M Kathleen Meisinger: The French Pastry School-Week Twenty

L'Art de la Pâtisserie Week 20

Chef En MIng
Table 5 Partner: Terri

Monday

Crème Caramel:

Make a normal wet caramel.
In a pot; water, glucose and sucrose.
Dissolve slowly.
Bring to a light caramel color.
Turn off heat.
Wait for it to get to a medium caramel color.
Cover bottom of ramekin with ¼" caramel.
Cool until firm.

Crème Caramel is a French Flan.

Utilizing Extra Caramel:

Drizzle over pralinettes or cocoa nibs.
Lightly cover back of ladle with vegetable oil. Drizzle caramel with citrus reamer over ladle. Connect strands together for strength. Trim edges with scissors. Add one pistachio to the top to make a cloche.
Pulverize dried caramelized sugar with vanilla bean pot and cinnamon in the robo coupe. Layer thinly sliced apples with sugar mix, stack apples twice the height of the pan, bake at 275ºf, cool, press weight on top of apples overnight for apple cake.

Crème Caramel Custard:

In a pot; milk and vanilla paste and half the sucrose.
Dissolve sucrose.
Do not boil the milk.
In a bowl; whisk egg yolks and other half of sucrose.
Temper all of the milk into the yolk/sucrose mixture.
Whisk well.
Strain.
Stir while pouring liquid to disperse vanilla beans.
Pour into ramekins.
Put ramekins in hotel pan.
Pour hot water up sides of ramekins.
Bake in deck oven at 34- 350ºf for 25 minutes.

Can cover ramekins during baking with sheet pan or parchment to prevent convection air from blowing on them. Vent the cover a little. Do not shake custard to check for doneness. This breaks apart the structure of the proteins and can make it grainy.

Pear Dessert:

Financier.
Poached Pears.
Praline ice cream.
3 herb sprigs.
Dried pear slice.

Strain poaching liquid.
Reduce some of the liquid to make a glaze.
Butter cast iron skillet. Can add sucrose.
Drain pears on piece of paper fowl.
Cut end of pear off so that it can stand up.
Cut 2nd pear into a fan.
Pour batter into skillet.
Place pears in batter.
Bake in convection oven at 375ºf for 12 - 15 minutes.
Bake until brown.
Glaze pears and cake with reduced syrup.
Decorate with pear chips, herbs and praline ice cream.

Can bake ahead and warm in the oven all the way through for service. Vanilla, buttermilk, crème fraiche, herbed or cinnamon ice cream would all pair well with this dessert.

Crêpes:

Non traditional brown butter method.
Sift flour.
In a bowl; eggs, yolks and vanilla.
In a another bowl; sucrose, pastry flour and salt.
Whisk both bowls.Whisk milk into egg/yolk mixture.
Add liquid to flour in thirds.
Whisk out the lumps.
Incorporate all of the milk whisking until there are no lumps.
Strain into another bowl.
Add brown butter last.
Whisk in butter.
Put batter in deli cup.
Cooler overnight.

Bake off Warm Chocolate Cake:

Butter pans. Sugar is optional but adds crunch.
Pipe batter into small baking pan or ramekin ⅔ of the way.
Bake at 350ºf for 8 minutes.
Cake will be 25% under baked.

Each portion should be 100g. Can make batter ahead of time and freeze. Do not bake ahead of time and serve later.

Dessert Presentation:

Warm chocolate cake.
10x.
Cocoa powder.
Coffee ice cream
Cocoa nibs.
Pralinettes.
Chocolate curls.
Sauce?

Tuesday

Cinnamon:

Cassia is the typical American cinnamon. It is high in oil and has a spicy aroma. Buy a small jar and use it within 6 months. Saigon.

Ceylon is considered the true cinnamon. It pairs well with citrus desserts. Most Ceylon varieties are grown in S.E. Asia; Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China.

Red Wine Stew:

Use an assortment of berries; red currents, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries.
Use a spice bag if you want to keep the berries.
Scrape vanilla beans into sucrose to disperse.
In a pot; spices, orange or lemon zest strips, water, wine (fruit juice), sucrose and vanilla bean pod.
Add berries to stew.
Bring to a quick boil.
Cover pot with plastic wrap. Leave a vent for reduction to concentrate the flavors.
Simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and simmer to desired flavor.
Strain fruit without pressing it.
Add plums.
Uncovered.
Bring to a quick boil.
Simmer until plums are soft but hold their shape. 10 minutes.
Transfer to a deli.
Cover plums with juice.
Cool.
Cooler.

September plums are best. Could reduce sucrose if it is too sweet. We used frozen Damson Plums which oxidize quickly. Italian, Mirabelle and prune plums are firm and good for baking. Plums have a lot of natural pectin.

Custards:

Main components of custard:

Dairy - milk, cream or half n half
Eggs - yoks or whole eggs (whites add protein and structure).
Sweetener - sucrose
Flavor - vanilla, tea, spices, chocolate, coffee

Cappuccino Crème Brulee:

Warm coffee beans in 350ºf oven for 1 minute.
Crush beans with back of pan. Finer for more intense flavor.
Disperse cinnamon in sucrose.
In a pot; milk, cream and vanilla.
In a bowl; whole yolks and egg yolks.
Bring cream, milk and vanilla to a quick boil.
Turn off heat.
Cover with plastic.
Let sit for 10 minutes.
Strain coffee grounds over scale.
Add heavy cream to make up the difference.
Warm milk/cream in microwave enough to dissolve sucrose.
Whisk ½ of sucrose into milk.
Whisk ½ of sucrose into eggs.
Temper all of milk/cream into eggs.
Strain.
Pour into ramekins.
Place ramekins in hotel pan.
Cover bottom of pan with ½" of hot water.
Torch large bubbles.
Bake at 320 - 325ºf deck oven for 20 minutes.
Look for jiggly center. Do not jiggle hard enough to disrupt the proteins.
Take ramekins out of water to cool.
Clean off ramekin.
Cover tightly, but not touching crème, with plastic wrap.
Cooler.

Idea; bake a stronger mix of coffee crème in oven safe coffee cup. Use a sauce gun for filling ramekins. In a pinch, the base can be frozen, thawed and hand blended to emulsify the mixture.

American crème brûlée is all cream and French is half milk/half cream. The addition of whole eggs (whites) adds structure from the proteins. Yolks add creaminess. Can use turbinado and brown sugars as well as honey and syrup. Sucrose is a neutral flavor.

Earl Gray Crème Brûlée pairs well with blackberry compote.

Back Pocket Recipe:

Base Crème Brulee:

1 liter 36% heavy cream
160 - 180g egg yolk (15%)
150 - 175g sucrose (15%)
1 vanilla bean pod

Biscotti:

Roast the nuts lightly in a 350º deck oven.
Sift flour and baking powder.
In a bowl; soft butter and salt.
In a bowl; flour and baking powder. Whisk to fully mix.
Crush the nuts in half.
With a rubber spatula; blend butter, vanilla extract and salt together.
Add all of sucrose.
Blend with a rubblier spatula.
Add a little of the eggs.
Loosen the batter.
Switch to a whisk.
Add eggs a little at a time.
Add a little flour when eggs stop being absorbed.
Add flour and eggs back and forth.
Add some of the Amaretto.
End with flour addition.
Fold in nuts with rubber spatula.
Cover rectangular frame with plastic wrap.
Fill frame with dough.
Wrap dough with plastic wrap.
Roll over top of frame with rolling pin.
Place in cooler overnight to rest and hydrate.

This is a sweet, cookie style dough using the creaming method. Frangelico, Cointrea or Rum are nice additions.

Chocolate Cream:

In a pot; cream and whole milk.
In a bowl; yolks.
In a bowl; 64% chocolate.
Sucrose on the side.
Whisk ½ of sucrose in the milk and cream.
Whisk ½ of sucrose into the yolks.
Bring milk and cream up to a quick boil.
Temper ¼ of the milk into the eggs.
Pour eggs into the pot while whisking.
Cook on medium/low to 83 - 85ºc while whisking.
Check for nappe on the back of a spoon.
Keep whisking.
Strain mixture over chocolate.
Let sit for 15 seconds.
Whisk from the center, as a ganache, the develop the core.
Pour into a large deli container.
Hand blend.
Plastic wrap to touch.
Cool.
Cooler.

This recipe is a crème anglaise recipe using a ganache method. If you boil the anglaise, you must throw it away. A slow cook is best for flavor and texture.

Crème Caramel Dessert Presentation:

Sauce develops overnight.
Cut around crème caramel with a knife angled toward the ramekin.
Unmold crème caramel over dish.
Invert.
Break suction with finger.
Push extra sauce off of top.

Crème Caramel.
Sauce.
Chantilly Cream small quenelle.
Caramel decor.

Caramel (sucrose) is hydroscopic and pulls moisture from the custard. This makes the sauce and needs 24 hours to develop.

Wednesday

Bake Biscotti:

Place cold dough on silpat.
Roll over plastic wrap covered dough with rolling pin.
Roll to length of half silpat.
Remove plastic wrap.
Egg wash top and sides of dough.
Bake at no higher than 350ºf convection for 15 minutes vent open.
Turn sheet pan half way through baking.
Should be nice and brown.
Wrap hot biscotti with plastic wrap so that it is easier to cut.
Cool.
Place loaf of cutting board.
Cut with serrated knife.
Thick slices for dipping and thin ¼" slices for plated garnish.
Place on parchment lined sheet tray.
Bake at 300ºf in convection for 7 minutes vent open.
Flip Biscotti half way through baking to help dry it out.
Biscotti should be dried all the way through.

The ingredients in this recipe lend themselves to browning. Biscotti can be stored up to 3 weeks but generally, 1 week is the rule. The butter could go rancid so check quality. Dough logs can be frozen, cut and baked as needed.

Florentine Tuile:

Ingredients at room temperature.
Sift pastry flour.
In a bowl; melted butter, salt and 2.5g vanilla bean paste.
Zest lime straight into butter.
Whisk sucrose into butter a little at a time.
Alternated adding pineapple juice.
Whisk well.
Whisk in flour slowly.
Cooler to firm up batter.
Spread thinly and evenly on flat silpat.
Place silpat onto sheet tray.
Bake at 325 - 330ºf in convection.
Check at 8 minutes.
Should be crispy and brown in color.
Let it cool a little, lift up the tuile, shape it, stretch it.
Store in dry box.

This goes well with a plum dessert. It is a crispy, Florentine style tuile that is high in sucrose and spreads a lot. For production, put all ingredients in a robo coupe.

Suzette Butter:

200g sucrose
450g butter
18g orange zest
300g orange juice
60g cointreau
2g salt

Place all the ingredients, except the orange juice and cointreau, in a mixer bowl.
Whisk on medium high.
Whisk until very light and fluffy.
Scrape bowl at least once.
Whisk on low while adding orange juice very slowly.
Add all of the cointreau very slowly.

Can change sweetness, alcohol, etc. to taste. Amaretti, orange flambé liquid or Grand Marnier works well in this recipe. Classic orange crèpes. Add 35g of pastry flour to make the crèpe recipe easier to spread.

Traditional Crèpe Suzette:

Add plain butter to hot pan.
Add sucrose to butter.
Dissolve sucrose.
Add orange juice.
Reduce and make a syrup.
Dredge crèpe through butter.
Fold in half and then quarters.
Add orange supremes.
Add liquor flambé and a little sucrose.
Torch.
Shake pan.
Place on plate; layered and with pointed edge facing away from guest.
Top with supremes, syrup and candied orange zest.

Traditional ingredients; butter, orange juice, orange zest, liquor flambé (Grand Marnier, Cointreau or Triple Sec) and sugar cubes. A copper flambé pan, copper stand and burner is nice for French service.

Fast Method Crèpe Suzette:

Spread Suzette Butter on inside of crèpe OR place Suzette Butter directly into pan.
Fold crèpes into quarters.
Line crèpes up on a dish for service.
Add a little orange juice to the pan.
Reduce.
Put 2 crèpes into the pan.
Dip crèpes in syrup.
Add orange supremes.
Flambé liquid.
Torch.
Shake pan.
Plate 2 crépes per person.
Plate with supremes, candied orange zest and syrup.

Pipeable Linzer Dough:

Ingredients at room temperature.
Roast hazelnut flour.
Sift 10x.
Sift pastry flour, cinnamon and baking powder together.
In a mixer bowl; butter, salt and 3g vanilla bean paste.
In a bowl; pastry flour, cinnamon, baking powder and 50g 10x.
Whisk dry ingredients together.
Use whisk attachment for this quantity but a paddle for double or larger recipes.
In a mixer bowl; whisk 25g of 10x into butter.
Scrape down sides of bowl often.
Add some of the eggs to the butter.
Add some hazelnut flour to mix until eggs start to split.
Alternate adding eggs and hazelnut flour.
Add flour in thirds.
Mix until just incorporated.
Finish mixing with rubber spatula.
Place batter in pastry bag with no tip.
Pipe batter ¾ of the way into small, round flexi mold pan. Metal pans would give a nice color to the baked dough.
Bake at 375ºf in convection for 10 minutes vent closed.
Do not bake for color. Bake for doneness.

Austrian spice dough with nuts. Sablée style dough usually has a lattice top. Sablée cookie traditionally has jam in the center. Austrians do not like leaveners so they whip the air into the batter. This recipe is more like a muffin.

Flexi pans work best on perforated pans. This helps darken the sides better.

Plating Plum Stew, Linzer Tart and Spiced Ice Cream Dessert:

The plum stew thickens overnight from the natural pectin in the plums.
Can serve stew warm or cold.
Warm, stew, not hot, in a pot. Do not boil.
Cut Linzer in half.
Deep dish.
Stew and liquids could be served on the side in a small pitcher.
Soak top Linzer in stew liquids.

Linzer.
Plum Stew.
Berries.
Candied orange zest.
Spice ice cream.
Florentine tuile.
10x.

Plating Crème Brûlée:

Work with cold, from the cooler product.
Clean edges of ramekin first.
Sprinkle raw sugar on top, tilt and tap out excess.
Torche from the top. Do the edges first. Brown the sugar before moving on. Do not go back and forth.
Sprinkle 2nd layer of raw sugar.
Torch.
Add chocolate cream and soft whip cream.
Dust with cocoa powder.
Biscotti.
Chocolate curl optional.

Self Evaluation:

Organization:

I have the best partner of my FPS experience. She works really fast and is very organized. We had a discussion at the beginning of the module to determine where we would put dirty dishes, scalings and how we work at the table on a daily basis. I quickly realized that Terri gathers the additional community tools immediately following our break and gets to work on multiple recipes immediately. There is not much communication about who will do what. This threw me off at first because I felt rushed and behind even though I had reviewed the recipes and listened through demo. I thought about how I could catch up to her thought process because she is very smart and able to keep many steps and processes in her mind at once. I am a person who has to work harder at that.

I remembered a conversation I had with the chef from my Milwaukee internship and first job at an artesian bakery. Chef Matt had been a savory chef before attending FPS a year and a half ago. He said that it is not enough to know the recipes or show up to work without having thought things through. He told me to go over a plan for how I would scale efficiently, make the recipes and use the available equipment. I decided to try this method for class. it has been going much more smoothly since I took this approach. I read through my recipes at night and then look at how they fit together. There are obvious ways to manage equipment and cooking/mixing times.

I also like that you suggest an order for executing the recipes. During demo, I make a list and then I very quickly go over it with Terri before we begin working. Sometimes she suggests we do it differently and we gather a plan. I have been working on speed and focus and some partners work slowly and like to talk and it is definitely easier to work with someone who is on the same page. Terri and I have been very efficient and we share dishes and recipes very evenly.

Chef Jonathon’s evaluation of my last exam mentioned that I took too long to scale. My approach has been to scale for all of the exam recipes on the first day. I actually plan to talk to him about this approach and determine if it is the right approach for my last exam.

I have always been physically organized and now I am working on being mentally organized. I think this is going to be a game changer for me. Again, Terri makes this very easy because she is so smart but I am sure it will help with my next partner and future jobs.

Team Work:

Team work to me means releasing my sense of self for the good of the group. Of course, I want to do every recipe and have a hand in every plate presentation but it is not practical. My two person team has to effectively execute each task well and that means that we have to share in the work and the final product. There are students who need to do a little of each recipe or technique. I am not one of those people. I may want to do it but I know that taking turns is more efficient and fair. Being a good team means taking the compliments and criticisms as a team and not blaming the other person for bad decisions or mistakes.

A good team works so efficiently that the work seems effortless and energizing. During my more challenging partnerships, I felt drained of energy and overwhelmed with having to do more than half of the work. Team works means looking around and doing what needs to be done to help the team. This means running and getting ingredients, doing dishes, keeping accurate timers and asking if they need anything when you have a free minute.

Early on, I felt the most difficult task were the partner changes. I now see a method to the madness. I have seen a few teams argue and get frustrated or not talk at all. I really believe in communication and this has helped me with all of my partners. I like to know what they need and how they plan to work. I am sure that not all of my partners thought I was perfect, or the ideal partner, but we have all remained cordial and respectful.

Our stream had a rough beginning. We did not work as a team at all. Everyone did their own thing and it was frustrating. Our class has had a complete turn around. We still have our job chart, but everyone seems to do every job without being asked. I see people everyday doing so many different jobs that I could not even say what their own job is. It is also easier to share community tools, going into the oven and keeping the dish area organized. People do not have to yell or complain. This has resulted in a strong sense of pride among our class.

I plan to continue to work on my own personal habits and skills, maintaining effective one on one partnerships and contributing as much as I can to a positive working environment. This applies to school and future jobs.

Thursday

Chocolate Streusel:

Sift dries.
In a mixer bowl; 1g salt, all ingredients.
Paddle on low. It will get sandy.
Keep mixing on low.
It will darken in color.
Stop when it gets medium, large chunks. Not too fine.
Place in chocolate cooler uncovered.
Spread streusel out on parchment lined sheet tray.

The salt balances out the flavor. If the mix gets overworked, break it apart with your hands or pass it through a large mesh sieve.

Lemon Cream:

Hydrate gelatin.
Zest lemon into butter.
In a bowl; sucrose and lemon juice.
In a bowl; whisk sucrose into egg yolks.
Whisk lemon juice into eggs.
Strain mix into a metal bowl.
Over a bain marie; bring water to a boil.
Bring water down to a simmer.
Whisk and cook to temperature.
Cook to 83ºc for good pasteurization. Cooking to sight is not accurate.
Take off of heat.
Whisk in gelatin.
Slowly add cold butter/zest.
Whisk.
Place mixture in deli cup.
Hand blend, from the core to emulsify.
The color will become light and creamy.
Plastic wrap to touch.
Cooler.

Lemon cream has more butter fat than lemon curd. Lemon cream freezes well. Can substitute other citrus types. The lime zest is added to the butter, which is added at then end, and does not get cooked to keep its flavor.

Pectin Stock:

Make your own pectin.
Lemon, water and all parts of apple, large dice.
Boil briefly.
Simmer for 30 - 45 minutes.
Reduce.
Vent lid if necessary.
Turn off heat.
Cool.
Rinse cheesecloth to remove starches and to prevent the pectin juices from begin soaked up by the fabric.
Place cheese cloth over chinois.
Drain overnight in cooler.

Underripe, 1st pick apples in late June or early July, have really good pectin.

Chocolate Cremeux:

Alternative method.
Hydrate gelatin.
In a pot; milk, cream and sucrose.
Whisk in egg yolks.
Whisk on low temperature.
Cook to 83 - 85ºc.
Add gelatin.
Whisk.
Strain over chocolate.
Whisk from center to create core.
Whisk toward the edges.
Place mixture in deli cup.
Hand blend to refine and finish mix.
Mix for 5 - 10 seconds.
Plastic wrap to touch.
Cool.

This recipe is like chocolate cream but has added gelatin. Can cut gelatin in ½ or leave it out depending on desired texture.

Lemon Gelée:

Hydrate gelatin in lemon juice.
Melt gelatin in microwave.
In a bowl; add sucrose to gelatin.
Whisk it together.
Dissolve sucrose completely.
Cooler.
Acidic gelée will only last 1 day.

Add gelatin to the lemon juice first and the sucrose last. Both ingredients complete for water. This is an example of 2 ingredients that behave in the same way. Sucrose is the bully in the sandbox because it hogs all the water.

Chocolate Sauce:

In a pot; milk and cream.
Bring milk to a quick boil. This sterilizes the milk.
Partially melt chocolate.
Pour a little hot milk/cream over chocolate.
Whisk as a ganache to create core.
Add a little more milk/cream.
Whisk. May separate a little. Make sure there are no lumps.
Add rest of milk/cream.
Whisk in butter.
Blend well.
Pour into deli cup.
Cool.
Cooler.

This recipe does not set up in texture. A chocolate sauce has a 1 to 1 ratio of chocolate to cream. A larger recipe can be done entirely with a hand blender.

Friday

Bake Streusel:

Dry bake all the way through.
Use a low temperature to slow and evenly bake the streusel all the way through.
Bake at 325ºf in convection with vent open.
Bake 20 minutes. Stir mixture.
Bake 15 minutes. Stir mixture.
Remove a little, let it cool and check for doneness.
When baked, remove from oven.
Cool.
Let it dry out.

Lemon Chocolate Dessert Presentation:

Lemon cream.
Lemon gelée.
Chocolate crémeux.
Streusel.
Chocolate sauce.
Earl Gray ice cream.
Chocolate curl (optional).
Chocolate bouchon (optional).

Sterilizing Jars and Lids for Jam:

Oven Method:

Wash, rinse and sanitize jars.
Place upside down on cooling rack on sheet pan.
Bake at 225ºf.
Glass has to reach 212ºf.
Boil lids briefly.
Leave lids in hot water until needed.

Rolling Water Bath Method:

Place a jar rack at bottom of stock pot.
Place jars on rack.
Fill pot with water to within 2" of top of pot.
High heat boil for 8 minutes.

Jams:

IQF works well for jam.
Look at pectin charts to determine fruit's pectin, sweetness and acid content.
Jams are 1 part fruit to 1 part sucrose or 90% sucrose.
Do not use fruits that are damaged or getting old.
Artisan jam uses natural pectin.
4.6 on the ph scale is the limit. Respect this number. Do not go above.
20g of lemon juice is added to 1 kilo (liter) of fruit.
4 liters in a pot is ideal.
Copper on a gas burner promotes set.
Pan should have a slope to encourage evaporation.
Natural pectins have to bind.
Water needs to evaporate.
Pectin binds at 105ºc.
105ºc = set point.
Inversion of the jars creates the vacuum.
Chef En Ming likes Weck jars. They bend inward when sealed properly.
2 piece tops seal well and have a button to check for a good seal.
Jams last 1 year in the dark.
Use within 6 months for optimum flavor.
Consume open jars of jam within 2 weeks.

4 Main Jam Ingredients:

1 part fruit.
1 part sucrose.
Acid; lemon juice, citric acid, vinegar and natural acids in the fruit. Ph 2.85 - 3.6
Pectin. Occurs naturally in fruit. Green pectin is high in acid and sucrose and sets fast. When using sure gel pectin, follow the recipe. It can dilute the fruit too much.

Plum Jelly Demo:

Make plum pectin the same way apple pectin is made.
Do not press pectin juice to keep it clear.
Slowly bring pectin juice and sucrose to a boil.
Do not stir a lot.
Make sure the sucrose dissolves.
Cook to 105ºc.
Do not scrape the foam during cooking. Can let mix rest after cooking and then skim the foam off.
Pour into sanitized jars.
Seal lid.
Turn upside down, undisturbed, for 24 hours.

Jelly gets 90% of sucrose. Chutneys are ½ the weight of sucrose. Chutneys have spicy and savory ingredients. Shelf life is shorter. Conserves are compotes with dried fruit.

Direct Method: