Posts by Friday Baking Project
Gâteau au Chocolat
For the month of May, we will be exploring French-style chocolate cakes. By this I am referring to single-layer, rich, moist, intensely chocolate cakes. The type that might require a simple chocolate glaze, or just a light dusting of powdered sugar. The type that is sliced into small pieces, and served with barely sweetened whipped…
Read MoreItalian Meringue
Italian Meringue is one of fundamental meringues in pastry, the other two being French meringue and Swiss meringue. In Italian Meringue, a hot sugar syrup is slowly poured into egg whites beaten to medium peaks, then continued beaten until stiff. The meringue is used as the base for buttercreams and mousses. It is also piped…
Read MoreMarjolaine
I love everything about this cake. I love the thin, flavorful sheets of Marjolaine cake, the unique shape, the unadorned sides that reveal the multiple layers, the whipped crème fraiche mellowing the rich ganache and buttercream, and the ease with which one can cut small slices. I even love the name Marjolaine. This was a…
Read MoreSwiss Meringue Buttercream
This buttercream is made from a Swiss Meringue, where the egg whites and sugar are heated in a double boiler until the sugar totally dissolves into the egg whites. It is then whipped to a stiff meringue and combined with whipped butter. It is an extremely stable buttercream which holds up even in warm temperatures.…
Read MoreChocolate Sauce
This simple chocolate sauce recipe is a perfect accompaniment to a multitude of desserts. It is basically warm ganache. Use the best chocolate you can find. Print Chocolate Sauce Yield: 12 fl oz # of Servings: 8 Ingredients 6 oz chocolate, 61% to 66%, pastilles or chopped 1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream Special…
Read MorePassover Frangipane
Frangipane is one of the foundation creams of fine pastry, often used as the base in tarts and tartelettes. This version substitutes cake meal for the flour. Print Passover Frangipane Yield: 12 fl oz # of Servings: 8 Method: Creaming Ingredients 4 oz almond paste 1 tbl ( ½ oz / 14 g) sugar 3…
Read MoreMaking Ice Cream 101
While there are some very good ice creams available in the market, nothing beats the taste and texture of homemade. Making ice cream at home used to involve a large machine with a bucket for the mixture and an outer container that held crushed ice and rock salt. Now with lightweight and relatively inexpensive machines…
Read MoreChocolate Ice Cream
There are so many chocolate ice cream recipes, this is my favorite so far. From the excellent Culinary Institute of America text Baking and Pastry Mastering the Art and Craft. In addition to reading the blog Ice Cream 101 prior to beginning the recipe, you should read the procedures below from start to finish. This…
Read MoreNut Torte
One of the keys to Passover Seder desserts is to focus on recipes that don’t require a major substitution for flour. For The Friday Baking Project’s inaugural Passover blog, I present two recipes that fit that requirement. The first, the subject of this blog, is a simple, yet delightful Nut Torte that can be made…
Read MorePastry Cream
Pastry Cream Pastry Cream or Crème Pâtissière is one of the fundamental creams in French pastry. In a pastry shop, a fresh batch of pastry cream will be made every morning and used in fruit tarts, Éclairs, cream puffs, and napoleons (mille-feuille). In Seven Layers, my Martha’s Vineyard pastry shop, we also used it in…
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