Posts by Friday Baking Project
Profiteroles
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:…
Read MorePâte à Choux
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…
Read MoreCroquembouche
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…
Read MoreFrench 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:
Read MoreFrench Buttercream
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…
Read MoreBlack 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.
Read MoreBlack and White Cookies
For those who grew up with the occasional bakery treat of a Black and White Cookie, this recipe should bring a smile to your face. There is something about this cake-like cookie, with the sweet vanilla and chocolate icing, that is simply fun to eat. In my version below, the cookie is slimmed down to…
Read MoreApple Cranberry Sour Cream Pie
Center City Philadelphia of the 1980’s had a wealth of very good restaurants. For classic French cuisine, there was Le Bec Fin and La Panetière. In Season and Friday Saturday Sunday (still in existence) featured innovative American menus. The Garden in a beautiful townhouse on Spruce, offered country French cooking with a bit of nouvelle…
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