macarons on my mind

I’ve been meaning to make and blog about French macarons for quite a while now but as with most of my cooking, I really have to be in the mood in order to do it well. How do I feel about making them after spending two days in the kitchen? They are not hard but can be a little finicky. I actually feel that macarons, like croissants and other laminated dough products, are one of those things that are worth buying. You make it once or twice to say that you can make your own. (And there’s a satisfaction about not letting the macaron get the best of you. Macaron, I’ll show you who’s the boss.)

Macarons can be made using endless “biscuit” and filling combinations. I think the most famous is probably the ispahan flavor by Pierre Hermé. It is a masterful and ingenious combination of three complementary flavors: rose, raspberry and lychee. (I’ll do a separate post dissecting and Americanizing the ispahan macaron recipe.)

I did a lot of reading and went with Not So Humble Pie’s very detailed instructions. She spent over 80 hours in the kitchen mastering the macaron and used a scatter plot to compare the various recipes before posting her technique. I really like the way she works. The macaron is about technique so her recipe may not work for you. I repeated the recipe several times and I got something a little different each time. I'm not perfect after all =(

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Cream Puffs (Pate a Choux and Creme Patisserie)

The first time I worked with choux pastry was at Johnson & Wales. I wasn’t a pastry major but part of the entire culinary arts program included a rudimentary pastry class. I remember hating the piping part so now I take a shortcut and use the scoop and drop method. This method works really well for me. The key is to have a bowl of water next to the baking sheet and after dropping the balls of dough on the baking sheet, dip your fingers in the water and smooth out the rough edges.

Tonight is the second night of Hanukkah and we were invited to a celebration at a friend’s house. There were several adults and a dozen little ones. My friend asked me to make my cranberry sauce and I decided to make cream puffs for dessert. I usually do profiteroles filled with gelato and drizzled with a warm Kahlua chocolate sauce but since this year was not an intimate sit down occasion, I decided to do cream puffs instead of profiteroles.

Make the pastry cream several hours or the night before making the puffs.

Pastry Cream:

2 cups half and half
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cake flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Mise en place.
2. Place 1 ½ cups of the half and half , half the granulated sugar and the salt in a pot; bring to a oil.
3. Place the cornstarch, the remaining sugar, and flour ina bowl; slowly add the remaining milk, and whisk together well.
4. Add the egg s to the cornstarch mixture; combine well.
5. Temper the cornstarch mixture, and add to the boiling milk.
6. Bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring constantly; cook for 3 minutes.
7. Remove from heat; stir in the vanilla and butter.
8. Whisk well.
9. Cover and refrigerate.
GLOSSARY
Temper: to equalize products with two extreme temperatures or textures.

COOKING TECHNIQUE
Tempering: Whisk the eggs vigorously while ladling hot liquid into them.


Pate a Choux:

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
5 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Bring milk, butter and salt to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in flour. Cook over medium heat about 1 ½ minutes, until the mixture is smooth and forms a ball.
4. Remove from heat. Transfer dough to the bowl of mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix dough on low speed until it cools slightly but is still very warm. Beat in eggs, one at a time on medium speed, making sure the egg is fully incorporated after each addition.

5. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or silpat. Drop walnut-size pieces of dough onto sheets. Smooth out dough using wet fingers.
6. Bake until puffed and beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees; continue baking until puffs are brown and very crisp, about 10 minutes.

Make sure you fully bake them or they will deflate. This was my first batch and I forgot about this very important detail.

To Assemble:

After puffs have cooled and pastry cream is chilled, slice the puffs, fill with pastry cream and drizzle with (or dip in) melted chocolate.

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Dessert Crepes

This is another recipe that I learned how to make by observing someone. One of my dear friends is a lab rat diabetes researcher by day and a crepe-making scientist by night. Love brought him all the way from Paris to Denver. (It really is a really great love story. An American girl and a French boy meeting in a guest house in Kathmandu almost ten years ago and are now living in the Mile High City.)

He made this for us after a long day out on the slopes. I stood in the kitchen and observed his methods. We did not plan ahead so the batter did not rest before cooking in the crepe pan. (Who would have thought our friend's mountain home had a crepe pan?) I asked questions and he patiently answered them. He said ideally the batter should rest for a few hours in order for the flour to absorb all the liquid. The second time he made this, it was dessert at a dinner party. He mixed up the batter ahead of time and brought his crepe pans to the dinner party and cooked them fresh. He even made fresh raspberry preserves. The French man who refuses to eat butter and cream sure does make a good crepe.

Below is my version of this delicious "pancake."

Sweet Crepe Batter:
makes 8-12 crepes

2 cups milk
3 large eggs
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:
1. In a blender, combine the milk, egg, flour, salt, sugar, and melted butter and blend until smooth. Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.



2. In a crepe pan (or large fry pan) over medium heat melt 1 teaspoon butter to coat the pan evenly. Pour 1/3 cup batter in heated pan. Spread the batter with a spatula. Cook until crepe is golden underneath, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip crepe and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to plate. Repeat to make 8 to 12 crepes.

Filling Ideas:

Today's fillings:

- Nutella and bruleed bananas (Sprinkle sliced bananas with sugar and brulee them using a kitchen torch. Spread nutella on crepe and fill with bruleed bananas)

- Strawberry, sugar, and chocolate sauce (Slice strawberries and sprinkle with sugar. Fill crepe with strawberries, fold or roll and drizzle with chocolate sauce.)

- Raspberry preserves (Spread half of crepe with raspberry jam and fold into quarters.)

- Lemon and sugar (Squeeze lemon on crepe, sprinkle with sugar and fold into quarters.)

The bf slicing strawberries:

Folding crepes:
There are several ways to fold crepes.

Crepes Suzette Fold:
Fold in half and in half again. I like this type of fold for flatter fillings like raspberry jam or lemon & sugar.




Gateaux Fold:
This is really not a fold but a stack with fillings in between the layers. Lay a crepe on plate, spread with filling, top with another crepe, spread with filling, repeat as many times as you want.


Burrito or Egg Roll Fold:
Fill and fold like a burrito. This is better for chunkier fillings.

Envelope fold:
Place filling in the middle but not all the way to the edge. Fold edges in and then fold top and bottom in like an envelope.



The Roll Fold:
Place filling down the center all the way to the edges. Roll into a tube. I like this fold with strawberries. I roll a few up, place them on a plate and then drizzle with chocolate sauce.

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