Oui Oui... Patisserie

This past weekend, I had the privilege to spend time observing and interacting with Stephane Glacier...one of the top pastry chefs in the world. 

He was the guest speaker/exhibitor for our Demarle at Home conference. Oh my! What beautiful and delicious creations he prepared in front of us...using our bakeware. (After all, it's the same professional bakeware he uses in his Patisserie in France...just downsized for home kitchens.)

Below are a few of his gorgeous and DELICIOUS creations:

These hazelnut and orange cakes, topped with Pistachio Mousseline Cream and a raspberry, were prepared before our eyes...then used as a part of the dessert for our closing Gala. Oh.....they were delicious!!! (These were baked in our new "donut" mold, then dipped in Beaume' syrup (that's Simple Syrup to us southerners...1 cup water to 1 cup sugar)

These cakes were baked in one of our molds...then filled with Ganache and Caramel. 

Sweet Spoons were made with an almond dough and topped with Diplomate Cream and a black raspberry. (These were made with the new DAH spoon dough cutter and mold)

We did not taste just sweet offerings...we learned to make savory cakes, too. This is a salty sponge cake topped with salmon butter. He also topped slices of the sponge cake with olive tapanade and goat cheese mousse. (He made the sponge cake in the DAH Flexipat, baking it with a Silpat and Perforated Baking Tray on top to keep the cake uniform in size. Great tip!!!)

But my favorite was the French Macaroon...here he made a macaroon "lollipop" and placed them in a glass of sugar. To the left, he used the macaroon batter to make the heart with fruit and pistachio mousseline cream. Mmmmmmm....

I wish I had photos of all the macaroons he made...but my camera is acting up again! We had white macaroons filled with chocolate, Chocolate macaroons filled with chocolate, yellow macaroons with salted butter caramel filling, and of course, pink macaroons with raspberry filling. 

(Note the photo of the new DAH Macaroon Silpat.)

Photo taken from the overhead screen...shows macaroon lollipops being  prepared.

At each of our morning and afternoon breaks, trays of these delicious creations were available for our tasting. By Saturday afternoon, I had had all the sugary treats I could stand! (I usually do not eat much sugar!)  At this point, he made a tray of simple meringue kisses...just enough for a tiny taste of sweetness that melted in your mouth. They were so good...especially with the upteenth cup of coffee (I think I drank more coffee during this conference that I do in a normal MONTH!)

Here is Stephane Glacier's recipe for Macaroons

300 g icing sugar (10.6 oz)

300 g white almond powder (10.6 oz)

110 g raw egg whites (3.9 oz)

desired amount of food coloring

300 g sugar (10.6 oz)

75 g water (2.6 oz)

110 g egg whites (3.9 oz)

Process:

Mix the icing sugar and the almond powder in a processor. 

In an electric mixer fitted with a flat beater, mix the first mixture with the egg white and the food coloring to make an almond paste.

Cook the water and the sugar at 118 degrees C (244.4 degrees F). Pour over the whisked egg whites to make an Italian meringue. Let the mixture turn at average speed until the meringue reaches 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) Add delicately and progressively the meringue into the almond paste. Fold the mixture back into itself with a spatula until smooth and shiny.

With a pastry bag fitted with a 0 8mm (0.31 in.) round tip, pipe into balls on a Silpat. Bake on oven trays approx. 12 minutes at 150 degrees C (302 degrees F) in a convection oven or on double trays at 170 degrees C (158 degrees F) in a deck oven.

*Note from Chef Glacier:  Measure every ingredient on a metric scale. When using eggs or egg whites, place them, covered, in the refrigerator the day before you plan to use them. Some of the liquid evaporates and they thicken up. THEN measure them on the metric scale to use in your recipe.

Hope you enjoy the visual feast...and try the Macaroon recipe... I am looking forward to the humidity dropping here, so I can try them.

Happy cooking!
Jane

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