Cooking from Scratch
This is another expensive ingredient that we needed for a dessert we’re making. So, rather than just buying some praline paste — probably online, where we’d have to pay shipping and wait days — we decided we’d try to make some, instead. It turns out to be pretty easy, and all it uses are nuts, sugar, and some vanilla. Let’s scratch some up!
Continue reading “Almond-Hazelnut Praline Paste”
So, what is feuilletine? It’s a simple, crunchy, crispy wafer that you break apart into small pieces and add to certain pastries or candies to give them a little texture and crunch. We’d guess that commercial bakers probably use this stuff by the shovelful when they make up special desserts. And, since they use it in large quantities, they probably just buy it.
We happened to need just a small amount for a special dessert (you’ll see what it is later this week) we’re making, and we looked online to see if we could buy some. Talk about sticker shock! This stuff is pricey. We’re talking over a dollar an ounce. Maybe we can make some, instead.
Continue reading “Feuilletine”
We love making desserts like this crêpe cake. Why? First, they’re nothing more than a combination of a couple of things that we’ve already made and know are really good. Second, they’re easy to write up. And, in this case, they’re pretty easy to put together, too. That’s three for three, which here in Scratchin’ Land is about as good as it gets.
We just got back from a vacation, so posts for the next couple of days might be a little light on content. Don’t worry; we’ll be right back in the swing of things soon.
Right before we left on vacation, we noticed that we’d posted on every important pastry dough. Knowing these doughs is the key to making desserts (and savory dishes, too), since they form the foundation of almost anything with a crust, and, once you have a set of great crust recipes in hand, the dessert world is yours.
Continue reading “Pastry Doughs”
We’ve wanted to make this crust for a long time, but haven’t really had a need for it until now. We’ll show you why we needed one tomorrow, but, for today, let’s just cover making Pâte Sucrée, or sweet pastry crust.
One of the reasons we haven’t made this type of crust is that our go-to crust, Pâte Brisée, is so easy to whip up in only a few minutes. That, and there are hundreds of variations on sweet pastry crust, many from recipes where the crust is associated with a particular type of filling. Do you think bakeshops do that? Of course not. They find a great sweet pastry crust that they use for nearly everything, which is exactly what we’re looking for, too.
Continue reading “Pâte Sucrée”
Yesterday, we said that we had plans for the chocolate pastry cream we showed you how to make. And, while we might have hinted at something involving puff pastry, this post doesn’t involve puff pastry at all. Instead, we’re going to scratch up a batch of one of the easiest pastry doughs imaginable: Pâte à Choux. Literally, it means cabbage paste, for the little cabbage-shaped puffs that result when baking.
If you don’t know about Pâte à Choux, we’re guessing that a little light bulb just appeared over your head. After all, pastry cream, and now dough that puffs. Hmm. Could it be that this is the dough with which to make cream puffs? Yes, one and the same, Cream puffs, éclairs, savory Gougères, Parisian Gnocchi; they all come from this simple and useful “cabbage paste.” We’ll be using this dough for cream puffs and mini éclairs.
This recipe comes from The Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, probably the most useful cookbook ever written.
Makes about 5 dozen small puffs.
Ingredient discussion:
Set those hens free! Make sure the ones that lay your eggs eat bugs and grass and peck on the ground and run around like chickens, because, if you want real eggs that taste like eggs, they should be from real chickens that act like chickens. It’s that simple. Butter is unsalted, as always. We’ve read several places that dairies use better (fresher) cream for unsalted butter, since that’s all you taste, while salted butter is made from lesser quality cream, because the salt will cover up imperfections. We don’t know if that’s true, but we don’t really like having others salt our food.
Procedure in detail:
Mise en place. Measure out and combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Measure out the milk and butter and put it in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Get those eggs to room temperature. Good.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
Boil milk. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the milk to a boil, stirring constantly.
Add flour. Once the milk is boiling, dump in the flour; yes, all at once, right into the middle of the pan. Now, stir like crazy. At first the dough will be ragged, but it will come together in just a minute. Then stir for just a bit longer until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the pan, about 1 minute.
Cool. Take the dough off the heat and let it cool for 2 minutes. If you want, you can transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attached, just as we did for the gougères; it’s easier than mixing by hand, but you have to clean up more. Your choice. In the future, we might go with the mixer.
Add eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring one in completely before adding the next. While you’re stirring, the dough will look as though it’s separated, but don’t worry; it’ll all come back together.
Pipe. Here again, you get a choice. You can pipe the puffs, as we show in the pictures, or you can spoon it out into mounds. Piping makes for more uniform puffs, but it’s not necessary. If you pipe, fit a piping bag with a large star tip, put all the dough in the bag, and pipe out little mounds. Use a moistened fingertip to push down the tails that form. If you want, you can get creative and make small logs for mini éclairs or large logs for full-size éclairs.
Bake. Slide the sheets into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for about 25 minutes more. You want the sides of the puffs to be quite firm; otherwise, you’ll have a soggy interior.
Cool. Let the puffs cool completely on the baking sheets.
Fill. We don’t have a tip for filling (a Bismark tip), so we simply sliced our puffs in half with a serrated bread knife, piped in the pastry cream, and closed them up. A spoon would have worked, too, but we need all the practice we can get with a pastry bag.
Who doesn’t like cream puffs? Plus, they’re really easy to make, non? Now, if you don’t want to make the pastry cream (although we strongly suggest that you should), you can slice these puffs in half and fill them with a bit of ice cream for profiteroles; after all, they use the same dough. We give Pâte à Choux five stars because it’s so easy, and so versatile. Everyone should have a go-to version for quickly whipping up that little smackerel!
By now, you probably have the basic Pâte Brisée under your belt, both figuratively and literally, and, if you use the recipe we give (from Bouchon Bakery), you know that it tastes great, is nice and flaky, and easy to make and handle. Basically, it’s a perfect pie crust; we use it often. But, once you’re using it all the time, what do you do when you want to make an extra-special pie, say for a holiday, and you want a crust that goes to eleven? Hmm. A quandary, but we can help!
Continue reading “Quick Puff Pastry”
