 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and
1/2 cup melted butter
Reserve 3 tablespoons of the crust mixture for the top and press the remainder onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. Bring crust only about 2 1/2 inches up the sides.
Blueberry Pancakes with Vanilla Essence
(My favorite Sunday morning breakfast that I’m sharing just because it’s soooo good!)
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together and stir them into the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Whip the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry and fold them into the batter.
Gently stir in the blueberries. Cook on a hot griddle.
Serve with real maple syrup and sweet butter.
White Vanilla Cake
This is a good, basic vanilla cake. It becomes spectacular with the butter cream recipe that follows.
Ingredients
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 egg whites
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325. Grease and line 2 9-inch cake pans with parchment.
Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
With a mixer on slow speed, add flour mixture to the butter mixture,
alternately with milk. Beat after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
Whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them into the cake batter gently, making sure not to over mix. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Place cake pans on cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing from pans.
Stephany's Favorite Vanilla Butter Cream
Stephany says: "This is my favorite butter cream. It is very perishable and should not be made more than a day in advance. If you are looking for a wonderful creamy and not very sweet icing that showcases the vanilla bean, I think you will love this one.
"It is important that you use the freshest unsalted butter. Do not use butter that has been sitting in your refrigerator for days. It picks up flavors and it will impart them to your icing.
"You can choose to use either the vanilla bean or vanilla extract. When using the bean, you will have the tiny seeds in your butter cream so if that is a concern then use the extract. I prefer the bourbon vanilla for its bold flavor. You do not want to taste the butter; you want to taste the vanilla!"
Makes about 5 cups
Ingredients
1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
In a heavy bottom saucepan scald the milk with the vanilla bean split and scraped. Remove from heat and allow mixture to steep for at least 30 minutes.
Mix together sugar and cornstarch. Add eggs and mix well, making sure all lumps are mixed out.
Pour half the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture and stir until incorporated.
Pour back into the saucepan and cook until thick enough for a ribbon to stand on top of the custard.
Cool on an ice bath, stirring continuously. When it is at room temperature remove the vanilla bean.
Important: Test the custard with an instant read thermometer and make sure that the temperature difference between the butter and the custard is not more than 5 degrees. Ideally they should be around 65-70 degrees. This is important because if you begin to add the butter and the custard is too hot then you will get soup, not butter cream. If the butter and custard are too cold it will look like cottage cheese.
When the temperatures are correct, put butter into an electric mixing bowl and with the paddle attachment cream and mix on slow speed until it is smooth. Begin adding the custard little by little. Don’t turn the speed of the mixer up or you will beat in too much air. The butter cream will look creamy and smooth when it is ready to ice the cake. If using vanilla extract, add it now. Taste butter cream. If you can still taste butter, then add more vanilla. Keep adding vanilla until you are satisfied that the vanilla is what you taste and not the butter.
Winning recipes from the Cabrillo Culinary Arts students’ Vanilla Cook-off
Poached Pear Tart By Mary Sommers
 This will make one 10" Tart. You will need a 10" removable bottom tart pan.
Peel, cut in half and core 3 pears. Poach them until soft in the following liquid.
After pears are softened by poaching, cool them and slice them very thin from the stem end through the blossom end. Place them on paper towels to drain while you make the crust and the filling.
Poaching Liquid
1-1/2 cups red wine
1-1/2 water
1 cup sugar
1 bay leaf
1 twig of fresh thyme
3 black peppercorns
1 vanilla bean cut and scraped
1/2 lemon, sliced
Tart Shell
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups pastry flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter
2 heaping tablespoons shortening
1 egg yolk
4 oz. ice water
Instructions
Mix the salt with the flour. Cut the fat into the flour with a pastry cutter or two knives until it is the consistency of peas or cornmeal. Mix the yolk with the ice water. Make a well in the flour/butter mixture and pour half of the liquid into the flour and stir with a fork. Add water as needed until it just holds together (you may not need to add all the water as the dough should not be sticky).
Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes or until the dough is cold but still malleable. Roll out to fit the tart pan. Be sure to seat it into the corner of the pan so it doesn’t shrink while baking.
Bake the tart shell using metal "baking beans" or line the shell with parchment paper and use dried beans or rice. Push the beans to the edges of the shell to hold the sides up while baking.
Bake the tart shell in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes and then remove the beans and bake another 5-10 minutes, making sure it is baked thoroughly. Cool.
Vanilla Bean Custard
Ingredients
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut and scraped in the milk
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
Heat the milk with 1/4 cup sugar and the vanilla bean.
Whisk together the eggs, cornstarch and sugar. (Note: it will be less lumpy if you mix the cornstarch and sugar together first before adding the eggs.)
When the milk has scalded, pour some of it into the egg mixture and stir. Then pour egg mixture into the hot milk and cook on low heat until it is very thick and forms a ribbon on top of the custard that doesn’t disappear. Chill.
When the custard has cooled, remove the vanilla bean hull.
To Assemble the Tart
Put chilled custard into the cooled tart shell and spread evenly. Carefully place the pears around the edge of the pan so the stem ends all meet in the center and fan them as you place them in the tart. Use a large flat knife or cake spatula to do this, scooping it up from underneath the pear.
To Make Glaze for Pears
Reduce the liquid to half by cooking on high heat. Watch syrup carefully so it doesn’t boil out and burn. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water.
Stir until clear and thick. Remove and chill before carefully brushing the mixture over pears with a pastry brush. Chill tart before serving.
Banana Crème Brulee By Rene Rice
 Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
2-1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup plus 8 teaspoons sugar
4 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Have a pot of boiling water ready.
Peel one of the bananas and cut into thirds. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, cut banana, _ cup sugar and split vanilla bean. Cook, stirring, until steam rises, about 4 to 5 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks. Strain the cream through a fine-mesh sieve over a medium-size mixing bowl. Discard the cooked banana and set vanilla pod aside.
Pour the cream into the yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly until smooth.
Divide mixture among four 6-ounce ramekins.
Place the ramekins in a three-inch deep baking pan and add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake at 325 degrees, 30-35 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the pan, cool to room temperature and refrigerate at least two hours.
Peel the remaining banana and slice crosswise into slices 1/8 inch thick. Arrange 7 or 8 slices over the top of each crème brulee and sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar evenly over each surface. With a kitchen torch, move the flame continuously in small circles over the surface until the sugar melts and lightly browns. Serve immediately. Serves four.
Pumpkin Vanilla Tower by Tony Nigro
Note: This is a multi-level project. It’s not difficult, but it is time-consuming. It’s also impressive and delicious. It comes with the additional recipe for lady-fingers. These delicate sponge-cake treats are useful for tiramisu, chocolate mousse cake and other specialties. Although Tony didn’t indicate his recipe should be made this way, you could line an 8- or 9-inch spring-form pan with the lady-finger batter, then, after batter is baked, fill the pan with the pumpkin mousse. This method is less time-consuming yet maintains the beautiful flavor palette of the recipe. Decorated, it will have a dramatic presentation as well.
Lady Fingers
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
10 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (205 Centigrade)
Mix and sift flour and baking powder.
In a mixing bowl, whip egg whites and sugar to soft peaks, fold in egg yolks, add vanilla, then flour and baking powder mixture.
Using a pastry tube, pipe the batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, creating circles 3" to 3-1/2" diameter, depending how large you want your towers and how large your molds are. (Note: If using a spring-form pan, spread batter carefully into pan, evenly covering the base of the pan.) Bake until golden brown.
Allow to cool, then place in refrigerator.
Molds: Clear Plastic Film
To create individual molds, you will need plastic film (transparency film works). Determine the size you want to make – Tony used 8-inch long strips that were about 4 inches high.
Roll plastic film into a cylinder to fit your ladyfinger base, then tape the plastic so it will stay together. Place in the refrigerator.
 Pumpkin-Vanilla Mousse
Ingredients
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder
1/4 cup cold water
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup pumpkin puree (unseasoned)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup simple syrup*
Instructions
Sprinkle gelatin into cold water and set aside.
* Simple Syrup: Combine _ cup water and 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring, then set aside and cool.
In a mixing bowl, add heavy cream. Cut vanilla bean down the center and scrape the seeds into the cream. Whip cream until soft peaks appear (do not over mix).
Place in the refrigerator.
Combine egg whites and simple syrup. Using a candy thermometer, heat mixture to 140 degrees (60 degrees Centigrade), stirring constantly.
Whip mixture until soft peaks appear, then fold into chilled whipped cream.
Return to the refrigerator.
Place pumpkin puree into a mixing bowl. Add cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
Heat the gelatin until it dissolves – don’t overheat.
Add the melted gelatin to the pumpkin, stirring continually for about 10 seconds.
Add 1/4 of the cream mixture, stirring constantly. Fold in the balance of the mixture.
Pipe or pour the mousse into the molds or spring-form pan, and let rest in the freezer several hours or overnight.
To serve, remove plastic film or remove sides of spring-form pan. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, mint leaves, and whipped cream if desired.
These and many more wonderful recipes using vanilla are found in our recipe area. Print friendly versions of these recipes are there as well.
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