Apricot Soufflé

A freshly baked soufflé topped with powdered sugar, served in a white ramekin on an elegant patterned plate.

The 1980’s and 1990’s were the glory days of food magazines. There was Gourmet, the shining star of them all, first published in 1941 and required reading for anyone interested in fine food. There was also Bon App©tit, Food and Wine, Chocolatier, and The Pleasures of Cooking, published by Cuisinart.  We subscribed to all of…

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Banana Cream Pie

A pie topped with swirls of whipped cream on a glass plate.

In this version of Banana Cream Pie, a chocolate wafer crust adds a delightful chocolate element to an American classic. A vanilla bean custard, fresh banana slices, and lightly sweetened whipped cream complete this luscious dessert. The old standby cookie for chocolate crumbs, Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, is no longer produced. But fear not, I…

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Cream Cheese Vanilla Bean Pound Cake

A dusted bundt cake with a fluted design on a green glass plate.

This cake epitomizes the essence of a kitchen cake – one you bake to keep around your kitchen, ideally under a glass dome, for snacking, tea time, or to share with friends who may drop by. It’s my favorite cake (so far) from the delightful book The Bundt Collection. Moist and infused with a delicate…

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Chocolate Madeleines

A tray of heart-shaped chocolate cookies decorated with white icing.

These delicious Chocolate Madeleines are rich and brownie like in taste. When baked in a heart-shaped madeleine tin (source below) they make an excellent dessert for valentine’s day. The filled molds can sit in the refrigerator for several hours prior to baking allowing you to get all the work done before to dinner preparations. This…

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Profiteroles

Three chocolate covered pastries on a plate.

Profiteroles, small choux puffs filled with vanilla ice cream and draped with a bittersweet chocolate sauce, are a fabulous dessert to have in your repertoire. They are equally wonderful for a large dinner soiree as they are for an intimate dinner for two. The puffs, crafted from the same P¢te à Choux mixture we employed…

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Friday Baking Project
Pâte à Choux

PRINT P¢te à Choux Yield: 2 cups batter Ingredients: ½ (4 fl oz) cup milk ½ (4 fl oz) cup waterPinch of salt8 tbl (4 oz / 113 g) butter, cut into large pieces 1 cup + 2 tbl (5 oz / 142 g) bread or all-purpose flour 8 fl oz eggs (4 to 5…

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Friday Baking Project
Croquembouche

PRINT Croquembouche Yield: 1 14-inch Croquembouche # of Servings: 20 to 25 Ingredients: 3 recipes P¢te à Choux 2 recipes Pastry Cream 1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream 2 cups (14 oz / 397 g) sugar  ½ cup (4 fl oz) water ½ tsp cream of tartar Special tools and equipment needed: Pre-recipe preparations:…

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Pâte à Choux

A mixing bowl with a yellow batter in it.

Pâte à Choux is one of the fundamental preparations in French pastry. It is used for well-known pastries such as éclairs, cream puffs, profiteroles, and beignets, along with the less known classics Paris Brest, Gâteau St. Honoré and gougères. Print Pâte à Choux Yield: 2 cups batter Ingredients: ½ cup (4 fl oz) milk½ cup…

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Croquembouche

A stack of doughnuts on top of a counter.

Croquembouche is one of the many classic French pastry dishes attributed to Antonin Carême, known as the “king of chefs and the chef to kings.†He served as chef to French, Russian, and English royalty and aristocracy in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. A recipe for this unique pastry creation is found in Carême’s…

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