From St. Barths to St. Honore

What can I say? It’s an untraditional lent.

Good thing it’s not my Christianity that’s being assessed these days. But in all fairness this experience is based upon indulgence and emersion so the thought of giving up sweets, sugar, or alcohol while in the thick of culinary school seems frankly counterproductive. I assure you that there are no brownie points for abstinence around here.

In fact the French have an saying “Faites le beurre” which serves the same idiomatic purpose as the English saying “bring home the bacon,”



but is literally translated: “make or bring the butter.” I bet that I bring home enough butter these days to feed the entire block, so thank goodness my husband’s doing his job as the breadwinner.

And in an effort to provide the moral foundation for our family, as any proper French wife apparently should, I give you a bit of Christian culinary history behind this devilishly delicious dessert.



The Gateau St Honore was created in France and named in honor of Saint Honore, the patron saint of pastry chefs and all bakers. In the 7th Century, St Honore was the Bishop of Amien, a cathedral whose impressive height and stature is recognized round the world. So I find it wonderful that we top this cake with a whimsical spun sugar tower.



I like to think we are honoring the beauty of our Saint’s beautiful contribution to history and culture.



A St Honore Cake is composed of a puff pastry base, with pate a choux ring that lifts up the 11 profiterole cream puffs that top the cake.



The center of the cake as well as each cream puff is filled with Cream Diplomat, a pastry cream based filling that gives a wonderful hit of Grand Marnier flavor to each bite. The Crème Diplomat is then piped across the cake using, appropriately, the St Honore piping nozzle.



The 11 profiterole puffs (meant to honor the 11 true apostles, excluding Judas) are secured with caramelized sugar and toped with roasted almonds. But the real show stopping element in this glorious gateau is clearly the spun sugar nest that carries crystalized violets high above the pastry base.



This cake is a beautiful ode to the sparkling brilliance of spring- I can almost hear the birds chirping with approval at the sight of this sugary shell.

It makes wonder whether the chicken, the egg, or the cake came first….

Disclaimer: do not leave by open window


Darcy Jones

Proof!

First day back in London. Rainy and wet but there are signs of a spring soon to come.



Today we began with an easy introductory to the second semester of pastry. Just when I thought I had finally gotten over the exam embarrassment of my wet pate a choux and burnt pastry cream, what is our first recipe? Gateau St Honore (a cake composed of non other than pate a choux and puff pastry). I hoping this was not done in my honor, or should I say in my memory…

We’ll see how it turns out tomorrow.

Despite a two hour torturous reminder of the past, I received a sweet reward that made it all worth it:



Pain is Beauty





Darcy Jones

Puff Pastry Payoff

Practice makes perfect, and third time was indeed lucky: my puff pastry produced!



My gift to you just in time for Valentine’s Day: Practically Perfect Palmiers.

Second out of the oven came the plush puff-pastry Tart aux Fruits.


This parade of fresh fruit a top a Grand Marnier laced crème patissiere leaves you wanting nothing, well maybe more of the same.


On the eve of the SuperBowl, it was a night of sweet surrender and succulent success.




Darcy Jones

Sojourn with the Swans of Chantilly

It was an evening of eclairs that began with a creme chantilly cocktail, and ended with a flock of swans in my foyer.

I realize that I just painted a picture for you that sounds something like the movie The Hangover so let me start again.

Three words: Pate a Choux, or Choux-Pastry. The name derives from the pastry's baked appearance: when cooked the pastry surface resembles the head of a cabbage (or at least some ancient french chef believed so). Regardless, choux-pastry is one of the cornerstones of French Patisserie, and can weigh about a stone when filled with coffee Creme Patissiere and covered with chocolate fondant.



Choux Pastry is an incredibly satisfying thing to make if you are a baker, for it doubles in volume in a warm oven in under 30 minutes. Considering the near 48hrs it takes to make brioche, this is remarkably swift and satiating. Once cooked, Choux Pastry can also be successfully frozen and defrosted to then be filled and served. Hence the array of fresh eclairs, Paris brests, religieuses, and salambos found in any pastry shop each day.

It was quite seamless in the kitchen tonight. I wouldn't quite say 'ballerina stage' (the term used to describe the beauty of an organized and skilled chef who works about the kitchen as though his every move were part of a choreographed dance), but some of us have definitely found a rhythm.

I have made some personal progress in the patisserie. Today my eclairs (pictured above) won Best In Show, or in class at least, and my family of swans received a resounding honorable mention.


Family Cygnes

So sailing home at half past 10, glowing with the success of my good grade, and delighting in the prospect of a late dinner of prize-winning dessert, I missed the door step and proceeded to set my swans free to fly all the way across the front hall floor.

"Those babies can really move across the sky..."
Image not available.

As for them? At least you knew them at their best... As for me? Seems I need to work on my footwork in and out of the kitchen.



In Memoriam

Darcy Jones

Warming Trend

7 degrees and climbing today… and in the kitchen a cool inferno! C’est typique- the second the weather turns so do our ovens. By 9am we were cranking at 200 degrees Celcius ready for a morning of roasting whole chickens, an afternoon setting sweet and savory pastry, and an evening baking the infamous Quiche Lorraine.

I must admit that Henry IV understood the human condition more than most. By all accounts a medieval man of instinct, King Henry was clearly leading with his gut when he declared A Chicken in Every Pot the standard for all his subjects’ Sunday evening suppers.



As you can see, I too believe that there is no greater comfort than coming home to roost.

And believe it or not, I have discovered that there is something inherently feminine, something rather domestic, about trussing a chicken. The prepping, the primping, the presenting: the entire procedure is akin to a Victorian-esc corseting custom. Seriously! If you had the opportunity to hear the way our chefs speak about the value in “propping up the breast” you too would understand what I’m getting at. Trussing is all about preparing a bird to look and perform at it’s best, hence it was the women who came out on top in today’s practical. And the hen party only continued as we breached baking…

Hour 6, Sweet and Savory Pastry: somewhere, somehow, and by some miracle I seemed to hit my stride. Pate Sucree and Pate Brisee provide the foundation for any sweet and savory shells. You find the sweet shortbread pastry filled with Crème Patissiere and topped with apricot jam glazed fresh fruits in a typical tarte aux fruits. Where as the savory shortbread crust supports the widely known and loved Quiche Lorraine. Difference between the two? Merely a bent towards either sugar or salt, respectively.

And is the midst of this blistering blind bake-off 'The Golden Quiche' was born.



Honestly, it may be my greatest achievement to date. Here the browned buttery crust hugs what’s known as the Royal Mix (made essentially of double cream, egg yolk, and nutmeg) throughout which rest crisp pancetta lardons and pockets of melted Gruyere cheese. The top’s texture accentuates this savory sun-like appearance and the taste lives up to every bit of its name:


Liquid Gold.

I’m basking in it’s glow.



Darcy Jones

Prevailing in the Patisserie!

It is often said that the essence of cuisine is all about care: as a chef you must always tend to your food ‘as if it was the love of your life,’ or so my mentor tells me. If this is true than Patisserie is all about passion. A passion for perfection and precision is the mark of any superior pastry chef. I know this to be true because today I had the privilege of performing our practical for such a chef.

Under the expert tutelage of the school’s head pastry chef, who is rumored to have been single handedly responsible for the Queen Mum’s 100th Birthday celebration cake, us basic patisserie students tackled what I call the 5 C’s: Crème Anglaise, Crème Caramel, Crème Brulee, Coulis, and cookies (I could actually be caned for calling them ‘cookies’ but Tuile Biscuit frankly just doesn’t work).

Conquering the 5 C's is no small feat. After a grueling two part practical (6hrs) that allowed for our stirred and baked custards to set, our coulis to sweeten, and our caramel to harden, we poured our hearts out with the hopes of presenting something worthy of our illustrious teacher's time.

And so I give you the stuff that “intermediates our made of”- that's a direct quote from my practical review that I am more than pleased with. Hell, I’ll take any victory, however small, I can get at this point.



I call this ‘Robinson Caru-mel’:



A Crème Caramel encased in a caramel sugar raft afloat on a wave of Crème Anglaise with a tuile biscuit breaker. Let’s just say this was not in the castaway pile, nor was there anything left to save by lesson's end. But should you doubt my glowing review, and I don’t blame you given my performance up to this point, look closely where Chef went ahead and took a taste before I could even snap my shots…



The true mark of a very sweet success.


Darcy Jones