Molly Wilkinson - French Pastry Made Simple

MACARONS AND MORE

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TO MY MOM,
WHO ENCOURAGED AND INSPIRED ME TO BAKE UP A STORM IN THE KITCHEN FROM A YOUNG AGE

Would you be surprised if I told you that French ptisserie could be easy? That all those stunning desserts go back to a few basic French pastry recipes that have been refined and finessed for generations?

This cookbook contains ten foundational French pastry recipes that will help you master over 60 desserts, counting variations! Conquer pte choux dough and youll be whipping up clairs, cream puffs, Saint-Honor and more. Learn how to make pastry cream, including different flavor options, and you have a gorgeous custard filling to put inside! All of the recipes are intertwined, so by mastering just ten, you will soon be well on your way to creating your own mini pastry shop at home.

Ive combed through modern and historical versions of these foundational recipes, collaborated with chef friends, used my knowledge in the kitchen and extensively tested, making them foolproof for the home baker. Have you ever wondered what speed your mixer should be on when making a meringue? Or what the texture of certain doughs should look like? I provide in-depth explanations of the methods and detailed instructions so you feel like Im right there with you in the kitchen, guiding you through new techniques with ease.

I have to admit, Im not one of those strict French pastry chefs. I believe a pastry should taste incredible, be easy to make and allow for your own creativity to shine through! Does an opra cake have to follow the 3-centimeter French height regulation? Nah. Id rather all the flavors be balanced in the right quantities than have you wrangle a super-thin piece of cake! I want to build your pastry-making confidence and give you the information you need to succeed whether youre a beginner or seasoned baker.

Little historical pastry stories and tidbits about my life here in France pop up in the book. I moved to Paris in 2013 to follow my passion by studying ptisserie at Le Cordon Bleu. It was a huge shift from my nine-to-five marketing job, but I quickly fell in love with the pastries, the intoxicating buzz at the farmers markets and a culture that revolves around good food and good ingredients. This was what I wanted my life to be: sugar, butter and sharing the joy that comes from baking something delicious.

After graduating, I worked in ptisseries across the United States and in France. I went from chteaux to cooking schools to French farmhouses, soaking up as much information as I could. Today, I live in Versailles with a Frenchman, where I teach small, private, in-person classes and virtual classes to people all over the world. They are about having fun and making French pastry easy and accessible. All the tips I share in my classes, and so much more, have gone into this book to make it an ultimate guide to baking ptisserie.

I hope this cookbook will soon be covered in smears of chocolate and tons of notes. Bake with confidence, follow your intuition and taste all those cake scraps!

Pastry certainly does not have to be difficult and can be achieved with very minimal tools in the kitchen. A couple of key pieces of equipment will make it that much easier, and using delicious ingredients will bring the flavor over the top with these fabulous French recipes.

Flip back to this section to stock up on helpful tools, to find tips for piping and using a scale and to refer to a piping tip reference chart when all those codes become a bit confusing.

These recipes are all about accessibility and use commonly found ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. To make them shine even more, use good-quality ingredients when you can and shop the seasons. For example, make the when strawberries are at their peak. For a splurge, spring for a vanilla bean when baking a cake for a special occasion. For desserts where the main ingredient is chocolate, go for one thats a tad more expensive. Make these little tweaks and youll be seriously happy with the boost of flavor in the final dessert.

A couple of key points:

Heavy cream is the same as heavy whipping cream or whipping cream.

Powdered sugar is the same as confectioners sugar and icing sugar.

Ground almonds are sold as meal (almonds with the skins on) or flour (blanched almonds with the skin removed). Almond meal will have little specks in it from the skin. For all recipes in this book, either can be used. For the best visual result for the , however, I would recommend a finely ground almond flour; otherwise, the macarons will appear speckled.

When looking for the best chocolate, keep an eye out for (in no particular order) Valrhona, Guittard, Ghiradelli, Cacao Barry, Lindt, Scharffen Berger, Callebaut and other local brands in your area.

Use fresh egg whites when theyll be whipped up in the recipe, as often carton egg whites do not whip.

All of the recipes are made to work with all-purpose flour, as it is the most widely available. Take a look, though, as you might find a fabulous local flour mill in your community. You can use finer flours for all recipes except the tart crust recipe in particular, there is a slight adjustment to be made if using a more finely ground pastry or cake flour.

Two of my absolute favorite shops in Paris are E.Dehillerin and Mora, pastry equipment stores chockfull of treasures. E.Dehillerin dates back to 1820 and I dont think it has changed the inside since! It resembles a hardware store, with tart rings hung from the ceiling, cubbyholes of whisks, passageways that veer off in random directions and a gated basement full of massive copper pots and pans. The staff know me there by name now as they jot down the items I want after referring to a hefty catalog to match the code stamped on each with a price. Every purchased item is hand-wrapped in brown paper and secured with the shops signature yellow and green tape.

A lot of special equipment can go along with making pastrysuch as metal cake rings and acetate plastic! Heres the thing, though: Besides having far too many kinds of tart rings to count (I LOVE the variation), my equipment stockpile is more minimal than youd think. I dont believe in pans that are made for just one cake (the exception being a madeleine pan!) and often when Im baking on the road, I make do with what is on hand. In that same spirit, I created this book to work with just a few standard pans. This meant some nontraditional uses for some, but Im really pleased with the results.