French Pastry Made Simple: Foolproof Recipes for Éclairs, Tarts, Macarons and More

by Molly Wilkinson

Overview

A No-Fuss Guide to the Delicious Art of Pâtisserie

Unleash your inner pastry chef with Molly Wilkinson’s approachable recipes for all of your French favorites. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Molly takes the most essential techniques and makes them easy for home bakers, resulting in a collection of simple, key recipes that open up the world of pastry. With friendly, detailed directions and brilliant shortcuts, you can skip the pastry shop and enjoy delicious homemade creations.

Master base recipes like 30-minute puff pastry, decadent chocolate ganache and fail-safe citrus curds, and you’re on your way to making dozens of iconic French treats. You’ll feel like a pro when whipping up gorgeous trays of madeleines and decorating a stunning array of cream puffs and éclairs. Along with classics like The Frenchman’s Chocolate Mousse, Profiteroles and Classic Mille-Feuilles, learn to assemble exquisite showstoppers such as Croquembouche and Caramel Mousse Tartelettes with Poached Pears in Ginger. This go-to guide shows you all the tips and tricks you need to impress your guests and have fun with French pastry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645672173
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	06/08/2021
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	102,673
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Molly Wilkinson is a pastry chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She teaches pastry and cooking workshops out of her eighteenth-century home in Versailles. She has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal and on NBC’s Today Show. Originally from Texas, she lives in Versailles, France.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

What Every Home Pastry Chef Needs to Known Before Beginning 8

Ingredients 9

The Only Equipment You Need 9

Your Pastry Tool Kit 11

Filling and Working With A Piping Bag 12

Nonessential But Handy Tools TO Complete Your Kit 13

Pâte Sucrée: The Only Tart Dough You Need 15

Base Recipe- Pâte Sucrée 17

Rustic Seasonal Fruit Galette 23

Chocolate-Walnut-Pear Tart With Caramel Sauce 25

Lunettes De Romans Cookies 29

Blackberry Tart With Honey and Hazelnuts 30

Créme Pâtissiére: A Scrumptious Custard Filling 33

Base Recipe: Vanilla Pastry Cream 35

Vanilla Bean Flan 37

Strawberry Fraisier 41

Classic Mixed Berry Tart 44

Ganache Au Chocolat: A Sauce, A Filling and Stand-Alone Treat! 47

Base Recipe: Chocolate Sauce for All Occasions 49

Tigré Almond Cakes 51

One-Bite Chocolate Truffles 55

Earl Grey Madeleines 56

Moelleux Au Chocolat 59

Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart 62

Créme Au Citron: No-Fuss Lemon Curd 65

Base Recipe: Lemon Curd 67

Roasted Strawberry Curd Cream Puffs 68

Tarte Au Citron Meringuée Ou pasl 71

Madeleine Cakes with Cherries and Light Lemon Curd Topping 73

French MaCaron Tower With Lemon Curd or Raspberry-Thyme Curd Filling 75

Pâte À Choux: The Multipurpose Dough! 81

Base Recipe: Pâte À Choux 83

Cream Puffs and Éclairs 85

Chouquettes 90

Profiteroles 93

Berry Paris-Brest 94

Croquembouche 99

Génoise Et Joconde: Rolled Or Layered Sponge Cake 103

Base Recipe 1: Génoise Sponge Cake 105

Base Recipe 2: Joconde Sponge Cake 107

Coconut-Reach Génoise Cake 108

Opéra Cake 111

Bombe Gâteau 115

Bûche De Noë 118

Light-As-A-Feather Mousse 121

Base Recipe: The Frenchman's Chocolate Mousse 123

Charlotte Aux Fraises 125

Caramel Mousse Tartelettes With Poached Pears In Ginger 129

Rolled Raspberry Mousse Cake 134

Pâte Feuilletée: Super-Simple Puff Pastry 137

Base Recipe: Simple Puff Pastry 139

Palmiers 143

Classic Mille-Feuilles 144

Tarte Tatin Upside-Down Cake 147

Galette Des Rois 150

Saint-Honoré 153

Crisp Or Gooey Caramel 157

Base Recipe: Molly's Favorite Salted Caramel Sauce 159

Créme Caramel 161

Spiced Caramel Apple Cream Puffs 165

Chocolate-Caramel-Nut Tart 166

Meringue Sugar Clouds 169

Base Recipe: Meringue 171

Base Recipe: French Meringue 172

Base Recipe: Italian Meringue 173

Merveilleux 175

Meringue Kisses 179

Mixed Berry MaCaron Cake 180

Vacherin Glacé 183

Acknowledgments 186

About the Author 187

Index 188

Editorial Reviews

From her charming kitchen in Versailles, Molly Wilkinson shares her secrets to mastering with ease the fundamentals of French pâtisserie and her in-depth explanations will help you quickly build a foundation of classic techniques. You’ll learn to trust your intuition in the kitchen as she guides you with her well-crafted recipes.”
-David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris and Drinking French

“In a beautiful tour de force of pâtisserie, Molly makes all my best-loved French pastries and shows us how to go about each and every one with such ease, whisking us to Versailles while she’s at it.”
-Jill Colonna, author of Mad About Macarons and Teatime in Paris

From the Publisher