Category: Pastry

Fruit with a Checkered Past

The poor apple. It’s had a bad rap since just about forever. Sure, nowadays its image has been plastered over to create a wholesome veneer, but that can’t fully erase centuries of bad PR. For over a millennium the apple has been synonymous with sin in the Judeo-Christian tradition. No one knows exactly why. Genesis doesn’t specify what the “forbidden fruit” actually was, in fact there are those who to this day argue that the forbidden fruit was a fig. So why the bad rap, historically speaking? Perhaps because the Latin word for apple, malus, is strikingly similar to the Latin word for “evil”, malum.

Which is not to say that ancient peoples had any particular problem with the apple. Human beings from Khazakstan (where the apple is thought to have originated) to Europe, Japan and all other points along the Silk Road have enjoyed apples for thousands of years. I daresay it was when the apple reached North America that the bad press really started.

READ ON

The Myth of Perfectly Balanced pH

Reader Gail asks:

I have a question about altering recipes. I love buttermilk, I think it gives cakes a singular texture. So if I wanted to use buttermilk instead of regular milk in chemically-leavened layer cake batter, should I reduce the baking powder and add baking soda? Are there imbalances the buttermilk will cause? Or is it just not a good idea in general?

Interesting issues you raise here, Gail. One of the myths of baking is that recipes containing chemical leavening must be perfectly balanced from a pH standpoint. That’s not true much of the time. Sure, you don’t want heavy alkalinity in a batter that’s got a lot of fat or oil, since that gives you soap. But in general a little bit can be good since it gives you extra browning.

READ ON

The Cocoa Grind is Up

That ain’t a dance move, it’s an economic indicator — a measure of the total volume of cacao ground to powder to meet North American chocolate demand (other parts of the world issue their own quarterly “grindings” reports). The total grind was up 8.25 percent to 131,974 metric tons in the third quarter of this year, and that’s good news for chocolate sellers. The bad news is

READ ON

Choux Gnocchi

For all those who find potato gnocchi too heavy, and let’s face it they really can be, choux gnocchi are the perfect solution. These little pillows of flavor go great with roasted meats. They also make an excellent course on their own tossed together with split cherry tomatoes or roasted root vegetables. That of course is just the beginning of the utility of choux gnocchi, just use your imagination. Because they freeze so well, they make a great last-minute addition to virtually menu regardless of the season. If you can stir and simmer you can make them easily.

READ ON

Butter or Shortening?

Reader Paul writes in with a very interesting choux question:

Rather than the milk vs water thing, what about alternatives to butter? We make our choux paste with butter, but our pate brisee with shortening for a more neutral, puffier crust. Would it do the same thing for choux? As far as I’m concerned, choux paste, like brisee, is more of a filling delivery system than a confection in its own right. Making it neutral allows the filling to take center stage. Before I go off on a testing tangent what are your thoughts, Joe?

A fascinating idea, Paul. There’s no reason I can think of that shortening wouldn’t work in choux, though you’d want to scale it down by 15% since butter is about 15% water and you don’t want to weigh the batter down any more. On the functional impact, my feeling is that there won’t be too much in terms of texture. The finished puffs will probably be a bit more rigid since you’re losing some milk solids.

READ ON

Classic Literature, Original Gangsta

My favorite thing by far on the internet these days is Thug Notes, a sort of street hoodie’s Masterpiece Theater. It’s funny, but unlike the purely comic Drunk History there’s an important point being made beneath the jokes and crass language. Specifically, that great literature is neither dull nor hard to understand. Further, it explores themes that anyone can find interesting. How can you not love a show where the host says things like: Now you just ain’t been goin’ hard in the paint unless you realize how this play captures the ambiguity of modernity. Dr. Sparky Sweets deserves a whole lot more attention.

READ ON

The Nun

“The nun” is a choux pastry classic that’s said to date back to 1725, the year Nicolas Stohrer opened his eponymous pastry shop on Rue Montorgueil near the famous Les Halles market in Paris. The shop is still there, and the crew is still making the nun (“la religieuse”) albeit in different colors and styles now. The traditional nun is choux with a coffee pastry cream filling, decorated with chocolate fondant and buttercream piping, no doubt meant to resemble the brown cotton-and-muslin habit and coif of a nun. Since I went to Catholic school and was taught by nuns, I’ll do it the traditional way so as not to get into any trouble.

READ ON