French Adventures

Thanks to another dedicated follower, I have decided to write this post. I have been to France only once, and during that trip, I also visited Geneva, Switzerland, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Though those photos are buried deep somewhere in iCloud, I hope I can dig up some for you guys to see.

So we arrived in Paris, France, at around 3 pm, and immediately went to sleep, waking up at 5pm to go eat out. We didn’t really eat a lot of authentic foods while we were at France, sadly, and the place we went to was pretty bad, the spaghetti really tough and uncooked. But at least the ice cream was good! (Ice cream in French is la glace.)

The next day, in our hotel, we had a nice breakfast of buttery, flaky croissants (that I personally haven’t made yet), silky hot chocolate, and cafe au lait (coffee with milk). It also came with apricot and orange jam, and some cut up baguettes and sourdough boules from a local bakery. All in all, it was a satisfying meal.

We went out to the Versailles, and stuff we ate there wasn’t too good. The eclairs that I bought from a “high-scale” bakery were too sweet, and I felt like they were more “quantity over quality” type of place, which I did not like. We also walked around the Champs de Elysees, a famous street where the prime minister lives on. It was kind of like the French version of New York City. There were big, towering shops and that squeezed small businesses into little nooks and crannies. We went to a Haagen Dazs store, where the ice cream is homemade, and there are many flavors. we also stopped by a macaron store, but weirdly, we did not buy any and moved on. I was sad about that. (I have made macarons twice). My trip to France was (on the food scale) an epic fail. My family and I plan to go again soon to try all the authentic foods found in the country.

Here are some of them:

Macarons – a sweet, meringue-based confection.

Macarons come in all shapes in sizes, primarily in small, round, sandwich-like circles, and usually the filling is made of a ganache using all kinds of different chocolates, or buttercream, by creaming butter, sugar, and adding powdered sugar and other flavor elements. You can use dye and color the macarons differently, but the macaron-making process is a long, and hard one.

First, you have to whisk the egg whites (usually with a hand or stand mixer) until they’re thick and glossy, maybe about 3-4 minutes. When you pull your whisk out, there should be little peaks that form and stay. They should not droop to the side, or your macarons will be very liquid-y and not puffed up. When you are done whisking the egg whites (and slowly adding in the sugar), you have to, and MUST food process the almond flour and powdered sugar until there are NO LUMPS, and sift. This meticulous process is worth it- otherwise, your macarons become misshaped and uneven, yielding not Instagram-worthy macarons. Nobody likes to eat those kinds… (unless they taste really good on the inside) Anyway, after you pipe your macarons, you have to let them sit for at least 30 minutes or until your finger can lightly touch the top of the macarons and not be covered in macaron goo. Like this:

When baking, DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN! The macarons need heat to rise and form feet, so do not open the oven to check on them.

Finally, pipe your desired filling and enjoy! (I’m not going to give a whole overview, but here’s a recipe from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts)

Macarons (makes 200):

• 20 egg whites (add 1 or 2 extra for chocolate macarons)
• 18 oz sugar (granulated)
• 24 oz almond flour
• 32 oz confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

Preheat oven to 325 ºF.

Place the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar into a food processor and blend together. Sift into a bowl large enough for mixing.

On high speed, beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer using a whisk attachment. When egg whites reach soft peak stage, turn machine to low, and slowly add sugar. Turn mixer to medium speed and mix for approx. 10 minutes or until the whipped egg whites appear shiny and the sugar is dissolved.

Fold egg whites into the almond flour mixture using a spatula. At this stage, you can flavor or color the mixture to create assorted macarons.

Place parchemtn paper on a sheet pan and pipe small mounds that are approx. 1 in. apart using a pastry bag with a medium plain tip. Rest for 30 mins or until a finger can lightly touch the macaron shells without leaving a trace.

Bake for approx. 12 mins, or until the tops of the macarons are crusty. Remove from oven and let cool. Macarons will be assembled similar to a sandwich with assorted fillings.

Buttercream Filling (does not make enough to fill 200 macarons):

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a large bowl, add the butter and beat with a mixer for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Add the cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat to combine, until desired consistency is reached.

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Add a dollop of buttercream to one macaron shell. Top it with another macaron shell to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining macaron shells and buttercream.

Place in an airtight container for 24 hours to “bloom”.

Enjoy!

Or to make:

Coffee Ganache:

• 8 3/4 oz crème fraiche (or heavy cream)
• 4 1/2 oz sugar
• 3/4 oz coffee extract
• 1 lb milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 1/2 oz butter, creamed

Combine the crème fraiche, sugar, and coffee extract in a pot. Bring to a boil. Pour hot mixture over the chocolate and whisk to combine. Add creamed butter and mix to combine.

Repeat piping technique, but with ganache instead of the buttercream.

Enjoy!

(Best to freeze the macarons – if you refrigerate them, they will become gummy.)

Pâte à Choux –

Pâte à Choux is a specific way to make dough, used in pastries like cream puffs, eclairs, Paris-Brests, and churros. The dough starts out as butter in a pot, but then, once you add the milk, flour, and vanilla extract, it turns into a solid dough. Then you take the pot off of the stove to add eggs, so you don’t cook the eggs. (That would be… interesting…)

Don’t have a recipe with me…. sorry!

Thanks for reading my quick guide to some French pastries!