Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Just a little bit about me and why I started this blog. I’m a middle-class, middle-aged (ok-maybe Late-aged!), mid-western retiree, and I can tell you why I’m doing this in just 2 words. Bucket List. Yep. I always wanted to learn to make exquisite little desserts to WOW my friends and family….so I better get at it before it’s too late !
I picked the recipe book “Modern French Pastry” by Cheryl Wakerhauser for 2 reasons. One, it’s only 41 recipes. Do-able (I hope). And Two, each recipe is rated by difficulty. Although the book is laid out by category chapters, such as Cakes, Tarts, etc…… I intend to do them in order of difficulty, starting from least difficult to most.
Each week I will try to recreate these recipes, starting with the picture from the book, of how it SHOULD look, following by one of how it turned out, along with comments from my tasters, any problems,and tips! Let’s start this journey !
FRANGIPANE PEAR TART
This recipe is a French Classic. It consists of three components. “Pate Sucree” , which is a rich cookie-like tart crust….”Almond frangipane”, a buttery almond pastry cream…and sliced pears on top with an apricot jelly glaze. Here’s how it should look… This is not my favorite dessert. And the thing is…I love pears. I meanContinue reading “FRANGIPANE PEAR TART”
PALMIERS
Palmiers are also sometimes called elephant ears. Not the big flat American version; the French Palmiers are small, tightly rolled, and almost cookie-like. You can use any number of fillings or flavored sugars, but the traditional Palmiers were just caramelized sugar and puff pastry. Here’s the book pic….. Nothing but sugar, and puff pastry. NoContinue reading “PALMIERS”
VANILLA ROULADE
Remember the old fashioned “jelly roll”? Well this is the same sponge cake rolled up with real whipped cream. Easy. But like all easy things……not always. This is the pic from the book…. Beautiful. I thought I would time the making of this dessert to coordinate with my Mother’s Birthday. It was one of theContinue reading “VANILLA ROULADE”
