Adventures in puff pastry

It's hard to believe that I just finished my third week at ESCF and that tomorrow starts my fourth week - time is going by so quickly! This week was an intensive introduction to and training in puff pastry. I've seen puff pastry made once before during a class at Le Cordon Bleu so I knew the process was fairly complex and time-consuming. 

We started off the week by making two different types of puff pastry, one in which you incorporate the butter into the dough and the other in which you incorporate the dough into the butter. Our chef told us that the second process, called inverse puff pastry, produced better results but could be a little more difficult to work with. The class spent most of the day taking copious notes on the puff pastry process and then trying our hand at it. 

Chef working the puff pastry dough

The process of making puff pastry could be renamed the rolling and waiting game. After you incorporate the dough into the butter or vice versa, you have to roll out the dough several times, folding it and turning it in a specific way so that the puff pastry does exactly what its name indicates in the end - puffs. When you're not rolling, your letting the dough relax in your refrigerator. If you're ever in need of an arm workout complete with a tasty treat at the end, make puff pastry...your arms and your taste buds will thank you! 

After we mastered/massacred (in some cases) the process of making puff pastry dough, we used the two doughs we made to create a variety of classic French pastries that usually involved almond cream. The two things we made this week that I could eat everyday were chaussons aux pommes, puff pastry "slippers" filled with applesauce and apples and Pithiviers, decorated puff pastry filled with almond cream. Knowing that I actually made these two buttery and delicious creations only added to my delight when I tasted them. There is nothing like fresh, flaky, buttery puff pastry dough...yum! 

Chaussons aux pommes and apple tart in bands

When we weren't in the kitchen this week, we were either learning about the scientific part of pastry (although this usually turns into a lesson about choice French words), perfecting our French (pronunciation, pronunciation, pronunciation) or sketching/composing a dessert plate for an imaginary client with an outrageous budget.

Mr. Niau and our plated dessert sketch

Here's a list/review of places my fellow future pastry chefs and/or I visited this week:

• des Gateaux et du Pain (63 blvd Pasteur, 75015 Paris) - This is not your average pastry shop - it is incredibly chic almost to a fault, creating a quite austere/cold environment. However, what this shop lacks in warmth, it makes up for in the quality of its products. I had a chocolate creation (I can't remember the name!) with 5 layers of chocolaty goodness and I heard rave reviews from my other classmates about their purchases. 



Chocolaty deliciousness from des Gateaux et du Pain





• Amici Miei (44 Rue Saint Sabin, 75011 Paris) - An Italian restaurant run by Italians with quality wood-fired pizzas. I ordered a white pizza with potatoes, rosemary, and mozzarella and while the topping was a little bland (could have used more salt or rosemary), the crust was perfection. 



Potato, rosemary, and mozzarella cheese pizza


Denise Acabo A L'Etoile d'Or (30 rue Fontaine, 75009 Paris) - Thank you David Lebovitz for mentioning this place on your website, it's a true find! This candy store and it's owner are like nothing you have ever seen before. Denise, the owner of the shop, is an unforgettable and knowledgeable woman who is known for her braided grey pigtails and tartan skirts. She is incredibly helpful and will tell you anything you want to know about the high quality/rare French confections in her shop. I've never paid so much for a bar of chocolate before(10 Euros!) but when I tasted it, I understood what real chocolate is supposed to taste like.


One of the best chocolate bars I've ever eaten! Dark chocolate filled with salted caramel




A fabulous find


Gerard Mulot - A reputed pastry/bakery/chocolate shop. I tried their macarons and was overpowered by the thickness and sweetness of the filling. I'll have to go back to try some of their desserts. 
Favela Chic (18 rue du Faubourg de Temple, 75011 Paris) - A Brazilian restaurant/bar/club that Laura and I went to on Saturday. The ambiance was great, the crowd was mixed, and the dance floor was tiny but that didn't stop us or the Madonna look alike who was really getting down.
Le Rétro République (23 rue du Faubourg de Temple) - My new favorite place in Paris! This is a dance club in an old theater and guess what kind of music they play on Saturday nights...Latin! When we walked in I was in pure heaven -  there was a crazy mix of people with different levels of experience and the dance floor was huge...will definitely be going back there as often as possible!