Paris Pastry Club: A collection of cakes, tarts, pastries and other indulgent recipes (4 page)
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Authors: Fanny Zanotti
Tags: #ebook
Makes 12 x 25 cm (10 in) crêpes
FOR THE BEURRE NOISETTE
100 g (3½ oz) butter, cubed
FOR THE CRÊPES
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) whole milk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
seeds from 2 vanilla pods
200 g (7 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
70 g (2½ oz) icing (confectioner’s) sugar
vegetable oil, for cooking
Start by making the beurre noisette. Melt the butter in a small pan over a medium heat. Once melted, keep cooking until the butter becomes a deep-golden colour and starts to smell nutty (this takes around 1– 2 minutes). Leave to cool for a few minutes, then pour into a small bowl, making sure to keep most of the browned milk solids in the bottom of the pan. Keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Mix the milk, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla seeds together in a jug. In a large bowl, mix the flour and icing sugar. Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, whisking constantly, then mix in 70 g (2½ oz) of the melted beurre noisette. Pass the batter through a fine-mesh sieve to make sure there are no lumps.
Leave the batter to sit at room temperature, covered with a clean kitchen cloth, for at least 30 minutes or, even better, for 2 hours or overnight (in which case, keep it in the fridge).
When you are ready to cook the crêpes, heat a lightly oiled nonstick frying pan over high heat. Pour the batter onto the pan, using approximately one-third of a cup for each crêpe. Tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
Cook the crêpe for about 2 minutes, until the edges start to brown and curl slightly. Loosen with a palette knife, flip over and cook the other side for a minute. Serve hot.
This chocolate mousse is incredibly light. It sort of melts on your tongue the way candyfloss does. And clouds too. It might sound a bit tricky with three different components, but really can be assembled in a matter of minutes.
Once the mousse is made, it will still look a little runny, but don’t worry, it will set as it cools down into a pillow of chocolate.
Serves 4
75 g (2½ oz) 70% dark chocolate
25 g (1 oz) 40% milk chocolate
150 g (5 oz) whipping cream
25 g (1 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
25 g (1 oz) water
2 egg yolks
Melt both chocolates in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. In the meantime, whip the cream to soft peaks and set aside in the fridge (see
perfect whipped cream
).
Once the chocolate is melted, keep it warm over the pan of hot water off the heat while you make a sabayon. Bring the sugar and water to the boil in a small pan. Quickly whisk the egg yolks together in a bowl using either an electric beater or a stand-mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Pour the piping-hot syrup over them a little at a time, whisking constantly. Once all the syrup is incorporated, whisk for 3–4 minutes, or until thick and holding soft peaks.
Now that all the elements are ready, use a balloon whisk to mix half the whipped cream into the melted chocolate until smooth and shiny. Still using the whisk, fold in the remaining cream. When the white streaks just start to disappear, add the sabayon and incorporate gently, starting from the centre of the bowl and going up the side, turning the bowl clockwise as you do so.
At this point, the mousse should look almost even in colour. Switch to a spatula and give it a few more stirs. Divide between 4 small bowls or martini glasses and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
SOME THINGS ARE BOUND TO HAPPEN
THE ONLY BRIOCHE
RECIPE YOU’LL EVER NEED
ULTIMATE MILK
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
I’M NOT QUITE sure when I fell in love with rain. Wellington-boot trips to the boulangerie, jumping into every puddle we saw. Walks through a forest we didn’t know, getting lost and drenched, with an old wooden basket filled with mushrooms we’d picked as our only refuge. Hours spent by a lighthouse, unsure whether the mist that covered our faces came from the ocean or the clouds. Long drives on the motorway to the music of raindrops and thunder and windscreen wipers.
On afternoons at the farm eating brioche and drinking never-ending cups of tea, we’d milk cows and collect eggs like treasures hidden in hay. The milk got boiled until pasteurised; the eggs were cracked and mixed with flour and yeast.
On rainy days, nothing will stop me from wandering into the wild. Hair tangled by branches, cheeks blushed from the cold wind and my sweater soaked by raining trees, I step back into my house with the restless soul of an adventurer, only to find the one-of-a-kind comfort that comes with storms. A comfort that smells of earth and moss, and makes kettles whistle and blankets wrap around you ever so tightly.
And like a merry-go-round, a rainy day will always feel the same, yet always be unique.
I have an old Le Parfait jar which I refill with pancake mix whenever it’s empty to ensure there is always a ready supply for the perfect rainy-day breakfast. If you have enough dry mix to hand, all you’ll have to do in the morning is add a bit of milk or, even better, buttermilk, one egg and a touch of melted butter. You won’t even notice when the sky turns blue – you’ll have a plate of fat fluffy pancakes in front of you.
If you are making breakfast for a crowd, the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. Just bear in mind that 150 g (5 oz) of dry pancake mix will make 6 pancakes. I’ll let you do the maths …
Makes 6 pancakes
FOR THE DRY MIX
500 g (1lb 2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
100 g (3½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder (baking soda)
2 teaspoons sea salt
TO MAKE 6 PANCAKES ADD THE
FOLLOWING TO 150 G (5 OZ) OF DRY MIX
130 g (4½ oz) whole milk or buttermilk
1 egg
40 g (1½ oz) butter, melted
TO SERVE
any topping of your choice – maple
syrup, golden syrup, honey, butter, jam …
the possibilities are endless
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Transfer to an airtight jar. (My 1 litre (34 fl oz) Le Parfait is the perfect size.) This mix will keep in a cupboard for at least 2 months but I highly doubt it will last that long. When pancakes are just a few stirs away, you’ll probably be making them more often than ever. And you should, really.
Whenever you feel like it, simply scoop out 150 g of the pancake mix into a bowl, add the milk, egg and melted butter, and whisk until smooth.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Ladle the batter – roughly one-third of a cup – into the hot pan and cook until the bottom of the pancake is golden-brown and bubbles start to appear on top, which should take anywhere between 1–2 minutes. Flip the pancake over with a palette knife and cook for a further minute. Transfer to a plate and keep on cooking pancakes until all the batter has been used.
