Oh, Sugar!

In Patisserie on Monday, we also made pâtes de fruits, which are fruit candies akin to the orange slices you can buy in the States.  However, the ones we made were strawberry and pina colada!  Making these delicious candies made me realize how much sugar actually is in candy.  I know that sounds silly, but you honestly don't realize it until you see it first hand.  These things are pure sugar!  So, maybe go easy on handing out those orange slices to your three year old or yourself for that matter.

Strawberry juice puree is melted.

Then, glucose and some sugar are added.

The mixture comes back to a boil.

Pectin and little bit of sugar are added together.

And then the rest of the sugar (yes, all of that) is slowly incorporated.

The mixture bubbles until it reaches 106 degrees C.

And is then poured into a mold.

Where it sits for a while to harden.

Sonja trying to figure out how to slide the pâtes de fruits off the silpat and into the sugar bin.  Yes!  More sugar.

The pâtes de fruits is then cut with the "guitar."  You have no idea how badly I want one of those in my own kitchen!  Of course, considering the size of my "kitchen" in Paris, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit.

After being cut, the pâtes de fruits is tossed in more sugar.

Et voila!  Candy fit for sweetest of sweet tooths!

Shouldn't Marshmallows Be White?

Whenever I think of marshmallows, I instantly think of the big commercial kind you find in the grocery store in the States as well as their tiny counterparts that go so well in hot chocolate.  Both are freakishly (and probably unnaturally) white, but taste oh so ridiculously good on a S'Mores.

So, when I stepped into what I thought was my last pastry class (woo hoo, we are having one more on Monday!), I was surprised to find that we would be making marshmallows, or guimauves in French.  Apparently, in France, many patisseries make guimauves in all kinds of flavors and colors.  It was now our turn to try.  Let me put it this way, I won't be rushing home to open up a marshmellow shop anytime soon.

It all started with some gelatine.

Then sugar and water which was heated to around 125 degrees C.

While the sugar was boiling, my partner in crime for the day, Sonja, whipped some egg whites.

The hot sugar mixture goes into the egg whites.

Followed by the gelatine.

And everything is mixed together.  Sonja and I decided first to do lemon flavored guimauves, but changed our minds and decided we wanted to do lime instead  So, we grabbed the green coloring and...

Oops! Should have used a slight bit less to achieve lime green.  This was more like slime green from the TV show Double Dare.

Regardless, into the molds it went.

Estee decorating her orange and herb flavored marshmallows.  Yes, herbs.

After sitting for a while, it was time to cut the marshmallows and put more powdered sugar on them. 

So that they look like this, which to me is totally unappetizing.

We should have stuck with lemon.  These look much better!

The final platter with all the guimauves we made!

Palmiers

Here are the photos showing how to make the Palmiers from Pastry class yesterday. For the flaky, ear looking cookies we used a third type of puff pastry called feuillete rapide. It is a quicker version of the regular puff pastry dough which takes a while to make.

Starting ingredients.

Butter was "beaten" as usual and then cut into small pieces.

And mixed with the flour until a ball was formed.

Next, it is rolled out.

And the turning process begins.

Once turned four times with the aid of flour, the dough was ready for the sugar turning.

Which happens to involve a freakishly large amount of sugar (but that is why Palmiers are so good!).

Rolling/turning the dough with sugar.

Shaping the dough for the Palmiers.

If you have time, freeze or refrigerate the dough for a few minutes.  This makes it easier to slice the cookies.

Sliced and ready to bake.

Hot out of the oven!  Yum.

Easing Back Into Things: Puff Pastry Style

The Pastry gods were looking down on me yesterday.  After such a grueling trip back to France, they decided to grace me with the delicious task of making Palmiers and Galette des Rois on my first day back, both of which are made from puff pastry - my favorite.

Galette des Rois is a King Cake that is made each year on January 6th to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.  It is a huge round puff pastry cake stuffed with almond and pastry cream.  Doesn't sound too shabby now does it?  Fit for a king I guess.  However, I prefer the King Cakes made in Louisiana for Mardi Gras, but I guess I might be a bit biased. 

It is obvious, though, that the modern Mardi Gras King Cake has its origins in the traditional French King Cake.  They are both made only once a year for a specific occasion, and they both contain a little surprise that is baked into the cake. Everyone wants to be the person who gets the piece of cake with the surprise baked in it.  Of course in France, the surprise, called une feve, is a beautiful porcelain trinket that could be an Eiffel Tower, a Fleur de Lis, or even a soccer ball.  In Louisiana, on the other hand, it's always a plastic baby (which had never seemed odd to me until I just wrote that sentence). 

Galette des Rois

Starting ingredients for the inverse puff pastry.

Sift flour, make a well and add water and salt.

Mix.

After mixing the water with some flour, add the melted butter.

And combine to make the dough.  Rest in the fridge 15 minutes.

Start the beurre manie which will surround the puff pastry dough that is resting.  This is why it is called inverse puff pastry because the butter is on the outside of the dough not the inside.

Beurre manie is mixed and will also rest in the fridge.

Then, both are rolled out and the first dough is placed on top of the beurre manie.

Let the turning begin.

Rolling out the dough after the first turn.

Making a double turn.

While the dough rests, make almond paste and pastry cream and blend together.

After another set of turns, divide dough into four.

With each fourth, place two opposite corners together.

Followed by the other two corners.

Flip over and roll into a ball.

Then roll it out into a circle.

Ring the circle with egg wash.

Place the almond and pastry cream mixture in the center.

And top with another circle of the pastry dough.

Make the edges pretty.

Cover with egg wash and rest in the fridge a few minutes.

Chef showing us how to decorate the cake.

My two decorating attempts.

Into the oven they go.

Until golden brown.  Then brush with simple syrup.

Et volia!

When we all were given a piece of the cake, guess who got the feve...

I did and it was an Eiffel Tower.

King and Queen of Pastry for the day!