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kaberettI keep forgetting what recipe for choux pastry I used and then having to look it up again. This is tedious. Ergo: notes.
Profiteroles
150ml milk
55g butter
1 tsp sugar
75g strong white flour (+ pinch of salt, if feeling enthusiastic)
2 eggs
Preheat an oven to 200degC (fan; or equivalent)
Heat milk, butter, and sugar gently until the butter has melted. Bring to boil, take off heat, and add flour immediately and all at once; beat vigorously (use a wooden spoon or assertive silicone spatula) until you have a smooth paste that's pulling away from the side of the pan into a ball.
Leave to cool for five minutes, then add the eggs a little at a time, continuing to mix vigorously; you should end up with a glossy paste. Using two teaspoons transfer balls of the pastry onto a baking sheet you've sprinkled gently with water (the steam helps them cook right), and bake for ~20 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven, make a small slit in the base if you're feeling enthusiastic (this apparently encourages them not to sink and, well, I did it yesterday and they didn't sink), leave to cool on a wire rack (or possibly on a wire rack in the now-switched-off oven? I am considering this a possibility to experiment with for next time).
I like whipping the cream for filling them with a bit of vanilla sugar and a bit of exciting stone-fruit brandy; I like melting dark chocolate to pour over the top.
eta for future reference, self, this makes ~15 profiteroles and neatly fills one of the large baking sheets. I have on this occasion baked them for 25 minutes at 200degC, then turned the oven down to 50 and stuck them back in having slit the base to see if that does what I want it to.
I also have a whole pile of egg whites from all the Making Custard experiments, which I've been working my way through slowly. Having established to my satisfaction that I can definitely make meringue in a variety of interesting flavours, I've now also had a go at macarons.
Macarons (adapted from The Blonde Buckeye)
110g ground almonds (or hazelnuts, if doing chocolate-hazelnut)
200g caster or icing sugar (- 1tbsp sugar and + 1 tbsp cocoa powder if doing chocolate-hazelnut)
2 tbsp lemon zest (if lemon-flavoured; air-dried for min 2 hours or overnight; next time I'm doing this with the zester on the box grater which gives an approximate pulp rather than the hand-zester that gives fine strips)
90g egg whites
30g caster sugar
food colouring (optional)
Combine almonds, caster/icing sugar, and lemon zest (if you've not got almond meal, or are using granulated sugar, or what-have-you, combine them in a food processor and pulse them a bit). Set aside.
Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the 30g caster sugar; beat back to stiff peaks. If you're adding food colouring, do so toward the end of the beating time.
Dump the dry ingredients over the egg white and use a spatula to combine them. Start out with flat, smashing strokes -- you want to get all the air out (I found this distressingly counter-intuitive but it's correct). Switch to a folding motion after ~10 of same; you are aiming to get back to a thick, glossy mixture that runs off the spatula in thick ribbons.
Using a piping bag (hahahaha yeah right) or two teaspoons, make small circles of the mixture on baking-paper-lined baking sheets. They will spread out, so give them room; if you're feeling Very Precise about making things that are Neat and can be Sandwiched Together make yourself a guide sheet to go underneath whatever you're piping onto and be slow and careful and methodical. (To nobody's surprise, I am not, particularly.)
Leave the proto-macarons to rest for 30 minutes--2 hours -- the idea is to get the air out of them. To this end you can also tap the baking sheet against your work surface (fairly hard) before resting them.
At an appropriate point in the resting period, heat the oven to 160degC (again, fan oven). When you're bored of letting them rest, put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes; when you remove them you should be able to (very gently!) lift one away from the baking parchment and have it come up in one piece. Having tested that they're adequately done, leave to cool on the side; once cool, eat them or sandwich them together with something or put them into storage or whatever as you see fit.
Profiteroles
150ml milk
55g butter
1 tsp sugar
75g strong white flour (+ pinch of salt, if feeling enthusiastic)
2 eggs
Preheat an oven to 200degC (fan; or equivalent)
Heat milk, butter, and sugar gently until the butter has melted. Bring to boil, take off heat, and add flour immediately and all at once; beat vigorously (use a wooden spoon or assertive silicone spatula) until you have a smooth paste that's pulling away from the side of the pan into a ball.
Leave to cool for five minutes, then add the eggs a little at a time, continuing to mix vigorously; you should end up with a glossy paste. Using two teaspoons transfer balls of the pastry onto a baking sheet you've sprinkled gently with water (the steam helps them cook right), and bake for ~20 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven, make a small slit in the base if you're feeling enthusiastic (this apparently encourages them not to sink and, well, I did it yesterday and they didn't sink), leave to cool on a wire rack (or possibly on a wire rack in the now-switched-off oven? I am considering this a possibility to experiment with for next time).
I like whipping the cream for filling them with a bit of vanilla sugar and a bit of exciting stone-fruit brandy; I like melting dark chocolate to pour over the top.
eta for future reference, self, this makes ~15 profiteroles and neatly fills one of the large baking sheets. I have on this occasion baked them for 25 minutes at 200degC, then turned the oven down to 50 and stuck them back in having slit the base to see if that does what I want it to.
I also have a whole pile of egg whites from all the Making Custard experiments, which I've been working my way through slowly. Having established to my satisfaction that I can definitely make meringue in a variety of interesting flavours, I've now also had a go at macarons.
Macarons (adapted from The Blonde Buckeye)
110g ground almonds (or hazelnuts, if doing chocolate-hazelnut)
200g caster or icing sugar (- 1tbsp sugar and + 1 tbsp cocoa powder if doing chocolate-hazelnut)
2 tbsp lemon zest (if lemon-flavoured; air-dried for min 2 hours or overnight; next time I'm doing this with the zester on the box grater which gives an approximate pulp rather than the hand-zester that gives fine strips)
90g egg whites
30g caster sugar
food colouring (optional)
Combine almonds, caster/icing sugar, and lemon zest (if you've not got almond meal, or are using granulated sugar, or what-have-you, combine them in a food processor and pulse them a bit). Set aside.
Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the 30g caster sugar; beat back to stiff peaks. If you're adding food colouring, do so toward the end of the beating time.
Dump the dry ingredients over the egg white and use a spatula to combine them. Start out with flat, smashing strokes -- you want to get all the air out (I found this distressingly counter-intuitive but it's correct). Switch to a folding motion after ~10 of same; you are aiming to get back to a thick, glossy mixture that runs off the spatula in thick ribbons.
Using a piping bag (hahahaha yeah right) or two teaspoons, make small circles of the mixture on baking-paper-lined baking sheets. They will spread out, so give them room; if you're feeling Very Precise about making things that are Neat and can be Sandwiched Together make yourself a guide sheet to go underneath whatever you're piping onto and be slow and careful and methodical. (To nobody's surprise, I am not, particularly.)
Leave the proto-macarons to rest for 30 minutes--2 hours -- the idea is to get the air out of them. To this end you can also tap the baking sheet against your work surface (fairly hard) before resting them.
At an appropriate point in the resting period, heat the oven to 160degC (again, fan oven). When you're bored of letting them rest, put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes; when you remove them you should be able to (very gently!) lift one away from the baking parchment and have it come up in one piece. Having tested that they're adequately done, leave to cool on the side; once cool, eat them or sandwich them together with something or put them into storage or whatever as you see fit.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-25 12:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-26 12:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-26 12:01 am (UTC)(You make them sound so maybe-not-horribly-intimidating-to-make!)
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-26 12:44 pm (UTC)(They are really not intimdating to make! The pastry is quite a stiff paste so it's Quite Hard Work to stir, but they are honestly quite friendly. The tricksiest bit is putting the cream inside them at all neatly.)
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-26 03:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-26 07:59 pm (UTC)this all sounds pretty incredible tho. I approve of the petty revenge of cooking anything but revenge-pastries (& esp decadent ones like this) are the best.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-03-05 08:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-03-05 08:20 pm (UTC)EXCELLENT :D Thank you for letting me know!