Gateau Pithiviers

Honestly, if someone had kindly informed me of the thousands of things that can be done with puff pastry, I would've started to buy commercial sheets a few years ago and had my way with them. I could have tried a billion different wonderful things by now. It wasn't until I actually labored with them that I discovered all the uses. To be quite honest...the taste of homemade puff pastry is absolutely wonderful, BUT...it's a lot of work and if you're going to get all creative and put extra stuff on the pastry...then perhaps going with puff pastry at the store isn't that big of a deal. It saves a lot of time and you can come up with tons of different uses for it. I know it's not cost effective whatsoever for bakeries to make their own puff pastry dough, so most don't even bother, which is why you shouldn't bad about it. I feel like the time you have to devote to making the dough shouldn't deter you from trying out all of these different recipes. In fact, tons of people should try these out with sheets from the store and if they find one they like...they should take the time to make the dough. It's a true labor of love...

Ok, I'm blabbing b/c I'm like a kid who just discovered a candy store for the first time.

Gateau Pithiviers...has an awful name. It's beyond intimidating to try to pronounce. Truthfully, I'm pretty insecure at pronouncing French names b/c it sounds so much nicer coming out of a French person's mouth than my own. However, it's a lot easier to make than it sounds.

Almond Frangipane
8 oz almond paste
5 oz sugar
4 eggs
8 oz butter, softened
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 oz AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1) Combine almond paste, sugar, and 1 egg in mixer. Beat with paddle on medium speed until smooth.
2) Add butter, lemon zest and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then add eggs one at a time, scraping bowl between each egg.
3) Combine flour and baking powder. Beat until just absorbed.

Notes: Almond paste is pretty much 50% almonds and 50% sugar, but I can't figure out why it has such a distinctive taste. I use a lot of almond flour and I eat a lot of almonds, but they don't taste like that! It took me a while to figure out what it tastes like...it tastes like those cookies that come in plastic containers at the supermarket with sprinkles on them.
This can last in the fridge for weeks and the freezer for months!
This makes more than what's necessary for Gateau Pithiviers, but don't fear...I'll be using it in the next post.

Gateau Pithiviers
2 lbs puff pastry
12 oz almond frangipane
1 Egg for egg wash

1) Roll dough into 11"x22" rectangle. Cut into 2 11" squares. Chill in fridge for about an hour.
2) Place one square on a baking pan covered with parchment paper. Cut out two 10" circles. Mark with a 6" circle in the center (you can just use a bowl to outline these...just press the bowl upside down lightly into the dough to leave a mark). On just one circle, pipe almond frangipane inside the inner (6") circle. Brush egg glaze between the 6" circle and the edge. Press second dough circle on top and press down dough along edge so they stick.
3) Trim edges into a soft star shape (Sorry, hard to describe...kind of like the outline of flower petals. Refer to photo to understand.) using a thin knife. Be sure not to cut near the almond frangipane or else it'll leak out during baking. Brush top with egg wash.
4) Cut hole in the center to allow the steam of the frangipane to escape during baking. Holding the knife at a 45 degree angle, create curved slashes that cut only halfway through the puff pastry on the inner 6" circle. On the edges (the petals), cut X shapes.
5) Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until pastry is well colored ~40 minutes.

When it comes out, brush with sugar syrup. Combine 8 oz sugar and 1 c water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cool. This will make it slightly sweeter and much shinier.

p.s. Save your scraps. Wrap them up and throw them in the freezer b/c they're totally still usable!

Notes: Again back to the distinct almond paste taste...it really shines in this piece. I used the frangipane in a tart and was so "ehhh" about it that I didn't even bother putting it up, but it's much better here. I really enjoyed this one! The shape is sort of comical though. On one hand, it's really beautiful just sitting there all delicate and lovely, but when it came to eating it, I felt like a child in a cartoon picking up and eating a shiny flower. Perhaps it's supposed to be eaten in a more delicate way, but I couldn't help myself!

Check out the layers below. Just imagine that there's 1200+ layers of butter folded in dough making up this beauty. It's so light and flaky!



xoxo,
lemonie

Puff Pastry

Following in the footsteps of the last post...I went back to folding butter in dough to make beautiful layered puff pastry. I've never even used commercial puff pastry before, but I did get the opportunity to taste test between this one and the commercial one. If you've got the time, I totally recommend making your own b/c it tastes so much better.

Rumor has it that the origins of puff pastry was, like many things, an accident. An apprentice making bread realized that he had forgotten to put butter into his dough. So he decided to try to add the butter in later by folding it in. But clearly, the results were very different and the layers puffed up. Chef Jeff at my pastry school jokes that he was probably fired after the discovery and his master took all the credit.

With puff pastry...you can make quite a few delicious treats. More recipes to come (with pictures!) but here are the basics.

Puff Pastry Dough
1 1/2 lb ap flour
8 oz cake flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 pint cold water
1/2 lb soft butter

1) Mix flours together.
2) Dissolve salt and sugar in cold water, set aside.
3) Rub butter into flour until butter disappears (will look sandy when done)
4) Fold the water in gently and set dough aside while preparing the butter.

Note: This "dough" will be really ugly. Don't overwork it...it should look pretty crumbly.

Butter
2 lbs butter
4 oz ap flour

1) Sprinkle flour onto work surface. Coat butter with flour.
2) Pound butter to soften it. Knead it into a square about 1 inch thick and 6-7" on each side.

Forming the puff pastry dough
1) Dust work surface with flour and turn dough out onto it. Press dough into a rough square about 1 inch thick. Leaving the center alone, roll out the four corners into flaps about 1/4 inch thick.
2) Place butter square on the dough. Fold flaps over the butter without stretchign them. Seal dough so that butter doesn't show.

Rolling/Folding Dough
1) On a floured work surface, roll dough into rectangular shape until about 1/4 inch thick. Dust with flour as necessary to keep it from getting sticky.
2) Fold both ends of the dough in towards the center, then fold in half to make 4 layers - which will resemble a book.
3) Position the dough so that the "spine" of the dough book is on the left so that you're rolling in the opposite direction. Dust the surface with flour again and roll out to a rectangle about 12"x30". Fold over like in #2.
4) Wrap dough in plastic and let it rest in fridge up to about 1 hour.
5) Repeat #3 two more times, resting for at least an hour in between.
6) Rest the dough at least 4 hours before use.

xoxo,
lemonie

Croissants

I had this really intense craving for croissants this past week. Even though I live in New York City, which is the home to some wonderful pastries, I insisted that I make the croissants myself. I found a recipe from epicurious and was a little wary of the brown sugar, but I decided to give it a try. Honestly, it was a lot more work than I anticipated! On top of that, I didn't think I had my rolling pin so I used a wine bottle to do all the rolling. And by the time I got to the last part, I didn't do such a good job with shaping the pieces b/c I wanted to eat them too badly. I filled them with pieces of chocolate or apricot jam. The jam was delicious, the chocolate was pretty good as expected, and the plain ones were just okay.

Croissants

1 1/2 c warm whole milk

1/4 c packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp plus 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (two 1/4 oz packages)

3 3/4 - 4 1/2 c ap lfour

1 tbsp kosher salt

3 sticks cold unsaltedbutter

1) Make dough: Stir together warm milk, brown sugar, and yeast in bowl of standing mixer and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If it doesn’t foam, discard and start over.) Add 3 3/4 cups flour and salt and mix with dough hook at low speed until dough is smooth and very soft, about 7 minutes.
2) Transfer dough to a work surface and knead by hand 2 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, a little at a time, to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Form dough into a roughly 1 1/2-inch-thick rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until cold, about 1 hour.
3) Prepare and shape butter:After dough has chilled, arrange sticks of butter horizontally, their sides touching, on a work surface. Pound butter with a rolling pin to soften slightly (butter should be malleable but still cold). Scrape butter into a block and put on a kitchen towel, then cover with other towel. Pound and roll out on both sides until butter forms a uniform 8- by 5-inch rectangle. Chill, wrapped in towels, while rolling out dough.
5) Roll out dough: Unwrap dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as necessary and lifting and stretching dough (especially in corners), into a 16- by 10-inch rectangle. Arrange dough with a short side nearest you. Put butter in center of dough so that long sides of butter are parallel to short sides of dough. Fold as you would a letter: bottom third of dough over butter, then top third down over dough. Brush off excess flour with pastry brush.
6) Roll out dough: Turn dough so a short side is nearest you, then flatten dough slightly by pressing down horizontally with rolling pin across dough at regular intervals, making uniform impressions. Roll out dough into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle, rolling just to but not over ends.
Brush off any excess flour. Fold in thirds like a letter, as above, stretching corners to square off dough, forming a 10- by 5-inch rectangle. (You have completed the first "fold.") Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.
7) Make remaining "folds":Make 3 more folds in same manner, chilling dough 1 hour after each fold, for a total of 4 folds. (If any butter oozes out while rolling, sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking.) Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours but no more than 18 (after 18 hours, dough may not rise sufficiently when baked).

8) Shape as desired depending on fillings. Place on prepared baking sheets, cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rise until they have doubled in size.

9) Bake in oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: If you want the shiny crispy look, brush the top with an egg wash.
I really loved seeing the layers puff up, especially knowing how much work went into making each one.

xoxo,

lemonie

Cream Puffs!

I had always been under the impression that the pastry part of cream puffs actually had a taste. Having now actually tried the shell, I can say, they taste like...nothing. Well, they have a taste, but it's very bland and chewing on snow is probably more fulfilling. I had also always believed that these would be a lot more difficult to make than they really were. They're not as moody as a lot of other things (yeah, I'm talking about you, macarons!), as long as you know the rules (like you've ruined everything if you open the oven within the first 20 minutes of putting them in).

However, these little babies are absolutely wonderful when filled. I wonder who ever came up with this puffy little creature and decided to use it as a casing for something a little...let's face it...sloppy. Also, I'm not sure I'd eat pastry cream by itself. I'm not sure what my aversion is to dipping a spoon in and licking it clean, but the bland shell gives just the right texture for me to want to pop the whole thing into my mouth...that is, if it can fit!

Anyway, the puff pastry/eclair shell goes by the name Pate a Choux and recipe is below!

Pate a Choux
1/2 pint water
3 oz butter - cut into cubes
1/4 tsp salt
5 oz all purpose flour
5 large eggs

1) Combine water, butter, and salt in a large pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2) Remove pan from heat, add flour all at once, stirring until smooth (will look like mashed potatoes)
3) Cook flour paste until the paste dries slightly and begins to leave the sides of the pan (looks like sugar cookie dough)
4) Transfer to electric mixer bowl, beating on lowest speed for about 30 seconds to release steam. Add eggs 2 at a time. Hold off on last egg to see if it's even necessary. The batter shouldn't be too wet, nor too dry. To test, run your finger through the batter. If you can see where your finger just passed for a few seconds and before the batter starts to flow back together, then you're set!
6) Pipe into desired shape. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes before starting to check for doneness (this goes back to you not opening the door at all or else they'll fall!). Pastries are done when they feel weightless.

The story behind this not opening the door business...
So the way this thing works is that you put together this little batter and when it goes into the oven the steam inside causes it to rise. If you were to open the oven, the steam gets released and the whole thing comes crashing down. You want to wait until they've not only risen, but have hardened into that shape. Then you need to let it dry out and become...a virtually weightless shell!

Piping options include the traditional eclair shape, Paris-Brest (ring), choux puffs (small cream puff circles!), and choux a la creme (bigger circles). The Paris-Brest is made of an outer circle, an inner circle touching it, and a ring piped on top of the two. They'll somehow rise into a single ring like above.

As for fillings, fill it up with pastry cream. For this one, I stuck to my 1/2 oz of vanilla and it was delicious. If you want praline pastry cream, just add 6 oz of praline paste. For coffee flavor, add 1 tbsp of instant espresso dissolved in 1/2 oz (1 tbsp) of boiling water.

To fill, for larger ones, you can just slice off the top and using a pastry bag, pipe in the cream. For smaller ones, you can poke a hole in the bottom using the tip of a knife and then fill in until full.

To top, I used an easy hard caramel and chocolate glaze as well as some regular old powdered sugar and some fondant.

Hard Caramel Glaze
1/2 lb granulated sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1) Combine sugar and lemon juice in a clean saucepan, stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand.
2) Place on medium heat, don't stir until sugar starts to melt and center starts to smoke. Stir slowly.
3) Continue until caramel is desired color. Remove from heat immediately.

If you're going to top with this, dip 1/3 of the shell into the caramel. Place a slice of almond if you want on top, and let cool. Do this prior to filling.

Chocolate Glaze

3 oz water
3 oz light corn syrup
8 oz granulated sugar
10 oz semisweet/bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1) Make a syrup from the water, corn syrup and sugar. Combine in saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Wipe sides of pan with a brush dipped in cold water to prevent sugar from sticking to the sides.
2) Remove from heat when the syrup starts to boil and add chocolate. Let stand for r2 minutes and whisk smooth.
3) If glaze thickens, reheat as necessary or add up to 1 tbsp of water.



Final notes: Stick in fruit if you're feeling healthy! I brought these to work and got rave reviews. However, I think anyone will give rave reviews to free food in general. Unless it's so awful you can't bring yourself to lie. And my eclair up there looks like a mummy.

Thumbprint Cookies

I moved this week into a beautiful new place and I've had a lot of fun testing out the new kitchen. Today, Joe came over to help create my first meal here. He took charge of the chicken cordon bleu, and I made my beautiful white bread and some yummy thumbprint cookies.

I love thumbprint cookies b/c they taste sort of healthy due to the jam in the center. Since I just moved in, I don't have very much on hand...but I went out and bought a safe bet - strawberry jam. Today's recipe came from my favorite site for suggestions: allrecipes

Thumbprint Cookies

3/4 c butter
1/2 c sugar
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 c fruit preserves/jam, any flavor

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little at a time until a dough forms.
3) Rough doll into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Make a dent in the center of each cookie (I use the back of a melon baller b/c my thumb always leaves uneven holes). Fill with 1/2 tsp of jam/preserves.
4) Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the the bottom of the cookies are golden brown.

Notes: I would use cold butter rather than softened b/c then the dough will shape better. It might lose shape in the oven b/c of the butter, so if you have some time and can pop your tray into the fridge before putting it in the oven, please do so.

I've made this recipe many times before. It's so soft and delicious!