Veronica's Test Kitchen

I am so not gelling...

So, I’m back! For the first 2 weeks of June, I had to attend to my day job plus an influx of macaron orders. Remember I mentioned some exciting projects? One is underway and won’t be finished until the end of August… I am so psyched about it.   The second was supposed to be a minor kitchen renovation to add a second oven but that fell through because we decided to get one of those stand alone kitchen ovens instead - the ones that restaurants use. You see, when you are an IT person like me - a database administrator- you always think of your backups. I’m always afraid that if my one and only oven fails – what do I do with my orders. We also inquired about a generator from the electric company but got a sticker shock – that’ll have to wait.

I was also busy in the Test kitchen. First, experimenting with a new ingredient called gellan. This is what Pierre Herme uses to make some of his gelée cubes. A question that came up often in class was when to use gellan and when to use gelatin, he said it all depends on the texture you want.

So why am I not gelling...

  

      My passion fruit gelée needs some more work. I don’t like the texture- the graininess in the mouth feel – the gellan probably needs to be cooked some more. My raspberry one did not turn out any better either and acquired the texture of tomato paste … yuck! So, if any molecular gastronomy geek can guide me as to its proper use, I will be eternally grateful :).

But I am most excited experimenting with the macaron au sucre cuit. I think I’m close to getting the results I want. I take back what I said about this method before. It is not any sweeter than the French Meringue way. Now whether I will use this for my business still remains to be seen – I find it more involved but has a better rate of return for big orders with multiple flavors.

     Anyway, here’s a sneak peek:

 

    I will reveal my new flavors for Petites Bouchees towards the end of August. But most of you familiar with PH’s macarons probably could already tell what the cocoa-dusted yellow one is. J

   My grubby little fingers have thoroughly smeared sticky syrup on my PH recipe book - I'm finding some pages stuck together! I’ve also received multiple requests to publish some of the recipes from his class. I am looking to make the Emotion Ispahan soon and maybe… that’ll be the first ;).

   And last but not least, check out this cute watercolor from Cakespy. Isn’t it the most lovable thing to have? I know I had to have it the moment I laid eyes on it. Jessie also has an etsy shop here.

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting the Picasso of Pastry

Weeks ago, I was lamenting the fact that I got an email from the French Pastry School in Chicago that I was not selected to take part in an exclusive class taught by Pierre Hermé. A week after that, I got a phone call from them telling me that I was on the waiting list and a spot opened up – did I want it? Heck ya! I tried so hard to keep my voice calm but I remember barely squeaking out the information needed to reserve the slot. Apparently there were 2000 entries – hmm I wonder how far down the waitlist I was – but who cares!

That was in the 1^st week of March. Can you imagine how hard I had to contain my excitement and wait 2 ½ months for this class? Fortunately I was kept busy with a new job assignment, the business and a visit from my brother.

            You can’t believe how paranoid I was about getting sick or about flight cancellations or whatever might prevent me from attending the class. Anyhow, I did arrive at the French Pastry School in full chef uniform and was greeted by the school director and was told to go up to the second floor. Three tables were arranged in a U shape and I already saw like 10 students seated and having coffee or tea.

            I was informed that we had our chef’s jackets made especially for the occasion and I looked for my name on the hanger. It was then that I saw him...suddenly appearing and walking over to the table to greet the students at the table and then he headed my way.

            I smiled…he smiled and said “Bonjour” and gave my hand a firm hand shake… and all I could get out was a weak “Bonjour” ….and then he moved on to the next person.

Gah! I suddenly remembered Meg Ryan (Annie) in “Sleepless in Seattle” when she flew all the way from Baltimore to Seattle to meet Tom Hanks (Sam) and all she could say was “hello”. I am an idiot!

            Over a breakfast of black-truffled eggs, bread and rose-litchi jam, I continued to ogle him as he was took the chair right across from me. Also luckily for me, his assistant Mickael Marsollier was seated right next to me and spoke perfect English …plus was very friendly. I sure did not waste any time and grilled him on the technique of their macarons. PH uses Italian meringue in his macarons and I complained it was too sweet. Mickaél said, yes it is sweet but the shell is balanced by the filling. I told him, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until I taste it (am I not cheeky?)

            So I finally found my voice and talked to Pierre. I told him I made his white truffle macaron from his PH10 book and it was awful. Could it be my truffle paste? He agreed and said that it took him a while to find the right truffle paste for it. He said in our class he has included a black truffle macaron recipe as well as a foie gras one. Oh my God…I can’t wait!

             Although Pierre spoke English, he was most comfortable speaking in French. Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer – owner of the French Pastry School- was on hand to translate. (My lessons with Helen helped tremendously because the language did not sound completely foreign and I was able to pick up on a lot of words). We were each asked to introduce ourselves. We were an interesting bunch. There were a couple of pastry chefs from some high-profile places like Spago, Payard and Robuchon. There was also another food blogger, Mitzi of Yummy in the tummy blog - such a sweet lady!

 The class started with PH giving a power point presentation regarding his ideology on how he runs his business.

1.      Quality of his ingredients.

2.      Attention to detail. He hates perfection but loves detail. If you look for perfection you will never be satisfied. He always wants to make his offerings interesting and different from others. Every patisserie in Paris makes macarons but his macarons stand out in terms of detail.

3.      Packaging – enough said.

4.      Always think of how you can do things better. His recipes are never staid. He keeps on tweaking them.

His products are classified in three categories:

1.      Classics like tarts and millefeuilles

2.      Fetishes – which are his flavor combinations

Ie. Ispahan, Chloe, Sarah, Elise

3.      Creations – how it is interpreted – Emotion, Miss Gla Gla

Before PH started delving into the recipes, Chef Pfeiffer said that we will have a test at the end of the class on saying the word macaron properly. “Maca-RAWN” with that tricky French R sound.

We had a total of 12 creations, one of them not yet released. But here are the following:

Black Truffle Macaron

Emotion Depayse (green tea , red bean, grapefruit)

Emotion Ispahan (rose, litchi, raspberry)

Ispahn Entremet

Chocolate and Foie Gras Macaron

Macaron Ispahan

Macaron Satine (Orange, passion fruit, cream cheese)

Miss Gla’Gla Ispahan glace

Revelation ( tomato puff pastry, black olive, olive oil and vanilla mascarpone)

Tarte Ispahan

Vanilla Tart

New Creation 2008

It was confusing at first as we jumped from recipe to recipe while completing each component at a time. We started with the geleés and the English cream that went with the Buttercreams. Most of PH’s macarons use ganache, but his Ispahan uses buttercream.

I’m sure it will be tedious for most readers if I go into too much of the details in this post. I selected a few pictures and some captions to give a gist of the class. Warning: there is an overabundance of the Ispahan creations - they are absolutely heavenly!!!

PH preparing the sugar dough for the Vanilla Tart. He said to mix the dough very little so the tart dough will not puff too much.

Preparing the Litchi Gellee for the Tarte Ispahan.

Delicious Chocolate and Raspberry Sable we had during the morning break. Pierre said to undercook them. The interesting crunch witihin the cookie comes from Fleur de sel.

PH getting down and dirty with the Ispahan macaron batter. He said there was no spatula big enough to mix the batter properly.

 

Piping the macaron batter for different creations.

My first taste of PH's macarons. Passion fruit and chocolate. It was the moment of truth too - the shells were not sweet at all. They were perfect in texture. Though I love my French Meringue method I am curious again to try sucre cuit again. 

PH weighs each component of his Emotion creations. This is because the balance of flavors are very important. Such attention to detail!

Putting the different Ispahan creations together. It is important to select the same size raspberries.

Shaping the vanilla mascarpone cream for the tart. Poured into warmed rings so it can be lifted out easily.

 

Taking care of Miss Gla Gla (gla gla is what the French say when they are cold)

 

 

 

Pierre with a margarita in hand during cocktails. We headed out to Art Smith's house (Oprah Winfrey's former personal chef) for Mexican food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 2

Most activities on the second day were assembling all the creations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working on the Ispahan tarte.

PH  pointed out that the tart shell should be really browned because you will taste the flour.

Finishing up the Foie Gras macaron. Pierre said that his idea of a perfect macaron should have a lot of filling.

Rolling out the tomato puff pastry in the laminator.

Ispahan Emotion

Ispahan Entremet

I asked Pierre what he did with the litchi juice leftover from the can. He said to take a bath in it was a dream of his. Someone added :"With rose petals?" The class burst out in laughter.

The finished Vanilla Tarts with the trademark PH logos.

The next few pictures are from the dessert buffet that immediately followed the class . We started with some champagne. But seriously, I think it was pretty cruel to have us eat all the desserts in one hour. I mean look at the spread!

My favorite macaron turned out to be the foie gras macaron. This is not savory, it is sweet. How this combination worked simply blew my mind. Pure genius!!! I was not able to finish a whole Ispahan entremet...my tummy was pretty close to screaming :Enough!!

I was able to take four macarons home to the "Hungry" hubby to try. I tried to take him the Ispahan Entremet but it did not survive in my purse as Mickael said it wouldn't. :(

And of course , the class will not be complete without a picture with the man himself and his brilliant assistant Mickael. :D

Sold out!

photo by Mark Perez

It was a good day at the Farmer's Market! The macarons sold out before noon today. Which was a blessing because after days of 70 F weather, the mercury decided to stay in the high 50's with a pretty chilly breeze (and gusts) at times - the sun playing peek-a-boo with the clouds until it decided to stay hidden for an extended period . In short - it was pretty darn cold!

I was thrilled to finally meet food blogger Deborah Dowd of Play with food who came down from Newport News, VA with her family to spend the day in Richmond. Also, Karen , lovely spouse of Rva foodie of Caramelized OpiNIONS dropped by with baby Jasper and her mom to pick up a macaron order. Other foodies, who read about these "little bites" either on my blog or from the article in Richmond Magazine or Style Weekly, were also responsible for the macaron shortage. Thanks for all your support!!

I will not be at the Farmer's Market on May 17th but plan to be back on  May 24th and every Saturday onwards till the end of June. Any deviations to this schedule will be posted on the Petites Bouchees availability calendar.

Anyway, I think I need a 12-step program to curb my growing fetish for polka dots , especially in the brown and pink combinations as evidence in another polka-dot apron.

Richmond Magazine's 50 Fantastic Food Finds

In their May issue, Richmond Magazine has assembled a list of little-known food treats that they thought should get more exposure. I am very tickled that my macarons made the list! And their photographer took such a great picture of my sweet litte bites.

photos by steve hedberg

Oh, the top left picture happens to be a favorite - roast-duck noodle soup from the only authentic (hate using that word but in this case it is appropriate) Chinese Restaurant in Richmond, Full Kee. And I’m happy to see Chef Nate of Louisiana Flair 's hot sauce make the cut too!

Okay,  I’m a wus! It looks like it might rain this weekend so I will not be at the Farmer's Market . And next weekend is shot too because my brother and his family are in town and we’re having a kebob party and I’m afraid of making macarons because they might get thrown on the grill by mistake ! ;)

I'm planning to do a post on how to make and eat Persian kebabs - specifically the barg and kubideh. So watch out for some mouthwathering skewered fare!

300

... not the movie. That's the number of macarons made this past weekend. I thought I was going to get tired of making them, but the macaron has some mystique about it that continues to facinate me. Each box sent out the door feels like I'm sending my little sandwich cookies to good homes - albeit to be devoured - I always pray that my customers enjoy them as much as I do.

After furiously whipping, piping, baking and then filling, I still had some energy leftover to ponder a summer collection of macarons which I want to call "Tropical Luxe".

The first inspiration is based on the Brazilian Caipirinha drink. I used lime zest in the shell. The buttercream is infused with the cachaca liquour. I also added some lime juice in it but it made the butter cream too runny and it did not last long at room temperature. A little more tweaking is in order.

My next macaron has the typical chocolate shell but will be sandwiching a mint citron vodka ganache inspired from this post. At first I was not too sure of my ratio of cream, chocolate and citron vodka (Hangar One Buddha's hand - simply no substitute), but it was no question my most trancendental combination to date.

Toying around with my last Tropical-themed macaron - it has to be mango. Whether as buttercream or ganache, I have yet to decide. Ofcourse, that will also depend if the Macaron Gods will allow me to bake them in the heat of the summer , so it all depends.

I've received numerous emails about macarons , especially about the difficulties encountered in making them. My good friend Helen is preparing a step by step instructional post on it and I will link it here when she publishes it. You can also refer to my macaron chronicles found here.

Something I've noticed this past weekend is that greasy nuts can be the bane to your macaron aspirations. A sure sign of this is when the feet tend to spread out like a duck beak. Also you need to know the properties of the nuts you use. Hazelnuts tend to have fragile shells and sometimes so do pistachios but all you need is to leave the macarons in the refrigerator overnight and this should fix the problem. Also, in the past I have experimented with leaving the macarons to dry longer than normal - the tops tend to crack or the feet refused to form - so I try not to leave them out longer than 40 minutes - 20 minutes is usually sufficient. And most importantly, no matter what macaron recipe you use, the most important code of macaron making is to know when you have mixed just enough - and this unfortunately comes with trial and error.

Anyway let me leave you all with a picture of my hot pink cupcake box. I finally was able to take a picture of it!