The second week is already almost over.
The first week was nice and relaxed, whereas the second one was harder and the tempo has increased drastically.
We made pate à choux a couple of times, for me more than that, because even though I thought I was good at it….I had to start again twice. Same thing with the crème pâtissière, thank God we tasted it before putting it into the tarte. It wasn’t sugar we used, but salt!!!
Then came the butter cream for the Moka cake (with coffee), which I also made by hand once before and it went fine. Let me tell you that when you have the pressure of not finishing last, you don’t always know what you are doing, especially something that you’ve never made that way before.
We made a sweet dough, a Flan tarte, choux à la crème (whipped cream), éclairs filled with crème pâtissière and white glazing, choux with crème pâtissière and glazed with caramel, a génoise for the moka cake, 3 kinds of brioche……basically it’s been full of surprises.
It can be frustrating at times, but it’s like some people feel with their kids – when the pastries look at you and smile, give back to you all the love you put into making them…..it’s wonderful and you feel fulfilled!
Making Brioche:
The ingredients: flour, eggs, salt, sugar and baking yeast. Do not mix the last 3 ingredients next to each
other for that the sugar and salt would burn the yeast. Mix with the mixer, when the dough doesn’t stick
to the bowl, add the eggs. Once it’s homogenous and flapps against the bowl it’s done (20-30min)
The Chef rolls the Brioche in both hands…Make them nicely round by making the dough flat with the palm
of your hand. Stretch a corner and fold it back in the center of the circle (see pic. below). Repeat the action several times.
Then with your hand, roll the dough to form a ball. Form with the palm of your hand by gently forming a
skittle (pic.3). Place in brioche form and with one finger press the head down whilst turning the form.
Brioche with chocolate chips. Bottom left the “Navettes”. Brioches bake 10-15 min on 180c°. Glaze with
egg and milk.
Making Choux and Éclairs:
Making pâte à choux and éclairs. Make sure the dough isn’t too fluid. As a tip, for the éclairs, with the
horn’s edge in flour, mark the baking tray to give you an indication of the size. Very helpful indeed!
Making choux glazed with caramel and choux à la crème with whipped cream. The caramel cooks until 160c°,
watch your hands whilst turning the choux on itself after dipping it into the caramel….HOT!
Making Moka:
Making a Moka: Génoise has to be fluffy. Make a butter cream and add coffee to it, keep it in the fridge.
Then make a syrup with water and sugar, add strong coffee. Slice the génoise into 3 and with a brush soak
each layer with the coffee syrup and butter cream.
Butter cream and almonds on the side. You can also make a writing canvas out of almond paste.
It’s up to you.
Making caramel decoration
Making caramel deco is great. It’s not as easy as it looks but the results make the whole difference on a
dessert.
All content and photographs © Fabienne Dauplay