About adaptation…

Sometimes, you just can't fight it. You have to face the reality, and be wise enough to let go. Sometimes, it’s for the better (and today it was not…).

Yesterday, I tried to bake a Paris Brest. I’ve never done it, nor my mother, because we don’t like it. We don’t like buttercream. All this fat, it’s just… yeark (yeah, I’m a sugar addict, not a butter one). Anyway, why would I try to make something I don’t like? Because my father loves it. So last year, I wanted to bake one for his birthday. I bought the praline, but made a St Honoré instead, and now I find myself with a 1kg jar of praline best to use before the end of the month…
I started with the first mistake : I took Alain Ducasse's book to help me. Every time I use it, I arrive to the same conclusion : way too complicated for me, the proportions are huge (last time, I divided the recipe by 3, and was able to serve it to 4 diners of 3 persons!), and I should really stick to looking at the beautiful pictures. But again, I forgot about my conclusion, and tried… What is it with my memory, always hiding part of information from my brain??

The pastry cream was simple, thanks to a baking class I had last year. During that class, I discovered that it’s much easier than a crème anglaise, or than a curd (which I most of the time let too long on the fire, therefore letting it boil, and ending up with little pieces of cooked egg in my cream…). The pastry cream has to boil, and the egg will not make little pieces because you’ve mixed it with flour or corn starch before. So really, nothing to be afraid of! The following recipe makes me regret not having made pastry cream before. Oh, all this waisted time...

Then I started the choux pastry. Oh my… The recipe indicated 8-10 eggs. And I’m not proud to say that I followed it, without asking questions. It did not ring a bell. Hello! Huge proportions ?? Anyone ?? Nope. And of course, I messed up somewhere, because my choux (the 5 entire baking sheets of choux) were flat. Very flat. I could not have filled them even if I had tried.
And I let go. Threw the whole thing in the garbage, and choose to stick with what I know. That is, pie crust.

So, one pie crust later, some little mixing of pastry cream and praline (I still needed to use those…), and we’re having a very strange pear and praline pie…

Because I’m very nice ;-), I won’t give you this recipe, but tell you how to make the pie crust (which is delicious, buttery and sanded and with that little hint of salt...) and the pastry cream. Then, if you’re not stubborn as I am, you won’t try to mix it with praline, but will put any fresh fruit you have (or even frozen blueberries or raspberries), and you will enjoy something like this…

Or, if you don’t even want to make the pastry cream, you can bake the pie crust for 12 minutes, spread some raspberry jam, cover with the slices of 2-3 apples and with one tablespoon of melted butter, and bake for 15 more minutes.

Shortbread pie crust
Recipe from Alain Ducasse

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup + 10 Tbsp flour
2 egg yolks
1 stick butter at room temperature
1 vanilla bean
2 tsp salt
1,5 tsp baking powder

Using a paddle attachment with a standing mixer, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and butter at medium speed. You will obtain a crumbly texture. Using an electric mixer at high speed, cream the yolks with the sugar and the scrapings of the vanilla bean. Incorporate it to the dry ingredients and mix shortly until the dough forms a sticky mass. Flatten the dough into a thick disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°C.
Sprinkle your work surface as well as your rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough into a circle one-seventh-inch thick. Transfer it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until crust is golden.

Pastry Cream

1 ¼ cup milk
1 vanilla bean
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp cornstarch
5 tsp butter

Prepare the pastry cream. Split the vanilla bean in its length, and put it in a large saucepan with milk over medium heat. Bring to simmer. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set aside for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the vanilla pod, scraping the seeds to keep them with the milk if you want.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisks the yolks with sugar. Sift cornstarch into yolk mixture; whisk to blend. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the yolks are well mixed with the milk. Return to saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until pastry cream boils and is very thick, about 10 minutes. Keep the mixture at the boil, whisking energetically, for about 3 minutes, then remove the pan from heat and let cool a few minutes before incorporating the butter. Transfer to large bowl, and cover with a plastic wrap (against the surface, to prevent the formation of a film). Refrigerate the cream.
Spread the cream on the cooled pie crust, nicely arrange the fruits of your choice, and voila!


Pâte à sablé breton
Recette d’Alain Ducasse

80g de sucre
200g de farine
2 jaunes d’œufs
100g de beurre en morceaux, à température ambiante
1 gousse de vanille
2 g de sel
1 paquet de levure chimique

Avec la lame du robot multitâche, ou la spatule du robot pâtissier, mélangez la farine, le sel, la levure et les dés de beurre. Vous obtiendrez une texture un peu sablonneuse (d’où le terme de sabler la pâte).
Avec un fouet, émulsionnez les jaunes, le sucre et les graines de la gousse de vanille, le mélange sera crémeux. Incorporez-le aux éléments sablés et travaillez la pâte quelques instants pour obtenir une boule homogène. Aplatissez la boule et enveloppez le disque obtenu dans un film plastique pour reposer au frais pendant au moins 1 heure.

Préchauffez le four à 175°.
Farinez abondamment le plan de travail ainsi que le rouleau à pâtisserie, puis étalez la pâte sur 3 à 4 mm d'épaisseur. Découpez un cercle du diamètre désiré dans la pate, transférez le sur une plaque de cuisson, et laissez cuire 15 à 20 minutes, de manière à avoir une jolie couleur dorée.


Crème pâtissière

30 cl de lait
1 gousse de vanille
60 g de sucre
3 jaunes
24 g de maïzena
20 g de beurre

Pendant le temps de repos, préparez une crème pâtissière. Fendez la gousse de vanille en deux, et mettez-la dans une grande casserole avec le lait. Portez à ébullition sur feu moyen. Dès que le lait bout, retirez du feu et couvrez. Laissez infuser 30 minutes. Retirez ensuite la gousse de vanille, en grattant les graines pour les mettre avec le lait.

Dans le bol de votre robot avec la spatule, blanchissez les jaunes avec le sucre. Ajoutez ensuite la maïzena en mélangeant bien. Tout en continuant de battre à la vitesse la plus lente, versez doucement le lait. Grattez les parois du bol et remuez pour que le mélange soit bien homogène.

Versez à nouveau la crème dans la casserole et portez à ébullition sur feu doux tout en remuant constamment avec un fouet. Une fois que le mélange bout, continuez à battre pendant environ 3 minutes, afin de rendre la crème plus légère. Retirez du feu et ajoutez les dés de beurre. Fouettez jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient fondu et soient incorporés à la crème. Couvrez d’un film plastique (le film doit toucher la crème, pour éviter la formation d’une pellicule) et réservez au frais.

Etalez la crème sur la pâte à sablée refroidie, disposez joliment les fruits de votre choix, et réservez au frais avant de déguster.