We finished our Pastry Techniques block last week, with Breakfast Pastries and Desserts as our last two subjects; we had focused on Cookies first. It was a survey of working with different doughs, batters, and fillings.

So, here’s the round up of what my three person team made:

Clockwise, Paris Brest, Eclair, Cream Puff, and a Swan. These were all made out of pate a choux, which is started on the stove top and finished in a mixer. We used all milk in our recipe, but half milk/half water or all water would make it a lighter, crispier. Ours were relatively tender and yellow. The Paris Brest was created to commemorate a bike race btw Paris and Brest, and it is meant to resemble a bicycle wheel. It was filled with pastry cream flavored with praline paste.

Our Eclairs had a chocolate pastry cream and a topping made out of melted chocolate, fondant, and simple syrup. The fondant was probably brought above 110 degrees, so the finish is more matted than shiny. It could have also used more melted chocolate to make it darker. We had to eyeball the amounts, which is tricky with melted chocolate and fondant. The double chocolate is a bit too much for me, and my favorite part of eclairs is usually the contrast of the vanilla pastry cream and chocolate top.
The Cream Puff had berries in the bottom and a raspberry whipped cream.

The Swan was made by piping the neck into a shape resembling a “2″ and high, oblong body shape. After baking it, we cut off the top of the body and cut it in half for wings, filled it with whipped cream, and stuck the neck in. We later learned that the “2″ should sit flat in the body, so ours shouldn’t have had that Adam’s apple effect.

This was our Dutch Apple Pie, which we made on the same day as our exploding cherry pies. The filling was a traditional cinnamon apple, but the streusel on top was a bit too sandy for me. It probably needed more moisture in it.

This was my genoise (sponge cake) that was decorated with whipped cream, strawberries, sweet puffed rice for the sides, and simple syrup brushed on the layers. We put the cake on a spinning cake stand to ice it, and angled a straight spatula to smooth the sides and top. Cutting it was a challenge because of the very soft whipped cream and relatively firm strawberries. I broke from the sawing technique at one point, and just pushed the knife down fast to see what would happen… and you can see the two slightly lowered slices that resulted.

We also learned that, generally, the filling and the cake should be about the same density, or else it will disrupt the balance of the finished product. I never thought about that before, and it makes a lot of sense.

I don’t particularly like this frilly style of cake decoration, but it was interesting to see that I could do it ok, for a first try.

We made traditional tiramisu, which turned out with a great mascarpone and marsala flavor. It was one of my favorites of everything we made. The lady fingers are made with the separation foaming method, in which the yolks and whites are whipped separately with sugar, and then folded together before folding in the flour.

This was one of our three angel food cakes, and the one that I prepared 6 ways. The recipe instructed us to lightly sprinkle the sides of the pan with water to produce a more caramelized effect, but maybe I put too much, because the sides were moist for a while after baking.

For our first day of Breakfast Pastries, we made five quick breads: Fig and Cheddar, Sweet Olive Oil, Zucchini, Cumin, and Cumin/Cheddar/Jalapeno.

The Cumin Bread, recipe here, was amazing; it was almost like a cumin biscuit in a loaf shape, and would have been great with chili. We had enough time to make it again, this time adding cheddar and jalapeno, but it tasted virtually the same as the first version, so maybe it’d be best just to top it with those flavorings instead of loading the batter up with so much more cheese.

The Fig and Cheddar was also fantastic, the flavors coming together so well and with a moist texture.

The Sweet Olive Oil Bread, recipe here, was a bit dry and with mundane raisin and lemon flavors. It may have needed small pans to bake it in so that it would all bake evenly and not so much that it dried out in places.

We also made a great Fennel Quiche that was researched by a team mate.

This Cheese Strata is a form of savory bread pudding that I found in Charlie Palmer’s Casual Cooking cookbook — it was fantastic, and similar to a pungent mac & cheese with bread instead of pasta. We cut up two sourdough batards (b/c that’s what we had, but most breads will work) into cubes and sauted them in butter until lightly toasted, and then mixed together 8 eggs, 1 Tbs grated onion, 3.5 c half-and-half, 1 tsp light brown sugar, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 tsp paprika, dash of Tabasco sauce, and coarse salt and pepper. We then combined 3/4 lb grated cheddar cheese and 3/4 lb grated Capricious goat cheese (described here; the original recipe calls for monterey jack). We buttered a 3 qt deep casserole, and layered the bread, cheese, bread, cheese, and bread, and then poured the egg mixture in, and let it soak 15 minutes before baking it at 350 for about 40 minutes, when it was all bubbly and golden brown. And that was my lunch.

And of course, the amazing Blue Cheese and Leek Quiche.

Hot Cross Buns and Panettone. Our Hot Cross Buns had a piped paste on top flavored with lemon peel, and were glazed with thinned fondant. Eh. Fondant, paste, and dough together isn’t my favorite.

The Panettone was very nice, soft and airy. We used currants instead of raisins. They take a very long time to proof–about 1 hr 45 mins even after they’re put into the molds. It’s worth it, though. Before we baked them, we cut a cross on top and put a piece of butter in the center.

This was a Greek Easter Bread called Tsoureki that we researched. It normally has hardboiled eggs stuck into it, but we preferred to make it plain.

On Donut Day, we made yeasted donuts topped with chocolate fondant, cinnamon sugar, or powdered sugar.

We made berliners (jelly donuts) with raspberry jam, and I consider them the miracle donuts– we made a yeasted starter for them the day before, but when I tried to mix it with the rest of the ingredients for the dough, it was extremely dry and would only stay as gummy chunks. Only after a lot of high-powered mixing and fiddling around did it come together. Luckily, they didn’t turn out too tough and gluten-y, but they did taste a bit too yeasty, so maybe they could have proofed longer. To fill them, we used a piping tip that looked like a mosquito’s proboscis.

The apple fritters were the star of the day, though. Perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and in the curls, and with small diced apple pieces. They tasted great, clean and fresh. We used pate a choux to line the dough before rolling it up, which turned out nicely creamy. We should have rolled them tighter, though, because we lost bits of the apple while deep frying.

We melted shortening to deep fry them at 380-400; other groups used canola oil or similar, but they didn’t have quite the right taste for me, so the shortening seemed like a necessary evil. The shortening took about 1 hr to heat up. By putting the dough in clockwise, you can keep track of which donuts should be ready first.

The golden ones were best.

We also piped our extra pate a choux into the pot to make Funnel Cake. It was crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, but something was missing flavor-wise. It was also hard to make them round, because the dough preferred to straighten out when piped into the oil so they had to manipulated as best we could.

Next: Cakes!

And suddenly, the deck oven needed cleaning.

Every once in a while, I read a recipe that strikes me like a thunderbolt, and I can’t quite rest until I make it and eat it. This happened with Thomas Keller’s Roquefort and Leek Quiche; the recipe and an article are here.

It’s made in a 2 inch high ring mold. And that makes all the difference in the world. Instead of a thin, eggy custard overpowered by a mealy crust (as I’d generally pictured quiche before), the custard here has the room to develop an almost liquid silkiness while the pastry remains crisp and flaky. Even for reluctant crust-eaters like me, the crust is a marvel that balances the creaminess and strong flavors of the custard.

In Bouchon and in the linked article, Keller explains the benefits of his 2 inch quiche. Since it needs such a long time to cook (about 1.5 hours), the flavors have time to develop and distribute themselves evenly. Also, since quiche doesn’t have the protection of a water bath, it needs the volume to cook slowly and evenly. In shorter quiches, risks are high that either the custard will overcook in trying to fully bake the crust or that the crust will become soggy while trying to gently heat the custard.

His technique of using a blender for the egg mixture also encourages a lighter texture and it helps to suspend the ingredients. I was concerned by the large amount of froth when I poured the egg mixture into the crust, but it settled and turned out uniform.

Luckily, we were asked to research quiche recipes to make for culinary school earlier this week, so I was able to make this with a ring mold at school, though mine was 8 inches diameter instead of 9 inches. I’m tempted to buy one purely to make this quiche, but I might experiment with using a springform ring without the bottom, or even a cake pan.

Also, we had Point Reyes Blue Cheese instead of Roquefort, and it worked out nicely The tangy blue cheese and the mellow leeks produced an amazing flavor to match the silky texture. He also suggests other classical quiche flavorings such as bacon and onion, spinach, and wild mushroom.

Give yourself plenty of time for this. I made the dough the day before, and even though we started in the kitchen at 8am, it wasn’t quite cool enough to cut by noon. The crust needs plenty of time to rest and bake and cool, the leeks have to be blanched and cooled and squeezed dry, the milk and cream need to be scalded and then blended with the eggs and seasonings, and finally the whole thing needs to bake for about 1.5 hours, and then cooled for a while. Keller recommends serving it the day after you make it, either cold or heated at 375 for 15 mins.

It’s not hard or even continuous work, though, and the results are amazing. In fact, it’s so silky, I was endlessly confused when it came out out of the oven. I had to keep taking bites to figure out what had happened and whether it was cooked all the way through–the texture was like nothing I’d had before, except maybe something like foie gras, and the color was like ivory.

I also happen to think that the drum-like shape is beautiful.

Edit: I have since revisited Bouchon.

The Keller-thon continues. After I’d heard that it was supposed to rain all day Saturday, I thought that nothing would be better than to be tucked into a cozy French bistro with some wine and a casual lunch. After buying the Bouchon cookbook last week, Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Yountville was the logical choice, although I am still eager to try Bistro Jeanty, just down the street.

Part of this idyllic image involved just breezing in for a table at lunchtime, but we thought better of that and made a reservation on OpenTable Friday night. Good thing we did b/c everything but 11:30am (which is when they open) was booked. Upon entering, and being greeted by the friendly hostess who let us pick any table we wanted (we chose a window table, with a view of Bouchon Bakery next door), I was ready to spend the entire day there. The decor is like that of a classical Parisian cafe, in the fancy-yet-familiar style. Zinc and copper, partial lace curtains for the windows, a mosaic floor, handsomely glittery, roomy and yet bustling. There is also a comfortable bar area, with an oyster bar installed.

As Keller explains in the cookbook, Bouchon is about maintaining classic traditions, while attempting to perfect them. In contrast, the French Laundry is about using the imagination to create new dishes. So, the menu here is full of such things as steak frites, boudin blanc, roasted chicken, mussels, salads, rillettes, pate, and even a croque madame.

The menu is wrapped around the napkin, and upon opening it, I was astounded that I recognized the majority of it from the cookbook. There’s a certain satisfaction to go into a Keller restaurant, and think, “I can make this stuff at home.” For all the celebrity chef cookbooks that I have, I’ve never had that experience before. So, I went about choosing things that I probably wouldn’t tackle myself anytime soon. I also factored in that Keller is exacting about sources, so maybe I wouldn’t have access to all that he does.

Speaking of sources, the bread and butter deserve their own picture because they were amazing. Baked at Bouchon Bakery next door, the still-warm bread (an epi) was perfectly crusty on the outside and chewy in the inside; Chad even compared it to eating a crab, it was so crispy. Plus, it had flavor…. Good, true bread flavor. It’s baguette dough, but usually scissors are used to cut into the bread to make it look like a shaft of wheat; I like it as a compromise between a loaf and rolls. I should have asked for the source of the butter, because I’ve read that Keller is very particular about his butter (see the 3rd entry from bottom). I doubt that Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery are able to subsist on the small amount of butter from those 5 cows in Vermont in the link, so perhaps it was Plugra, or something similar. Rich and creamy, it was perfect, especially with the bread.

This was my Dungeness Crab Salad with Mache and Citrus Vinaigrette with Toasted Brioche, a special for the day. The sweet crab melted into the creme fraiche so nicely, and the vinagrette was so intensely orange, and the mache gently swung the dish back into a savory composition. According to the cookbook, the vinaigrette is simply 3/4 c OJ reduced to 3 Tbs, sherry vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. And the brioche was so light and crispy and buttery. To pile the crab and mache onto it was superb.

Chad got the Chilled Asparagus with Vinaigrette and Eggs Mimosa. This dish highlights the quintessential “technique and fresh ingredients” cooking philosophy. What you see is what you get. The asparagus is blanched and iced (and some of it pureed with the cooking liquid for a sauce), the egg yolks are hard-boiled and sieved for the mimosa, and it is rounded out with house vinaigrette, radishes, and chives. It is a soothing combination, the soft yet crisp asparagus offset by the smooth yolks. I don’t care for asparagus much, so a bite was just perfect for me. It’s tasty, but if anything, I would have been hard-pressed to eat the entire thing… Even objectively, that’s a lot of yolk and asparagus on one plate.

I had the Monkfish Stew, full of monkfish, squid, mussels, manila clams, and potatoes. It involves shellfish broth, garlic confit, aioli, and shelled creatures, so I preferred to order it rather than make it at home. A sort of seafood comfort stew, I was pleased with it. Tasty, but not overpowering, and each bite is a little different. The broth was excellent for dipping into with the epi, which had been refreshed for us. I wished that some aioli was served on the side, to further punch up some bites because I thought that it could use a little more garlic, but it’s all already whisked in. I did appreciate the taste benefits of the parsley, though.

It’s perfect for a rainy day, but as you’ll notice, the sun had came out with force–it wasn’t until we finished our meal and stepped outside that it poured.

Chad got the Leg of Lamb with Flageolets in a Thyme Jus. Tender and tasty, the lamb was prepared very well, as were the beans and jus. This is an example of the Bouchon strategy of “perfecting” bistro dishes. Instead of preparing and serving a whole leg of lamb, they remove the connective tissue by hand and separate the muscles so that it becomes more like a loin… And more elegant.

I would also like to mention that I have only recently discovered what a wonderful combination meat and thyme make. After this lamb, the roast chicken sprinkled with thyme, and the French burger laced with thyme, I only regret that I haven’t discovered this sooner, and I look forward to playing around with it. In general, Keller uses a lot of herbs for the Bouchon recipes, so those will probably be guides…

We shared the profiteroles for dessert. Crispy and airy pate a choux surrounding vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. I ended up eating the sauce straight from the, er, chocolate boat, it was so good; he suggests using Valhrona Equatorials for it in the cookbook. I liked that the vanilla ice cream had a clean vanilla taste and a clean texture–no lingering film of cream in the mouth.

I also want to direct your attention to that flat-spoon-like utensil on the left of the pic. I usually shy away from ordering profiteroles for the sole reason that they usually skitter all over the plate when encountered with a utensil, and said utensil usually clank into the plate at some point(s). But this utensil was very helpful in gracefully extracting a bite of profiterole at a time.

So, we enjoyed Bouchon, but there were regrets and negatives. One regret was that, after we ordered wine, we noticed a fantastic cocktail menu. I know I can only drink so much wine, so why not mix things up in the Napa Valley with such things as a Blood Orange Negroni or a Champagne Mojito? One negative was that a random server swooped in to take a wine glass that clearly had one healthy sip left in it.

I keep debating over the price. Main courses are about $16-25, and appetizers btw $8-13. I guess that this has become average and there is clearly superior craftsmanship at work, stemmed from the genius that is Thomas Keller, but when I daydream about France and its bistros, I couldn’t imagine spending that much for these dishes. $8.50 for onion soup? $19.95 for gnocchi? I could very well be wrong about this, but I guess it falls between an expensive French bistro and a reasonable Thomas Keller restaurant. I do like that there are relatively cheaper options, such as the $15.95 Croque Madame and Ice Cream/Sorbet for $2.50/scoop, but still, almost $20 for a sandwich and a scoop of ice cream?

I’m developing a criteria for restaurants and bakeries based on a rather subjective “Would I Crave This?” standard. From this meal, I’d crave the bread and butter, the Dungeness Crab Salad, and mmmaybe the Profiteroles and mmmaybe the lamb. What I’m dancing around is that I can’t highly recommend Bouchon yet from this one visit, but it’s quite good.

By the way, for the curious:

# of photos in this post: 8
# of times at least part of the word “Bouchon” is visible in the photos: 8

You can now purchase my handmade candy bars and marshmallows at http://www.bonbonbar.com/
On Friday, I snagged an angel food cake that I made at school to take home for me and Chad. On Saturday, we had a few slices. On Sunday, I wanted to do something more.

I experimented, Iron Chef style. Using 11 slices of leftover cake and anything that happened to be in my kitchen (cream and milk were not), Chad and I made and tasted variations with the cake. For guides, I used Gale Gand’s Butter Sugar Flour Eggs, internet sites found with Google, and my own tricks and mischief. And everything was paired with an excellent sparkling wine, Iron Horse Blanc de Blanc 1998.

Overall, the most valuable lesson that I learned was that, generally, when attempting such recipes as these, the cake should be toasted. It holds its shape better, and it is even more delicious toasted because it deepens the flavor and diversifies the texture.

These truffles were adapted from Gand’s Valentine Chocolate Kisses, which normally uses pound cake. I pulverized a cup of cake (2 slices) into crumbs in the food processor, and then toasted them for about ten minutes. I mixed them with 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/2 c conf sugar (I tried to use less, b/c of all the sugar in the cake, but volume and absorption help were needed), and then drizzled in a 2.25 tsp honey and 2 tbs rum mixture. Mixed it all together, and then coated about 8 still-frozen cherries before chilling them. Half an hour later, I melted some Guittard bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler and rolled them around in it; I didn’t think tempering was in order for this. They then chilled for 30 mins more.

They turned out quite nicely. When we ate them from the fridge, the crumbs acted almost like hazelnuts and they were much like Ferrero Rocher chocolates crossed with rum balls and cherry-centered cordials. I liked how the cherries also absorbed a bit of the rum, so that they burst with an alcohol tang. Later in the day, when I tried one, the crumbs had softened a bit more, into a texture like coconut. I promptly ate another.

An Angel Food and Pear Sandwich with Limencello Sauce has long been a favorite of mine. Usually, I toast the bread under a broiler, and spread ricotta over the less-toasted sides, incorporate layers of Asian pears, and serve it with conf sugar mixed with limoncello for dunking. On Sunday, I happened to have mascarpone and a Bosc pear instead. The mascarpone melted a little too much, like butter, into the cake, and the Bosc was a bit mealy and insipid. The glaze was good as always, though, and I think I’ll stick with Asian pears and ricotta.

This was my biggest challenge of the day because I wanted to emulate the Caramelized French Toast from The City Bakery, and caramel is a tricky thing. Other than butter and sugar, and probably corn syrup, I wasn’t sure what kind of caramel glaze would have the right give while chewing and low tackiness to the touch.

On the left, I grilled a piece of cake, and then dipped it in a mixture of 3 Tbs butter and 1 2/3 oz dark brown sugar that had been mostly melted together, and then baked it at about 250 for a while; I adapted this from a sticky bun recipe, since that was roughly what I was going for. It ended up tasting nice and caramel-y with an undertow of smoky goodness from grilling, but the sugar crystals never quite became ungranulated, so the texture was off.

On the right, I adapted a caramel popcorn recipe, because I figured that it had the tackiness quotient that I want, even if I would try to avoid the crunchy-ness. On med heat, for 5 mins, I boiled 1/4 c packed light brown sugar, 2 tbs butter, and 2 tbs corn syrup. I then mixed in 1/8 tsp vanilla paste. I left out the baking soda because I couldn’t think of how it would help my cause. I let it bake about 20 mins at 250, because I wanted it a bit drier, but not the full hour because I didn’t want it to be fully dried like caramel corn. This was much closer to the City Bakery version, and I liked it a lot. It was still a little too chewy, though, and since the cake hadn’t been grilled/toasted, it got a bit moist under the caramel. If it’d been toasted, I think it would have great. Sure, sugar wrapped in sugar, but great nonetheless.

This was based on Gand’s Grilled Pain Perdu with Buttermilk, which is usually meant for brioche or challah. I whisked 35 g eggs (about 2/3 of 1 egg), pinch salt, 25 g sugar, a drop of vanilla, and 1/4 buttermilk together. It was supposed to also have a 1/4 cup half and half that I didn’t have, so um, I drizzled in some water instead, just to give it more moisture. I then grilled them.

Upon tasting it, Chad curled his arm around the plate in an (unsuccessful) attempt to keep it for himself. In this case, the creamy texture of the cake between the grill marks was just right, and the toppings of maple syrup (left) and reduced sugar marionberry preserves (right) were perfect to make this a lighter, yet still sweet version of french toast.

Gand specified angel food cake for this maple glaze, and it was also good. I like how angel food naturally approaches the lighter side of maple and caramel, so the maple was a good topping. I simply mixed together 1/2 conf sugar (sifted), 1 tsp egg white, and 1 Tbs maple syrup. I also had some leftover melted chocolate from the kisses, so I drizzled that on top of one. It’s ironic that the addition of more sugar–when clothed in chocolate–can mellow the sweetness of it. It balanced the flavors more, and took the focus off sugar just a little.

It bothers me that although fruits are perfectly wonderful when eaten alone, once they are cut up or are to be used in a recipe, they almost always require more sugar. So, I just had to try, just once, baking something that was just out of the puree of fruits, and I thought of something along the lines of a fruity bread pudding. I pureed thawed frozen blueberries with their juices, poured some into the bottom of a ramekin, dotted it with cubed angel food, and baked it at 350 until toasted. Then I added raspberry puree made from frozen raspberries and their juices with dried cherries/blueberries/strawberries plumped in kirsch. And baked it.

So, yes, there’s a reason why this isn’t done. The purees dry out unflatteringly, the cake gets deluged with moisture, and it all tastes of the steam that was trying to escape. Next time, I guess a better move would be to toast a slice, maybe top it with melted reduced-sugar marionberry preserves or a fruit sauce, and finish it off with whole berries. Or, forget about heat totally, and make a layered summer pudding with it.

By that point, we’d eaten all the cake we could eat in one day. Plus, it was all gone, save for 4 truffles.