2024, Food, home, Uncategorized

Perfecting Pastries

48 Comments

When we visited our daughter in Washington last April, we went to a cookware shop in Gig Harbor. I found a new pastry cookbook there, and last weekend was my first attempt at the recipes. I tried the dough for laminated pastries, and made croissants and Franzbrotchen.

The book New European Baking is by an American baker, Lauren Kratochvila, who was trained in France and runs a bakery in Berlin. The recipes look wonderful, although are pretty complicated. There were illustrations that were helpful, and the finished dough tasted wonderful. I don’t know how many baboons have made their own croissant dough, but the basic premise is that you envelope a 10 inch square of butter (about 9 oz) in a 10 inch round of dough, and then proceed to roll the dough into a 30 inch length, fold the dough in a specific way, chill it, roll it again to 30 inches, fold it again, chill it, and then roll it out into a 20 X 12 rectangle and cut the dough into rolls. The end product has hundreds of butter/dough layers because of the folds. This all has to be done really quickly so the butter doesn’t get soft in between the dough layers and ooze out. I was so irritable and stressed during all this that Husband was afraid to come into the kitchen.

I have made Julia Child’s croissant recipe in the past. This recipe was more complicated, but I am determined to try it again. My rolls turned out pretty good for a first try, although they didn’t have the perfect shape that the book author showed in the book photos. They were light and airy and buttery. The Franzbrotchen have a cinnamon filling and are supposed to look like squashed bicycle tires. You can see the rolls I made in the header photo. I considered this first try a learning experience, and I am going to try them until I get them as perfect as I can.

What have you tried to perfect and with what success? What pastry would you like to learn to make?

48 thoughts on “Perfecting Pastries”

  1. My proprietary pancake and waffle recipes, made with malted milk powder, yeast, and buttermilk, are crazy good and a lot less trouble than laminated croissants. I think I have them posted here, and I know you can find them on my Facebook page. If you’re curious I will update.

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      1. There are several people named John G. Dyer on FB, not sure which one is you, John.

        Jacque, I found the recipe by clicking on John’s Gravatar above. Looks like it’s worth a try. Here it is:

        John’s Amazing Waffles

        Serves 2

        3/4 cup all purpose flour

        1 tsp baking soda

        1 tbs sugar

        4 tbs Kraft vanilla malted milk powder

        1/4 tsp salt

        mix dry ingredients thoroughly, then add

        1 egg, beaten

        1/4 tsp vanilla extract

        2 tbs melted butter

        buttermilk (about 3/4 cup … add to desired consistency)

        For best results, let batter sit for 1 hour …

        Whole milk mixed with sour cream, cottage cheese or yogurt may be substituted for buttermilk … Blend thoroughly before mixing with dry ingredients …

        For extra fluffy waffles, separate egg white from yolk, beat egg white with sugar and fold into batter as last step of preparation.

        When adding pecans or other nuts, put nuts on cooking surface BEFORE adding batter …

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        1. Thanks for the legwork PJ – I was just about to start looking myself.

          JOHN – is it OK if I add your recipe to Kitchen Congress?

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    2. John, I think the malted milk powder is the secret ingredient for excellent waffles. We have a coffee shop here in Owatonna that makes delicious waffles and I know they have some sort of “malt” in them. Probably malted milk powder.

      Chris

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  2. OMG, the rolls up top look so good, Renee, I wouldn’t mess with whatever you’ve done here!

    I would like to perfect my T’ai Chi form. I would make a lot more progress if I went to the group the four times a week it’s offered, but I get there just once. I should be doing it at home on the off days, but…

    At this point, I can’t think of a pastry I’d rather make at home than buy – we have some good pastry places here..

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  3. I think I’ve perfected my spaghetti sauce after almost 50 years of gradual tweaking. But it’s always been a work in progress, trying to make it just a little bit better. I’d put it up against any pasta sauce you can name as far as taste goes.

    I recently started adding a few dried red pepper flakes to the sauce because my wife has begun to enjoy spicier foods in her “old age.” Go figure. She also now loves mushrooms and doesn’t even mind fresh tomatoes! *gasp*

    Chris in Owatonna

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  4. I made croissants at home once… back in my bakery days … on a lark. Never again. They turned OK but way too much work when you can waltz into a good bakery and just buy them.

    Everything in my life seems to be a work in progress although I’m not sure if I’m perfecting anything….

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  5. Civilization 6 at Diety level.
    There can be zero mistakes when playing the game against God.
    No such luck for me…yet. I think I’ll try playing as the Greeks.

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  6. Husband is continously trying to perfect his sourdough and his grilling/smoking products. I have a small quantity of fresh yeast coming from Amazon. The 24 lbs of fresh yeast I mistakenly ordered a couple of years ago had to be tossed as it had been frozen too long. We used a little more than half of it.

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    1. I just put a margarita pizza into the oven. Made with our Roma tomatoes and basil from the garden. The cheese came from the store. Despite Barb in Blackhoof’s instruction, I’ve never made cheese at home.

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  9. What am I working on perfecting? My efforts at working toward the efforts of perfecting! I am not a very structured person so it requires focus to get stuff plugged in. I am on day 180 of chinese lessons. I do multiple books a month and wonderful podcasts on my daily delivery rounds. I dream up new or improved or modified ideas I hope to initiate and plug into the world to make it better. I write songs and love my guitar/ music groups and have the ambition of being a musical theater composer writer that will be the grandma moses version of musicals . why did he wait until 70 to begin? I was doing other stuff.
    I am not a sweet tooh kind of guy but on my visits to italy I was introduced to the notion of walking to the bakery across the street and getting 12 pastries based on which ones make your mouth water most, a triple expresso and a spot in the sun to scan phone messages and ready my psyche for the coming day. France has been a minor touchstone in my life so far but I hope to get me some more of that in the not too distant future. Crepes and pastries seem to be appropriate there and I will succumb to self induced pressure and enjoy
    Keep working on those smushed bicycle tires renee. Looking good.

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    1. Nuts.com does a nice malt powder, but of course it’s more spendy and if you’re not buying anything else, you have to pay shipping on it. I often just use the grocery store malt as well.

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  11. I haven’t found a way to link it but “cinimon rolls” always reminds me of the Andy Griffith/ Walter Mathau 1958 film Onionhead. My Dad loved butchering pronunciation of cinnimon. We kids would join in. “Where’s the simeonny rolls?” It was simple simonny fun.
    TCM has a clip with Griffith and Mathau drunk and talking cimmmeniny roads.

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  12. Better Late than Never, Baboons,

    Pastry? VS is correct. There are so many excellent bakeries and patisseries now, that I will purchase theirs.

    Perfection? I gave up on that one. I did develop professional skills that were certifiably good, holding several certifications and licenses that made me proud. Polymer clay and art work are never perfect. In fact sometimes the art is in featuring the mistake.

    OT: we have been at the vet’s clinic most of the afternoon for Phoebe’s follow up. The verdict is that she responded well to the prednisone, but she is having unpleasant side effects, such as excessive thirst. It is time to start the process of tapering off. As best they can tell this was a response to a set of vaccines given May 29 that over activated the immune system causing “Immune Mediated Polyarthropathy.” Now the tapering process will determine if this is chronic or perhaps if she is lucky, just one occurrence.
    🤞She is now about 90% recovered. There is still some tenderness and weakness in the rear half, but she can go up stairs, jump up on the couch, and is starting to play with us again. This illness has melted my credit card, as well.

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    2. Our daughter’s Tuxedo cat went into anaphylaxis after his immunizations this June. He is ok, but will need a lot of benadryl next year before his shots.

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      1. And I just got the good news yesterday (serious sarcasm) from the vet that Nimue needs her teeth cleaned big-time. My credit card is feeling your credit cards pain!

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    3. Jacque, I’m really glad Phoebe is better and I’m sorry about the melt-down of your credit card. I understand. I have been there with, first, Bailey, who had mitral valve defect; and now Pippin, who has had just about everything he can have: bladder/kidney stones requiring surgery and prescription food; meds to counteract the side effects of said prescription food; bouts of colitis; allergies to just about everything green; and extreme separation anxiety. When you have a sweet canine companion, you would do just about anything to keep them healthy. I’d have a LOT more money if I didn’t have dogs, but I’d have a lot less unconditional love. I hope you never have to go through this again and that Phoebe lives a long, happy, healthy life.

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  13. I tried scones once and they weren’t too bad, but I haven’t tried to make them again. I think I used mig’s recipe for scones that is in Kitchen Congress. I’ve made pretty good spanakopita, but my phyllo dough layers were just too heavy. I’ve also made baklava, but again, the phyllo layers…

    As I get older, and I’m just cooking for myself, I feel less and less motivated to perfect any food I make. My pasta sauce is pretty darn good, I think. I’d serve it to anybody. I can make some pretty good one-pan veggie and grain stir fry. I never make them the same way and I don’t write anything down, so I can’t share them with you. I’ve made them with curry spices or sauces, or with savory or Italian herbs. I’ll steam a grain, like quinoa, barley, brown or wild rice, then choose the veggies (whatever I have on hand), chop onions and maybe garlic, sauté them with veggies, mix in the herbs or spices, mix in the grain, cook with a little broth if it’s sticky, and eat that for a few days. That’s just the way I do it, being the childless, catless lady that I am.

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  14. I had to stop grilling due to the rules for multi-family homes like mine, so I looked around for an electric grill. I just didn’t like the idea of it. So I bought a Ninja Foodie grill. So far, it’s okay. I actually like the air fryer better than the grill. I’ve got some extra firm tofu. I think I’ll press it, marinate it in some curry sauce, then try it in the air fryer. Once it’s done, I’ll do a veggie and grain stir fry as described with peanut oil and some curry spices. Edamame adds protein and fiber to a dish like that. So it will probably have onions, green beans or broccoli, cauliflower, edamame, carrots, tofu, and brown rice.

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  15. Perfecting, no, but surviving having a wife in memory care. Yesterday a man attacked me with his wheel chair. No harm done. I did not realize what he was doing until he hit me. Today a woman got mad about fish being served and threw it in my face, not aiming at me, but I was in the line of fire.

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  16. I’d like to perfect a vry simple chocolate shortbread recipe. Spritz cookis are easy, but there is the cookie press to manage, and it seems like there should be an easier way.

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