Passport
Baker
Tammy
Location
De Pere, WI
Baking Challenge
Savory Pithivier
Give your dessert a clever name — and tell us about your recipe.
Hunter's Favorite Pithivier – I used a recipe I found on Pinterest for Short-cut Puff Pastry. I slow-cooked venison stew meat with onions, shredded it and added bbq sauce and cheese curds for the filling.
What was the biggest surprise during your baking journey? Did you use any unconventional approaches? What did you learn along the way? Tell us about it!
The puff pastry was very challenging for me even though I chose a "short-cut" recipe. I don't have a food processor, which is how they cut in all that cold butter, so I just worked with a knife and fork. Eventually I was able to get it together and in the fridge to chill overnight. When I took it out to roll, it was hard as a rock! I could hardly make a dent in it with the rolling pin, but I just kept trying and got it, I thought it was going to be a disaster, but it actually baked really nicely, you could even see flaky layers on the edges!
How did you add a Wisconsin twist to your flavors or decoration?
I tried to think of something that would represent my Wisconsin life and the answer was obvious. . . Venison! I come from a family full of die-hard hunters — my husband, dad, brothers, son, daughter, nieces and nephews all deer hunt. Our freezer is usually always full and I love cooking with it. Unfortunately, we didn't have any, but my mom and dad still had one pack of stew meat left, so I used that along with Mad Dog and Merrill #one BBQ sauce. I figured I should include cheese curds also, because that's what Wisconsin is known for — I used Henning's Two Tone Cheese Curds. For the decoration on the top, I cut in a buck that, once baked, looked more like a doe because his horns kind of disappeared. It baked beautifully and tasted excellent!
How did you do?
I participated in all 10 Great Wisconsin Baking challenges this summer — I’m a Star Baker!
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