Making puff pastry was surprisingly therapeutic.
After yesterday's mayhem and the repeated warnings about how difficult the dough is to make, I wasn't feeling so confident about what was going to happen today. Turns out, a little patience can go a long way.
Puff pastry, known as pate feuilletee in French, is a time-consuming process that starts with a detrempe (flour, salt, cold water and a small amount of butter). Once combined and chilled, the beurrage (a large amount of cold butter) is added. The mixture is carefully rolled and "turned," which basically involves folding the dough to incorporate the butter and make layers. The dough heads to the fridge after every two turns.
The class completed six turns and will revisit the pate feuilletee Tuesday to make bande de tarte aux fruits, or a puff pastry fruit strip.
In addition to the puff pastry, we made a triple-layer genoise—a classic, airy French cake made with whole eggs, sugar and flour. It was accompanied by a coffee buttercream frosting and sliced almonds.
I think everyone in my class is ready for three days off, thanks to Labor Day. This week might take the cake for being the most trying thus far in culinary school.
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