Paris Pastry Club: A collection of cakes, tarts, pastries and other indulgent recipes (11 page)
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Authors: Fanny Zanotti
Tags: #ebook
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried doughnuts to a plate lined with a few layers of kitchen paper and repeat with the remaining dough.
Serve on a large plate and drizzle with plenty of runny honey. A scattering of toasted pinenuts on top makes a wonderful addition.
These bruffins (bread muffins, call them cheesy, that’s okay by me, in all accounts) are my secret hangover trick. Not so secret anymore, though, as I’ve made them countless times for friends after a dinner-turned-party kind of night. There is nothing special here – spring onions and garlic, big fat handfuls of spinach and Gruyère, and a healthy dash of sweet chilli sauce – and yet they’re always a hit.
You should know they also make a killer side dish for dinners made of old-school TV series and piping hot soup in the winter.
Makes 12
350 g (12 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder (baking soda)
a good grind of black pepper
a fat pinch of sea salt
180 g (6⅓ oz) Gruyère, grated
250 g (8¾ oz) milk
50 g (2¾ oz) sweet chilli sauce
1 egg
130 g (4½ oz) baby spinach leaves
4 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
2 chilli peppers, finely chopped
1 fat garlic clove
Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
Stir the flour, baking powder, pepper, salt and Gruyère together in a large bowl.
Whisk the milk, sweet chilli sauce and egg in a separate bowl, then pour onto the flour mixture using a wooden spoon to fold together.
Add the spinach, spring onions, chopped chilli peppers and grated garlic – the batter will be quite thick so I like to use my hands to do this. Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and allow to cool slightly on a rack.
(FOR GLITTERY DAYS AND BALMY NIGHTS)
BROWN SUGAR
CHEESECAKE WITH
SUGARED NUTS
ALMOST-INSTANT
CHOCOLATE
FONDANT CAKE
THERE IS THE upside-down pineapple cake with shiny, almost-golden, pineapple slices and cherries of the fake-red kind. There are the vanilla pudding lollipops and the candy necklaces. And balloons too. In the shape of a rainbow. Yes, birthdays used to mean all of that.
As I grew up, the juice I used to drink at my birthday parties turned into champagne, and the butterfly make-up into cat’s eyes eyeliner. I put on my favourite sundress, the one that floats when I spin. Because that is what you should do – dance and spin and jump and fall and kiss. And your head should turn, not unlike it does when you’re tipsy.
We drink beers as the sun goes down. And tequila when fireflies rush around us. We lie in the grass. And laugh, and maybe even cry a little. But that’s ok, because a birthday should be a party like no other. With stories told and my favourite faces that remind me what it feels like to laugh until your cheeks hurt.
With glitter in the swimming pool and on (as well as in) our eyes. Perhaps on that cake sitting on the table too. A cake that glows with candles. A cake we eat with our fingers as soon as it gets cut into slices. A cake that tastes like a dream.
A fraisier can either mean garden strawberries or a gorgeous entremet (dessert cake). And while I’ve tried growing a potager many times with varying success, my fraisier entremet is always a hit.
At home, we used to eat it for Sunday lunch after a roast chicken of some sorts, as soon as the first strawberries would make the farmers market stands glow like red gemstones. And, of course, for my birthday, which happily falls at the beginning of May – at the very start of my favourite season.
Making a fraiser is not complicated. You have to start with the crème pâtissière and the génoise sponge, which both need to cool down for quite some time. Once the sponge is baked and cold it is unmoulded by running a small sharp knife around the edges of the metal ring. This step can be quite tricky but is nothing to be afraid of. Just go for it and a stunning fraisier will only be a few minutes away!
Serves 8 – 10
FOR THE SPONGE
3 eggs
75 g (2½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
75 g (2½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sieved
FOR THE SYRUP
250 g (9 oz) water
175 g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
FOR THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) whole milk
3 vanilla pods, with their seeds
4 egg yolks
125 g (4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
50 g (2¾ oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
FOR THE CRÈME MOUSSELINE
150 g (5 oz) butter, at room temperature
1 batch of Crème Pâtissière (quantities above)
icing (confectioner’s) sugar, to dust
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) strawberries,
washed and halved
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a baking tray with baking parchment and place a 20 cm (8 in) metal ring on it.
First make the sponge. Combine the eggs and caster sugar with a whisk in a heatproof bowl. Set it over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk the egg mixture until it feels hot to the touch; it should be around 50°C (120°F), but I like to use my little finger to test it instead of a probe. If you feel some heat after a few seconds then it’s ready.
Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk vigorously for 3 minutes. Or transfer to a stand-mixer and beat on a high speed. Then reduce the speed and keep whisking until the mixture has cooled down. It should form a thick glossy mass with millions of tiny air bubbles.
Fold in the flour and stop mixing as soon as you’ve got rid of any lumps. The batter should still be somewhat firm and hold soft peaks.
Scrape the batter into the prepared ring and bake for 18–20 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch. Leave to cool completely, then run a small paring knife carefully around the edge of the cake and lift off the ring. Set aside while you make the other components or tightly wrap in
clingfilm and freeze for up to a month.
Now make the syrup: simply place the water and sugar in a pan, and bring to the boil. Allow to cool down and store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
To make the crème pâtissière (you can do this up to 3 days ahead), bring the milk and vanilla pods and seeds to a rolling boil in a medium pan set over moderate heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar to prevent the egg yolks from clumping. Add the cornflour and mix well until combined. When the milk has boiled, remove from the heat and pour a third of it over the egg mixture, whisking as you do so. This step is key when making crème pâtissière as it loosens the egg yolks but also tempers them, avoiding any lumps.
Pour all of the egg mixture back into the remaining milk in the pan, return to the heat and cook slowly, whisking at all times, until it starts to thicken and boil.
Once it has bubbled for a few minutes, transfer to a plastic container and lay clingfilm over the surface to avoid the formation of a skin. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours before using.
When you are ready to assemble your fraisier, place a 20 cm (8 in) metal ring onto a serving plate and line it with a strip of 6 cm (2⅓ in) wide acetate (or a strip of baking paper 65 x 6 cm/25½ x 2⅓ in).
Slice the génoise sponge in half with a large bread knife and place the top half of the sponge in the bottom of the ring with its cut-side up. Brush generously with syrup. Arrange strawberries around the edge, taking care to use even-sized fruit. Set aside while you make the crème mousseline.
Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) of crème pâtissière, one third at a time, beating well after each addition. Once all of the crème pâtissière has been added, whisk for 5 minutes. The mousseline should be firm and glossy.
If the butter has seized a little, simply place the bowl on top of a pan of simmering water for a few seconds before beating for a minute or two. Repeat until all the butter has disappeared and you’re left with a gorgeously thick crème mousseline.
Spoon a third of the mousseline over the sponge and use a palette knife to spread it over the cake and the strawberries around the sides. Arrange a layer of halved strawberries over the mousseline, then pour the remaining crème mousseline over, smoothing the top with your palette knife. Top with the second half of sponge, cut-side down, and press gently and evenly to sandwich it all together. Brush generously with syrup.
Chill for at least 4 hours and for up to 1 day.
Carefully lift off the ring and delicately peel the rhodoid or parchment from the side of the cake. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
