Additional Pastry Elements

MeringuesPâte à Choux (Eclair Paste)

PhylloCrêpes

Pastry Elements

• The baker’s ability to use a limited number of preparations to make a wide variety of product is critical.

Chocolate Meringue Pie DAY ONE

Chocolate Meringue Pie DAY TWO

Terms to Know/Remember!

• Blind crust – Baking the pie crust before you add the filling.

• There are two times when blind baking is necessary:

• When making a custard pie or when the pie filling is unbaked

• With a custard pie, like pumpkin pie, the moisture in the filling can make the crust soggy before it has time to actually bake (thus, you half-bake so that it stays firm)

Terms to Know/Remember!

• Flute – The process of pressing a decorative pattern in the top edge of a pie crust before it is baked. A pattern pressed into the piecrust edge is referred to as a fluted edge.

Chocolate Meringue Pie DAY THREE

Terms to Know/Remember!

• Sift – To put (flour, for example) through a sieve in order to separate the find from course particles. This incorporates air into your ingredient.

Terms to Know/Remember!

• Temper – To gently heat egg yolks before adding to a hot sauce by adding a small bit of the sauce and beating well. This technique prevents curdling.

• Do this to prevent “scrambled eggs” from forming.

Chocolate Meringue Pie DAY FOUR

What is Meringue?

• Is a mixture of egg whites whipped with sugar and a confection or cake baked from this preparation.

• Texture depends on the ratio of sugar to egg whites.

• Low sugar creates soft meringue and vice versa.

• There are three methods for making meringue:

– Common

– Swiss

– Italian

Types of Meringue

Troubleshooting Meringue

Terms to Know/Remember!

• Beating egg whites – The process used to form soft, firm, and stiff peaks.

• NO YOLK! Fat of any kind can interfere with the beating of egg whites into a stable foam, and it does have the potential to completely ruin the batch.

Upcoming Labs! Cream Puffs and Eclairs (Pate a Choux)

Choice Lab = Phyllo Dough or Crepes or Puff Pastry

Éclair Paste (Pâte à Choux)

• Bakes into golden brown, crisp pastries

• It is unique among doughs because it is cooked before baking.

• It is batterlike with a smooth, firm texture, not dry or crumbly like other doughs.

• Steam is a key leavening agent. • To activate the steam before the dough sets these products are

baked at relatively high temperatures.

Phyllo Dough

• A Greek word meaning “thin sheet or leaf” it serves as a tart crust or wrapper for various sweet or savory fillings.

• It is made from flour, water, a bit of oil and eggs, stretched very thin.

• Difficult to prepare, excellent quality phyllo dough is available commercially.

Crêpes

• Thin, delicate, unleavened pancakes.

• They are made with very liquid egg batter cooked in very hot pans.

• They can made with buckwheat, cornmeal or other grains.

• They are usually filled, garnished and served warm.• A traditional tableside preparation is to

flavor the crêpes with warmed brandy or spirits before serving (Don’t get ideas- we won’t be doing this in class)

Convenience Products

• Mixes and powders are sold for many of the products discussed.

• Forming and baking these products still require a formidable skill level.

• Éclairs made from prepared mixes can be drier than freshly prepared product.

• Meringues made from prepared mixed approximates scratch product.