When a French youngster decides that he wishes to become a chef, he may start his training in several ways. He might, for example, undertake an apprenticeship in a restaurant or a hotel kitchen. Then he will learn his trade in the fashion of that particular place. If the hotel is an expensive, elaborate city establishment, he will learn to prepare exotic foods. If he goes instead to a fine restaurant in the provinces, he will concentrate on the specialties of the region. Both these paths have obvious limitations. For example, in all probability neither of these kitchens will make its own pastry. and the young apprentice may never learn the techniques of that difficult art.
Or the young man who wishes to be a chef may do as I did, and begin his studies in a pastry shop of the sort which exists in every French community. There are an amazing number of such shops in France: in the boulangeries, or bakeries, the baker makes bread and rolls, the long, crusty flûtes which are typical of France, and the large, round loaf from which the baker will slice off a pound, or half a pound, to your order; in the pâtisseries, all the other baked products are made and sold. The pâtissier never has anything to do with bread. He makes the brioches, the savarins. the croissants, the various tarts, gâteaux, and petits fours. The larger pâtisseries also make vol-au-vents and patty shells, and the various elaborate forcemeats and pâtés to fill them In effect, they perform a kind of catering service, Just such a pastry shop was my first school —La Maison Calondre, in Moulins.
The doorway of La Maison Calondre was flanked by high, broad, sparkling windows in which rows of enticing pastries were displayed. Inside the shop, marble counters, mirrored panels framed in shining nickel plate, and marble-topped tables gave a turn-of-the-century elegance. In the rear of the shop was the huge laboratoire where we apprentices learned our lessons. Here were the high ovens, the gas-driven mixing machine, and the long work counters. This was the domain of Monsieur, just as the shop out front was that of Madame. Monsieur was a stein master, but a fair one. We worked very hard under Monsieur's watchful eye, as hard as if he had been paying us. instead of receiving substantial payment from our parents for his instruction.
Every kind of chef must have special skills. A roast chef, while he exercises constant vigilance and unimpeachable judgment about all his work, must know, as if by instinct, the very moment when his roasts are à point, perfectly cooked. A sauce chef must know when to simmer his sauces and when to reduce them quickly, and he must know which of dozens of ingredients to choose to enhance the perfection of flavor and texture in his sauce: wine, stock, cream, butter, or whatever.
But a pastry chef must have these skills and more; he must understand the right moment at which a dough should be shaped; he must know how to decorate tiny perils fours and great gâteaux, and he must be able to make hundreds of éelairs, macaroons, meringues, and lady fingers with hardly a variation in size, working with his pastry bag with amazing quickness. The pastry chef's work is most exacting because his ingredients must be accurately measured; numbers of eggs and cups of butter are not for him; he must weigh each ingredient painstakingly in kilos and grams. An apprenticeship as a pastry chef develops in a young man a meticulousness which serves him well when he goes on to learn other jobs in restaurants or in hotel kitchens.
As in all fields of cookery, when the fundamental rules and skills have been mastered, the variations are easy enough to learn. As it happened, I learned pastry making in no logical order; my apprenticeship was a working arrangement, and I began by making the baked products which were most in demand at that season, I will not confuse you by asking you to learn as I did, but will divide all pastry making into three classifications, the first of which, yeast dough, will be discussed in this article. The second classification will include éclairs, little cakes, most of the gâteaux, and the cream fillings that go with them. and the third part will discuss butter rich pastries, puff paste, tart pastes, and their variations.
If we are to begin with yeast doughs, we must first know what yeast is. Yeast is a living organism that grows when placed in a warm, moist mixture and creates bubbles of gas which make the mixture light. Excessive heat will kill yeast, and if the dough is allowed to rise too long it will fall and even turn sour. Yeast dough should be allowed to rise until ie doubles in bulk, and at this point it should be punched down or baked. In order to help the dough capture the gas and distribute it evenly through the mass, the mixture must be kneaded or beaten, and this process also makes the dough elastic and gives it what the French call du corps, or body.
There are two kinds of yeast on the market, the familiar foil-wrapped, moist cake, and the new granulated, dry yeast which comes in a sealed foil pack and does not have to be refrigerated. Both kinds work equally well, but experts recommend that the temperature of the water in which the dry yeast is dissolved be slightly warmer than that for the moist cake.
I should like in this article to tell you about the rich, light but not sweet French specialties. I will not go into the subject of breads, but I feel that once you have learned how to make brioches and croissants, ordinary bread and rolls will have no difficulty for you. Actually, in France, these are not usually made at home; pâtisseries, with their fine equipment and their practiced skill, do such a fine job that the home cook, in a Country where fuel is always a problem and good ovens an exception to the rule, prefers to leave this kind of backing to the professionals.
The directions I give you are those which were always followed in the pastry kitchen at the old New York Ritz, except that I have translated grams and kilos into cups and teaspoons to accommodate those of you who have no scales.
I am aware that a recipe for the basic brioche appeared in GOURMET in January, but I must repeat it here, along with my special hints, since this recipe is the base for so many others.
Brioche
Dissolve 1 yeast cake in ½ cup lukewarm water, or 1 envelope of active dry yeast in slightly warm but not hot water, and combine this liquid with 1 cup flour to make a ball of dough, Cut a cross on the top of the ball to encourage it to swell and drop the ball into a deep bowl filled with warm water. When the ball rises to the surface. it is ready to mix with the other ingredients.
Meanwhile, mix and sift into a very large bowl 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour and into it drop 4 eggs. Mix the eggs into the flour (chefs use their hands for this operation) and work the dough by raising it and slapping it against the sides of the bowl until it becomes elastic—that is, until it develops what is culled du corps, or body, and changes from a limp mass to a springy ball of dough. Work in 2 more eggs, one at a time. Knead ½ pound butter well with the hands to remove any water in it and to soften it. Work the butter into the dough and add ¼ to ½ cup milk, or just enough to make a rather soft dough.
When the ball of sponge has risen to the surface of the water, add it to the dough in the bowl, cutting and folding it in. Working the dough into a large ball, sprinkle it lightly with flour and cover it with a towel. Leave it at room temperature for 2 or 3 hours. When the dough is double in bulk, punch it down, pull in the edges, punch them into the center with the fist and shape the dough into a ball again. Sprinkle it lightly with flour, cover it and put it in a cool place overnight, or for 6 or 7 hours. Dough as rich in butter as this would be difficult to shape if it were allowed to rise in a warm place.
Punch down the dough again and half fill round molds, small or large, with it. Fluted molds are the most usual. On a cross in the lop and crown the brioche with a smaller ball or head. The brioche may also be baked in a ring mold, or in a loaf pan with a twisted strip of dough for a topping. Let the brioche rise in a warm place for 15 to 30 minutes, until it has increased in bulk by one-third. Brush it with a dorure, a mixture made of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk. Apply this glaze very lightly and carefully with a pastry brush so as not to disturb the risen dough. Hake the brioche in a hot oven (450° F.) for 15 to 20 minutes depending upon the size, until it is well browned. Test with a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean the brioche is done.
To make a brioche ring, roll about half the dough into a long piece (like shaping dough for French bread) and form it into a ring on a buttered baking sheet, joining the two ends together. Let the ring rise in a warm place until it has increased one-third in bulk and brush it with dorure. With scissors, clip evenly and diagonally all the way around the ring to make a crisscross pattern. Bake the ring at once in a hot oven (450° F.) for about 15 minutes.
Petits Pains an Lait
Dissolve 1 cake Of envelope of yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water and combine the liquid with ½ cup flour. Form this dough into a ball, cut a cross on the top and drop the ball into a deep bowl Filled with warm water. When the sponge rises to the surface it will be ready to mix with the other ingredients. Into a bowl sift 1 ½ cups Hour with ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Knead ¼ pound butter to remove any water in it and to soften it. Heat 1 cup milk to lukewarm. Add the butter and some of the milk to the flour and work the dough with the hands until it is clastic, adding enough milk to make a rather soft dough. When the sponge rises to the surface of the water, add it to the dough in the bowl. cutting and folding it in. Working the mixture at this point would destroy its elasticity. Pull the dough together into a ball, cover it with a towel and let it rise until double in bulk. Turn it out on a hoard and punch it down, pulling the edges into the center and making a large ball. Divide the dough into pieces about as large as walnuts. Roll each ball on a floured board to make small thumb-sized rolls and arrange the rolls on a buttered baking sheet. Put the sheet in a warm place and let the rolls rise until double in bulk. Brush them with dorure and bake them in a very hot oven (450° F.) until they are brown.
Pâte à Kugelhoff
Dissolve 1 cake or envelope of yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water, add ½ cup flour and form the dough into a ball. Sift over this ball 1 ½ cups flour and let the dough stand in a warm place until the ball of sponge rises up through the flour. Then work in 2 eggs, 1/3 cup butter, kneaded to remove the water and to soften it, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar and about 1 cup warm milk, or enough to make a soft dough. Work the dough until it is elastic. Add ¼ pound seedless California or Malaga raisins. Butter an 8or 9-inch Kugelboff mold — a fluted, round cake tin with a tube in the center—sprinkle the sides with chopped blanched almonds and decorate the bottom with almond halves. Put the dough in the mold (the mold should be only about half full) and leave it in a warm place to rise. When the dough rises almost to the tup of the mold, bake the cake in a hot oven (400° F.) for about 40 to 45 minutes, until it is nicely browned and tests done.
Pâte à Savaritt
Dissolve 1 cake or envelope of yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water. Sift 1 ½ cups flour into a warm bowl, add the dissolved yeast, 2 large (or 3 small) eggs and ¼ to ½ cup lukewarm milk. Work the mixture until it is elastic, adding enough milk to make a very soft dough, much softer than brioche dough. Cover the dough with a towel, put it in a warm plate and let it rise until double in bulk, or for about 45 minutes Knead ¼ pound butter until it is as soft as heavy cream. When the dough rises, punch it down and add the butter, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Mix all together well. Turn the dough into a large, buttered ring mold. The mold should be about half full. Put the savarin in a warm place to rise. When it has risen almost to the top of the mold, bake it in a hot oven (425° F.) until it is brown, or for about 18 to 20 minutes. As soon as the cake is done, loosen it from the sides of the mold with a small sharp knife and remove it from the mold.
Make a light syrup by cooking 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water for 5 minutes. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons kitsch or mm and pour and spread this syrup over the warm cake. Sprinkle another tableSpoon or two of the same spirit over the cake and decorate it to taste with almonds and candied fruit. If desired the top may also be spread with apricot sauce. Serve warm.
Pâte à Baba
Follow the recipe for savarin, adding to the dough 2 tablespoons dried currants and 1 tablespoon raisins, Babas may be made in deep individual molds or in popover pans.
Bugnes
Dissolve 1 cake or envelope of yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water and combine this liquid with 1 cup flour to make a ball of dough. Cut a cross on the top of the ball, drop the ball into a deep bowl filled with warm water and let it stand until it rises to the surface. Meanwhile, sift together in a bowl 3 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. Add 6 eggs, a generous ¼ pound well-kneaded butter and 2 tablespoons cognac or rum and work them well into the dough. Continue to work all together until the mixture is very elastic. When the sponge rises to the surface of the water, add it to the dough in the bowl, cutting and folding it in without working the mixture any further. The dough should befirmer than brioche dough. Cover the dough with a towel and let it rise at room temperature until it doubles in bulk. Punch it down, forming it into a large ball. Break off pieces the size of small eggs and shape them into balls. Arrange the balls on a floured baking sheet and let them rise until they double in bulk. Fry them until brown in deep hot fat (375° F. on the fat ther mometer). Drain them on paper towels.
Pomponnettes an Kirsch
Half fill small round molds shaped like charlotte molds with baba dough with raisins in it. Let the dough rise to the top of the molds and bake in a hot oven (425° F.) for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the cakes from the molds and dip them in a sugar syrup flavored with kirsch as in the recipe for savarin (see page 57). Drain them on a rack, sprinkle them with a little kirsch and glaze them with confectioners' sugar icing, half white and half pink.
Croissants
Dissolve 2 cakes or envelopes of yeast in 1/3 cup lukewarm water, add 1 cup flour and Form the dough into a ball. Cut a cross in the top and drop the ball into a deep bowl of warm water. Sift 3 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar onto a wooden pastry board. Make a well in the center of the flour and add gradually 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk, stirring and mixing it in. Work the mixture until it becomes elastic. The dough for croissants should not be as soft as a brioche dough. When the ball of sponge has risen to the surface of the water, add it to the dough, cutting and folding it in. Working the dough at this point destroys its elasticity. Cover the dough with a towel and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, knead ½ pound butter with the hands until it is soft and free of water. Roll the dough out about ½ inch thick. Form the butter into a flat cake and place it in the center of the dough. Fold one-third of the dough over the butter in the center and fold the other third of the dough on top to make 3 layers. Turn the folded dough so that one of the open ends faces front. Roll it out again into a long rectangle, fold over as before and turn it. This classic procedure is called a turn. Make another turn and put the dough, wrapped in wax paper, in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
Next day, roll out the dough, fold it and turn. Repeat this Operation, making two more turns. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Cut the dough into 4 equal parts and roll out each part, one at a time, into a circle 1/8 inch thick and about 12 to 14 inches in diameter. Cut the circle, pie fashion, into 8 triangles. Starting with the base of the triangle, roll each section of dough loosely to form a cylinder thicker at the center than at the ends. Shape the rolls into crescents and place them on a lightly floured baking sheet, Cover the sheet with a towel and let the croissants rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Brush them with doure and bake them for 5 minutes in a hot oven (400° F.). Reduce the temperature to moderate (350° F.) and bake the croissants for 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until they are well browned.
Dissolve Crescents
Dissolve 1 cake or envelope of yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water and add ½ cup flour to make a ball of dough. Cut a cross on top of the ball, drop it in a bowl of warm water and leave until it rises to the surface. Mix together 3 ½ cups flour, ½ cup warm milk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons sugar and 4 tablespoons soft butter. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Work in the sponge, sprinkle the dough lightly with flour, cover it with a towel and let it stand for 1 hour at room temperature. Roll out the dough in an oblong shape and put ¾ cup soft butter, shaped into an oblong cake, in the center. Make 2 turns, as for croissants, and refrigerate the dough overnight. Make 2 more turns. Roll out the dough into circles about 1/8 inch thick, as for croissants, and cut it into wedges. Put a little franchipan and a few raisins on each wedge and roll them up like croissants. Let the crescents rise on a buttered baking sheet until they are double in bulk. Brush them lightly with beaten egg and bake them in a moderately hot oven (375° F.) for about 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
Franchipan (Almond Filling for Pastries)
Work ½ pound almond paste with ½ cup granulated sugar and 3 eggs until the mixture is thick and creamy. Add 1 cup softened butter, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and a little vanilla or lemon extract.
Charlotte Parisienne
Put enough brioche dough in a buttered deep round mold, like a charlotte mold, to half fill it and let the dough rise in a warm place until it almost fills the mold. Tie a piece of white paper around the top of the mold to make a collar 1 inch high above the mold. Brush the top of the brioche with dorure and bake it in a hot oven (425° F.) for about 25 minutes, until it tests done. If the brioche browns too quickly, cover it with a piece of white paper. Cool the brioche. Slice off the top and scoop out most of the inside, leaving a shell about ¾ to 1 inch thick. Spread the outside of the shell and the top slice with thick apricot jam and sprinkle it with finely chopped toasted almonds or pistachio nuts. When you are ready to serve the charlotte, fill the shell with a mixture of assorted cooked fruits mixed and thickened with the apricot jam and flavored with a little rum or kirsch. The fruit may be warm or cold as preferred. Put back the cover. Cut through the crust and serve the fruit and sauce with a piece of the crust.
Since Lent is upon us, this is an appropriate time to give you the recipe for a traditional Lenten specialty.
Hot Cross Buns
Dissolve 2 cakes or envelopes of yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water. Mix together 1 cup warm milk, ½ cup butter, ½ cup sugar, 3 eggs, ¾ cup currants, ½ cup raisins, ½ teaspoon salt and a little rum or vanilla. Add the dissolved yeast and 5 cups flour. Knead the dough in a buttered warm bowl, sprinkle it lightly with a little flour, cover it with a towel and put in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours, or until it is double in bulk. Punch the dough down and let it rise another ½ hour. Shape it into small round buns. Arrange the buns in a buttered baking pan. allowing a little space between them since they will spread as they rise. Let the buns rise until they are double in bulk. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) until brown. Decorate the buns with a cross of icing, made by mixing confectioners' sugar to a paste with a little cream, or sprinkle them with confectioners' sugar.