Posts by Friday Baking Project
The Friday Baking Project
Chocolate Mousse Torte
PRINT Yield: One 9†pie pan # of Servings: 8 to 10 Ingredients8 oz chocolate1 tsp instant coffee (optional) ¼ cup boiling water2 8 egg yolksâ…“ cup sugar (2.4 oz / 68 g)1 tsp vanilla extract 8 egg whites Pinch saltâ…“ cup sugar (2.4 oz / 68 g) 1 ½ cups heavy cream ¼ cup confectioners’…
Read MoreLemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie is an American classic, and an easy choice for this year’s Pi Day (3/14) pie. In the traditional recipe, where a small mountain of Basic Meringue is spread over a lemon filling, the ratio of meringue to filling is skewed too heavily toward the meringue. Additionally, while the meringue is baked briefly,…
Read MorePalmiers
Palmiers are a delectable example of what the French call Petite Four Sec, which refers to bite-sized cookies, macarons, plain cakes (madeleines, for example), and puff pastries. Properly made Palmiers are buttery, crisp, slightly caramelized, and a lovely sweet to pass around the dinner table with coffee and tea. Making Palmiers at home is pretty…
Read MoreRaspberry Tart
This beautiful free-form raspberry tart, utilizes the same two components as last weeks’ Napoleons; puff pastry and pastry cream. For the tart shell, we roll the dough out to a thin rectangle, cut a large circle, decoratively crimp the edge, and bake it to light golden brown. Once cool it is filled with whipped cream-lightened…
Read MorePuff Pastry
Puff Pastry (P¢te Feuillet©e) one of the fundamental pastry doughs, is the flaky, tender, and buttery foundation of innumerable savory and sweet pastries. Placed in the oven, a one-quarter inch thick piece of puff pastry will rise to several times its height. Among the savory uses are towering bouch©es (individual patty shells) and vol-au-vent (large…
Read MoreNapoleons
Napoleons (Mille-Feuilles) are one of the classics of French p¢tisserie and deservedly so. However, those purchased from pastry shops are often a disappointment, with soggy pastry and an overly sweet fondant topping. My version will restore your faith in Napoleons and provide you and your guests with the delightful dessert experience of flaky, crisp, and…
Read MoreBaked Alaska
Baked Alaska is a retro dessert that deserves a place in every home baker’s repertoire. Like any dessert constructed from ice cream, it is fun to make, and provides ample opportunity for kids to join in. Baked Alaska can be assembled far in advance of a dinner party, and always elicits wows and smiles from…
Read MoreStrawberry Heart Tarts
These delicious and original tarts were one of the signature dessert offerings of The Commissary restaurant in Philadelphia. The Commissary was essentially an upscale cafeteria, where you picked up a blue tray and slid it along a brass rail to select your food. At the end of the line was the dessert section, which included…
Read MoreOrange Pound Cake
In the early days of The Friday Baking Project, I went to the recipe files looking for a citrus poundcake. I found several but this one, handwritten in batches of one, two and four cakes stood out for two reasons. One, only much-loved recipes were usually that well-documented and second, the basic ingredients were similar…
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The Friday Baking Project
Crème Brûlée Tart
PRINT Crème Brûl©e Tart Yield: 1 8†tart # of Servings: 6 to 8 Crust: 1 recipe P¢te Sucr©e Crème Brûl©e filling: 2 cups (16 fl oz) heavy cream 2 tbl cup (.9 oz / 26 g) sugar 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 4 large egg yolks 2 tbl sugar (.9 oz / 26 g)…
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