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Pronounced “queen-amahn”, this is a sugary, yeast pastry that is much like puff pastry, only heavier. It has layers that should be flaky and buttery. The story of it’s origin is that a baker, during the war in France, ran out of almost everything to bake with. He only had butter, sugar, salt, flour, andContinue reading “KOUIGN AMANN”

Today I’m going rogue ! Off the beaten path. I’m not using anyone else’s recipe….just me. My lovely sister saw these cake pans on sale, bought them for me, stating, ” I thought you maybe could use these for one of your desserts”. So of course, my first cake out of them had to beContinue reading “PB&J 4 LAYER CAKE”

I decided to combine these 2 recipes because the base of each is Pate a choux. If you’ve followed me at all, you’ll remember that Pate a choux is my favorite pastry to make because of it’s versatility. Eclairs, cream puffs, churros, cheese puffs and those giant caramelized towers called Croquembouche are all different adaptationsContinue reading “COFFEE ECLAIRS AND PARIS-BREST”

Sorry it took me so long to post this time…..but we’ll get into that later. “Langues de Chat” means “cat’s tongue”. This refers to the shape. They’re piped onto the cookie sheet and spread into this flat, elongated shape . This is how they should look…… Pretty plain. I have to admit …I thought theContinue reading “LANGUES DE CHAT”

No need to explain this one….it speaks for itself! Everyone knows what chocolate ganache is…so now put that into a tart shell! So rich, it is simply the silky inside of a chocolate truffle! This recipe is SO easy; combining both milk and dark chocolate with butter, heavy cream and honey. Here is the pictureContinue reading “CHOCOLATE GANACHE TART”

In honor of this weeks’ Food Network show ….”America’s Best Baker”….I decided ( In spite of the heat!) to bake the same dessert the contestants had to make for the finale. A Basque cake. For those of you that saw the episode…you will remember that this is a filled cake(?) with trademark decorative scoring onContinue reading “GATEAU BASQUE”

Flan Patissier is also called Parisian Flan. If any of you have ever spent any time in Mexico… you have probably had Flan. It’s a custard with a caramel sauce-type glaze. This is NOT that. This is more like a custard pie. This is what it should look like…… Almost looks like a cheesecake. TheContinue reading “FLAN PATISSIER”

Let’s talk Tuiles. The Tuiles’ classic shape is sort of the shape of a potato chip. They are traditionally draped over your rolling pin moments after being taken from the oven. Then they set up into these delicate, crispy little wafers. Adaptations of the classic, include draping over muffin tins or bowls before they setContinue reading “BROWN BUTTER ALMOND TUILES”

These are a French butter cookie. Sable means “sandy” and Breton is the Britany region of France. The recipe is fairly easy, with the heavy hitter being (of course) the butter and eggs. Sable Breton is a very plain and classic cookie with a traditional crisscross pattern. The spiced pecan sables, take this low-key cookieContinue reading “SABLE BRETON and SPICED PECAN SABLES”

Gougeres are little cheese puffs made with pate aux choux pastry. I love anything that’s made with “Choux”. It’s so easy to make and so versatile …..from cream puffs to eclairs to churros! And now….cheese puffs !!! Crispy exteriors, and chewy cheesy centers. Here’s how the book shows them….. My favorite Pate Aux Choux recipeContinue reading “GOUGERES”