Clarified butter is optional but recommended in a génoise. It gives what is ordinarily a rather plain, somewhat dry sponge an enhanced butter flavor. Of course if you don’t have — or don’t like making — clarified butter, regular melted butter will still produce a excellent result. This recipe makes enough for one 18″ x […]
READ ONThis butter cake is made via the “one bowl” or “reverse creaming” method which delivers a very moist and tender layer indeed. If you’re on the hunt not for a box-mix-style cake (that would be one of the “high ratio” cake layer recipes in the cake layer section) but rather a classic old-school yellow cake […]
READ ONThis recipe is based on Rose Levy Berenbaum’s excellent All Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake, adapted slightly to my own tastes and techniques. Yellow Butter Cake 6 large egg yolks 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla 13 1/2 ounces (3 cups) cake flour, sifted 10 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 cups) sugar 1 tablespoon plus 1 […]
READ ONBy popular demand, an easy and clear recipe for this very handy pastry component. As you can see, the home-made stuff has a very nice, thick consistency, especially after it’s been well chilled (as this has). A home made version of sour cream is what it is. Begin by pouring about 2/3 cup of cream […]
READ ONOh, the simple pleasure of a marshmallow. That taste takes you right back to being a kid. No wonder they’re so in vogue in food catalogues and in pastry departments these days. Making them is quite simple, though it’s a bit of a kitchen ballet. Ideally, you’ll have all your ingredients at-the-ready so you can […]
READ ONI swiped the graham cracker recipe from Gale Gand, why not this one too? As a one-time employee of one of her pastry shops, I’m sure she won’t mind. That or she’ll march down to Louisville and give me what-for with a number 230 tip. I guess I’ll take my chances. Thanks Gale! 4 tablespoons […]
READ ONA homemade graham cracker is a wonderful thing…especially when you’ve got s’mores on the brain. And Mrs. Pastry pretty much always does. Start by sifting your dry ingredients into the bowl of your mixer: Mix for a few second to combine your ingredients, then add your butter pieces. You want pieces of butter remaining about […]
READ ONYou mean you’re going to make your own graham crackers? Yes, my friends, I am. You thought I was kidding about my s’mores-making skills? I wasn’t. Real-deal s’mores aren’t made with those poncy, crumbly things you buy in a store. Rather they’re held together by good, honest crackers, made at home and with some chew. […]
READ ONPerhaps my favorite feature of real buttercreams, aside from their fundamental deliciousness, is the extent to which they can be manipulated. For the creative baker, there’s virtually no end to it. A complete catalog is impossible, though I’ll do my best to summarize some of the most common variations. Extracts are obvious, and there are […]
READ ONOnce you see how this is made, you won’t wonder why American-style buttercreams have become the new standard — even in upscale bakeries — all over the world. OK, maybe not in the pâtisseries of Paris, but pretty much everywhere else. The reasons are primarily functional. Not only are the buttercreams in this family a […]
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