[Jamestown1630]

This week: Fancy Pastries!

(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)

-JT

[MomwithHope]

I don’t do fancy pastries at all except for apple or cheese strudel (cheat with frozen philo) or my grandmothers Serbian walnut roll. But I will enjoy following this thread. I also have discovered the cake decorating videos on youtube. Relaxing and fun to watch.

[CottonBall]

Oh boy, I’ll learn a lot here! Won’t have much to contribute though, sorry!

[miss marmelstein]

I have Britbox which streams tv shows from England. One of the best shows I've seen is The Hairy Bikers - two amateur cooks who ride motorcycles and are built along the lines of the 2 Fat Ladies. One of their best series is the Hairy Bakathon where they rode from Belgium to Romania, baking pastries that were typical of the country they were in. They also visited top bakeries along the way, watching master bakers make pastries and breads.

That said, I don't really make pastries but I do bake bread - challah and raisin bread being my specialties.

[txnativegop]

I need help.

I am looking for a recipe for lamb chops, that I can actually eat.

I did not grow up eating lamb or mutton and the taste is more than a bit ‘unique’ to my taste buds.

I am looking for a recipe that will tame down that ‘uniqueness’ a little.

Thanks in advance! FRiends! :^)

[V K Lee]

Cream Puffs to make a Croquembouche

https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/how-to-make-croquembouche

And just about any fruit cake, re-gifted or not is much better when soaked in Rum for a few weeks. Never tried on a white fruit cake, only the dark ones.

[garandgal]

I’ve made this Danish Almond Puff since I was a kid...and it’s been awhile...maybe this weekend:)

Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons water

Topping

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 or 4 Tbs tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Place 1 cup flour in medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup softened butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; toss with fork.
(Note: I do this in the food processor).

Gather pastry into a ball; divide in half. Pat each half into 12x3-inch rectangle, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Spread half of the topping over each rectangle.

Bake about 1 hour or until topping is set & light brown; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely.

In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over top of pastry.

[Yaelle]

Drooling! Good stuff. In the town where I lived in Switzerland, they had a special town pastry they were famous for. It was similar to a madeleine and baked in a thick dark mold pan, like a Madeleine pan or a mini cupcake pan, but this one had its own special pillowish shape. I believe there was a bit of almond Something in the smooth dough, not ground nuts but rather an essence or a paste (yet not as strong as marzipan). I believe it is a hot bake in a very thick dark metal pan that gives these little doughy pastries that silky moist interior and shiny baked near crisp exterior. You could not eat just one.

And the second pastry reminds me of a Baumkuchen so I had to go see if it was also made on a spit. Very different. But Baumkuchen is so unique. My Omi raved about it from her childhood. It takes forever to make, each layer of batter poured over the rotating spit. The end cake is sliced to reveal many layers like a tree, a Baum. The Japanese fell in lust with it. They make it in Japan now and they sell it in Japanese grocery stores here in the States.

[MightyMama]

Only tangentially related (maybe you could spread it on the fancy pastries...?) but I have been trying to make apple jelly with brandy and it is about to make me CRY. The flavor is to die for but the jelly keeps coming out too sticky, and it’s such an incredible pain to set up that I want to get the process as streamlined as I can. I *think* I’m overcooking it, but the last batch never set and the batch after that turned into very tasty superglue. I’m stuck.

[boatbums]

If you get Netflix, you simply MUST watch the “Great British Baking Competition”. There were some pastries and such that I had NEVER heard of before but they sure made me want to try a few and taste most of them. It’s a great show and there is a sequel where the two judges (Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry) whip up their own versions. Lots of great ideas for holiday treats, too.