Jolie Guillebeau

It’s March first, and I’m beginning with a review of my goals for the year.  One of those goals is Pastry.

A quick catch up. 2010 was the Year of the Pie. As a way to make my husband happy, and to learn a little more in the kitchen, I decided to make 26 pies. And then I decided to make it a challenge, and work my way through the alphabet. So last year I made Apple Custard, Banana Cream, Coconut Custard all the way to Yogurt Cheesecake and Zebra. It was really fun, so I declared 2011 the Year of the Pastry.

I’m working through the alphabet again, but this time I’m taking photos! And telling you what I’ve learned.

A= Apple Strudel. I adapted this recipe from one I found online. It called for Apple Schnapps and caramel from a jar. WTH? No way. So I soaked the Apples in Bourbon, and made my own caramel sauce after watching a couple of YouTube Videos. So fun! You should try it!

Lessons learned: making caramel is hard, but worth the effort. Phyllo dough dries out very quickly, so don’t answer the phone. Good bourbon makes all the difference.

B= Bear Claws. Chris’s favorite, so they were a must bake. Another recipe adapted from online. I crushed Amaretti cookies instead of using almond flour in the filling, then cut a bit of sugar and left out the almond extract.

Lessons learned: Crushed Amaretti cookies are an amazing substitute for Almond Flour. A little improvisation with the filling is a good thing. Add the sliced almonds after baking, or they get scorched.

C= Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Carrot Roses. “C” had so many options. Cookies, croissants, cake… I started to get overwhelmed. I really wanted to do croisssants, but felt like I needed more counter space and time. So I decided to try a cake. A real cake. From scratch. I’ve made tons of boxed cakes, but I’m not sure I’ve ever made a cake from scratch. (I know!)

This recipe came straight from the Flour Cookbook, which Chris got for me and is becoming my favorite cookbook ever. I followed it exactly. Including the candied carrot roses.

Which are adorable.

Lessons learned: Cream cheese frosting is not for the faint of heart. (12 oz Cream cheese, 1 stick butter, 2 cups confectioners sugar)
When grating carrots, make sure you know how close your knuckle is to the grater.
Have band-aids at the ready.

D= Donuts. Or Doughnuts. You decide.

At the beginning of February, I took a French Pastry Class at Sur La Table and while I was there, I bought a donut pan. Then I found a recipe for chocolate fudge donuts and went crazy. The final result tasted exactly like a brownie, but I can work with that. So easy and so good.

Lessons learned: There’s a hole in the middle. So don’t be surprised when the sprinkles fall on to the new kitchen floor.
Chocolate on chocolate wins everytime.

E=Eclairs! As a result of my pastry class at Sur La Table, I learned how to make a Pâte à choux. Which I will use many more times through this project. Especially once I get a stand mixer. My arms got tired, but I totally felt like a rockstar when these were done. Oh. My. Stars. They were amazing. Ay-May-ZING. Gonna make these again. And again. And again.

Lessons learned: A husband with strong arms is an excellent substitute, but you really do need a stand mixer.
9 eggs! 9. Careful with that.  Success with eclairs makes you feel like you can do anything. Even paint a face. I cleaned the kitchen and went down to the studio and painted my best face of the whole project, because I felt confident. Maybe I should make eclairs more often.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 9:03 am and is filed under Art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.