Around My French Table (90 page)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the tart shell on the baking sheet. Scatter the raisins evenly over the bottom of the shell.

Put the cornstarch in a small bowl, pour in the milk, and stir to blend—the cornstarch will dissolve. Set aside.

If you're using cottage cheese, scrape the cottage cheese and sour cream into a food processor and whir for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is perfectly smooth and satiny. Add the yolks and sugar and process for 1 minute more. Add the salt, vanilla, zest, and reserved milk mixture and pulse just to blend. If you are using fromage blanc, omit the sour cream and use the food processor or simply whisk the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the filling into the crust.

Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake the tart for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and puffed all over (you want the center to puff, not just the sides). Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the tart cool until it is slightly warm or at room temperature.

If you'd like to glaze the tart, warm the apricot jam with a splash of water in a microwave oven or a small saucepan. When the jam liquefies, use a pastry brush to paint a very thin layer of the jam over the top of the tart. Alternatively, dust the cooled tart with confectioners' sugar.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

SERVING
With its mix of sweetness and zest, this cheese tart works well with tea or espresso and is especially good with a honeyish dessert wine.

STORING
The tart should be served the day it is made, but it has its day-after fans who enjoy it chilled.

BONNE IDÉE
You can use dried cranberries or snippets of dried apricot instead of the raisins.

I
'M SURE THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PASTRIES
in the shops throughout the Pays Basque, but as I think back to my travels there, I can't conjure up anything but the pride of the region, the
gâteau Basque.
It was everywhere—in pâtisseries, of course, and also at outdoor markets: you'd see a vendor with a long table covered with
gâteaux Basque
and then, ten feet away, another vendor with another long table and more
gâteaux Basque.
Outside the village of Sare, there was even a museum dedicated to the cake. It was there, under the tutelage of the museum's founder, Bixente Marichular, that I learned to make a
gâteau Basque.

The simplest way to describe this sweet is to liken it to a double-crusted tart, one in which the crust is like butter cookies and the filling is either pastry cream or thick cherry jam, preferably made from the region's dark cherries grown in Itxassou. (Marichular would insist that that's the only kind of jam that can be used.) Traditionally, when pastry cream is the filling, the top crust is brushed with an egg wash and decorated with a crosshatch pattern etched into the dough with the tines of a fork. When there's jam within, the top is finished with a Basque cross, which looks like an elongated S bisected by a sideways S. However, since I love the look of the
gâteau
with the crosshatch and the taste of it with the jam, I often play mix-and-match with tradition.

In another region, this
gâteau
might be called a galette or a torte, but for the Basque people, it's a cake, and it's a daily treat. Because the cake is so much like a cookie, it's perfect snack food, great for a picnic, and ideal for brunch. And since it's not overly sweet, it's not too much to think about sneaking a sliver of a slice in with that first cup of coffee in the morning.

BE PREPARED:
You'll need to refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until smooth. Add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture may look curdled, but that's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low, beat in the vanilla, and add the dry ingredients in 2 or 3 additions, mixing only until they're fully incorporated.

Place a large sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper on your work surface and put half of the very soft, sticky dough in the center of the sheet. Cover with another piece of plastic or wax paper, then roll the dough into a circle just a little larger than 8 inches in diameter. As you're rolling, turn the dough over and lift the plastic or paper frequently so that you don't roll it into the dough and form creases. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Put the dough, still covered with the plastic wrap or wax paper, on a cutting board or baking sheet and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours (or for up to 3 days).

When you're ready to assemble and bake the
gâteau,
center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8-×-2-inch round cake pan.

Remove the rounds of dough from the refrigerator and let them rest on the counter for a couple of minutes before peeling away the plastic or wax paper. Fit one round into the pan—if it breaks, just press the pieces together. If there's a little extra dough running up the sides of the pan, you can either fold it over or trim it so that it's even. Spoon ¾ cup of the jam or pastry cream onto the dough, starting in the center and leaving 1 inch of dough bare around the border. Add more filling if you don't think it will squish out the sides when you press down on it with the top layer of dough. (I find that ¾ cup is usually just the right amount, but if you're using a very thick jam, you might want a bit more.)

Moisten the bare ring of dough at the edge with a little water and top with the second piece of dough, pressing down around the edges to seal it. If you'd like, work your finger between the top round of dough and the edge of the pan, so that you tuck the dough under a little. Because of the softness of the dough, even if you only press the layers together very lightly, they'll fuse as they bake. But no matter how you press them together, it seems inevitable that a little of the filling will escape.

Brush the top of the dough with the egg glaze and use the tips of the tines of a fork to etch a crosshatch pattern in the top.

Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the edge of the cake. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and then quickly and carefully invert it onto another rack so that it can cool to room temperature right side up.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

SERVING
I think the cake is best plain, but a little whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream is always nice on simple sweets.

STORING
The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead. Wrapped well, the jam-filled cake will keep for a day or so at room temperature. You can keep the cream-filled cake overnight in the refrigerator, but because refrigeration can dry cakes, I think it's best to serve the cream-filled cake the day it is made.

F
AUCHON, THE SPECIALTY FOOD EMPORIUM IN PARIS
whose teas and coffees, biscuits, and cookies are found around the world, was started in 1886 but has managed to remain fashionable through the years, in part by drawing on tradition and then turning that tradition upside down. That's what the shop has done with the éclair, a pastry that's older than it is. These days, when you pass Fauchon's window on the place de la Madeleine, you might see an éclair glazed with zebra stripes, leopard spots, or even the face of the Mona Lisa. Although the pastry chefs have used the éclair as a canvas for their whims and changing inspirations, they haven't changed the basic recipe, the one Carême invented so many years ago.

Antonin Carême, considered the father of modern pastry, was the first to pipe
pâte à choux
into long fingerlike shapes. Once the pastry was baked, he sliced the strips in half, filled them with pastry cream, and glazed their tops, creating an enduring classic, which he christened
éclairs (éclair
means lightning). No one's certain why he called the slender pastries lightning. Some say the name was inspired by the sweet's shape, others say it came from the way light plays off the shiny glaze. I hold with the camp convinced that the name described the way an éclair is eaten—lightning fast.

Interestingly, no matter how avant-garde éclairs get these days, the most beloved remain the most traditional: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee. I'm giving you the recipe for vanilla éclairs here, but variations are both easy and encouraged; see Bonne Idée.

BE PREPARED:
The éclairs need to be chilled for at least 1 hour before serving.

TO MAKE THE ÉCLAIRS:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Fit a large pastry bag with a large (⅔-inch-diameter) plain tip. (You can also pipe the éclairs with a star tip; the star makes a pretty éclair, but it's not easy to glaze the ridges.)

Fill the pastry bag with half of the dough and pipe out strips of dough that are 4 to 4½ inches long onto the first baking sheet; keep the strips about 2 inches apart so the éclairs will have room to puff. Pipe the other half of the dough onto the second baking sheet.
(The éclairs can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

Bake the éclairs for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for another 7 minutes, then wedge the handle of a wooden spoon into the oven door so it stays slightly ajar, and bake for about 3 minutes more, or until the éclairs are golden, firm, and puffed. Transfer the éclairs to a rack and cool to room temperature.
(If the room is cool and dry, the éclairs can stay out for a few hours before being filled.)

TO FILL THE ÉCLAIRS:
Cut the éclairs horizontally in half—they'll probably have puff marks around their middles, showing just where they want to be cut. I use a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion. Lift off the tops.

Whisk the pastry cream lightly to loosen it a bit, spoon it into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, and pipe enough into each éclair base to fill it. Or skip the pastry bag and fill the éclairs using a spoon.
(You'll have pastry cream left over, which you can cover and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
Put the filled bases on a baking sheet, cover them lightly, and refrigerate while you make the glaze.

TO MAKE THE GLAZE:
Put 1½ cups confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and add 1½ tablespoons of the milk, as well as the lemon juice. Whisk gently to combine the ingredients. If the glaze seems too thick, add more milk drop by drop; if too thin, add more sugar a pinch at a time. What you're looking for is a smooth glaze that can be spread evenly over the éclairs.

Using a small icing spatula or a butter knife, glaze the tops of the éclairs, then settle the tops gently over the filled bases. Refrigerate the éclairs for at least 1 hour (or up to 8 hours) before serving.

MAKES ABOUT 20ÉCLAIRS

SERVING
Although éclairs can easily be finger food, they are usually served on plates with small forks and knives.

STORING
You can pipe out the cream puff dough and freeze the "fingers" on the baking sheets until they are firm, then pack them airtight and freeze for up to 2 months. When you're ready to bake them, arrange the éclairs on the baking sheets and bake without defrosting; add a few extra minutes to the baking time. The pastry cream can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days. Only the glaze must be used as soon as it's made, but once you've spread it over the pastry, the éclairs should chill for at least 1 hour (or up to 8 hours), making this sweet very do-aheadable.