KAF BakeAlong: Almond Puff Loaf

We are more than halfway through April, which means it's time to try my hand at another King Arthur BakeAlong! The April recipe is called "Almond Puff Loaf," and although I can't quite say the name without giggling, it looks, quite frankly, scrumptious. But, guys, I'm a little nervous about this one. KAF promises that the recipe is easy and quick, but it involves a choux pastry, which I have never actually made before. I've seen it done on baking and cooking shows and my mom's kitchen, and I've been wanting to try it, but I haven't gotten around to it -- until now, where I attempt it for the first time, documenting it for your entertainment!

But first let's discuss what I'm hoping the end product will be. This treat consists of two different types of pastry layered together and topped with jam, almonds, and a sweet icing drizzle. It looks like the kind of thing you would have for an indulgent breakfast or with a cup of tea for an afternoon pick-me-up, and I'm super excited to try it!

Here is the recipe, streamlined just a little (as usual, for the full recipe, go check out the original at the link above):

Bottom Layer
4 1/4 ounces All-Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pats or 1/2" cubes

1/4 cup ice water

Top Layer
1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter

4 1/4 ounces All-Purpose Flour

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon almond extract

Topping
2/3 cup jam or preserves

1/2 to 2/3 cup toasted slivered or sliced almonds

Icing
2 ounces confectioners' sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 to 2 teaspoons milk or water (approximately)

These are pretty simple ingredients, nearly all of which I already had on hand. (I had to go to the store to get some almonds. And more jam. But I would have had to get the jam whether I was making this recipe or not, so I'm not counting that one). Bonus points to this recipe for being staying-at-home friendly!

I preheat the oven to 350°F and I put a baking mat on a baking sheet. The instructions say to line with parchment, but I usually just use the baking sheet. I can pretend its because I don't want to waste paper products and I'm trying to be more environmentally conscious, which is a noble pursuit, but if I'm honest with you, it's because I can never get the parchment to rip in a straight line. Sometimes I break out the scissors and just cut it that way. I know you can buy pre-cut parchment, but I'm cheap, and mostly I use my parchment for lining various-sized cake rounds and I don't want to store a hundred different sized liners in my cabinets. But I digress.

On with the bottom layer of the pastry! In the picture that KAF provided, I can't really tell that there are two different kinds of pastries in this, but the ingredients look like it should be fairly similar to a  standard pie crust. The flour and the salt get mixed together and then the butter gets cut into that. Normally I use a pastry blender to cut fats into flour (like pie crust, hence my previous conclusion), but the recipe says I can use the mixer, so I'm going with that. (I'm pleasantly surprised with how well this method works). Then, when it's all crumbly, in goes the water and it makes a sort of lumpy, but cohesive ball. I'm not sure if I measured out just a little bit too much water or if my kitchen is just humid today, but I hold back on the water just slightly (just a couple of teaspoons probably) because the mixture looks wetter than I think it should.

Now I have to divide the sticky, clumpy ball in half. I'm beginning to wonder if this really is going to turn out, but because I love you, dear readers, I plow on ahead. I'm trying to be extra careful, so I measure the wet dough to divide it in half.  The recipe says each half should weigh about 5 1/8 ounces. Mine is a little smaller than that but I pinch globs of dough until I've got equal parts (this is a lot easier said than done, and I bet you'd be just fine eyeballing it). Then each half is formed into a "rough log" (very rough) and pat (more like prodded, squished, and coaxed) into rectangles about 10" x 3" with a few inches on either side because they will supposedly puff up and spread. Another good reason to use a baking mat instead of parchment: built in measurements! Granted, I keep a ruler in my kitchen for just this kind of thing, but I love that my baking mats have ruled edges for things like this. But the doughy runways have to wait for now, because they can't go into the oven without their shoes choux on. (Badum-ksh! Baking puns!)

Now I take a deep breath, and shake out the nerves because it's time for my first attempt at choux pastry. My mom swears it's super easy, but shaping the bottom layer was already harder than I expected. It wasn't really hard, but I hadn't mentally prepared for how sticky it would be. That's all. Have no fear. I realize I'm probably worrying way too much about it, and I hope I'm not scaring you off from trying things. It's just that it has such a fancy French name, and the method is so foreign to me!

I put the water, salt, and butter in a sauce pan and bring them to a boil. The recipe says to make sure that the butter is completely melted. I totally thought "Of course the butter will be melted by the time the water is boiling!" but mine actually was not quite, so make sure you actually check. It's worth noting, though, that I just plunked in the whole stick. If you cut your butter into smaller pieces, it'll melt faster. Either way, the butter was melted within a few seconds of a rolling boil (which comes faster than you may expect when it's only a cup of water and some butter). Once I'm sure the butter is all the melted, the flour goes in all at once. Easy enough (slightly harder is taking pictures at the same time to document my success/failure for you guys). And quickly stir it all together until it thickens and comes together in a big ball. I've seen this on GBBO, and just like television magic, mine comes right together, rather quickly, leaving only a thin, steaming film on the bottom of the pan.

After snapping a quick picture where you may or may not be able to tell what's going on, I put the whole thing (well, not the sauce pan, spoon, or iPhone, just the batter) into the bowl of my mixer and beat for about a minute to cool it down. This is important so as not to cook the eggs, which are then added one at a time, with a good beating between each to fully incorporate them.

Whew! I think the hard part is over. A little almond extract goes in and the batter gets divided in half, just like its predecessor. (Actually, If I'm being completely honest, I pulled the dough out, began to weigh it, realized I forgot the almond extract, put it back in the bowl, added the extract, beat quickly, and resumed).  The recipe says each half should weigh about 9 3/4 ounces (a good number, I'll grant you), but honestly, even using parchment or wax paper, the dough is sticky enough that it's almost more trouble than its worth to weigh it. So I ended up eyeballing it, and I think it was okay. 
Each half goes -- you guessed it!-- onto the doughy oblongs we made before. I had the best luck spreading the choux with a spatula and then finishing smoothing it with my fingers dipped in a little bit of water. With just a little bit of effort (honestly, less effort than it took to shape the bottom layer) I get the choux dough to cover the other dough, and I'm 'appy with it. The loaves go into the oven (now thoroughly preheated) and bake for 50-65 minutes. I baked mine for about 58 minutes before deciding they were probably done and pulling them out.
  

The jam I'm using is fairly thick, so I'm going to follow the instructions about warming it up. I'm partial to Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserves. They're a little pricey but they are so worth it. The recipe says that any flavor is fine, though, so if you are giving this a go and want something different, go for it! The warmed jam (okay it's probably not technically jam, but that doesn't really matter, does it? It's fruity and sweet, and I microwaved it for about 45 seconds) goes on the pastries while they're still warm, too, and they're starting to de-puff just a little bit, which they're supposed to do. 
The almonds get sprinkled on top and then everything gets to cool the rest of the way. A note on the almonds: I bought slivered almonds because that's what they had at Aldi, and I toasted them myself in a skillet on medium heat while the pastries were baking. You can totally do this too, the trick is to just keep them moving so they don't burn.

When the pastries are all cool (and oh so pretty), mix up the confectioner's sugar with some extract (I went with vanilla) and just a little milk and drizzle over pastries (even prettier!!). Cut and serve!

I must say, that was not so bad! Choux pastry is nothing to fear, and now that I've tried it, you better believe that I'm going to be bringing you more recipes that use it! One thing I didn't address while I was making this: if you have a nut allergy or are baking for someone who does, avoid the almond extract (vanilla should work fine), and KAF says that you can swap the toasted almond slices for toasted coconut. Voila! It's safe!

A couple of other thoughts in review:
The slivered almonds were okay. I think thinly sliced almonds would have been better both visually and texturally. I also think that 2/3 cup of them was too much. I toasted 2/3 cup and definitely didn't use them all, and the pastry did not seem like it needed anymore. Try to get sliced almonds if you can. Or, if you just aren't a fan of almonds, chopped pecans would probably be excellent, too, especially if you paired them with some sort of apple topping.

If you think your pastry is probably done, give it just a little longer. When I cut into mine, I saw that it was, sadly, slightly underbaked on the inside. The bottom was crisp and the edges were fluffy, but the inside wasn't quite done. We ate it anyway, and it tasted alright, and we didn't get sick (our eggs weren't in the recent recall, or I wouldn't have even risked it), but I think I should have been a little more patient and left the pastries in for the full 65 minutes, maybe even a little longer.
The part of the choux pastry that was done, though, was great, and the bottom layer was also good. The contrasting textures and flavors went together really  nicely, and this is definitely a recipe I'll be making again, although, and this leads me to my final criticism, I might try to come up with a different name. Just because "Puff Loaf" sounds a little bit... weird to me.

But now it's your turn! Get in your kitchen and bake something! I'm going to have a cup of tea and a slice of Puff Loaf Raspberry Almond Pastry!