Shortbread gift boxes for the holidays

Here it is - only 8 days left until Christmas!  It's definitely winter here in Michigan with a number of inches of snow on the ground and more in the offing.  Brrrrr cold too!

I've been busy baking and packaging my assorted shortbread cookies at Patricia's Chocolate shop in Grand Haven.

There's a miniature version of the shortbread bar, reminiscent of my days at Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket RI, from which customers can choose their favorite flavors for simple packaging in small bags.

And then there's a small display table for the gift boxes with signage compliments of Paul Christopher, Patricia's husband and graphics guru.  What a talent!

It's a whirlwind of activity at the shop this time of year, and Patty keeps everything under control with her ever steady presence and attention to detail.

You should check it out!  Patricia's Chocolate at 126 Washington Ave, Grand Haven MI. You'll be happy you did.

Cheers!

Daily bread and giving thanks

Thanksgiving Day has passed yet we must remember that everyday is a day to give thanks.  I have much for which to be thankful. My husband and best friend Steve has weathered another assault on his body, undergoing a successful cardiac catheterization and stenting procedure two days before the Thanksgiving holiday.  He was discharged to home on the day itself, allowing us to spend a very relaxing and quiet day together without the hustle and bustle of large gatherings, lots of food (probably too much) and perhaps feeling rather drained at the end of it all.

Please don't misunderstand me - being with family and friends is ever so important, but this year it was good to simply be at home.  After all - home is where the heart is, eh?

For me the day begged for bread baking.  What better way to spend a dreary, chilly and rainy Thanksgiving afternoon than baking one of the staples of life.  Let us break bread together.

This one was compliments of King Arthur Flour's monthly bake along recipe for October - "everyday whole-grain bread" - and was also my first foray into using their white whole wheat flour.  I've been a huge King Arthur fan for some years now and have used their flours for all my baking.  I love their "field to flour" approach which focuses on identifying the source of the grains used in their flours.  Good stuff.

My intention here is not to spell out the recipe for you, but to relish in the process of bread making.  The mixing and kneading of the dough, the feel of the dough after the first rise, the tactile experience of shaping the dough and placing it in the pan for the second rise.  It's all so satisfying!

This one is a straight forward direct dough - mix and knead, bulk rise, shape, pan up for the second rise then bake.  Yay!

The end result was a dense crumbed, tasty slice of white whole wheat bread that is delicious toasted and topped with PB and J or a perfect slice of cheese -whatever one might imagine.  

Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone.  And don't forget to break bread with those you love.

A free form savory tart

As I anticipated the end-of-the-fall-session gathering of my weekly French class, I considered what I should bring as a contribution to the fête. I was in the mood for something savory - it just seemed right for this time of year.

I had puff pastry in my freezer so out it came to thaw.  I then embarked on the course of creating a free form puff pastry base.

The beauty of this approach is that you can create any shape or size to fit your mood as well as the number of people you plan to serve.

In my case I planned to cut the finished product into appetizer size portions, so I made a simple rectangle of about 4" x 8" and had plenty of dough to cut narrow strips, braid them and create a lovely border look.

I had autumn veggies on the brain and recalled the vol-au-vent filled with a mix of roasted butternut squash, caramelized onion and goat cheese from a puff pastry class I taught at the Grand Rapids downtown market last fall.  Yes, that's it!

First I baked the puff base solo (425º for about 20 minutes) and set it aside while preparing the filling.  The center puffs up quite a bit, but I simply push it down gently to allow some space for the filling.

NOTE:  this approach is best when using a filling that will already be cooked through since the whole thing will just require warming up once assembled.

I tossed a couple of cups of chunked butternut squash with some olive oil, rosemary, herbes de provence, salt and pepper and roasted them at 450º for about 25 minutes.

I mixed the caramelized onion I had prepared earlier with the squash, piled it onto the baked puff, topped it with crumbled goat cheese and popped it into a 350º oven for about 15 minutes just to warm the whole thing up.

As a final garnish, some roasted pepitas and toasted walnut pieces went on top.

The end result was a delicious combo of buttery, flaky puff and herbed veggie filling with the added crunch of pumpkin seeds and nuts.

Yes - a lovely fall treat.

So put your thinking cap on and imagine of all the wonderful combos you can create!

Brioche feuilletée

I've been wanting to make this delectable version of brioche for some time now, and so it was that a recent online reference to Guy Savoy's new venture in Paris, Gout de Brioche, finally got me going. The shop offers individual as well as "grand" brioche feuilletée in a variety of flavors both savory and sweet. 

This particular dough is another in the family of laminated dough - puff pastry, croissant and Danish being the standards.  Here we have an egg enriched brioche dough which is put through similar laminating steps to create buttery, flaky layers of goodness.

It seems that every time I make brioche I look back at various recipes and compare ingredient amounts and ratios.  This time I reviewed the recipe from the Le Nôtre class that I attended in Paris during our recent September trip. Using it, as well as an online recipe attributed to Philippe Conticini of Pâtisserie des Rêves fame, I came up with my own version to launch my attempt at brioche feuilletée.

Brioche dough can be lean to rich and may contain amounts of butter that are anywhere from 20-80% of the quantity of flour in the recipe.  With the laminated approach one reduces the amount of butter in the basic dough but then uses a larger amount of butter for the butter block that becomes incorporated into the dough.

Here's the dough: 500 g flour (450 g all purpose and 50 g bread); 10 g salt; 50 g sugar; 8 g instant yeast; 90 ml whole milk; 250 g egg (about 5 large); 50 g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes.  

Place the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low for a couple of minutes.  Add the eggs 1-2 at a time until each addition is incorporated.

Increase speed to medium and mix for 12-15 minutes until the dough is coming away from the sides of the bowl.  

Add the butter piece by piece until incorporated. The dough should be shiny, smooth and silky.

Turn the dough out into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it rise for an hour.

Deflate the dough gently then cover snugly and put into the fridge for 4-5 hours or overnight.

Form a butter block with 340 g unsalted butter and hold it in the fridge overnight as well.

The following morning take the butter out to take the firm chill off and allow it to become more malleable for the beurrage et tourage.

At this point the process is the same as for croissant - envelope the butter and then put it through three single, or business letter, folds with 30 minute rests in between. Here's the first fold.

After the three folds give it a good hour rest in the fridge before rolling it out for its final use.

Take a look at my finished dough below - it felt great even though the butter isn't uniformly distributed in the dough. I pushed on nonetheless!  

Roll the dough out into an approximately 16"x13' rectangle.  At this point you can do any filling your little heart desires.  I opted for a simple mix of crushed raw sugar cubes with lemon zest which I sprinkled over the dough, leaving the upper edge clear.

Brush the upper edge with a little water, milk or egg wash to help seal the seam once you've rolled it up.

Now slice into twelve 1 1/4" slices.

You can tuck these, cut side up, into buttered standard muffin tins, but I decided to use lightly buttered panettone papers.

Let these rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, depending on your ambient temperature.  They should look poufy with increased prominence of the laminations.

Heat the oven to 400ºF.  

Brush the tops with a bit of egg wash or milk and sprinkle with pearl sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes then decrease the temp to 350 for another 10-15 minutes until nicely browned.

Once cooled a bit I pulled them out of the baking papers and brushed the surface with lemon syrup.  I find that brioche often look a bit dry coming out of the oven and the syrup gives them a nice sheen.

They look a bit like a conch shell!  Or some kind of snail.  Some of them tried to rise up and escape from their houses, looking like a slinky going down the stairs.

Once a bit cooled it was definitely time for a taste test. In the photo below the smaller pieces in the background are a couple of end scraps that I baked separately, and the sliced brioche in the front is one that slink-ied out of its paper.

The thing that always strikes me about a good brioche is how LIGHT it is!  The eggs and the butter don't seem to weigh it down at all.  Although remember that an important part is making sure you give these babies a decent rise - if they don't rise long enough they'll end up heavy and dense.

The flavor and texture were just right and the lemon syrup gave these a nice little zing.  But next time I'd punch the lemon zest up even more.

I can't wait to try some other versions!  Yessiree!!

It's all about the journey.

Exciting news!

This past week The French Tarte became licensed to work out of the kitchen at Patricia's Chocolate in Grand Haven, Michigan.  Hooray!

What does this mean you might ask?  Well to start out I'll be baking and offering my tasty all butter shortbread in Patty's shop, accepting orders for shortbread gift boxes and developing a schedule of travel from GR to GH to dovetail with my teaching schedule at Sur La Table here in GR.

Shortbread bar

Taking it step by step. In the meantime I wanted to share with you some of things I've been making in recent months.  

In early August, as I birthday present to myself, I baked an assortment of goodies (from left to right): pavé aux amandes, cocoa hazelnut financiers, bubble eclairs with raspberry currant cream (Yum!) and chocolate milkshake tarts.

By now many of you know my attraction to financiers and tarts. What can I say? I just can't help it!

Once we returned from our trip to France in early October, I've been back in the kitchen doing this and that as well as trying some new shortbread flavors (how about coffee cardamom, oatmeal ginger or coconut lime?!).

My baking activities often seem to revolve around what I happen to have in the fridge - some of my lightly spiced poached pears being just one example. What better than a batch of financier batter to create pear-caramel and raspberry-pistachio crumble versions for our freezer.

The pears also encouraged me to make some individual versions of tarte bourdaloue using the recipe that I had brought back from Le Notre in Paris.

Of course I simply can't forget the household favorite (hint, hint - guess what Steve loves?), the quintessential caramel nut tart. This go around I used some chocolate tart dough that had been waiting in the freezer for that very thing.

Chock full-o-nuts, oh-so-delicious and always a hit.

And for something just a little different - bagels!  These were from a class I taught at Sur La Table where the results were stupendous.  Chewy, not tough, great depth of flavor and definitely a make-again recipe. These are the "everything" version, the deeply browned exterior being due to molasses in the dough as well as some molasses in the bagel boiling water.  Yup!

And so the adventures continue.  Stay tuned.

Coconut sugar and maple cream - new ingredients on my shelf

It's hard to believe that it's already been two whole weeks since our return from Paris.  It took a bit of time to get back on schedule and catch up with the odds and ends of daily living, but catch up we have and we're movin' forward!

We're seeing some beautiful fall colors and are currently enjoying sunny skies, balmy breezes and temps in the 70s.  We'll take it, since we know what's coming just around the corner.  It is Michigan after all.

Now let's get back into the kitchen OK?

Before we left on our France adventure I had purchased some coconut sugar as a result of perusing the various sugar choices on the grocery store shelf. The package info tells me that the coconut blossom is the source for this unrefined, sustainably grown and harvested sugar which tastes nothing of coconuts but has its own subtle taste.  It's touted as being great for baking as a 1:1 replacement for white sugar.  

In addition, my sister Mary had sent me a jar of Tonewood maple cream as a birthday gift, and it was just waiting to be used.  This stuff is made in Vermont by cooking and whipping pure maple syrup to a state of creamy goodness.  What's not to like.

First the coconut sugar.  I'm tweaking my shortbread flavor list for the upcoming holidays and decided to do a lime coconut version, so I substituted half of the sugar in the recipe with coconut sugar.  It looks like brown sugar and actually tastes like it too - toasty, caramel-y and very pleasant.  

It did give the dough a slightly darker hue than usual . . . 

and the cookies baked up more browned and toasty looking.

There was really no difference in the flavor - still tasty - so for me it's simply a matter of using an unrefined sugar in place of a refined one.  I've been doing this for some time with unrefined raw cane sugar which gives a pleasing crunch to shortbread cookies or as a topping for things like financiers.  

In a nutshell - coconut sugar seems well suited for general baking uses - you decide!

Next up - maple cream.  Maple walnut shortbread is one of my faves.  I typically reduce the amount of cane sugar in my recipe, add maple syrup and then brush the warm, just-out-of-the-oven cookies with more maple syrup. Hey! I'll use maple cream instead.

This stuff is delicious - wonderful maple flavor and a texture that can't be beat. I used it in the shortbread dough just as I would maple syrup.

Once the cookies were baked I brushed the tops with maple cream . . . 

and popped them back in the oven for a couple of minutes.

Bubbling, glistening and divine.

Tonewood's web site describes the maple cream as "the perfect spread over toast or pancakes or used as a dessert frosting".  Cost is $16.99 for a 9 ounce jar.  There are pages of recipes available on the site as well, many of which call for maple sugar and maple syrup as opposed to maple cream.

Suffice it to say, one could slather this stuff on pretty much anything - how about a day old croissant, nicely toasted? Or add some to your hot morning oatmeal? Or drizzle some over toasted nuts and enjoy with a nice sharp cheddar cheese?

Don't be afraid to use your imagination - come up with your own ideas!

Saying goodbye to Paris

We had a wonderful adventure this go around, starting with our visit with the MacDs in Lille, our WWI sites tour with Richard and Pauline and finally 10 days in Paris focusing on cemeteries for Steve and pastries for me.  And of course we were able to do a fair amount of flaneur-ing as we strolled around some of our favorite spots.

Our last day in Paris was a beauty - 60s, sunny, breezy and oh so lovely.

That morning Steve had a cemetery visit to make and I visited the new LCB Paris. We then connected at metro Sèvres-Babylon and strolled to rue du Cherche-Midi for lunch at Cuisine de Bar.  For years I've been enamored of this spot for dejeuner, right next to the Poilâne boulangerie, but this time we were unimpressed.  The  main server didn't seem able to get his act together, even though this is a small place and it wasn't very busy.  Finally we were served our tartines (open face sandwiches) made with Poilâne bread and, in our case, topped with a curry chicken.  It was tasty I must admit, but the place has lost it's appeal, and I suspect we won't go back again.

We meandered over to Saint-Sulpice with its impressive statue and fountain . . . .

and then wandered over to the nearby Jardin du Luxembourg, one of the best places to hang out in Paris if you ask me.  Since it was such a beautiful day many people were sitting in shorts and shirtsleeves soaking up the autumn sun in an attempt to extend their summer tans.

So many beautiful flowers!

We headed back to our apartment so I could start tackling the packing before going back out early in the evening for an aperitif and then dinner on rue Saint Anne, the Asian restaurant hot spot in Paris.

And finally we just had to finish up on the Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower in all its twinkling glory!

So long Paris. Until next time.

A visit to the new Le Cordon Bleu in Paris

It was our last day in Paris before heading back to the US of A - what to do, what to do.  Steve had a cemetery investigation project on his hit list, and I had been wanting to visit Le Cordon Bleu, so off I went to do just that.

I had learned not too many months ago that LCB Paris had built a brand new facility on the Quai André Citroën in the 15th arrondisement, right down the street from the Eiffel Tower and in sight of the Statue of Liberty (the French have the original you know) sitting in the middle of the Seine.

Lady Liberty

I found the school without difficulty, although it is a bit of a metro ride on the 10.  A quick walk down Quai André Citroën and I was there.

Somewhat spaceship like in appearance, it's a far cry from the old LCB with its unassuming facade and entryway.  My, those were the days.

One enters via the stairway next to the orange structure you see above.  The space inside is light, spacious and airy with a friendly woman at the reception desk asking how she could help.  When I explained that I'm an alum and would love to see the new school, she promptly called to see if someone was available to give me a tour.

Philippe Rocheron is the school's public relations man and served as my guide.  He and I had actually communicated by email some months ago when I was expressing some interest in their new Diplôme de Boulangerie.  It was nice to put a face with the name.  

There weren't any classes actively in progress for us to visit, but there were a lot of students sitting out in the open areas having their lunch before going into the practical kitchens a bit later.

I was particularly interested in the boulangerie kitchen and was impressed by the wooden topped work tables (my favorite surface on which to work with dough!) and the well equipped space.  Ahhhh - maybe someday.

On the main level there is a small cafe that sells goods made by the chefs at LCB.  As the students become more savvy about production and become more accomplished at things like laminated dough, their end results also go into the case.

My how things have changed - and for the better I might add.

Thanks for the tour Philippe!

A walking tour of Montmartre with Clotilde Dusoulier

For those of you who aren't familiar with Clotilde Dusoulier, she is a Parisian food blogger and author extraordinaire who has been writing the blog "Chocolate and Zucchini" for 13 years now (not to mention her other numerous contributions to the food world).

Back in 2009 on a 2 week trip to Paris Steve and I used Clotilde's book "Edible Adventures in Paris" as our sole guide for all things food related - restaurants, bistros, boulangeries, pâtisseries, épiceries, chocolateries etc.  Each spot we either visited or dined in was absolutely up to par, and nary a disappointment in the bunch.

I've also emailed Clotilde a couple of times over the years with various questions, and she has always replied promptly and cheerfully.  Whenever we see her picture, we think of a pixie - smiling and friendly.

Sooooooo . . . . . When we decided to make this trip to Paris, we thought what better time than to meet Clotilde in person.  We booked a two hour food related walking tour of Montmartre with her, and here's the story.

We met her at the Abbesses metro stop and set out from there down rue des Abesses.  At various stops Clotilde purchased goodies for us to sample.  Nice.

Our first stop was a fruit and veggie vendor where everything was set out artistically, full of color and variety.  We tasted fresh green and purple figs - perfectly ripe, as sweet as honey and oh so good.

Our next stop just a little way down the street was a boulangerie/pâtisserie that has won the "best baguette" or meilleure Baguette de Tradition de Paris competition not only once, but twice!  It turns out each year's winners can't compete again for four years, so after a win in 2010, the chef entered again in 2015 and won a second time!  Pretty unheard of according to Clotilde.

We sampled one of the baguettes and experienced a just-right crisp crust, an open almost buttery interior with a certain softness (NOT doughiness) to the crumb (you had to be there!) and a delicious, natural flavor.

From there we wended our way over to rue Caulaincourt and the pastry shop of Gontran Cherrier.

M. Cherrier holds the prestigious honor of winning the meilleur croissant de Paris award and so, of course, we had to sample one of his croissants absolument!

I'm not quite sure how to describe this.  Perhaps because I've spent so much time researching croissant recipes, trying different butters, tweaking my folding techniques and resting times and sampling different finished products, my mind has become cluttered with the characteristics of a really, really good croissant.

For me, there has to be that cascade of crispy shards from the exterior as you pull it apart or bite into it.  The interior should be buttery, but not too, with a texture that's a cross between bread and flaky pastry, with perhaps a hint of chew but not too dense or heavy.

This croissant had beautiful, well defined laminations and a delicious flavor, but the exterior didn't have that shattering shard quality and the texture seemed just a tad dough-y to me.  But who am I to say?

Nonetheless, Steve and I finished it off with aplomb.

We meandered back to rue Lepic where we visited  L'Épicerie du Terroir, a shop full of all sorts of food goodies - oils, herbs, spices, specialty salts, peppers, nougats, mustards, jams and on and on and on. 

Clotilde suggested that this is a great place to pick up food gifts to take back home, however we weren't in the market for anything in particular so we simply looked and savored the possibilities.

Right next door was a fascinating tart shop, Les Petits Mitrons, full of rustic, simple tarts.  Unfortunately they didn't allow photos to be taken inside the shop, and the glare of the sun on the front window made it impossible to get a decent photo from outside. Bummer with a capital B!!

We did have a slice of the apricot-plum tart - basically fresh fruit baked on a sablé crust which is somehow coated in sugar and caramelized.  Clotilde is working on figuring out just how they accomplish this feat.  I'd certainly like to know!

Alas we'd already taken a few bites before Steve snapped this photo.  Delicious!

Throughout our strolling and tasting we chatted about various things, including my love of shortbread and tarts.  We were getting close to the end of our tour so Clotilde gave us the option of visiting a fromagerie vs. a biscuiterie (cookie shop for you English speakers).  Of course I was all for the second option, so off we went to the relatively new shop of Gilles Marchal known as Compagnie Générale de Biscuiterie Montmarte.  Now that's a mouth full!

We chose an assortment of delightful sablés, financiers and palets Bretons which were displayed simply in cookie tins.  One can buy mix and match flavors starting at a minimum of 100 grams (about 14-15 petite cookies) in a cellophane bag or choose a larger assortment lined up nicely in a tin.

The shop also has other types of biscuit already packaged up for sale - arlettes (caramelized puff pastry crisps), dacquoise, macarons rustique to name just a few.

This place is right up my alley.

After sampling just a few of our biscuit it was time to say goodbye.  We gave Clotilde our hearty thanks, strolled down rue Lepic to the Blanche metro stop and headed back to our apartment. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Parisian pixie from Montmartre.  Thanks so much Clotilde!

Succès class at Le Nôtre

Succès au praliné, a classic French dessert, was the subject of my third and final class at Le Nôtre Paris.  It requires some planning and make-ahead preparation, which stands one in good stead when it comes time to assemble this particular delight.

There were again three of us in the class. In addition to myself, a young 20-something Parisian woman (no English) who does a bit of baking at home and attended the class thanks to a gift certificate, plus a Japanese woman (no French) who makes pastries in Japan.  This was another interesting dynamic with the chef at times speaking English to the French woman and French to the Japanese woman - a bit confusing to say the least.

Nonetheless there were lots of smiles and head nodding going around as we worked our way through the recipe.

I recall making succès during pastry school at Le Cordon Bleu and having my crème mousseline improperly set and oozing out of the sides - not a pretty picture.

However this time the whole process felt pretty straight forward, something that 10 years of professional experience under my belt aided tremendously.

The base of this dessert is essentially a meringue made with egg whites, sugar, almond flour, powdered sugar and a bit of milk.  It's piped in two rounds and baked low and slow, resulting in a light, airy and crisp meringue.

It is filled with crème mousseline (blend of crème au beurre and crème pâtissiére) mixed with nougatine (chopped caramelized almonds).  Separate preparation is required for the various components, and it all comes together in the end.

A note on crème au beurre:  typically made with Italian meringue to which butter is added, Le Notre's recipe involves making a crème anglaise which is whipped until cool, then butter is blended in and finally the Italian meringue is added.  It makes for quite a light (believe it or not) and delicious mixture.

Below is the large bowl full of crème mousseline and the chef working on his assembly.

After the crème is sandwiched between the two rounds of meringue, the edges are coated with more crème and then covered with pralinettes (more caramelized chopped almonds - yum!).

Crème coating underway . . .   

and pralinettes going on!  Just pick up handfuls and press lightly.

We all assembled and coated our respective succès, dusted them with powdered sugar and that was that!

The amazing thing about this cream filled meringue, so full of butter, is how light in taste and texture it actually is. Incroyable!

And guess what?  Surprise, surprise, surprise - Steve loved it!

Les Tartes class at Le Nôtre

My second class at Le Nôtre's Pavillon Elysée was, of course, one of my favorite topics - tartes!

Same place, same kitchen, same chef, different group.  My classmates were two women of similar vintage to myself, one Parisian and one American married to a Frenchman.  They had both previously attended classes with the same chef instructor so there was some chitchat about how they spent their summer etc. 

The class was pretty much all in French and, while I understood most, there were times when my head was in a fog and was putting up roadblocks to my comprehension.  But, all in all, it went well.

On the docket:  tarte tatin, tarte bourdaloue, tarte au chocolat.

Our first task was to peel and cut up apples and tuck them into a round pan that would ultimately go into the oven.  We could choose apple halves standing on end or, as the chef demonstrated, apple quarters in two layers.

Next the chef prepared a large batch of caramel which included a bit of pectin. This was a new twist for me, and the chef explained that it helps the caramel set once the tarte comes out of the oven. Interesting.

The caramel was poured over the apples and the mélange was baked for about an hour until the apples were nicely baked through.

Then a round of puff pastry was placed over the cooked apples and the whole she-bang went back into the oven for another 20 minutes or so until the puff was nicely browned.

We didn't turn these out of the pans until the end of class to avoid the puff from getting soggy whilst having caramel-y apple goo sitting on top of it.

Below are the final results. The top right one is the chef's - he did two layers of apple quarters, and I really prefer the look of that one.  Note to self!

Mine is the bottom left and should have had the apples packed in more tightly - too many gaps methinks, at least on the left side.

The tarte bourdaloue is a variant of the classic pear almond tart, the big difference with this recipe being that the almond cream filling also contains a hefty dose of heavy cream. This made for a much more liquid mixture so when we tried to artistically place our thinly sliced pear halves on the filling, they swam around a bit.

Once baked however, everything seemed to be in good position, so it all worked out in the end.  A bit of glaze and some toasted sliced almonds et voilà!

The tarte au chocolat was made with the same pâte sablée as the bourdaloue, first blind-baked then filled with a mixture of chocolate ganache, eggs and vanilla and baked until set. 

Once cooled we gave it a finishing chocolate glaze.

At the end of class we tasted the tarte bourdaloue which I found delightfully light with good pear flavor and a crisp crust. We boxed up our three 7" tarts for tasting at our leisure i.e plenty of dessert for several nights to come (Steve is in heaven).

The main thing I took away from this class was the chef's method for lining the open tart rings (which we did for both the bourdaloue and chocolat).  While hard to describe it here, it differed slightly from the way I've been doing it since the days at Pascal's, and I found it quite rewarding.  So three cheers for learning new techniques!  

That's why I continue to take classes when I come to Paris - even though the topic/recipes may be something I've made before, there's always a tip or technique I come away with that makes my baking life a bit more enchanting. And so it goes.

Brioche class at Le Nôtre Paris

Heading over to Le Nôtre's Pavillon Elysée from our 20th arrondissement apartment rental took a bit of metro planning but it worked out quite nicely.  A brisk 10 minute walk to the Alexander Dumas stop on line 2, change over to line 1 at Nation and take it to the Champs Elysée Clemenceau stop.

I love getting off there - you see the great Charles DeGaulle statue as you exit, then turn around to see the Grand Palais rising above you.  And then you see the Arc De Triumphe as you're crossing the Champs Elysée!  Not bad.

The Pavillon Elysée is easy to spot, and I learned that the angel sculpture on top is one of Gustave Eiffel's creations. 

One enters through an unassuming door . . . . .

and is invited inside by pleasant staff ready to serve you coffee, water or whatever.

The kitchen space is fairly small but well laid out for classes of 3-8 people.

My first class was Kouglofs et Brioches which was also attended by a young Japanese couple.  Chef Pierre Prevost was the instructor for the 3 of us.  There was a mix of English and French going around, but it all seemed to work out.  Interesting how that happens. 

We made two different brioche doughs, each with slight variations in the quantities of butter, sugar, yeast and water - one earmarked for kouglof with rum soaked raisins and one for brioche Parisienne and whatever other shape we might want to do.  

This is what we ended up with:  kouglofs individuel, brioche Parisienne and a pretty standard ring of brioche buns.

Pretty tasty too!

The new thing I took away from this one is the recipe for an almond syrup made by cooking a mixture of equal parts almond flour and powdered sugar (the French call this tant pour tant) in a simple syrup.  We dipped the warm kouglofs in this stuff and put them back in the oven for a minute or two to dry the syrup.  Deelish!

All in all a good day.

Gateau au chocolats from Des Gateaux et du Pain

The other day we visited with our friends Val and Hubert, along with their beautiful and delightful children Arianne and Gabriel.  Since we were going to be at their apartment during the le gouter time of day, we stopped at a nearby patisserie to pick up something delicious to share.

We had visited Des Gateaux et du Pain once before some years back and were struck by the art gallery like arrangement and presentation of the pastries.  As I recall we had tried one of their croissants (OK) as well as a petit pain aux cereales (delicious), but ultimately we were put off by the snobbish behavior of the staff and the fact that they did not allow any photos to be taken. 

This time I wanted to give it another try, partly because the pastries are indeed works of art, but also because the chef happens to be a woman.  Let's hear it for the ladies!

And so we went.

We opted for the gateau au chocolats, a triple (or even quadruple!) chocolate creation from chef Claire Damon - a base of biscuit au chocolat, then a ganache layer topped with chocolate mousse and finished off with chocolate glaze.  Wow.  

It was delicious!  Luscious and chocolate-y yet light and oh-so-good.

While we made a pretty good dent into it, there was plenty left over for a split between Val and Hubert and us to take back to our apartment.  Oh boy - dessert for the next couple of nights!

On a final note, as an accomplished shortbread creator and taster, I simply to had buy some of Claire's sable au caramel et fleur de sel.

These were a disappointment.  The texture and flavor just weren't there.  Sorry Claire!

Café gourmand

Even though we never made it to Sunday brunch at Méert in Lille, I've made up for it by trying a few desserts during our dining adventures in Belgium and northern France.

A very popular choice in this part of the world for ending one's meal is the café gourmand - a combo of coffee and a selection of petite treats. At Markt 38, a traditional restaurant in Poperinge Belgium, I went for it. It was an interesting melange of fresh fruit, petit eclair, Chantilly cream with crunchy chocolate beads, panna cotta, eggnog straight up, ice cream and, last but not least, chocolate mousse. You get the idea.

Our friend Richard had a local specialty that was reminiscent of a rhum baba, served with ice cream and topped with some type of crispy tuile. 

Richard's wife Pauline had the house version of apple pie which was more like a thick crepe filled with apples and raisins with vanilla ice cream on the side.

We all enjoyed our treats as well as the chance to discover a taste of true local cuisine.

Paris here we come!

Méert pastry shop in Lille

Steve and I arrived in Lille France yesterday to visit niece Christina and her family for the next few days.  I had seen and heard a number of "must visit" comments about Méert, the well known Lillois patisserie, and it was one of the first stops on our hit list.

It turns out the shop is literally around the corner from Glen and Christina's apartment, so once we were up and about and had enjoyed our delicious morning coffee compliments of G&Cs Nespresso machine (with frother I might add!), we headed out the door.

As is true of pretty much all pastry shops in France, the window displays are mouth watering.  Méert's is no exception, although I won't even begin to try and tell you the names of all this stuff!

The viennoiserie case held the classics - brioche, palmier, chausson aux pommes, croissant, pain au chocolat and more.

Christina, Steve and I each sampled a treat and were more than content. We hope to return and experience the salon de thé portion of the shop - we're shooting for Sunday brunch with the MacDs (with more photos to come!).

As an end note, here's a pleasant little travel story - as we were standing in line at the shop, a Lillois woman entered and started chatting with us, giving me a much needed chance to practice my French. Of course, Steve was throwing in some Italian with which she seemed quite delighted.  She spoke English as well, telling us of her travels to the USA in the past - California, TX/LA and New York. She confirmed that our dining out choice for tomorrow night was excellent and gave Christina more tips about places to visit and/or eat. She and I exchanged contact info, and she even suggested we connect via Skype or FaceTime periodically so I could practice my French.  Now isn't that interesting?!

You never know the paths that might cross in life, eh?

Peach blueberry buttermilk cake

A short note this time.  We're remembering 15 years ago today.  Peace be to all mankind.

As Steve and I have been anticipating our departure for France on September 12, we've had an eye toward using up ingredients and leftovers in our fridge.

I happened to have some roasted peaches and buttermilk on hand, so for the Labor Day holiday last weekend I made a peach blueberry buttermilk cake.  Summer fruits are still available at the Fulton Market, and one simply can't ignore that fact!

Enough said.

More coming soon once we reach France - first stop Lille!

A bientot tout le monde!

Cherry-berry feuilleté and peach buttermilk ice cream

The summer annuals are showing off their colors here in Grand Rapids MI . . . .

lovely coleus in our little garden courtyard

and the summer peaches are out in full force!

Fresh Michigan peaches are one of my favorite fruits.  So of course I've been thinking of the many wonderful ways to use them.  This time I was inspired by a peach buttermilk ice cream recipe from "Food and Wine" magazine.

I followed the recipe for my usual ice cream base (2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 5 large egg yolks, pinch of salt) replacing the cup of whole milk with buttermilk.  I blanched 1.5 pounds of peaches, then peeled, pitted, sliced and blender-ized them with a squeeze of lemon juice, folding the purée into the cooled base.

peach purée at the ready

ice cream base finishing its chill down

I usually chill my base in the fridge for a day or two, then process in my ice cream maker and transfer to a freezer container several hours before serving.

I also wanted to use some cherries and blueberries I had on hand to complement the peach ice cream in a dessert I was planning for a family meal.  And, to top it off, there was some reverse puff pastry in my freezer just waiting to be made into something oh-so-delicious.

The beauty of the feuilleté preparation is that I can roll, shape and bake them ahead of time and hold them either at room temperature if using the same day, or in the freezer for a number of days if planning a bit farther ahead.

When ready to fill them, I simply push down the center layers of puff to make room for the fruit mixture that will be mounded in the feuilleté.

I mixed 4 cups of fruit (cherry/blueberry combo) with a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, 3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar (I like my fruit on the tart side) and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. I then cooked this concoction on med-low heat until bubbly and thickened.

Note:  this quantity of fruit filling was enough for 7-8 feuilletés about 3.5 inches square.

Then I scooped a mound of filling in the center of each feuilleté and baked at 350ºF for about 10-15 minutes.  Since the puff pastry is already baked and the filling already cooked, it's really just a matter of heating everything up.

Once cooled, I topped each one with previously baked matcha crumble (really more for color contrast than taste) and gave them a light powdered sugar dust.

the end result!

I know I've mentioned crumble before in this blog.  It's a great thing to have on hand and is so easy to make.  Make as much or as little as you'd like.  

Simply mix equal weights flour and sugar in a medium bowl, sand in the same weight of cool, diced butter to form coarse crumbs.  In this case I added some matcha powder with the flour and sugar (you don't need much).

Spread the crumbs out on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake at 325ºF, stirring and breaking up clumps every 5 minutes or so until lightly browned and crisp, 10-15 minutes total.  Let cool.

Store in a zip-top bag in the freezer and use at will!

For serving I simply placed a scoop of peach buttermilk ice cream atop each feuilleté (no muss, no fuss) and handed 'em out.

Mmmmmm!

While the ice cream was a bit more icy in texture than I had hoped (I suspect due to using low fat buttermilk rather than whole milk, plus the water content of the fruit purée), the contrast of the tangy peachy coolness with the tart cherry-berry filling and buttery, flakey puff was oh-so-good indeed.

Three cheers for summer fruits!  Hip hip hooray . . . .

Pavé aux amandes

Sum-sum-sum-sum-sum-sum summer time!  It's been a good one so far.  Teaching classes at the new Sur La Table here in Grand Rapids and baking croissants, pain au chocolat and croissant aux amandes for Nonna Cafe have been keeping me busy (not to mention a little gardening, family visits and the odd day trip here and there).

Periodically looking back at some of the classic recipes from pastry school, I recently decided to make a classic French pavé aux amandes, a moist, dense-but-not-heavy almond cake.

I think of this as one of the many treats that kids might enjoy for le gouter, the traditional afternoon snack time in France, usually around 4 pm.  And of course adults wouldn't mind it either with a nice cup of coffee or tea.

Top it with a delicious whipped mascarpone cream and some fresh seasonal fruit and you have yourself a tasty dessert!

It's a simple and straight forward recipe, baked in a 9" square shallow pan lined with parchment, buttered, then sliced almonds layered on the bottom.

les ingredients

Cream 125 gram softened butter with 200 grams sugar until blended.  I do this in a medium bowl with a spatula, but you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle - just don't cream too long since you really don't want to aerate this batter.  It's meant to be a dense cake.

Then blend in 250 grams egg (about 5 whole eggs) followed by 250 grams blanched almond flour.

Note: for a bit of variation add some orange zest and a splash of vanilla and/or almond extract to punch up the flavor.  Yum.

And that's it!  How easy is that, eh??

The trickiest part of this whole thing is transferring the batter to the prepared pan.  Do it carefully - I place blobs of batter over sections of the pan, then gently spread so as not to dislodge the almonds on the bottom.

evenly spread and ready for the oven

Bake at 325ºF for about 45 minutes until the top is golden brown, there is no jiggling in the center and it feels firm to touch.  You'll see a few moist crumbs if checking with a skewer or cake tester.

Carefully run a knife around the edges of the cake and turn it out onto a cooling rack.

Once cooled, dust the top with powdered sugar and dig in!

The flavor is subtly almond, the texture is dense yet light and the crumb oh-so-moist.

And guess what - Steve liked it!!  Yay!!!

Cherry hazelnut clafoutis tart

More Michigan cherries comin' your way!

As the season continues and other stone fruits and blueberries are starting to show their faces, I just had to make something using Michigan cherries before they're no longer available.

We were slated to attend a Bastille Day celebration put on by the GR chapter of L'Alliance Française, and I had promised to bring a dessert.  Cherry clafoutis came to mind, this time as a tart.

I lined a 240 mm tart ring with a standard pâte sucrée and blind baked it first.

going into the oven

The filling is very straight forward.

les ingredients

 
Place 3 large eggs into a bowl; whisk in 100 grams sugar, 25 grams almond flour, 150 ml heavy cream, 25 grams melted butter, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1/2 tablespoon flour and 30 grams hazelnuts (coarsely chopped).

Place 300 grams pitted and halved cherries into the blind baked shell . . .

pour the egg/cream mixture over them . . . .

and bake at 350ºF for 30-40 minutes until the filling is set.

et voilà!

For serving I topped the tart with a hazelnut crumble which I had baked ahead of time and had in my freezer.

 

FYI:  a basic crumble is equal weights flour, sugar and cold, diced butter - make as much as your heart desires.

Add in the same weight of your favorite chopped nut (or less as you see fit) and you have a delicious crunchy topping to complement your tart.

Or add in some citrus zest and your choice of spice like cinnamon, coriander, cardamom or  nutmeg - you get the idea.

Baked or unbaked, you can freeze it to have on hand for lots of things.

Here's to a beautiful summer in Michigan and lots more fruit to come!!  Yes.

Happy July 4th!!!

Here's to a wonderful Independence Day for all!

It's a beautiful day here in West Michigan and Steve and I look forward to celebrating the holiday this afternoon at Clear Lake with the extended TenHave clan.

Cherry-berry cobbler is on the dessert menu.

I'll give you a quick narrative (hmmm - do I ever do anything quickly in this blog?) of the recipe, my take on a peach blackberry cobbler from Emily Luchetti's book "Four-Star Desserts".

And since this is, after all, a classic American holiday, I'm giving you the ingredients in traditional American measures.

The cobbler topping is a delectable cornmeal dough made by combining 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 cup cornmeal (I used fine yellow), 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and a pinch of salt.

Sand in one stick (4 oz) cool, diced butter to coarse crumbs, toss in 1-2 tablespoons ice water and mix just until it comes together.  Easy-peasy!!

Roll the dough out between sheets of parchment or plastic wrap to a thickness of about 1/4 inch then chill in the fridge.

Cut desired shapes (I opted for a stars and stripes motif bien sûr) and hold them in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.

Heat your oven to 350ºF.

For a 9x13 clear Pyrex dish I prepped about 8 cups of fruit, about half of which was a combo of Rainier and dark sweet cherries that I had purchased at the Fulton Farmer's market.  Blueberries and raspberries filled out the mix.

Toss the fruit with a mixture of 1/2- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (see NOTE), 4 tablespoons cornstarch, a large pinch of salt and a half dozen or so grates of fresh nutmeg.  I also added about 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander.  Squeeze a bit of lemon juice in to help brighten the taste of the fruit.

NOTE:  when adding sugar, consider the natural sweetness or tartness of the fruit you are using; start your sugar addition on the lower end of the scale and add as needed to taste.

As you can see above, I have my dough cut and ready to go.

Place the fruit mixture in the Pyrex dish, drizzle 6 tablespoons melted butter over it and top with the dough shapes.

Egg wash the dough and sprinkle with sugar.  I like raw sugar - it gives the finished product a nice crunch.

ready for the oven

Bake at 350ºF for about 40-45 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbling.

et voilà!

You can be sure we'll be enjoying this later in the day with some vanilla ice cream, oh yeah.

And a Happy July 4th to all!!