Chantilly cream |

The Secrets of Successful Pate a Choux, Part I.

August 16, 2011 by Georgette 10 Comments

If you’ve ever eaten éclairs, cream puffs, gougeres (cheese puffs), or beignets (fritters), you’ve eaten pâte à choux (paht-ah-shoo). It means “cabbage paste” in French.

This twice-cooked paste is probably the most versatile dough used in cooking and pastry making. Pâte à choux can be savory or sweet. It can be baked, poached, or fried. It can be piped into various shapes, including my favorite, swans.

A lot of the appeal in making pâte à choux comes from the ease with which you can make a great variety of elegant pastries with it, including Gateau Saint-Honoré, or Croquembouches, stacks of profiteroles glued together with caramel. And what kid wouldn’t love to make pets de nonne (nun’s farts)?

It achieves its puff not through leavening but through steam deriving from its high moisture content, like popovers. The cavities that result can conveniently be filled with anything from chicken salad to chocolate mousse, while the exterior remains crisp.

[Read more...]

Buffer

Filed Under: Cakes, How to, Recipes, Tips, Tutorials Tagged With: Chantilly cream, how to.., Pate a choux, recipe, ring cake, tips

Sexiest Dessert in the World – PAVLOVA

July 22, 2011 by Georgette 1 Comment

Buffer

Pavlova with Chantilly Cream, Topped with Mixed Berries that were Macerated in Balsamic Vinegar and Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Elegant, lithe, graceful—a beautiful and famous ballerina dancing the Dying Swan, or perhaps the tragic bewitched White Swan Queen. Now imagine a dessert that would embody the lightness of the dancer in the air.

That was the challenge for pastry chefs when inspired by the greatness and celebrity of Anna Pavlova, (1881-1931) one of the most famous ballet dancers of all time. She was the first ballet dancer to tour the world, including Australia and New Zealand in 1926, to adoring crowds. In one of those countries, a chef created a dessert that would be worthy of her, drawing upon the lightness and elegance of the classic French confection, meringue.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I am constantly thinking about creating desserts that address some of the dietary issues people experiencing due to various medical conditions, while retaining the quality, the beauty and the tastiness of the desserts we present in this blog. My friend, Yael Segal-Ruder child was diagnosed with celiac disease so she is on a gluten-free diet. What can be better than a cute, sweet and light dessert, like pavlova, that Yael can personalize to her child’s taste. Yes. This is it.

[Read more...]

Buffer

Filed Under: Baking, Cookies, desserts, Recipes Tagged With: Anna Pavlova, Australia, ballerina, Chantilly cream, Dying Swan, lemon curd, mixed berries, New Zealand, Pavlova

IMPRESSIVE, EASY-TO-PREPARE HUNGARIAN DESSERT

July 11, 2011 by Georgette 2 Comments

Buffer

A variation of Rigo Jancsi (Double chocolate sponge cake, with mile high chocolate mousse and whipped cream fillings)

If you have visited me often, you know that I love to teach and I love to share my knowledge with anyone interested to listen. Lately, I have carried out my wish for “sharing” by guest posting on other blogs, where readers can try out my recipes, read about different techniques in baking or just enjoying getting exposed to desserts they may not have seen before.

My Hungarian heritage is constantly reminding me the desserts I grew up with; it seems as if they were implanted into my brain forever. Not that anything is wrong with that; on the contrary. Most of my dessert-associated memories are pleasant; I either envision myself painted with chocolate all over my face , or licking pastry creams off my fingers or helping my Mother roll out a flakey dough for cheese pockets. One dessert that invades my dreams the most is “Rigo Jancsi”, a double chocolate sponge cake with a thick layer of chocolate mousse filling (and if this is not enough chocolate), glazed with chocolate ganache. Now you know why I am a chocolate addict.

[Read more...]

Buffer