Sportskage trial

I'm on a pastry detour to Denmark!  Who woulda thunk it?!

I recently received a request to make a sportskage (sports cake), which, as I've come to learn, is a classic "cake" created back in the late 1800's by La Glace, a pastry shop in Copenhagen, for the opening of a play entitled "Sportsmen".  It's been around ever since and continues to be a popular offering at the conditori.

It is basically whipped cream with chopped caramelized nuts (nougatine) folded into it, domed on top of an almond macaron type base, then topped with more whipped cream and caramelized choux puffs.  When I first saw photos of this pile of cream, I was curious, not only as to how one approaches the assembly, but also the slicing and serving of such a thing.  How does it hold its shape, I asked myself?

What better way to find out than to jump right in and make it.  My trial was underway!

Unlike the recipes I reviewed on line which use almond paste, egg white and sugar for the "cake" base, I opted to substitute one of my (and Steve's) all time favorite components.  Dacquoise is in the meringue family, made with ground nuts (almonds or hazelnuts or pistachios or walnuts - you name it), egg whites and sugar, much like the ever-so-popular French macaron.  

For me the beauty of a dacquoise is how much easier it is to make than the fussy macaron.  In this case I wanted to know if the small version of my go-to recipe would be enough for a 9-10" diameter base for the sportskage.

I decided on a hazelnut version and proceeded with my mise en place.  Very straight forward, no muss, no fuss.  When making a meringue I typically weigh out my egg whites and let them sit at room temp for an hour or so, since they mount better when no longer refrigerator cold.

Here I have egg whites (99 gm or about three), confectioner's sugar (75 gm), ground hazelnuts (99 gm) and granulated sugar (25 gm) at the ready.

Whisk the ground hazelnuts and confectioners sugar together . . .

Start the egg whites on low speed, using the whisk attachment, and, once they start to look foamy, add the granulated sugar . . . .

foaming up!

adding the sugar

then continue beating on high speed to firm peaks.

look at these peaks!

Now gently fold in the hazelnut/confectioners sugar mixture just until incorporated . . .

and pipe into a nice round!

ready for the oven

You can appreciate that my coil doesn't quite reach the periphery of my 240mm cake ring, so I might need a slightly larger recipe when it comes time for the real thing.  We'll see.

Out of the oven . . .

I was happy with the thickness, feeling it would nicely support the cream that would later be mounded on it.  But to give me a slightly larger base for the final dessert I'll consider a 15-20% increase in my base recipe.

Next I prepared the nougatine by making a standard caramel into which I stirred toasted hazelnuts. This mixture is poured immediately onto a Silpat and allowed to cool until hard.  BEWARE!  Hot caramel is dangerous!!  Wear protective oven gloves or hot mitts to prevent burns.  I know - I've been there.

I prefer blanched hazelnuts as a rule, but this time I used a mixture of blanched and natural hazelnuts. When I learned from my local nut vendor that blanched hazelnuts are currently very hard to come by and expensive due to a poor crop in Turkey, I opted for the skins-on version from Oregon to supplement the small supply of blanched nuts that I had in my freezer from earlier in the year.   I initially tried the toasting-in-the-oven/rubbing-the-skins-off technique, but boy-oh-boy, those skins did NOT want to come off, try as I might.  I just had to go with the flow and move forward, skins and all.

Once the nut/caramel mixture was cooled I ground it up to a coarse texture.  I want a nice crunch to the final dessert but am careful to avoid caramel pieces that are too big since they can be quite hard and difficult to chew.  No broken teeth allowed!

coarsely ground hazelnut nougatine

The next component is pâte à choux for the small profiterole style puffs that will be dipped in caramel (another CAUTION HOT!) and placed on the surface of the sportskage.  I used my usual base recipe (à la Michel Roux) which calls for 125 ml water, 125 ml milk, 100 gm butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp sugar, 150 gm flour and 4 eggs.

I've found a number of recipes that use only water as the liquid, but I find the combo of water AND milk gives the puff a nicer flavor and more golden hue.  Granted the choux isn't really there to provide much flavor but serves primarily as the vehicle, whether for sweet or savory applications. Yet, it's good to have a puff with a bit of character, if you ask me!

mise en place for choux

The water, milk, butter, salt and sugar go into a saucepan on the cooktop and heated to melt the butter and bring to a boil.  Take it off the heat, stir in the flour in one fell swoop, then place it back onto the heat to dry the mixture out briefly.

You can mix the eggs in either by hand or in the mixer.  I opt for the mixer since it's easier.  Dump your hot panada (what it's called before the eggs are added) into the bowl and, using the paddle attachment, add the eggs one-by-one until each is incorporated.

This part of the choux making process is fascinating - with each egg addition the mixture looks all clumpy and lumpy, but it magically comes together, becoming a silky, shiny paste.

finished choux paste

OK, so mine looks a little lumpy, but it piped out beautifully and baked up just right!

piping choux

out of the oven, looking good

Most of the work is done!  As is the case with soooooo many baking projects, it's all about planning. The three components I've made so far can all be made ahead.  The dacquoise freezes beautifully, the nougatine will keep well in a closed container at dry room temp conditions for days, and the choux puffs can also be frozen. Now all I have to do is whip the cream and assemble.

For my test case I decided on a smaller version, so I cut my base down to 16 cm size.

ready to assemble

 I folded the nougatine into the whipped cream and mounded it on the dacquoise with nary a hitch.  It was much easier than I anticipated and certainly held its shape.

interesting, eh?

My puff garnishes were way out of proportion, since they rather dwarfed this smaller base version.  I popped a few on anyway and attempted piping "petals" of whipped cream. 

just think of them as profiterole "tumors"

kind of like weird layered growths on the bark of a tree

 

Yikes!!  Needs work.

Let's just say I have to practice this part for the final - kind of like studying for a test.  Decorative piping has never been a big interest of mine - I think of a piping bag as a practical tool for dispensing, since it gives one control and direction to get the product exactly were you want it.  But I'm game for some decor - just need the right tip!

At any rate I put the whole thing in the fridge and, several hours later, Steve and I did a mini tasting.  I was delighted that it sliced very easily and held its shape to boot.  And it tasted good - yes!

we had already popped all the choux puffs off and eaten them

This test run taught me a few things - make a slightly larger base to achieve my 9-10" diameter; make sure the nougatine isn't too coarse or caramel pieces too big; make the choux puffs smaller; practice "petal piping".  Shouldn't be too hard, right??

I hope to share pictures of the final finished product with you in a couple of weeks.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime stay warm, enjoy December and may visions of sugarplums dance in your heads.

Thanksgiving weekend

Just a quick post today to wish everyone a quiet, peaceful close to their Thanksgiving week.  It was a busy one here, yet with time to relax and slow down too.

I was happy to have received a number of requests for desserts and goodies from a handful of folks. Since pumpkin flan, apple-cranberry/caramel nut/chocolate ganache tarts, shortbread, croissant, pain au chocolat and croissant aux amandes were on my to-do list for others for the holiday, I kept my personal dessert offerings for family and friends on the simpler side.

On Thanksgiving day Steve and I traveled up the road to brother Dick and sister-in-law Dorothy's home in Douglas, Massachusetts for our afternoon meal which included a turkey breast roulade (good job Dor!), green beans, a savory cranberry orange relish, baked sweet potatoes, Steve's potato-Gruyere galette and Cathy's pearl onions baked in a bread-crumb-topped, creamy filling.  Everything was deelish!

For dessert I brought a small ganache tart, but I also took the opportunity to create another treat with components I had on hand.  I still had a portion of the brioche loaf from my King Arthur bread class, plus some crème d'amandes in the fridge and berries in the freezer, so it was time to make a berry version of Bostock!

After slicing, the brioche is imbibed in vanilla simple syrup and topped with berries, almond cream and sliced almonds. It's then baked at 350º for about 20 minutes until the almond cream is nicely browned.

Now some might consider this breakfast food, but it was so delicious warmed, topped with a dollop of Chantilly cream and served along side a petite slice of chocolate ganache tart - a lovely duo!

For another weekend gathering at friend Barbara's home I was in a maple syrup mood. Custards are one of my all time favorite desserts, so, after comparing a few recipes, I created my own version of a maple custard, baked in my favorite square ramekins.

I mixed hazelnut nougatine, chopped toasted hazelnuts and my own chocolate cookie crumbs as a garnish, and the crunch added just the right touch to the smooth, cool, silky custard.  Definitely a hit!

It's been a good week.  And away we go to December and 2015!

Boston teatime No. 2

This past week on a sunny, but chilly November day I met up with sister-in-law Dorothy for another afternoon tea adventure in Boston. Our destination this time was the Langham Hotel on Franklin Street not far from Downtown Crossing.

We had decided that, before heading to Beantown, an IKEA stop was in order, so we met up in Attleboro MA, and partnered up in my Subaru.  We made it to Stoughton's IKEA in no time and, after a leisurely stroll through the store (which was not very busy on a Wednesday morning) we made our few purchases and then - on to the big city!

Driving north and exiting into Boston off I-93 has always been a challenge.  The nexus of interstate, Mass Pike, service roads, and poorly marked exits is soooo confusing!  Needless to say, we got all turned around and ended up heading west on the Mass Pike.  But, we were able to take the U-turn back into Boston and, with Dor's guidance, we exited at Copley and handily made our way to the Boston Common Garage to park.

A brisk stroll across the Common led us to Winter St. on through Downtown Crossing, where we saw the Macy's Christmas tree being decorated, and eventually to Post Office Square and the Langham.

We soon found ourselves in the Langham’s lobby, which, as it turns out, is also home to The Reserve, where we would be enjoying our afternoon tea experience.  We found the ambience inviting with a casual yet elegant feel.  A very pleasant spot to while away a couple of hours.

I had made a reservation ahead of time, and it turned out that we were the only ones there at 2 pm for the "Tiffin Tea".  In the photo above you'll see in the far upper left corner our white table-clothed spot.

Once seated at our table with a view back out toward the lobby we were presented with the menu as well as the Harney and Sons tea selections for the day.

There were a few additional specialty tea selections as well.

After savoring the aroma of a number of the tea choices Dor opted for pomegranate oolong, and I went for one of the specialty blends, a black tea likened to an English Breakfast (the one on the top right above).

Not long after we had made our tea selections we were served two plates, one with our tea sandwiches and the second with our sweet treats. We wondered where the third plate was and were also disappointed in the lack of the classic three tiered server placed directly on the table, which typically serves as a center piece.

But have no fear - a basket of warm scones arrived and was placed on the table-side server stand where we could access it easily.  And, of course, it was accompanied by three classic garnishes - strawberry jam, clotted cream and lemon curd.  Oh boy, we were in for a treat!

After the obligatory 3-minute steep (with mini hourglass timer table-side) our server poured our tea, and we started in on the sandwiches, which were presented simply and attractively on Wedgwood china.

The standard fillings of egg salad, chicken salad, cucumber and salmon were all delicious, although a couple of the breads were a bit dry.  Dor and I agreed that the highlight was the oh-so-moist and slightly sweet Boston brown bread with salmon - an unexpected but tasty combo!  It brought back memories of my mom baking Boston brown bread in cans oh those many years ago.

We paused a bit, sipping our delicious teas, before starting in on the scones.  They were just the right texture, broke apart nicely with a perfect crumb, just ready to be topped with the quintessential garnishes.

As I observed the somewhat pale exterior I thought a brush with milk or egg wash and a sprinkle of sugar before baking would have added that just-right final touch to these otherwise stellar scones. And, although the jam, clotted cream and lemon curd married nicely with the buttery crumb, the curd could have had a brighter,  more lemony flavor.

On to the sweets!

The tartlet was a pleasing combination of a smooth sweet potato custard filling, gooey marshmallow atop and a crisp crust, although the aftertaste of the crust was bland and not terribly flavorful.

The most disappointing of the group was the iced autumn spice cake - very dry with an unappealing mouth feel and little flavor.

The pecan shortbread was right up my alley - crisp, light and buttery!  Perfect with a cup of tea!

While the cranberry white chocolate cheesecake pop had a nice texture and flavor, the pop thing is a bit too trendy for my tastes.  But hey, that's just me!

All in all Dor and I found this tea experience a notch above the Boston Harbor Hotel (see my post from 9/24/14) in terms of the over all flavor of the food (especially the scones!).  The teas were delicious, but we noticed how quickly the hot water in our teapots became cold.  We missed the tiered food centerpiece and thought the service in general could have been a little more attentive.

Yes, The Reserve offers a calm and pleasant atmosphere, and afternoon tea is a great way to enjoy a relaxing couple of hours in Boston.

Chocolate crepe cake

Believe it or not, I had never made a crêpe until this past week.  And, since I was experimenting, I thought I'd take it a step further than just the simple crêpe- why not make a crêpe cake!

I must say I've contemplated this for awhile, after one of my former customers, Ting-Ting, asked me about making a matcha (green tea) version for her. Needless to say, it never happened, but I was nonetheless intrigued. She had such a focused interest on pastries and would often come into the shop with loads of questions about what I was offering that day, as well as reporting on various pastries she had discovered in Manhattan. The crêpe cake was one of them.

I began my research and opted for a chocolate version. I found a number of recipes on line and soon realized how easy the batter is for this classic treat - milk, melted butter, flour, vanilla, egg, a little sugar, chocolate - ingredients that most of us have in our pantries and fridges on any given day.

I chose two different recipes, one using Dutch process cocoa powder and one using melted chocolate, thinking it would be good to compare the flavors.

Above: ingredients for Dutch process version

Above: ingredients for melted chocolate version

I mixed each batter together with no muss nor fuss and refrigerated both overnight.

Above - getting ready to blend ingredients for the melted chocolate version . . . . .

and bringing it all together with an immersion blender.

When it came time to make the crêpes, I chose to make a 4-5" size, thinking I wanted a petite cake for my first attempt.  Steve and I have a small sauté pan (I think it's Calphalon) that we've had for years and rarely use.  It seemed just the thing for what I was about to do.

I heated the pan and started the process.  I soon understood what to watch for as the crépes began to set.  It didn't take long before I was into the rhythm of crêpe making - one after another I piled them onto the plate.

Above - starting to set . . . .

then after flipping, finishing it off. 

Especially when making small crêpes, I realized the seemingly inordinate amount of time it took to finish off all the batter (and I had made only half a recipe!).  At this point I could imagine having 3 or 4 pans going at once, flipping crêpes one after another in assembly line fashion!

I made a couple of crêpes from the Dutch process cocoa batter first.  I then switched over to the melted chocolate version, and, after doing a tasting of the two, decided to abandon the cocoa version, since it didn't have nearly as rich a flavor.

Once all of my crêpes were finished I layered them between sheets of parchment and put them in the fridge, since I was planning my assembly for the following day.

I decided to make a simple whipped chocolate ganache filling, using 3 parts cream to 1 part chocolate by weight.

Boil the cream, pour it over the chocolate, whisk gently, cover (plastic wrap directly on the surface to eliminate air) and refrigerate until nicely chilled.  It couldn't be easier!

When I was ready to begin the assembly, I pulled my plate of crêpes and my ganache from the fridge.

I whipped the ganache to medium firm peaks so it would be nicely spreadable . . .

and began the process.

Getting higher . . . .

and stacking until I had 21 (or was it 24?) layers (OK just try to count them!)

Into the fridge it went to set up before glazing.  My chocolate glaze is 113 gm of chocolate and 42 gm of butter melted over a bain marie.  Trés simple!

I held the finished cake, covered, in the fridge overnight.  When it was time to serve, I sliced it and garnished with caramel spiked chantilly and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

If I haven't mentioned this before, I toast nuts before using, no matter what I'm doing with them.  It brings out the flavor and adds so much to the final experience!

A note about chocolate:  for this project I used Valrhona's 64% Manjari, the chocolate I used regularly when working at Gracie's.  Since then I've come to really enjoy the flavor (and the price!) of Trader Joe's Belgian chocolate, typically mixing half-and-half of their "dark chocolate" and "72% dark chocolate".

I had made a mini-cake with leftover crêpe pieces and ganache for Steve and I to sample.  We both felt that the chocolate was too acidic and not necessarily an agreeable taste, so I was anticipating how we and our Saturday evening dinner guests, Magali and Guy, might react to the piéce de resistance.

We all enjoyed the texture and flavor, particularly with the chantilly and hazelnuts mellowing out the acid of the chocolate.  But, it was Magali who suggested a bit of orange, which reminded me that I had some candied orange peel in my fridge from an earlier project.  I put a couple of pieces of the peel on our desserts et voila!  It made ALL the difference.  What a delicious combination!

Thanks Miss Mag!

More than you'll ever want to know about shortbread

When asked what my favorite baked good is, my thoughts usually turn to a lovely, buttery shortbread. There is something so genteel about a cup of tea with a delicious crisp cookie along side.

The basic dough for classic shortbread is 1-2-3 dough, or 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour (by weight).  The word short refers to the high fat content of the dough as well as the limited mixing, which prevents long gluten strands from forming and keeps the dough tender.

In French the word sablé (sand) is used to describe this type of dough, and the sablage process involves simply mixing flour and sugar together, then blending (or "sanding") in diced, cool butter with your finger tips until a coarse, sandy texture is reached. At that point the dough can be pressed firmly into a pan and baked.

That's the method I use when I have a craving for fresh shortbread and want to make it quickly.  I line an 8 or 9" square pan with parchment and weigh out 75 gm sugar, 150 gm butter and 225 gm flour.  I dice the cool butter and sand it by hand into the flour and sugar until crumbly. I like to add the seeds scraped from one vanilla bean too - love to see those little brown specks! (I buy my beans in bulk from Beanilla).

Once the dough is pressed into the pan I bake at 300º convection, usually about 20-25 minutes. I like it lightly browned and well baked so it has a tender crumb but is still crispy too. With this approach it's important to cut the shortbread in the pan soon after it comes out of the oven. If you wait until it's completely cooled, it will tend to crack and won't cut evenly. But don't worry, it will still taste great!

You can also take the sablage a step further until the dough actually comes together, although it's easier with a mixer, especially if you're making a larger batch.  Just put your flour and sugar into the mixing bowl, throw in your diced butter and mix with the paddle on low speed. It usually takes about 5 minutes before it starts to form a cohesive ball. Then stop and don't over mix.

This allows you to shape the dough into a round, square or even triangular log or simply wrap and chill it for later rolling and cutting into desired shapes. It's the best approach when you're planning ahead and want to have a variety of flavors of dough ready in your fridge or freezer.

Some of my shortbread are made using another common mixing method - that of first blending soft butter with sugar and THEN adding the flour.  Please note that this is NOT the traditional creaming of butter and sugar that is meant to aerate and lighten, as one might do for a cake. You don't want to introduce air into the shortbread dough, just blend the butter and sugar together.

By now you're probably wondering why all this talk about mixing methods for such a simple cookie? It's the world of baking and pastry! And why might I use one method over another? It's really based on the various recipes I've discovered and adapted over the years. The results are all still delicious no matter what method you use, so have fun with it!

I found the following recipe some years ago on Clotilde Dusoulier's blog, "Chocolate and Zucchini".  She attributes it to Parisian chef Yves Camdeborde of Le Comptoir du Relais in the 5th arrondissement.

It varies a bit from the strict 1-2-3, using 90 gm coarsely ground raw sugar (gives it a great crunch!), 200 gm soft butter, and 250 gm flour (along with those important vanilla bean seeds). The higher ratio of butter and lower ratio of flour give these cookies a nice crispy texture.

First I smear the butter with my trusty spatula until smooth, then blend in the sugar (that's a mixture of vanilla sugar and coarse raw sugar above on the right).  I scrape my vanilla seeds into the mix, throw in a pinch of salt and then add the flour by cutting it in with a bowl scraper and gently blending it by hand until it comes together. You can see it still looks rough but holds together.

Divide the dough in quarters in preparation for log shaping. I first shape roughly . . .

and then do the final shaping with the dough wrapped in plastic.

Place the wrapped logs in the fridge for a good 1-2 hour (or overnight) chill. Once the dough has chilled, and you're ready to bake, heat your oven to 300ºF convection. With this particular recipe I roll the logs in raw sugar before slicing, then space the cookies out on parchment lined sheets.

I've gotten into the habit of freezing the cookies on the sheet pans for 10-15 minutes before baking.  It keeps the butter firm and helps maintain the shape during baking. Depending on your oven these may bake anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes - pay attention to what's happening in there, and don't forget to rotate and change shelf positions of your sheet pans about half way through.

Let's talk a bit about flavors.  Once you have a base recipe down, use your imagination to create your own variations.

One of my favorites is to brush the just baked cookies with my homemade caramel sauce, sprinkle them with sea salt and pop 'em back in the oven for 2-3 minutes to set the caramel.  Deeelish!

Or brush with honey and sprinkle with herbes de provence (Steve's idea!) and sea salt.

You can add citrus zest and a squeeze of fresh citrus juice as you're mixing . . . or mix some chopped crystallized ginger, dried tart cherries or cranberries into your dough . . . or add chopped, toasted nuts and your favorite spice like cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg . . . or replace 1/4 of your flour with ground nuts or cornmeal for varied textures . . . or dip your finished cookie in melted chocolate.

You get the idea.

One of the most popular offerings during market days at my pastry studio in Pawtucket RI was the shortbread bar - 12 different flavors, mix and match, pop 'em in a bag and go!

Mmmmmm - what an enticing array!

Now it’s your turn to create your own version of delicious buttery shortbread cookies! Have a ball!!

Tarte Tatin

Before I jump into the topic at hand I'd like to share a photo of this gorgeous maple tree that we've been viewing from our window every day these past few weeks.  It's a beauty!

Making a classic tarte tatin has been on my to-do list for some time now.  So when a recent NYT article with the tatin recipe from Gotham Bar and Grill was published online, I felt it was time.

Over the years I've tried my hand at a couple of variations, one being a few summers ago when I made petite versions in mini muffin pans with plums and peaches. They were messy but deeeelicious. More recently, a second attempt involving a mango version from Christophe Felder's book Les Folles Tartes, turned out OK, but something about the flavor of the mangoes put me off.

As is my wont, when I'm planning to make a classic of anything, I compare a number of recipes to see how different chefs approach the process.

In addition to Felder's I reviewed recipes from Dorie Greenspan, Michel Roux, Philippe Conticini, Sherry Yard, Francois Payard and the above mentioned Gotham B&G. Each had a slightly different take on the process.

The recommended apples ran the gamut from Golden Delicious, Gala, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Cox and Honeycrisp, typically requiring 6-8 apples for a 9-10" tart. I opted for a mixture of Braeburn and Granny Smith, partly because I had never baked with Braeburns and thought it a good test.  I like G. Smith because they hold their shape, and their tartness goes so well with buttery pastry and caramel.

Most recipes call for pâte feuilletée (puff pastry), although a couple used pâte brisée.  

Sherry Yard likes to use croissant dough as her tart base.  Go figure.  The quantity of dough is generally about 8 ounces.  This is another one of those times when it's great to have some puff pastry already made and in your freezer!

Typically sugar and butter (amounts vary from recipe to recipe) are used to create a caramel. Some variations involve making the caramel, pouring it into a moule à manqué (cake pan) and temporarily setting it aside. The prepped apples are then placed over the cooled caramel and baked in a 350-375 oven for perhaps 30 minutes to soften and caramelize them. They are then topped with a round of pastry and placed back in the oven to continue the caramelization and bake the pastry until golden brown.

Alternatively some recipes have you bake the pastry round separately and then place it onto the baked apples. The whole thing is then turned out onto a platter before serving.

After a while all these variables become a bit overwhelming. I decided to go the classic route, starting on the stove top and then moving into the oven. I followed the guidelines in Dorie Greenspan's "Paris Sweets" recipe, although I did not make the vanilla tea version as she does.

First I rolled out my puff pastry to about 3 mm thick, and using a cake circle as a guide, cut a round slightly larger than my pan.  I pricked it with a fork, covered it and held it in the fridge until later. Interestingly, both Michel Roux and Gotham B&G have you put the raw pastry over the apples while still on the stovetop before even going into the oven. To each his own.

Then I took my new 10" Lodge cast iron pan (can't believe it took me so long to buy one!), coated it in 113 gm (4 oz) soft butter and sprinkled 150 gm of sugar over it. I used a mixture of my own vanilla sugar and granulated sugar.

I had peeled, cored and quartered a total of 6 apples . . . .

which I layered over the butter/sugar:

The pan is placed over medium heat on the stovetop until a light to medium caramel develops. The time for that will vary, and one must keep on eye on things and adjust the heat as needed to prevent burning.

Here is where one must use judgement about the extent of the caramelization.  I thought this was looking nicely ready so I retrieved my pastry from the fridge and placed it over the apples:

Recommended baking temperatures ran from 350-375ºF and baking times varied from 30-50 minutes with the ultimate goal being a nicely browned pastry.  I baked mine at 375 for about 35 minutes and thought it had achieved just that very look:

I gave it just a minute or two to let any bubbling subside, then, placing a flat platter over the pan, handily flipped the tart out with nary a hitch (I was a bit worried as to how I would fare with that step). Imagine my disappointment when I saw before me a much paler version than what I had anticipated! Plus the Braeburn apples, while actually still holding some shape, were on the verge of mushy applesauce!!

Even the edge of the pastry looked underdone, and I dreaded biting into a doughy mouthful (the worst).

But have no fear.  Steve arrived home soon after the tart came out of the oven and said "why don't you put it back in?" So I slipped the whole thing back onto a parchment lined sheet pan, apple side up and baked it for a good 30 minutes more.  The fix was in . . .

Check out the caramelized pastry now!

Lesson learned.  Next time I would let the caramel on the stove top go a tad further and would definitely extend the baking time to a decent 50-60 minutes. Since one can't see what's going on with the apples underneath the pastry, it takes practice to understand the timing of it all. Other than that I found the whole thing really very straight forward and wondered why I hadn't made this long ago.

In preparation for this tarte tatin I had made a classic vanilla bean crème anglaise ice cream base the day before which had spent the night chilling in the fridge. I processed it in my good old Cuisinart canister model ice cream maker and held it in the freezer until serving.

Nothing fancy . . .

but delicious and well worth it!

Yes, I would definitely make this again.

A simple apple dessert

I've been a fan of Dorie Greenspan's for some years now.  With her book "Paris Sweets" in hand,  I spent a few weeks in Paris during the spring of 2009 searching out the pastry shops from whence the recipes came and then making and comparing my results with the shops' products.   I only made it through a portion of the book, but it was great fun and a terrific way to visit the many wonderful pâtisseries à Paris.  I hope to resume the project some day.

At long last I finally got off my duff and subscribed to Dorie's blog in which the current focus is her new book "Baking Chez Moi".  I was slated to make dessert for a family supper at my brother's this past weekend, and my interest was piqued by the "Custardy Apple Squares" video and recipe.

What a simple and delicious dish!  Here it is in all of its golden glory.

Dorie recommends using Fuji apples, so I followed her lead.  I think this is actually the first time I've baked with Fuji's, and they worked beautifully in this recipe. With so many apple varieties available, it can be somewhat dizzying to decide which ones to use. For example when I make chausson aux pommes, I like to use Granny Smith, diced and sautéed in a little butter and vanilla sugar before assembly. The tart apples marry so nicely with the buttery puff pastry. Whereas when making an apple tart, I often use a mixture of Macintosh or Macoun with Golden Delicious. With those apples there is a pleasant flavor and texture combo going on that I find very appealing.

Here we go. I'm calling this a custard apple cake.  It's rather clafoutis-like and trés simple!

Butter an eight inch cake pan.  Heat the oven to 400º.

The ingredients couldn't be more straight forward:  flour, baking powder, egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla extract, milk, melted butter and, of course,  three peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples.

Whisk 1/2 cup flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder.  In a separate bowl whisk 2 eggs with 1/3 cup sugar and a pinch of salt; blend in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 6 tablespoons of milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter; fold in the dry ingredients, then the apples to coat them in the mixture.

Heat the oven to 400ºF. Scrape the apple mixture into the prepared pan . . .

and arrange the apples, if you must . . . .

This baked about 40-45 minutes in my convection oven. I looked for the filling to be set and the apples to be oh so golden brown before calling it done.

Mmmmm!

After about 15 minutes I turned the cake out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. You have the option of serving it still warm, but, since Steve and I were transporting it elsewhere, I opted to serve at room temperature.

Before serving I gave it a dusting of powdered sugar . . .

then portioned and garnished with a dollop of crème chantilly and a sprinkling of nutty granola and toasted sliced almonds.

Yes indeed!  Thanks Dorie!!

Just how good are the pastries at King Arthur's café?

During my recent 4 day artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour, I simply had to do a petite sampling of a couple of my favorite pastries - croissants and scones.  So, one morning I arrived early and picked up a cup of coffee, a croissant and a blueberry scone.

The croissant had a classic appearance,

and when I pulled off an end, there were those lovely golden exterior shards that fell onto the plate.

The interior had a nicely laminated airiness,

and the flavor was pleasant with just the right buttery mouth feel.  Biting into the croissant yielded that crispy exterior and airy, yet substantive interior.  All in all I'd give it a thumbs-up!

Here's a quick observation regarding the croissant's shape.  I was taught that in France, if the croissant ends are turned in (as this one's are) then it is NOT an all butter croissant.  If the croissant is straight, it IS all butter.

Now, I will admit that I didn't ask the staff whether their croissants are all butter, but I did observe the large butter blocks being formed in the production kitchen, so I think they must be.

The blueberry scone looked pretty classic.

I broke off a piece,

and upon tasting found it to have a just-so hint of exterior crunch, a pleasant flavor, packed with blueberries but a bit too cakey on the inside.  I'd still give it a thumbs up.

Tasting and comparing flavors and textures is great fun and a wonderful way to discover more about how you might want your own pastries to turn out.

It's all about learning!

Artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour, Day 4

On to the finale of the 4 day artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour!

We began the morning by mixing our semolina dough which we had planned the day before as a straight dough, no pre-ferment required.

The dough came to together very nicely and felt great!  A good sign.

After folding and a rest - ready to shape:

We shaped a basic batard . . .

and, after a rise, scored it before baking:

And now I must insert a Charley Brown "RATS", for I fear I do not have a photo of the baked semolina!!  How sad.

We had some lecture time today as well, specifically focusing on rye and its variables. The approach changes depending on the percentage of rye flour (vs all purpose or whole wheat e.g.) in the dough or whether you use medium or whole rye. Factors such as hydration as well as the proteins, sugars and enzymes in rye play major roles in how the dough is mixed and proofed.

I won't go into all the technical jargon, but suffice it to say, there's a lot to learn about rye! Hey, here's an idea! Take a class at King Arthur!  

Taking our rye starters that had been sitting overnight at room temperature . . . .

we mixed the deli rye dough, the lighter rye of the two . . . .

and the volkornbrot, a classic German whole rye dough:

Above: all the mixin's for volkornbrot

For the volkornbrot, once all of us had weighed the ingredients into our mixing bowls, our KitchenAids were started in sync so the slow speed, 8-10 minute mixing time would be the same for all.  We stopped the mixers a couple of times to scrape down the bowl, then shaped a rectangular loaf, scored it and placed it in a standard loaf pan for baking.

The finished product:

We had the option of shaping loaves or rolls with the deli rye dough.  A number of us opted for loaves, and the majority of these were scored with traditional crosswise slashes.  We could try other patterns if we wished.

The finished loaves had a lovely browned exterior and a wonderful rye aroma.  Notice the scissors snipped pattern on one of my loaves.

Some of the sourdough bread and bagels that had been refrigerated overnight were also baked today, so there were loaves galore sitting around the kitchen.

And then it was time for a tasting!

The semolina is along the left side of the table above. It had a lovely crumb and very nice flavor - a keeper for sure! We were proud of this bread we had created, although many of us felt a bit of sweetening with honey or maple syrup would add just the right balance to this loaf.

Wanda voted for adding cranberries, and Jeff suggested a nice schmear of orange marmalade to garnish a slice.

To top off our terrific 4 day experience we ended with a low-key graduation ceremony. We all received a certificate of completion and a "lovely parting gift" of a bakers couche.  Hip hip hooray for bread baking!!

Above: instructors Sharon and Jessica doing the honors

We gathered for a final group shot . . . .

then packed up our goods and said au revoir.

Perfect.

Artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour, Day 3

Here we go again!  It's time to mix our sourdoughs, the primary focus of day 3 of artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour. Our liquid levain and stiff starter had rested at room temperature over night and were looking nicely bubbly and poofy as we then proceeded with the final dough.  We mixed both of these by hand, followed by the "slap-pull" kneading technique that we had practiced on day 2.

Notice the difference in appearance:  the "L" (liquid) version on the right appears more tan, while the "S" (stiff) version is bordering on white.

After a rest:

"L" version

"S" version

We then folded them into "dumpling" shapes with seam side up.

Above: awaiting final shaping

Jessica demonstrated how to shape the final boules (which we accomplished pretty handily) before placing them into brotforms. Part of the experiment was to place our boules in both the floured bare form (as we did for the roasted potato fendu) for baking today and the same form lined with cloth (seen below) for overnight refrigeration and baking tomorrow.

Above: an "L" loaf waiting to go into the fridge

The dough in the floured forms was given a good rise, after which we turned them out onto peels and scored them with whatever pattern we wished.

I chose a standard approach with this one . . .

and into the oven they go!

Out of the oven, looking good!

Day 3 also involved sourdough bagel making.  This was the one dough during the entire 4 day class that we did not make ourselves. Since Jessica was mixing a huge batch, and it required the commercial spiral mixer (a VERY cool piece of equipment by the way) for kneading, she took over the helm to accomplish that very thing.

Whoa baby!

My apologies for not having a pictorial history of the process, but, suffice it to say, we all had a chance to shape, boil and garnish the bagels. Half of them were baked today and the rest would be refrigerated and baked tomorrow.

The results:

Upon tasting, the chewiness and texture were OK, but I couldn't help but think back to those med school days while living in Detroit.  My roommate Jane and I purchased the best bagels at the Detroit Bagel Company perhaps?  I'm no longer sure of the name, but they were oh so good - still warm from the oven and the perfect road food as we drove to our familial homes on our weekend breaks!

Now, on a completely different note, I don't want to forget the more scientific side of this whole process, and I'll try not to bore you with the details.

Yesterday Jessica talked about determining the proper water temperature for dough, starting with a desired dough temperature (DDT) and also taking into consideration other factors such as flour and air temps and the temperature that friction adds in the mixing (i.e. by hand or in a mixer). Pretty fascinating for the science-geeky types.

We also received information about bakers percentages based on the amount of flour one is using, from figuring out how much hydration you might need in a particular dough, as well as the common percentages for salt and yeast.

Today she regaled us with all things sourdough - starters, feedings, room temp or refrigerator, expanding for baking - you name it, it was there! Up until now this topic has held a good deal of mystery for me, but, at least after this class, I've gained a novice's understanding of the process. Will I pursue the sourdough track? Now that's an entirely different matter.

As the day was coming to a close we accomplished one of the coolest projects of this 4 day class - as a group, we created our own bread recipe! Using what we had learned about bakers percentages and working with a list of ingredient options, we developed a semolina-olive oil-sunflower seed bread recipe. And we'll make it tomorrow!

As if we hadn't already accomplished enough, we quickly put together our 2 rye starters for day 4 using rye cultures that had been fed each day by our instructors.

More coming - stay tuned for day 4!

Artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour, Day 2

On the second day of class we dove right in, working with the preferments from the day before - all bubbly and ready to go!

The potato bread dough was made using the pâte fermentée and contains chunks of roasted Yukon Golds and russets which had been prepared on Day 1.  This dough was mixed in the KitchenAid . . . .

and subsequently kneaded by hand with what I refer to as the "slap and pull" method of kneading. You have to see it and feel it to really know what it's all about:  the dough is lifted with two hands, given a quarter turn then slapped down on the table, pulled and folded on itself. The process is continued until the dough starts to firm up and hold its shape.  I find the transformation from a sticky, messy blob to a tighter, smoother ball so amazing.

We made a fendu (from the verb fendre, to crack) loaf in which a rolling pin is pushed firmly down across the center of the dough ball, then the ball is turned over into a floured brotform.

After rising, the dough is turned out of the form onto a peel and slid into the hot deck oven. 

Et voila! Ready to slide into the oven.

Out of the oven - oh so brown and lovely!

The ciabatta (made with biga) and baguette (made with poolish) doughs were mixed by hand and subsequently kneaded with the same "slap and pull" technique.  Once again, an amazing transformation occurred!

The ciabatta was rather gently formed into very rough roundish rectangle (or what-have-you) sort of shapes and placed on well floured boards for proofing.

After rising, they're transferred onto the peel, flipping them over so the flour side is up.

In the oven:

And out:

Baguette time! Once the baguette dough was mixed, slapped-pulled and rested, Jessica demonstrated the shaping technique.  We lined up our baguettes on linen couches which allows them to proof without touching and sticking together.

Once risen, the loaves were transferred onto a peel (or in Jessica's case onto the back of a sheet pan)  and scored before baking.

Not bad for a novice!

We aren't finished yet - whew, what a day!! We also shaped the brioche dough we had prepared on day one, creating the classic Nanterre (which, as some of you may recall, I mentioned in my brioche mousseline post).  Here individual boules are lined up in a buttered loaf pan, allowed to rise, egg washed and then baked to golden brown perfection.  We even had enough dough to shape a few burger buns.

Above: before the rise . . . . and below, after.

Brioche is great for savory canapes, french toast, bread pudding or bostock, that delightful imbibed, almond-cream-covered, twice-baked treat (just to name a few).

We're getting there - hang on!

Before we mixed our final baguette dough in the morning, Jessica had divided us up into three groups.  One used all purpose flour, one French flour, and one European flour.  What you see in the picture below are the a-p flour version in the foreground, followed by French then European. You can see that the a-p version achieved the most browning. 

My memory is fuzzy, but I think most of us preferred the flavor and texture of the French flour version. However, there was a lot going on, so I could be strolling down the wrong memory lane.

Jessica sliced into everything so we could appreciate the different textures. We have ciabatta . . . .

then baguette . . . .

then brioche . . . . .

and lastly roasted potato fendu

The differences in crumb and texture are easy to appreciate. We sampled and remarked favorably on all of the tasty options before us - what a treat!

Before we packed it up for the day, we quickly mixed our sourdough starters for the morrow - one liquid levain and one stiff starter - with which we would be creating two different sourdough breads. 

So as we finished up a jam-packed day of bread making and baking, we realized we still had TWO days to go!!  Stay tuned for Day 3.

Artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour, Day 1

On Sunday, October 26, 2014 I wended my way north from Providence amidst beautiful autumn colors, arriving at the Hampton Inn in White River Junction, VT several hours later. My purpose - to attend a 4 day artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, VT, just a few miles north of my lodgings.

When Steve and I lived in Vermont some years ago, I visited the King Arthur baking store on a few occasions, but little did I know what awaited me this time around. The new Baking Center is a stunning piece of VT architecture, right down to its quintessential metal roof.

Inside one finds a cozy café, the bakers retail store and a couple of large production kitchens where you can watch what's going on - so cool!  I especially got a kick out of seeing the large blocks of butter being formed for croissants and danish, followed by the butter being enveloped in the dough in preparation for sheeting - bordering on massive compared to my small, hands-on batches of croissants!

Then there is the baking center where many have honed their skills and enhanced their knowledge as they pursue their passion for baking.

I and 10 fellow students were warmly greeted by Robyn, our instructor for the first day. Free coffee cards were handed out as we each settled in at what would be our "bench" spot for the remainder of the class.

The teaching kitchen is open, airy, extremely well equipped with impressive tiered deck ovens, proofing cabinets, roll in refrigerators, cheery red KitchenAid stand mixers and more. What a great place to learn!

The plan for the week:

We began with a couple of "straight" doughs (also known as direct doughs) which are made and baked the same day. We made pissaladiere (a classic southern French pizza-like dish typically topped with caramelized onion, olives and anchovies) and grissini (bread sticks).

Both of these doughs were very user-friendly, came together smoothly with a silky feel.  Then after kneading, some resting/rising time and shaping, they were baked in the hot deck ovens. Since I'm not an olive lover, I chose to top my pissaladiere with only the caramelized onions (seasoned with herbes de provence and pepper), although my classmates all happily embraced the olive-onion combo.

The grissini were a bit chubby, some twisty and crooked since everyone put their own spin on the shaping process:

We had the option of keeping our results or leaving them on the wire racks to be donated to a local food cause. Since there wasn't any chance I would (or could) eat all of these, I chose the second option, both for the pissaladiere and the grissini.

Day 1 also included making brioche dough which would be refrigerated overnight for use on Day 2. I found the recipe and process less time consuming than the recipe I normally use (from my stage days at Pâtisserie Pascal Pinaud), and the end result was as silky and smooth as could be.  I'll show you what we did with this dough in Day 2's post.

We then focused on the group of doughs called "pre-ferments". These are portions of dough that are typically made a day ahead and then incorporated into the final dough the following day. They are important for flavor, structure and extended shelf life, and many feel that doughs made in this manner are superior to "straight" doughs for those very reasons.

There are many types of "pre-ferments" and many more references available to explain the difference and variables among these, including King Arthur's web site. Or you could sign up for a class yourself!!

The three we made today were pâte fermentée (for roasted potato bread), biga (for ciabatta) and poolish (for baguette). 

They mix together in the nick of time, are covered, held overnight at room temperature, and then incorporated into the final dough the following day. You can see below that they have different structure and moisture content, the poolish being the wettest.

We were off to a great start! Next up - Day 2!

Moulins à vent

This next recipe in La Pâtisserie des Rêves by Philippe Conticini brings home ever more clearly the importance of proper recipe testing and editing.

Remember, I'm using this book as a springboard for discussions regarding recipe interpretation, techniques and dos and don'ts.  It is NOT my intention to follow the recipe to a T!  Au contraire!  I use what I've learned over the years to adjust the recipe and its steps in a manner that makes sense to me.

Here's the page from the book: 

Here is the plan I developed based on my experience with similar doughs:

Rather than using a poolisch I made the dough as I would a détrempe for croissants, basically combining the ingredients for la poolisch and la pâte and reducing the total amount of yeast to 8 gm of instant.  I also had to add more water than the recipe indicated in order to moisten the obviously dry dough mixture.

I gave it a good overnight rest in the refrigerator (where it develops some of its structure and flavor.)

The butter block is ready:

The dough is rolled out into a diamond and the butter placed in the center.  I found this dough to be a bit stiff and dry, even with the additional water I added during mixing.  Ultimately it did hold together OK, but see how the edges are somewhat cracked?.

The butter is enveloped by the dough:

Then rolled out into a rectangle:

And the first three-fold and turn is done:

I found this dough to be similar to that in les croissants recipe - stiff, not easy to roll and the butter tending to break through. 

This dough gets two more turns and a final rest in the fridge before rolling it out for cutting and shaping.

Now, here's a major flaw with this recipe.  It states the yield is 15 moulins and instructs that each piece be cut into a 15x15cm square.  In order to roll this quantity of dough out to create that many pieces of that size, you would have to roll it far larger and thinner than the 1/2 cm the recipe instructs.  Plus 15x15 cm is HUGE for an individual pastry!

I opted for 10x10cm squares (just like when making Kouign-amann), a much more reasonable size for this quantity of dough, as well as for the finished pastries.  Here are a couple of paper templates to show you the difference in sizes.

The dough is rolled out, cut into 10x10cm squares, slits cut to the corners, leaving the center intact.

Every other corner is folded into the center to create the lovely moulin pattern.  It takes me back to my quilting days!

I used egg wash on the dough tips to stick them down.  As you'll see, it wasn't that successful!

Now for a 2-2.5 hour rise at room temp.  Notice how the tips have pulled away from the center, especially in the second picture - quite a mess!

Before I garnished these with a mixture of crème d'amande and apricot jam I had to gently push the tips back into the center - not an easy task with already risen dough.

Add a sprinkle of almonds et voila!

Next time I would roll my dough a bit thinner before cutting the squares since I ended up with 10 pieces  instead of 15.   I should have let it rest and relax a bit more before rolling it to my originally planned 30x50 cm rectangle.  Patience, patience Susan!

The baking time of 20-25 minutes was pretty consistent with the recipe.  Always watch how the browning is progressing and adjust your oven temp up if too pale and down if browning too fast.

And here they are!

I had hoped my windmill shape would have remained more distinct, but instead the tips kind of melded together during baking.  Perhaps rolling the dough thinner would help that.

The flavor was good, although Steve and I thought they needed a little something, so we added a schmear of apricot jam to liven things up.

All in all this was another good learning experience.  I am less and less enthralled with the book La Pâtisserie des Rêves due to the inconsistencies and poor editing I have encountered (leading me to believe that these recipes were authored by different people.)

For example, these moulins are made with laminated dough, the techniques for which should be consistent from recipe to recipe.  Yet, the instruction for the beurrage (the enveloping of the butter in the dough) for this recipe is completely different than in les croissants, which uses the same technique.  The author even forgets to tell you to fold the dough over the butter before you start rolling it out!

I'll put Philippe Conticini's book aside for awhile, although it continues to hold some allure with more enticing sections like goûters d'enfance, les classiques, et les tartes de saison, just to name a few!

In the meantime this coming week I'll be in Norwich, Vermont taking a 4 day artisan bread class at King Arthur Flour.  What a great getaway and perfect blogging opportunity!

Sacher torte

When I receive a request to make something that I haven't made for awhile, it prompts me to research recipes and re-live those practical kitchen days from pastry school. So, since I had an order for this classic Viennese cake, I made a Sacher torte.

The story goes that this cake was created in 1832 by a 16 year old apprentice chef, Franz Sacher, for Prince Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna.  The Sacher torte has since become a fixture at the Hotel Sacher Vienna, where they say the original recipe remains a secret.

Even so, there are numerous recipes out there, each with its own variables.  All of them call for bittersweet chocolate, eggs, sugar, flour, butter, a little salt (for mounting the egg whites) and usually some vanilla extract for a standard 9" cake.

Here are the steps and some of the recipe differences I encountered as I made my way to a Sacher torte!

Prep a 9" springform pan by buttering the bottom, covering it with a round of parchment and buttering that.  Some folks also flour the parchment - I chose to dust it with cocoa powder.

The chocolate is melted over a bain marie and allowed to cool to tepid before it is added a bit later. I'm using a mixture of Valrhona 64% and Trader Joe's "dark" and "72% dark" chocolates. Chocolate quantities vary from recipe to recipe, anywhere from 113-227 gms (4-8 ounces). I used 142 gm.

The butter can be melted along with the chocolate, but most recipes seem to prefer creaming it with a portion of the sugar. That's the method I used.  Butter quantities ranged from 85-250 gm  (3-9 ounces) in the recipes I reviewed. I used 126 gm.

Above: butter and confectioners sugar ready to go

My review also revealed sugar amounts from 113-225 gm (1/2 to 1 cup), some recipes using a combination of confectioners sugar (for the creaming step) and granulated sugar (for beating with the egg whites.) As you see above I used confectioner's sugar (50 gm) for the creaming step.

This cake is considered a biscuit which means the eggs are separated, and the yolks and whites are beaten separately before blending together. Egg quantities varied from 4 to 8 (most commonly 6) in my review.

Some recipes call for whisking the yolks with a portion of the sugar to the ribbon stage, and then adding the melted chocolate and butter.

In the method I used here the 6 yolks and a teaspoon of vanilla are blended into the creamed butter and sugar mixture, and then the cooled, melted chocolate is added.

Above: adding the chocolate - wheeeee!

Next sift the flour (130 gm) over the chocolate mixture and gently fold it in.

I found the amount of flour called for was most commonly one cup. However, some recipes use cake flour or cornstarch in place of all purpose, and some use almond flour as a portion of the total flour.

Also there were variations in the flour adding step - some did it before and some after the egg whites.

Now it's time to whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Egg whites mount better at room temperature, so I usually separate my eggs early in my mise en place and let the whites start to warm up. Alternatively you can place your bowl of whites in some warm water to speed up the process.

Above: whites, salt and sugar ready to go

I like to start my mixer on low speed and let the whites and salt (1/4 teaspoon) start to foam a bit. Then I slowly add my sugar (112 gm) while the mixer is running, then increase to high to finish them off to soft peaks.

Now fold about 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently blend in the remaining whites just until a few streaks remain.

Above: whites partially blended in

Place the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake at 350ºF for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Let it cool a bit, unmold and finish cooling.

Traditionally the Sacher torte is layered with an apricot jam filling. Most recipes called for slicing the cake into two layers, but a few into three. My cake was destined for two.

Filing methods include:  simply spreading apricot jam between the layers;  warming and straining the apricot jam before spreading to remove the chunks (some preferred that for mouth feel); puréeing the jam to de-chunk it;  taking a small amount of jam, diluting it with water and puréeing it to use as a glaze on each layer in addition to spreading jam between the layers. Anyway, you get the idea - to each his/her own!

Above: layered with apricot jam and glazed with apricot glaze

All recipes agreed that once the cake is "jammed" (thanks Parks and Rec!), give it a 30 minute chill before the final chocolate glazing.

The chocolate glaze recipes varied from the "add boiling water to the chocolate" method to a more traditional chocolate ganache type of glaze. The one I chose was a 3-part chocolate (170 gm) to 1-part cream (56 gm) ganache with a bit of butter (28 gm) added.  It had a nice sheen.

Now I'll admit I was lazy here and did not follow the tradition of writing the word "Sacher" on the top of the cake. Instead I made my go-to simple swirl design. Thank goodness for my small offset spatula!

C'est fini!

So choose your recipe and go for it!

If I ever get to Vienna and have a chance to try the real thing, I'll let you know!!

Providence croissant tasting

As a part of les croissants project, I decided to do a tasting of croissants from some local Providence purveyors.  I trekked around the city on a beautiful autumn morning recently and picked up croissants from Olga's, Starbucks, Au Bon Pain and Seven Stars to face off with those I made from La Pâtisserie des Rêves, as well as my own from The French Tarte.

I know I've included only a fraction of the croissants one can find in this city, but those which I highlight here are within walking distance of my home.  And I love walking!!

Above: the players

What does one look for in a croissant, you might ask?

For me it's the nicely browned appearance, that just right heft when you pick it up, the exterior crispiness and fragility which causes golden shards to shower down as you bite into it and the buttery, airy yet bodied layered interior.

Let's take them one by one.

First up, Olga's:

Just looking at this one makes me feel heavy; cutting yielded minimal crumb without any flaky shards; the interior is heavy and bready without any airiness; the texture is doughy, like an average roll, with a dull, non-buttery flavor and unappealing mouth feel.  

Next, Au Bon Pain, Westminster St. (financial district).

When I asked the staff where their croissants were made, they reported "we bake them here".  They receive them frozen and ready for the oven.

The look is appealing; cutting yielded some crisp flaking of the exterior; the interior has nice airy laminations and it feels light in the hand; the taste isn't bad but is lacking in rich, buttery goodness or that freshly made mouth feel. 

OK, so next up was Seven Stars on Broadway:

The look is very appealing; cutting demonstrated some nice exterior fragility and airy interior, but the feel is too light; the texture is rather nondescript and the taste is bland without that buttery goodness or impressive mouth feel. 

The French Tarte:

The look is so-so in the pristine croissant sense, but it'll do; cutting yielded a beautifully fragile exterior and a nicely laminated interior; it has a light heft in the hand; the texture is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside; the taste is delicious with a rich, buttery goodness without being too heavy in the mouth. 

My version of La Pâtisserie des Rêves: 

This one looks like a sad excuse for a croissant - lumpy and rough; cutting demonstrated some exterior fragility, but the interior is dense, bready and without any laminated airiness;  it feels heavy in the hand; the texture is doughy and unpleasant, and the taste is heavy and greasy.  Too bad!

Finally, Starbucks (La Boulange) at the Providence Biltmore.  When I inquired as to where the croissants were made, the staff didn't know the answer but shared that they receive them baked and flash frozen, and they thaw them on site.

The look is so-so, a bit flat; cutting yielded minimal exterior fragility, but a nice looking airy, laminated interior; the heft in the hand is on the heavy side; the texture is not crisp, a bit bready, and the taste is bland without any buttery goodness or flavor.

Costs for all the local croissants range from $2.00 to $2.75.

There is a lot that goes into making a great croissant.  Certainly large scale production is an entirely different animal than small-batch hand crafted croissants. And as is demonstrated with Philippe's recipe (see my preceding les croissants post), even that doesn't necessarily yield a delicious product!

It takes just the right ingredient proportions, a feel for handling the dough and, as always, practice, practice, practice!

Les croissants

OK.  I think I make a pretty darn good croissant.  So this next recipe in Philippe Conticini's book, La Pâtisserie des Rêves, got me a bit excited to try another take on this quintessential French pastry staple.  Little did I know. . . .

Over the years I've compared many croissant recipes and tested out a number of them.  I  considered ingredient proportions, mixing and kneading times, numbers of folds/turns, resting and rising times and came up with the recipe and process that has worked well for me.   So, you ask, why mess with (near) perfection?!  Because life is all about learning!

As I read through Conticini's recipe for this laminated dough, I quickly developed a few concerns about some of his ingredient proportions and the kneading time he recommends.  There is a higher ratio of butter to flour in this recipe than that which I typically use, and I prefer my croissants not too heavy in the butter department. Strike 1.

Pascal Pinaud taught me that the dough should be mixed ONLY until it comes together and NO MORE, so when I see a 5-minute kneading time, I start to worry.  Strike 2.

The idea is to work the dough very little at the beginning, thus avoiding development of gluten at this stage.  That will come later as you put the dough through its folds and turns, essentially kneading it with your rolling pin.

Conticini's recipe starts with making a poolisch which is a rough slurry of flour and liquid (water or milk) with yeast added.  I am certainly no expert on the use of a poolisch (also known as pre-ferment or starter), but my understanding is that it is usually a ratio of 1 flour to 1 liquid by weight to which a tiny amount of yeast  is added (0.1-0.2% of the weight of the flour).  Since 90 gm flour is called for here, by using this rule, the amount of yeast added would only be a miniscule 0.1 gm - a teensy, weensy amount!  This recipe calls for the equivalent of 6 gm instant yeast, or 60 times what would typically be used. Strike 3.    

It’s better if the pre-ferment sits for 6-24 hours (at room temp or into fridge if holding for up to 24 hours) before adding it into the final dough.  This contributes to the flavor as well as the texture, crumb and structure of the end product.  In this recipe it sits for 1.5 hours. Strike 4.

(Note:  I normally make a détrempe (the croissant dough) with minimal mixing time, let it rest for 45 minutes at room temp and then into the fridge over night, tightly wrapped.  My steps are otherwise similar to Philippe's recipe -  beurrage, 3 single folds, final rolling, shaping, proofing and baking.)

poolisch ingredients pictured above

So here goes!

For the poolisch simply mix the flour, milk and yeast, cover with plastic film and let sit at room temperature for 1.5 hours.  In the future I would use a rubber spatula rather than a whisk - a MUCH easier tool from which to scrape the sticky dough.

poolisch pictured above

You can then mise en place the remaining pâte à croissant ingredients (the recipe calls for milk and water - I used all milk) and shape and refrigerate your butter block. 

Above: flour, salt, sugar in the bowl; butter ready to be softened or melted; milk; yeast

Above: butter block 15 cm square

Give the flour, sugar, salt and instant yeast a quick whisk in the mixing bowl, add in the milk and butter and top it off with the poolisch.  Mix with the dough hook on slow speed, then, once everything is incorporated, increase the speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes.

Pretty rough.

Above: still pretty rough after a 5 minute knead, but a bit more together

Now cover with plastic film, let sit at room temp for 1.5 hours, then wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.  You want the dough cool for the next steps.

Above: after the 2 hours in the fridge

Now for the beurrage or the enveloping of the butter block.  Take your butter block out of the fridge a good 30 minutes before this step.  Tapping it with your rolling pin helps soften it a bit - you want it to be cool, yet malleable so it will spread evenly between your dough layers as you roll.

On a lightly floured surface roll your dough out into an elongated diamond, large enough so you can place your butter block in the center and fold the corners of the dough over it, so as to fully encase it (sorry I forgot to take a picture of this!).  You should have a neat package of dough and butter.

You should feel the butter out to the edges of your dough package.  Notice how rough the dough looks.

I'll note here that this dough feels pretty stiff and isn't easy to roll. Strike 5.

Now for the turns:  roll this package out to a length about 3 times its width and do a three fold (also called a single or business letter fold).

Above: rolled out, ready for the first fold

Above: first three (or single) fold; dough turned to prepare for next fold

The photo shows the "spine of the book" on your left.  That's how you want your dough positioned for the next roll/fold/turn.  Wrap and chill for 30-60 minutes then do the same thing 2 more times, resting and chilling the dough between each turn for a total of 3 turns.

Plan for a final one hour rest in the fridge before rolling the dough out for cutting and shaping.

So here is where I really knew that this would be a fiasco.  As I continued to roll the dough for the turns, it remained stiff and difficult to roll. The dough started breaking down and butter showing through - NOT a good sign. Strike 6.

I did struggle through to the final shaping, although my doubts were rising exponentially.

Can you appreciate the butter showing through the dough in the photo above?

Fortunately I had made some of my own croissant dough a couple of days before this, so I'll show you the final steps with that dough, as well as some comparison shots.

When rolling the dough out for final cutting and shaping, give it a rest every now and then.  You want it to be nice and relaxed so it won't shrink up when you cut it.

Above: almost there - resting before achieving the 9" depth

When cutting 12 croissants, I roll my dough out to about 24" across and about 9" deep.  I cut approximately 4" sections of dough, each of which is cut into 2 triangles.

Above: marking my (almost) 4 inch sections

Above: triangles cut, ready to be shaped

I cut a slit in each base, pick up a triangle, give it a gentle stretch, then place it down and roll it up snugly, tugging gently at the tip as I roll.  The tip goes DOWN on the baking sheet.

Here's a comparison:

Philippe's recipe above - a shiny, shaggy, buttery sort of mess

My dough above: smooth and looking good

if you’re not baking your croissants right away, cover them with plastic wrap and hold in the fridge until morning or pop them in the freezer uncovered and once frozen, wrap them tightly for up to a month until ready to thaw, proof and bake.

If ready to proceed with baking, brush on some egg wash and give them a decent 1.5-2 hour proof, ideally at a temperature from 70-78ºF. If you proof too warm, the butter will start melting out - not a pretty picture.

The next two photos show after the proof.

Philippe's above - layers more prominent, but it looks heavy and greasy

Mine above - layers more prominent and it looks light and shiny

Heat your oven to 425ºF, give them a second egg wash and bake about 12-15 minutes.

REMEMBER: watch what’s going on in your oven.  Every oven is different (I'll say it again and again)!!  I rotate and change positions of my sheet pans about half way through, and I gradually lower my oven temp throughout the baking time, depending on how my croissants are browning.  I want the surface to be nicely browned and the laminated edges to be tan not pale, or I risk a croissant that's doughy inside.

Above: heavy, bready center, some exterior fragility and flakiness, but feels heavy in the hand

The French Tarte above: not bad - note the little browned shards as I cut.  (Check out my next post for a tasting of some Providence croissant offerings.)

Above: nice airy lamination, exterior fragility, and has a certain lightness in the hand

It's hard to explain the feel of a good croissant, but once you've experienced it, you just know.

So if you want to make croissants, choose a recipe other than this one in Philippe Conticini's book and practice, practice, practice!

Brioche mousseline

The fourth recipe in Philippe Conticini's La Pâtisserie des Rêves is Brioche mousseline.

I typically associate mousseline with brioche that is baked in a tall cylinder mold with a parchment collar so that it rises above the mold.  It’s then sliced and used for canapés, and the leftovers can be used to make Bostock, that delicious syrup-imbibed, almond cream covered, twice baked delight.

Brioche Nanterre is another version in which dough balls are lined up in a loaf pan, proofed and baked so the balls essentially fuse together, creating a "pull-apart" look.

Since Philippe's recipe instructs the Nanterre type of line up, I was intrigued by his use of the word mousseline. My research revealed that the word has several meanings, depending on its context. In the culinary world it’s a sauce, such as a hollandaise, to which butter is added, whereas in the pastry world it’s crème pâtissière to which butter is added.

In this brioche recipe it has to do with the flour to butter ratio.  A classic "medium" brioche has a 2:1 flour to butter ratio, whereas a brioche mousseline has closer to a 5:4 flour to butter ratio.  So that's what makes Philippe's recipe a mousseline.  In a word - butter!!  Some call this "Rich man's brioche" due to the high butter content.

Now on to the process!

When making brioche dough, use a heavy duty stand mixer.  I generally plan on anywhere from 20-30 minutes of mixing time, so it's helpful to have a number of minor tasks you can perform while waiting for the process to finish.  Just be sure you keep on eye on your mixer, because it can start "walking" around your counter during the butter addition.

This recipe is straight forward.  Have 190 g cool, unsalted butter diced and ready to go. Mix 250 g all purpose flour, 40 g sugar, 6 g salt and 4 g instant yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Starting out with the paddle (NOT the dough hook), add 4 large cold eggs and mix on low speed until the dough comes together.  Then continue mixing on medium speed for up to 10-15 minutes until the dough becomes very elastic and starts to clean the sides of the bowl.

Above: diced butter ready to be added

Now switch to the dough hook and start adding the butter, 1/3 at a time until each addition is incorporated.  

Above: the dough can really creep up the hook!

Above: after the butter addition, ready for a rest

The dough should be shiny, elastic and smooth.  This is one of the things I love about brioche dough at the end of the mixing - so silky and wonderful!

Cover it with plastic film and let it rest 1.5 hours at room temp.

Above: dough after room temp rest

Then place the dough on a lightly floured surface, form a rough ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. I typically make brioche dough in the evening, let it rest in the fridge overnight then shape, proof and bake the next morning. Works for me!

Above: rough ball ready to be wrapped and chilled

After the chill time (in which the dough becomes quite firm), remove the dough from the fridge and get ready to shape!

It’s important to work with the dough cool so, if you have a big batch of dough, it’s helpful to work with half of it at a time and keep the other portion wrapped in the fridge until you’re ready. This recipe makes approximately 680 g (1.5 pounds) of dough which is good for one loaf pan.

I divided the dough evenly into four 170 g pieces.

Then shaped each piece into a boule.

Have a well buttered loaf pan ready and place the boules snugly into the pan.

Cover the pan with a lightly buttered piece of plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours at room temp.

Above: after the rise

Have your oven heated to 350ºF and bake about 35 minutes.  Remember!  I'll harp on this again and again - pay attention to what's happening in your oven!!

Nice and golden brown, just waiting to be tasted.

This is one delicious brioche!  I must admit that over the years as I've tried various brioche recipes, I've been put off by the ones that have a higher ratio of butter.  But this one has changed my mind.  It has a tight, yet light, delicate crumb, and a rich buttery flavor.  Who could ask for more?!

Time for some tarts!

Tarts are my favorite desserts to make (and eat), going back to the days in the late '80s when I became a huge fan of pastry chef Emily Luchetti (then of Stars restaurant).  I used to pour over her book "Stars Desserts" and made many of the recipes, being particularly fond of the macaroon nut and the blackberry streusel tarts.

So, as I spent a fair amount of time in Grand Rapids, Michigan this past July and August, staying at my mom's, I simply had to take advantage of the summer fruits that the orchards of western Michigan produce.  I paid a visit to the Fulton Street farmers market where I scored some Michigan Red Haven peaches (BIG favorite from my childhood) and fresh local blackberries which soon went into a delicious peach-blackberry custard tart for a small family gathering. Deelicious!  Topped with sliced almonds and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was just the ticket. 

Above: peach blackberry custard tart

When I had a September request for some petits fours tartlettes, I took a break from my La Pâtisserie des Rêves project to turn out some of my favorites - lemon, chocolate ganache and caramel nut.

It's always such a pleasure to return to tart making, especially when the cool, crisp days of autumn are upon us.  Working with the cool, supple dough, lining the tart rings or petit four molds and thinking about those luscious fillings is such a delight.

The beauty of these tarts is the make ahead fillings.  You can even blind bake your crusts and freeze them ahead of time. Just thaw them briefly at room temp, warm in a 325º oven for 5 minutes to crisp up, then cool and fill.  As usual, it's all about the planning.

I've tried many lemon curd/lemon cream tart fillings over the years, always in search of the perfect one.  All can easily be made a couple of days (or more!) ahead. I normally prefer a classic pucker-y lemon curd, although this time I used a riff on Pierre Herme's (complements of Dorie Greenspan) lemon lemon cream.  It’s oh so smooth and lemony, especially garnished with a dollop of light, whipped lemon mascarpone and a fresh raspberry. 

Above: lemon cream tartlettes

The ganache tart filling (3 parts cream to 2 parts chocolate with a bit of butter added) also keeps extremely well in the fridge.  The day you wish to assemble the tart, gently warm the ganache over a bain marie to liquefy it before you pour it into a blind baked chocolate crust and allow it to set.  I garnish mine with my own chocolate cookie crumbs.

Above: garnishing the chocolate ganache tartlettes

For the caramel nut tart I toast a combination of almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios and blanched hazelnuts before coarsely chopping them and folding them into a caramel filling made with butter, honey, brown sugar, sugar and a little cream and vanilla extract.  The mixture is put into a blind baked pâte d'amandes crust and popped back into the oven until the filling is bubbly. Steve describes this one as the best "payday" he's ever had (and it doesn't even have peanuts!)

Above: caramel nut tartlettes

And now - leftovers!!  When making petits fours tartlettes, make plenty of filling so you'll have components on hand to create additional goodies for friends or family.  It's a great way to plan ahead for an upcoming dessert occasion.

Here are just a couple of ideas.

Lemon semifreddo -  freeze the leftover lemon cream in silicone flexi-molds or a plastic wrap lined loaf pan.  At serving time either pop them out of the flexis or turn out of the loaf pan and slice - great with fresh fruit, perhaps a little berry coulis and some lovely shortbread.

Caramel nut truffle tart - blind baked pâte d'amandes, layer of caramel nut filling with chocolate ganache poured over.  A definite keeper!

Above: the components

Above: pouring the ganache over the caramel nut filling

Above: ready to chill with some nuts peeking through

And finally, a summer reminder - the classic fresh fruit tart with crème pâtissière filling.  Ahhhhhh.

Ciao for now!

Chausson Napolitain

The third recipe in Philippe Conticini’s La Pâtisserie des Reves is an interesting mix of several classic pastry bases.

While I had been aware of this particular pastry, I had never researched it and had certainly never made it. In a nutshell it’s a pâte feuilletée (puff pastry) turnover filled with a combo of crème pâtissière and pâte à choux. Interesting, eh?

The recipe also calls for rum soaked raisins (a favorite of the French), but I opted for an hazelnut/cherry version instead. I developed my plan and struck out on a new adventure.

Most of the components can be prepared the day before, each one requiring minimal time, leaving you with the pâte à choux prep, final assembly and baking for the day of. It's all about timing and planning. Three cheers for mise en place!

I should point out that there are a couple of serious errors in this recipe, requiring you to pay close attention and adjust accordingly. The 200 gm of puff pastry called for is woefully inadequate, and should be about 600 gm. It was clear that 200 gm was not enough to create a 30x60 cm piece with a 1.5-2 mm thickness.

And when slicing the rouleau, the slices should be 1.0 -1.5 cm thick NOT 1/2 cm as the printed recipe states.  Philippe, where are your recipe testers and copy editors??

As I alluded to above, I admit that I’m not a big fan of rum or raisins. During the pastry program at Le Cordon Bleu, as well as my during my stage at Pâtisserie Pascal Pinaud on rue Monge in the 5th, I was amazed at how often rum (and a lot of it) was used by the Parisians.

When a recipe calls for alcohol, I tend to replace rum with either an almond or hazelnut liqueur, or I leave it out altogether and stick with good old vanilla extract.  It's so much easier on the budget, and I don't find the liqueur to be that much of a flavor enhancer.

For this particular project I replaced any rum in the recipe with Fratello, a delicious hazelnut liqueur that Steve discovered recently, used tart dried cherries instead of raisins and replaced macadamias with hazelnuts.

So let's get going!

I soaked 50 gm of cherries in Fratello/brown sugar and my softened butter/brown sugar mixture is ready to go. I weighed out 50 gm of blanched hazelnuts and coarsely chopped them before final assembly.

I have a batch of crème pâtissière chilled in the fridge.

I roll my puff out to about a 2 mm thickness and a length of 60 cm. (Note: I typically have puff pastry in my freezer so I let it thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling it out.)

I spread on the softened butter/brown sugar mixture and rolled it up snugly (the rouleau). Note: images below

The rouleau can be wrapped and refrigerated until you are ready to assemble the chausson.  Alternatively you can form the rouleau the same day, freeze it for 40 minutes or so, and it will be ready to slice.

Wrap and chill the rouleau and on the day you plan to assemble and bake your chausson make your pâte à choux. 

Once the choux is ready, blend in the crème pâtissière, add the zests of one lemon and one orange, a splash of vanilla extract, the marinated cherries and the chopped hazelnuts.  Your filling is ready to go! 

Remove your puff roll from the fridge (or freezer) and cut cleanly into 1.0-1.5 cm thick slices.

Cool layers, don't ya think?

Now comes a bit of fussiness.

The slices are rolled out into a flat, ~2 mm thick oval, and it is very helpful if you keep the slices cool. Work with 3 or 4 at a time while keeping the others handy in the fridge.  Work quickly on a nicely floured surface to minimize the potential sticking of the butter layer. I keep a bench scraper close by to lift up the dough and re-flour the surface as I go.

Scoop a grosse noix of filling just low of center on your oval and fold it over.  Don't worry about sealing the edges - just gently place them together, since you want the chausson to be open.

Yessirree!

Now give them a coat of egg wash and chill. Philippe recommends a one hour refrigeration before baking.  I put mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes.  My practice with all things puff pastry is to freeze before baking, whether it's chausson aux pomme, palmier or simply blind baking a puff crust for a quiche or flan.  The freezing firms up the dough and re-stabilizes the butter layers before it goes into the hot oven.

Bake at ~350ºF convection for about 30-40 minutes.

Remember: every oven is different, and it is sooooo key to pay attention to what's going on in there!  Even convection ovens don't always bake uniformly, so rotate and change shelf positions of your sheet pans half way through. It works!

Et voila - c'est fini! These babies were tasty indeed. Who would’a thunk it to put puff pastry, pastry cream, choux paste all together in one pastry. Oh boy, oh boy!

Pain gourmand au chocolat

This was my first attempt at making pains gourmands au chocolat, the second recipe in La Patisserie des Reves by Philippe Conticini, and what a pleasant surprise!

Here I'll share a bit about the process and offer some ingredient suggestions. The recipe is straight forward, the dough easy to prepare and handle, and the final product a lovely roll with a small crumb, nice texture and smooth chocolate flavor.  What a great addition to a special breakfast, weekend brunch or afternoon tea.

Here's a brief synopsis of the process:  melt the chocolate and butter over a bain marie and let cool until tepid.

Mix the rest of the ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) and knead on low for 5 minutes and then on medium for 5 minutes.  Turn back to low speed and add the tepid chocolate-butter mixture in three additions, blending after each addition until incorporated.

As you can see my 6 qt KitchenAid can handle this amount of dough very easily.  See how the dough has cleaned the sides of the bowl.  Now add the chocolate chips on low speed.

And here's the dough, all chocolate chipped, ready to be divided and shaped into boules.

Above: boules ready for a 3 hour room temp rise.

Below: after the rise, egg washed and sprinkled with raw sugar

Just out of the oven . . . . .

and time for a taste!

Steve and I sliced into one for a first taste sans garniture, then followed that with a dollop of raspberry jam, which was delightful.

The wheels are already turning with other possibilities - how about sandwiched with layers of chocolate ganache and caramel mascarpone cream?  Or a chocolate version of Bostock with chocolate almond (or hazelnut!) cream and lightly spiced poached pear?  Or a delicious bread pudding with tart cherries, pecans and chocolate chunks?  Just imagine!

Now for a few ingredient notes: when the recipe calls for chocolat noir, sucre roux, fleur de sel, cacao en poudre, I use the following:  Valrhona Manjari 64%, coarse raw sugar, Beanilla's vanilla fleur de sel (one of my favorite things!), and Penzey's Dutch process cocoa powder. 

It is not uncommon for French recipes to call for water and powdered milk in some viennoiserie doughs. When I see those two ingredients, I replace them with whole milk, e.g. 200 ml of water and 12 gm of poudre de lait = 212 gm of whole milk in my book.

This recipe calls for farine type 55 which is a French flour often used for both bread and general baking. Based on online research, as well as some experimentation of my own while in Paris, when type 55 is the recommended flour, here in the USA I use all purpose flour, but replace a percentage (15-20% by weight) with bread flour to yield a decent equivalent of French type 55. Oh, and I use King Arthur!

A note about yeast: many French recipes call for levure boulanger or fresh yeast. I use instant dry yeast and convert by taking 30% by weight of the amount of fresh yeast called for in the recipe.  e.g.  25 gm fresh yeast = ~7 gm instant. The beauty of instant yeast is longer shelf life (fresh has only 2 weeks at most) and no need to hydrate or "proof" it before adding it into your dough.

I followed the recipe instructions to divide the final dough into six approximately 150 gm boules, but since I generally prefer smaller portions, next time I'd consider 60-80 gm pieces, shaping them into rolls or loaves, depending on what I plan to do with them.

Next up - Chausson Napolitain!