Posts by Friday Baking Project
Raspberry 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)…
Read MoreCrème Brûlée Tart
I first learned of Crème Brûlée Tart while working in the pastry department at Sign of the Dove in the 1990’s. The time-consuming recipe involved whipping egg yolks to a thick ribbon stage, combining with cream, sugar, and vanilla bean, then cooking over a double boiler for over thirty minutes. A small amount of butter…
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The Friday Baking Project
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
PRINT Chocolate Hazelnut Cake Yield: 1 8†cake # of Servings: 10 Method: Modified Creaming Ingredients: Cake 5 ½ oz (154 g) 61% to 64% chocolate, wafers or broken up 11 tbl (5.5 oz / 156 g) unsalted butter, room temperature ½ cup + 2 tbl (4.65 oz / 132 g) sugar 4 egg yolks ½…
Read MoreChocolate Hazelnut Cake
Hazelnuts and chocolate are a wonderful flavor combination and on full display in this cake, inspired by a recipe of the same name from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. In this version, I start with the fabulous Reine de Saba for the base cake, substituting hazelnut flour for the almond flour. Swiss Meringue Buttercream…
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