Author Archives: fancyfrenchfilly

Oh! Soooo exciting ! I’ve been waiting to learn to make these ! They are the utterly classic epitome of a good pastry chef. So easy that they’re hard. Only 4 ingredients–powdered sugar, egg whites, sugar, and almond meal; used as a base for so many variations of color and flavor. The classic cookie. Here’sContinue reading “32nd Recipe: Lemon Poppy Seed Macarons”

This one is a surprise. And not in a good way. This is the first one that I did not let anyone but my husband taste, before I just threw it out. We all know (and normally love), this recipe. At least a version of it. The classic chocolate and crème jelly roll, served atContinue reading “31st Recipe: Buche de Noel”

This recipe is pretty self explanatory. Eclairs. With bourbon pastry cream. The only difficulty with this recipe was using the chocolate transfer sheets for the pretty tops. Here is what they should look like….. You can buy all types of designs. I decided to keep mine close to the original recipe’s design. I do thinkContinue reading “30th Recipe: Bourbon Eclairs”

Well, here we are at the second to highest difficulty level. 2 1/2 macarons. There are only 3 recipes in this level. and there are a full 10 in the highest difficulty level. Do I sound intimidated ??? I feel this one went really well, in spite of my fear. Here’s the pic of howContinue reading “29th Recipe: Moulin Rouge”

Pretty self-explanatory, uh ? Here’s the pic….. This is the last recipe in this difficulty group of 2 Macarons. Next one up will be in the harder category of 2 1/2 macarons. I again was not quite sure why this one was labeled with this degree of difficulty, unless maybe they considered the chocolate curlsContinue reading “28th Recipe: Beer Float”

I’m going to show you the pic of this one right away, so that you can see what I’m talking about. The first thing you notice, and the first thing the author suggests, is that you serve this on a $100 bill as a coaster. My Husband. Maybe. Otherwise….THAT ain’t happening. I wasn’t too sureContinue reading “27th Recipe: Baller’s Delight”

Let me start off by admitting that I changed this recipe. It was a tart made with almond,(gee, the French use a lot of almond!) lavender, and grapefruit. The problem was the grapefruit. It shows my age, but frankly everyone I know is on blood pressure medication, or heart meds; and most of those, (includingContinue reading “26th Recipe: Sunset on the Boulevard”

Honey, peaches, and pecans–how can you go wrong? Well this recipe was a lot of peoples favorite. Slightly too sweet for my taste, but it was balanced nicely with the peaches. Here’s the pic…. The base was basically a pecan pavlova…a meringue baked so it’s crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. PecansContinue reading “25th Recipe: The Ricky Ricardo”

For coffee lovers everywhere! Almost like a coffee candy bar. Salty and sweet, It has everything. Caramel, coffee mousse, chocolate, and peanuts. Here’s the picture…. The crust is an almond/chocolate dough, and OF COURSE there was another mold to buy. By the time I finish this book, I will have a store’s worth of slightlyContinue reading “24th Recipe: Concerto”

Layers of fun! I think this recipe really tests plating techniques more than it does baking abilities. Here it is…. The layers consist of Joconde Biscuit (almond cake), blueberry coulis, and cheesecake mousse, with a white chocolate glaze. The whole trick to the recipe is to get the layers VERY thin, and as uniform asContinue reading “23rd Recipe: Cancale”