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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French Buttercream

PRINT French Buttercream Yield: 1 qt. Ingredients 3 large eggs2 large egg yolks 2 cups (14 oz / 400 g) sugar ¼ cup + 2 tbl (3.5 fl oz) water 18 oz (500 g) unsalted butter, high quality, room temperature Flavoring, as needed Special tools and equipment needed: Pre-recipe preparations: Directions:

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French Buttercream

Whipped cream in a mixing bowl with a whisk.

This recipe, from the first pastry shop I worked in Philadelphia, is very rich and smooth. It works extremely well with hazelnut paste, chocolate, and citrus rind as flavorings. It is a bit challenging, with a cooked sugar syrup added to beaten eggs at just the right time, but it is a delicious thing of…

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Black and White Cookies

PRINT Black and White Cookies Yield: 16 cookies # of Servings: 8 Method: Creaming    Ingredients Cookies: Icing: Tools and equipment needed: Pre-recipe preparations: Directions: Cookies: Icing: Note: For a Blue and White Hanukkah version, add a few drops of royal blue food coloring to half the icing.

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