To be a pastry chef, you have to know how to bake – and it helps if you know how to cook, as well. But having the ability to turn out an excellent batch of cookies after following a recipe is not all that goes into being a pastry chef, just a good home cook can’t go from their own kitchen to a busy, 5-star restaurant kitchen without some prep. The Making of a Pastry Chef is a book that doesn’t detail every skill that you need to cut it in a pastry chef’s kitchen. Instead, this book covers everything else you could possibly want – and need – to know about being a pastry chef
The book starts off with a History of Sweets, starting with what desserts were eaten in ancient times and moving up, relatively quickly, to sweets in the present day to set the stage for the pastry business. From there, it really starts to talk about pastry chefs and what inspired them to get into the field, as well as what their training and other early career experiences consisted of. The rest of the book is dedicated to food – the traditions that still are strong in the field, the trends that are followed on a year-to-year basis, and guesses at what the future of the industry might involve. Throughout the text there are tips about skills pastry chefs need and use on a regular basis, such as how to design a menu or how to put together successful flavor combinations. Many famous pastry chefs were interviewed, so there are a lot of snippets of personal stories, as well as personal tips, throughout the book.
Now, although this book could certainly provide guidelines for someone wanting to enter the pastry field, it is also an excellent read for those who are interested in sweets and baking. It might even prove to be pretty insightful to those who prefer savory cooking. The recipes in the book – all from top pastry chefs – are all do-able for the home cook and range from simple to elegant enough for fine dining, and you’ll definitely get a sweet finish with any of them if you decide to give them a try after you finish the book.
Eggnog is widely available in stores through New Years, but sales and consumption probably peak right around Christmas Eve. I know I don’t drink much after Christmas is over. I do often have leftovers, though, and never turn down the chance to use them up in a tasty holiday-ish recipe. My leftover eggnog this year went into a batch of eggnog rice pudding.
The rice pudding recipe is a simple one, starting with leftover rice. Steamed and boiled rice both work equally well here, but make sure that your rice was only cooked in water (as opposed to chicken broth) to ensure that it has a neutral flavor. I used a combination of regular milk and eggnog to get a light, but flavorful dessert. An eggnog-only rice pudding will be quite heavy, especially if you’re using a full fat eggnog (low fat works very well for this recipe, as do soy/nondairy ‘nogs). The pudding thickens a bit after it cools, so I always stir in an extra tablespoon or so of eggnog just before serving to help ensure that the pudding has a good eggnog flavor and a very creamy consistency.
Garnish the puddings with some freshly grated nutmeg and whipped cream.
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Tarte tatin is one of the simplest, yet most elegant, tarts that you can make. It has just four elements – or, at least, it has just four the way that I make it: sugar, butter, apples and puff pastry. It is rich, buttery and surprisingly easy to make for a dessert that is most often seen on restaurant menus.
The tart consists of a layer of caramelized apples sitting on a puff pastry crust. Any kind of pie apple will work well for this tart, and not only does it use up fewer apples than a pie, but it takes a fraction of the time. It is made in a frying pan (usually a cast iron, although any oven-safe pan will work) and the apples are cooked in caramel before a puff pastry sheet is pressed down on top of them. The tart is baked, crust-side up, in the oven until the puff pastry is browned and crispy, then it is turned out of the pan to serve with the apple side up – usually with a side of ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
I think that the trick to getting a really good result from this tart is to make the caramel quite dark. Caramel is a great complement to sweet-tart apples and the deeper in color your caramel mixture is, the more flavor it will have. I cook the sugar alone in the skillet until it is a deep amber color – not burnt, of course – before adding in the butter. Don’t try to stir the sugar while it is melting, but feel free to slide the pan around on the burner to get every area exposed to high heat as it begins to melt. I also find it easier to choose slightly smaller apples for this because they fit into the pan better, while bigger apples sometimes must be cut down into chunks, small and medium sized apples can be used after simply being halved – making for easier prep and a more rustic (and prettier) finished tart.
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I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas – or other holiday break – with your families. I got quite a few very thoughtful gifts, including a lovely Le Creuset Canister (in Cobalt) that I plan to use as a flour container in the kitchen, a huge bunch of fresh, fragrant vanilla beans, a popover pan and a number of specialty baking stocking stuffers, from Guittard chocolate to a bag of demerara sugar. There are a couple of other things that I’ll have to mention later as I test them out.
One of my most interesting gifts was a set of vintage spice canisters. One – the ground ginger pictured above – still had some spice in it, while the other were mostly empty. I wouldn’t try using the remaining spice for any reason, but primarily because it smelled dusty and the metal tins are not exactly the most secure little containers I’ve ever seen (and ground spices lose potency over time). I love the look of the tins, however, and am planning to put them up on a little display shelf in the kitchen – just to spice up the look of the place.
What was in your stocking? Any favorite gifts for the kitchen or new treats to try out?
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I’m taking a bit of a break today to enjoy some hot chocolate and chocolate covered marshmallows, as well as some Christmas cookies and even some real food. I hope you’re spending the day with family, friends and others you care about – and having some good food while you’re doing it.
