The French Pastry School-Week Seventeen - Petit Fours

 L'Art de la Pâtisserie  Week 17

Chef Jonathon Dendauw  Petit Fours
Table 4  Partner: Jaisaira

Monday

Chocolate Tarts:

• Cut  sweet dough in half.
• Tap, tap, turn.
• Roll using thin bars.
• Place in cooler to firm up.
• Roll over mini tart molds.
• Push, push with piece of dough.
• Cut dough with 2 rolling pins.
• Place on half sheet pan.
• Chill for 20 minutes.
• Prick bottom of shells with fork.
• Bake small piece of regular sablée dough to check for color.
• Par bake shells for 12 minutes in deck over at 350ºf.
• Cool.
• Remove shells from tins.
• Egg wash.
• 2 - 3 minutes in deck oven.  
• Do not overcook or shells will become eggy and grainy.
• Heat Chocolate Mirror Glaze to 35ºc.
• Pipe over espresso mix.
• Sprinkle top of tarts with cocoa nibs.
• Place in cooler.  Mirror Glaze tastes better cold.

This is a sticky dough.  Work quickly and employ the cooler or freezer to keep dough firm.

Macarons:

• Robo coupe TPT.
• In mixer bowl; 90g egg whites, salt, cream of tartar.
• Whisk on low.
• In a medium pot; water, sucrose, glucose and 5g food coloring.
• Bring syrup to 118ºc.
• Pour syrup over medium peak meringue.
• Cool to 35ºc.
• In large mixing bowl; TPT and 2nd scaling of egg whites.
• Stir whites into TPT.
• Add Italian Meringue into TPT in thirds.
• Stir the1st incorporation to loosen up the mixture.
• Fold in the 2n and 3rd incorporations.
• Macaronnage.
• Tail should disappear in 30 seconds.
• Fill pastry bag fitted with #9 tip.
• Let shells dry to touch.

Irregular or underdeveloped foot on Macarons could be cause by over or undermining, off oven temperature or whites and TPT were not aged properly.

Meringue Delight:

• In mixer bowl; egg white powder, egg whites and ⅓ of sucrose.
• Whip on low.
• Add ⅓ of sucrose.
• Add last ⅓ of sucrose and turn mixer on high.
• Whip to firm peak.
• Sift 10x.
• Add vanilla bean paste.
• Fold gently, 10x in 2 parts.
• Do not deflate.
• Fill pastry bag fitted with French Star tip.
• Stick corners of parchment with Meringue.
• Pipe rosettes, kisses and other shapes.
• Bake in deck oven for 2 hours at 240ºf.

Meringue Delight makes a great petit fours and it is an inexpensive way to get rid of leftover egg whites.  Should be packaged in 100g boxes and priced according to weight not count.

Finishing Opera Cake:

• Take Opera Cake out of freezer and unwrap.
• Place parchment on top.
• Spread thin layer of untempered chocolate with offset spatula.
• Do half of the cake at a time.
• Place parchment on dried chocolate.
• Flip cake over.
• Use torch to release cake from frozen pan.
• Peel off acetate very slowly.
• Trim edges with sharp, warm knife.
• Press knife through the chocolate before cutting through cake.
• Petit fours size is 1" x 1½".
• Gold leaf on top of each square.

Tempered chocolate will constrict and not stick to the cake.  If the layer is too thick it will not stick.  Opera Cake tastes best at room temperature.

Espresso Mix:

• Melt chocolate.
• Melt butter.
• Warm espresso.
• Whisk eggs and sucrose in a bowl.
• Use rubber spatula to add melted butter to melted chocolate.  Emulsify with whisk.
• Add warm espresso.
• Temper eggs with a little chocolate mix.
• Emulsify with whisk.
• Strain.
• Pour into pastry bag cut with very small hole.
• Pipe mix into chocolate tart shell.
• Fill shell ¾ of the way full.  Leave space for glaze.
• Place leftover filling in cooler.
• 2 - 3 minutes in oven.  Look for jello jiggle.

Do not over bake or texture will become grainy and it will taste eggy.  If filling sets before piping, warm in microwave at 50% power.  Will last 4 - 5 days in the cooler or in the freezer in its raw state.

Madeleine Batter:

• Melt butter and allow to cool slightly.
• In mixer bowl with whisk attachment;  eggs and sucrose.
• Whisk to ribbon stage.
• Sift flour and baking powder together.  
• Zest lemon into flour.
• Add salt, trimoline and vanilla bean paste to egg mixture.
• Whisk by hand.
• Add 25% of flour and mix 80% of the way.
• Add ½ of milk and ½ of butter.
• Mix.
• Add remaining flour.
• Add remaining milk and butter.
• Mix well but do not over mix.
• Pour into piping bag.
• Rest batter overnight in cooler.

Baked in a scallop shell by Mary Magdalene for Jesus's pilgrimage to Portugal.

Batter must be cold when baked.  The baking powder is activated by the heat in the oven but is finished activating at 60ºc.  Eggs begin coagulating at 60ºc.  Heat activates the edges of the Madeleine first.  The two things are related to one another.  The baking powder pushes the middle of the Madeleine up in the middle.  This creates the signature look.

Baking powder is activated.  Could stand at room temp for 3 - 4 hours.  In production, place batter in a bucket overnight in the cooler.  Bring to warmer temperature for 1 hour before piping.  Pipe and bake.

Meant to last 1 day.  It is traditional to bake these daily.  Could replace flour with almond flour which would prolong shelf life.  Could bake and freeze right away.  The moisture will stay inside the Madeleine.  Pull them out of the freezer and bag them but do not refresh them in the oven.  Will keep 2-3 days at room temp.

Could replace trimoline with honey.  It would have a honey flavor.

Tuesday

Stage:

Floriol - 1220 W. Webster Ave, Chicago, Illinois

7:00am - 12:00pm  Owner: Sandra Holl    

This is the first Tuesday I have done and Danielle, Betsy and Sandra were all working.  I buttered muffin tins.  Very relaxing.  I filled and baked Butternut Squash Claufoutis.  Filled Chouquette/Puff Pastry season pastry with Cardamom Pastry Cream.  I made Chocolate Pot De Creme base from start to finish.  I scooped savory scones.  

On my way out the door, I tried a sample of Pear Clove and Cranberry Orange Pâte de Fruit and grabbed a cup of Tuscan Kale soup.

Ganache:

• Melt chocolate 50%.
• In a medium pot; cream and trimoline.
• Bring to a simmer.
• Soften butter.
• Pour hot cream over chocolate.
• Let sit for 15 seconds.
• Whisk to create core.
• Cool to 38ºc.
• Mix some of melted chocolate/cream mixture with butter to temper it.
• Add butter mixture back to chocolate/cream mixture.
• Whisk to emulsify.
• Pour ganache into plastic wrap lined sheet pan.
• Cover with plastic wrap.
• Bring to room temperature.
• Pipe ring of ganache around Macaron shell.
• Fill ring with Raspberry Jam.
• Top with other half of Macaron shell.

This is the Earl Gray Ganache recipe without the Earl Gray.  It is well balanced and works every single time.

Mango Passion Fruit Filling for Macarons:

• In large pot; 400g mango purée and 100g passion fruit purée.
• Add pectin to sucrose and mix very well by shaking deli cup.
• Add sucrose/pectin to purées.
• Whisk continuously.
• Cook on full blast.
• Cook to 102º while whisking.
• Pour onto plastic wrap lined sheet tray.
• Cover with plastic wrap.
• Cool to room temperature.
• Put filling in mixer bowl with paddle.
• Paddle until light and fluffy and no lumps remain.
• Place filling in pastry bag fitted with #9 tip.
• Pipe filling onto macarons shell.

Fruit Filling Base Recipe

500g fruit purée

225g sucrose

8g pectin

Fruit Purée could be citrus, raspberry, etc...  Can stay 5 -6 days in the cooler.  Freezes well and will not release water.  It is important not to take the temperature too high or the flavor will taste burned.

While cooking, the mixture will thicken and darken.  The acid in the fruit activates the pectin.

Baking Madeleine:

• Take batter out of cooler 10 minutes before piping (large bucket 1 - 2 hours before).
• Soften or melt butter.
• Use a pastry brush to completely cover Madeleine pan with melted butter.
• Flour shells and tap well to remove excess (could use flour/butter mixture).
• Pipe batter.
• Fill each shell ¾ of the way with batter.
• Place in cooler for ½ hour.  Batter will spread out a little.
• Place black sheet pans in oven to temper.
• Bake at 375º in convection oven with vent closed for 6 - 7 minutes.
• Pop Madeleines out of pan immediately.

Copper molds are best.  Do not wash pans with water, they will rust.  Clean them with a dry cloth.  Small Madeleines can work in a flex mold but not big ones.  Batter must be cold so that they have a nice reaction in the oven and the signature bump in the middle.

Citrus Zest:

• Have extra water for cleaning wax from peels.
• Peel zest strips with peeler or zester.
• Cut thin strips.
• Bring extra water to a boil.  
• Add zest and boil for 30 seconds.
• In a medium pot; scaled water and 2.5g salt.
• Place clean zest into cold water/salt.
• Bring to a boil for 7 10 minutes.
• Pour simple syrup into another pot.
• Strain zest from water and place into simple syrup.
• Heat zest on full blast.
• Turn heat down to low.
• Simmer for 30 35 minutes.
• Test by tasting.
• Should not be crunchy.
• Should be soft and tender.

Process could take 2 - 3 weeks.  Whole fruit could take up to 9 months to fully incorporate sugar.  Salt opens up the pores of the fruit so they can accept the sugar.

Cookies:

• Line a sheet pan with silpat and bake cookies on textured side.
• Roll Extra Fine Sablée dough using thin roll bars.
• Flour silpain.
• Tap, tap, roll.
• Roll dough.
• Place parchment on top of dough.
• Flip dough over.
• Cut out shapes.
• Place in cooler to firm up the dough.
• Place cookies on silpat.
• Bake in deck over at 350ºf for 15 - 17 minutes.

This is a fragile dough. Only use it for cookies.  The dough will not spread out a lot so the cookies can be placed closer together on a sheet tray.  Cookies should be rolled thin when a filling is used or thick if they will be served on their own.

Chocolate Financier:

• In a small pot;  brown the butter.
• Strain fat solids from butter.
• Sift cocoa powder, 10x and flour.
• Add almonds to flour mixture.
• Add apple compote to flour mixture.
• Add ⅓ egg whites and brown butter to flour mixture.  This cools down the butter.
• Add a little of the remaining egg whites.
• Mix.
• Add a little more egg whites.
• Mix.
• Put batter in pastry bag.
• Store in cooler overnight.

Financier was created in the 1960's for people who worked in the financial district who wore suits and did not want the crumbs from a Croissant all over their clothes.  They were baked in the shape of gold bars.

Moist cake.  Better shelf life.  Will last 2 -3 days when bagged well.  Can bake and freeze them for longer storage.  There is not baking powder in this recipe.  Egg whites add the volume.  Apple compote or trimoline adds moisture for a longer shelf life.  

Brown butter is achieved by evaporating the water from the butter very slowly.  The butter is ready when it stops sizzling.  Stir at all times.  The fat solids caramelize.

Wednesday

Apple Tarts:

• Roll Sweet Dough over small tart molds.
• Dock dough.
• Par bake in deck oven for 12 minutes at 350ºf.
• Cool.
• Remove shells from tart molds.
• Egg wash.
• Bake in oven for 2 - 3 minutes.

Coconut Rocher:

• Suisse Meringue.
• Bain Marie; sucrose and egg whites.
• Cook to 50ºc.
• Add coconut.
• Place back on heat.
• Cook to 75ºc.
• Take off of the heat.
• Whisk to cool it off.
• Put in a piping bag.
• Pipe up to the top of the pyramid flexi mold.
• Allow to dry for 30 minutes.
• Press tops down.
• Bake at 375ºf for 14 minutes in convection oven. 
• Should be nice and brown.

Coconut Macaroons.  Rocher means rock in French.  Can shape into a ball or pipe into pyramid flexi molds.  It is quicker to heat smaller amount of egg whites and coconut than all of the ingredients at the beginning.  May freeze when fully baked.  Can stay 3 - 5 days in dry case when packaged.  We use unsweetened coconut.  If using sweetened coconut, find out sugar content and deduct that amount from the added sucrose.

If batter is not cooked hot enough, the eggs will not coagulate.  The whites and coconut will separate within 5 minutes of cooking.  This is easy to fix by putting the batter back on the heat and cooking it to 75ºc.  Cookies should be nice and brown when baked.  If they are white they are under baked and will be too sweet.  Baking with the vent open will help the Rocher dry out.  The batter can stay in the cooler overnight but will firm up.

Allowing the Rocher to sit at room temp before baking causes a skin to form, moisture to evaporate and puffing during baking.  This makes a less dense cookie.  Pushing the cookies down removes the tips which will burn during baking.  Do not freeze the batter.  Batter can stay in the cooler for 4 - 5 days.  Can be baked right out of the cooler.

Chocolate Macaron (French Meringue Method):

• Robo Coupe TPT and cocoa powder.
• In mixer bowl with whisk;  egg white powder, salt, cream of tartar and egg whites.
• Add sucrose in 3 stages.
• Bring to medium peak.
• Scrape egg whites.
• Add meringue to TPT mixture.
• Fold.
• Macorannge more carefully.
• Place batter in pastry bag fitted with #11 tip.
• Pipe macaron shells.
• Dry to the touch.

This batter is more fragile and difficult to control when making a large batch.  Macaron made with French Meringue is a little less shiny.  Some say it has more flavor.  All of the other steps in the process are the same.  It is possible to use chocolate or cocoa paste but the batter sets up quickly.  It must be kept above 45ºc.

Chocolate Financier from yesterday:

• Paper under flexi mold.
• Pipe ¾ of the way full.
• Can add dried fruits, nuts, chocolate to middle or top of batter.
• Bake in convection oven at 300ºc vent open for 14 minutes.
• Batter should not look raw or gooey.

Chocolate Macaron:

• In mixer bowl with whisk; salt and 73g whites.
• Whisk on low.
• In a pot; water and sucrose (no glucose).
• Cook syrup to 120ºc
• Increase speed on meringue.
• Add syrup to meringue.
• Cool down to 35ºc.
• Mix smaller eggs whites into TPT/cocoa powder mixture.
• Add meringue into TPT in thirds.
• 1st mix is for loosening up the mix.
• Fold 2nd and 3rd incorporations.
• Macornannage until shiny and tips disappear within 30 seconds.
• Place in piping bag fitted with #9 tip.
• Pipe shells.
• Let dry.

Sautéed Apples for Apple Tarts:

• Peel apples.
• Small dice apples.
• In a sauté pan; turbinado sugar, vanilla bean paste and butter.
• Melt butter.
• When hot, add apples.
• High heat.
• Cook apples half way.  Tender on the outside.  Firm on the inside.
• Pour into bowl to cool.

This filling can be used for pies, tarts, danish, etc...  Can add dried fruit or other fresh fruits.  Dice apples according to size of product.

Nougat Mix:

• Add whites, sucrose, cinnamon and almonds to bowl.
• Stir.

Financier:

• Brown butter.
• Strain fat solids from butter.
• Sift pastry cream powder, 10x and flour.
• Place flours in a small bowl.
• Add almond flour, vanilla bean paste and trimoline to flour.
• Add brown butter to 1st whites and TPT mixture.
• Add last whites in thirds.
• Whisk well.
• Pour into pastry bag.
• Cooler overnight.

Regular base.  This recipe has a raspberry in the middle.  Baking powder makes them lighter than the Chocolate Financier.  Trimoline or apple compote adds moisture and prolongs shelf life.  Could bake on same day if batter is cooled for 1 - 2 hours.

Assmebling the Apple Tarts:

• Fill with sautéd apples.
• Top with Nougat Mix.
• Bake until Almonds are toasted.
• 350ºf oven for 15 minutes.

Thursday

Fresh Fruit Tart:

• Roll Almond Sablée Dough using thin bars.
• Place in freezer for 20 minutes.
• Dock shells.
• Par bake for 12 minutes at 350ºf in deck oven.
• Remove shells from tins.
• Egg wash.
• Bake all the way.
• 350ºf deck oven for 12 minutes.
• Add 2% Kirsch to pastry cream.
• Pipe pastry cream 70% into shells.
• Cover tart with fresh fruit.
• Use pastry brush to brush lightly glaze over fruit.
• Top with orange or lemon candied zest.

Almond Sablée Dough takes on color fast than other doughs.  Can bake and store with desiccant at room temperature and fill with pastry cream as needed.  

Fresh Fruit Tarts are meant to be made and consumed on the same day.  Any uncovered pastry cream will dry out.  Glaze protects the fruit and adds shine.

Glaze should be liquid and almost at a simmer.

Caramel Filling for Chocolate Macaron:

• Dry caramelize sucrose.  Melt first sugars and then add more.
• In plastic bowl; cream, salt and vanilla bean paste.
• Soften butter in microwave.
• Turn off heat.
• Slowly whisk cream into caramelized sugar.
• Add all of the butter.
• Whisk over heat.
• Cook to 103ºc.
• Emulsify the mixture.
• Pour into bowl.
• Cover mixture with plastic wrap to touch.
• Allow to sit overnight.
• Mixture is ready to pipe when plastic wrap pulls away cleanly.

Nice shelf stable filling.  Works well for bon bond, sticky buns, as a drizzle or as a ribbon in ice cream.  It does not freeze and has a soft, chewy consistency.  

Make sure cream is as hot as possible when added to cooked sucrose or it will seize and make lumps.  Do not evaporate too much water from the cream or the filling will not emulsify.  If this happens, reheat caramel to 41ºc and hand mix with 1 Tablespoon of water. 

Caramel Filling:

200g sucrose

100g heavy cream

125g butter.

5 g vanilla bean paste

1g salt

Salt ratio should be 1.5 - 3% salt to butter.

Tuile:

• In a pot; butter, sucrose, cream and glucose.
• Melt butter at beginning.
• Whisk continuously.  
• Cook over medium heat to 112ºc.
• Pour syrup into bowl to cool it down.
• Add almonds.
• Spoon small amounts of batter onto silpat.
• Bake at 325ºf in deck oven vent open for 15 minutes.
• As long as the tuile is hot it is pliable. 
• If tuile cools, place it back in oven for 1 minute.
• Flip cool pan upside down and put hot pan on top.
• Peel off tuile when they cool a little.
• Place on rolling pin or mold.
• Smooth side should be on the inside.

Similar to the Bostock.  Curved shingle on Southern French Homes.  Hotels and restaurants use tuiles to add a crisp texture to the desert.  The Florentine Tuile is hewer and holds its shape better when moved.  It must be stored with desiccant.   Tuile with flour added is more shelf stable.

Temperature in this recipe is very important.  Too much or too little spreading will occur if the temperature is not right.  Almonds add fat, there is already a lot of fat in this recipe, and should not be cooked until baked.  

An ice cream scoop works better than a spoon.  Batter can be kept in cooler for 6 - 7 days.  It will thicken.  Batter can be frozen.

Raspberry Financier:

• Oval flexi mold.
• Remove batter from cooler.
• Pipe almond financier batter (when pliable) ¾ of the way into molds.
• Place 1 frozen raspberry on top of batter (fresh burns).
• Bake in convection oven at 375ºf for 7 - 8 minutes  vent closed.

Friday

Vanilla Ganache:

• Melt chocolate 50% of the way.
• Soften butter.
• In a small pot; cream, vanilla bean, glucose.
• Bring cream to a simmer.
• Pour cream over chocolate and let sit 15 seconds.
• Emulsify with a whisk.
• Cool to 38ºc.
• Temper butter into chocolate.
• Add butter to remaining chocolate.
• Emulsify.
• Cover to touch with plastic wrap.
• Allow to set up.

Good for filling macaron.  Tahitian vanilla bean is good for this recipe and is floral.  Glucose increases shelf life.  Add vanilla bean to cream the night before to intensify the flavor.

Chocolate Diamant:

• Creaming method.
• Sift 10x.
• Sift flour with cocoa powder.
• Soften butter.
• In mixer bowl; cream butter with a paddle.
• Add 10x to butter.
• Add eggs slowly.
• Add all of the flour/cocoa powder at once.
• Combine slowly.
• Scrap half way through.
• Scale 200g logs directly onto plastic wrap.
• Pre shape into a rough log.
• Wrap tightly.
• Place in cooler 2 - 3 hours or overnight.
• Take dough out of cooler.
• Use a lot of flour to roll longer logs.
• Fill half sheet tray with turbinado sugar.
• Egg wash logs.
• Roll logs in turbinado sugar.
• Place in cooler for 45 minutes - 1 hour (freeze for storage).
• Cut 1" slices.
• Place on parchment lined sheet tray.
• Bake at 320º (160ºc) for 12 minutes in convection oven

Diamant means diamond in French.  The raw sugar makes it look like a diamond.  This is a messy dough but popular because it is easy.  Must be worked with when cold.  The high butter ratio makes it stickily.  The cookie is soft an crumbly.  Flavors can be added to dough base; pistachio, raspberry, orange or lemon.  Can store logs in freezer and cut to bake.