This apple cream cheese Danish braid is probably one of the most popular items ever on the breakfast menu at my bakery. It was part of our daily offerings and was requested by customers for every holiday. Not technically a danish (the dough is croissant dough), the flaky layers of pastry and cinnamon scented filling are sure to be a hit at your house!
Orange Tuiles
Orange tuiles are a fantastic way to dress up any dessert. They are buttery, crunchy and elegant. My friend and mentor Morgan Larsson shared this recipe with me many years ago. He is an incredible pastry chef and a fantastic person. Thank you Morgan!
Croissants
Croissants are one of the most iconic French pastries and, when made well, are truly worthy of their lofty reputation. My good friend Bill Batty used to come to my bakery quite often for a warm chocolate croissant (see the alternatives section at the end of this post) just out of the oven and he requested I post this recipe. I hope you make these often and share them with friends!
Tangy Lemon Curd
Lemon curd is an absolute staple in the pastry kitchen. It can be used as a base for fruit tarts, a filling for cakes or scones, and can be turned into a quick lemon mousse. It can even be made into ice cream! Lemon curd is definitely one of the 5 recipes everyone should master.
Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday
Hot cross buns are traditionally served on Good Friday. This recipe has plump currants and just a hint of orange and nutmeg that you are sure to enjoy all throughout the season!
Craquelin
Craquelin is a great way to add visual contrast and an interesting texture to the top of pastries made with pate a choux. Craquelin is quite simple to make but will only stay crunchy for the day it is made. Fortunately, pate a choux is a simple process so be sure to give craquelin a try!
Pate A Choux
Pate a choux is one of the staple recipes in classic French pastries. In the United States, people most closely associate this dough with cream puffs and eclairs but it makes many other beautiful desserts as well. The word choux means cabbage in French and small cream puffs do look like little cabbages when you use a bit of imagination! The recipe for the basic dough is included here. Find links to finishing techniques and alternatives below. Enjoy!
Cream Puffs
Cream puffs – how delicious when properly prepared! Follow the directions below and produce glorious puffs that will get you rave reviews!
Pastry Cream
Pastry cream is indispensable in the pastry kitchen — it can be used to fill puffs, eclairs, used as a filling in cakes and tarts, and be transformed into creme mousseline or creme chibouste. Make sure you have everything ready and set your work station up properly and you will produce perfect pastry cream every time!
Ganache For Cream Puffs, Eclairs, and Piping
Ganache is a wonderful mixture of chocolate and cream and comes in many different textures and tastes depending on the chocolate and how much cream is added.
This is a basic ganache in the ratio of 1 to 1. This means 1 part chocolate to 1 part heavy cream by weight (just one more reason to buy that scale!) For example, 1 pound of chocolate is mixed with a pint of heavy cream. So if you have only 10 cream puffs to glaze, just mix 2 ounces of chocolate and 2 ounces of cream. Easy!
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