Pie and Pastry Bible (151 page)

HAND METHOD

Without scraping the pan, empty the mixture into a bowl and add the egg(s), one at a time, and then the egg white(s), beating vigorously with a wooden spoon after each addition.

Chop the garlic with the salt as above. Beat the garlic mixture and the thyme and parsley for white truffle puffs or the optional ham, the cheese, and cayenne pepper for gougæres until evenly incorporated. The mixture can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated overnight. Beat it lightly with a wooden spoon before piping.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. Set an oven rack in the middle level before preheating.

SHAPE THE PUFFS

Dab a small dot of the mixture in each corner of the baking sheet and line the sheet with a Teflon-type liner, pressing lightly to make it adhere; or use foil or grease and flour the pan. (Do not use parchment, as these puffs will stick. Also, do not use Baker’s Joy, as it makes piping the puffs too slippery.) Fill the pastry bag fitted with a ½- to ¾-inch pastry tube with dough and pipe puffs about 1½ inches in diameter and ½ to ¾ inch high at least 1 inch apart onto the sheet. (By hand, you can use two greased teaspoons instead of piping. Use one to scoop out the dough and the other, or your fingertip, to push it off onto the baking sheets. If necessary, use your fingertip, dipped first in a little water, to smooth the shape.)

Bake for 30 minutes or until the puffs are golden brown and firm enough to lift without collapsing. Remove them to racks. (Do not turn off the oven.) Holding each puff gently on either side, invert it and use the tip of a knife to make a ¼-inch slit in the bottom to release steam. Return them to the oven, still on the racks. Turn off the oven, use a wooden spoon or wedge to prop the oven door slightly ajar, and let the puffs dry for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

FILL THE PUFFS

Use a serrated knife to slice off the top quarter of each puff, reserving the tops. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons of filling into each bottom. Cover with the tops.

STORE

Unfilled puffs, in heavy-duty freezer bags or airtight containers, refrigerated, up to 1 week; frozen, up to 6 months. Reheat in a 350°F. oven for 10 minutes before serving.

UNDERSTANDING

This pastry replaces the 8 tablespoons of butter in the classic recipe with 7 tablespoons of oil, because butter contains only 81 percent fat (compared to the oil’s 100 percent) and 15.5 percent water. For the gougæres, 1 tablespoon less oil is used than for the basic savory cream puffs to offset the fat contained in the Cheddar cheese.

ESCARGOT PUFFS

F
or me, these puffs are the world’s best appetizer and a perfect party dish. Quick and easy to make, the recipe can be increased to make dozens, and they can be prepared two days ahead, refrigerated, and reheated in five minutes. The crisp and airy garlic-and-herb-imbued cream puffs have a moist interior that makes a perfect edible “shell” in which to nestle the snails, cloaked with a dab of classic garlic/herb butter. When they are heated, the garlic butter melts into the puff. Every bite is something delectable. Escargots never get as good as these.

EQUIPMENT

A cookie sheet or half-size sheet pan, lined with foil

Make the dough (page 543 or 544). Pipe, shape, and bake the puffs (see page 546).

In a small bowl, place the butter. On a chopping block, smash the shallot and garlic with the flat side of the blade of a sharp chopping knife. Sprinkle them with the salt and mince them fine. Add the parsley and mince it together with the shallot and garlic mixture until finely chopped. Stir this mixture into the butter along with the hot sauce or cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and white pepper. Add salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

ASSEMBLE THE ESCARGOT PUFFS

Allow the garlic/herb butter to soften until spreadable (at least 1 hour at room temperature).

Use a serrated knife to slice off the top quarter of each puff and reserve each top next to its bottom. Place the puffs on the foil-lined sheet. Place a snail inside each puff and spread about 1 teaspoon of the garlic/herb butter on top. Cover with the reserved tops. Set aside at room temperature for up to 1 hour or refrigerate, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. at least 20 minutes before baking.

Uncover the puffs and bake them for 3 to 5 minutes or until the puffs are crisp and the butter is bubbling.

STORE

Garlic/herb butter, refrigerated, up to 5 days.

UNDERSTANDING

Mincing the garlic by hand gives a better flavor than the processor. The salt releases some of their moisture and softens the garlic and shallots, making them easier to chop.

When baking the puffs, make the steam release hole near the top so the butter won’t leak out.

^*
My favorite pan for these is a 10-inch (bottom measurement) by 2-inch-high round copper tarte Tatin pan (see page 281). For half the dough, use a 7- by 2-inch pan or an 8- by 2-inch tarte Tatin or cake pan with a ball of crumpled foil in the center.

^*
A half recipe can be prepared in a 7-inch pan.

^*
My favorite pan for these is a 10-inch (bottom measurement) by 2-inch-high round copper tarte Tatin pan (see page 281).

FILLINGS AND TOPPINGS

T
he texture of cakes lends itself to being decorated with buttercream, but pies and tarts are far more compatible with pastry cream or fruit curd or accompanied by whipped cream or ice cream. Heavy cream is actually a superior medium for blending flavors because it has a much lighter texture and less pronounced flavor than buttercream, allowing other flavors to come through more clearly. Fruit purées lightened with whipped cream have the intense, fresh flavor of the fruit and make heavenly fillings and piped toppings. Chocolate blended with heavy cream to become the most divine of all chocolate fillings, ganache, can be whipped full of air or left alone to become dense and creamy. Plain lightly sweetened whipped cream complements any pie or tart because of its soft, cloud-like texture and rich, faintly flowery flavor. It is particularly suited to open-faced pies and tarts.

When used to accompany a slice of pie or tart, whipped cream is loveliest if beaten only until it softly mounds when dropped from a spoon—not until stiff peaks form when the beater is lifted. To avoid overheating, I usually finish beating it by hand with the detached whisk beater from the machine. When I raise the whisk and small but straight peaks form, the cream is the perfect consistency. When beaten conventionally, heavy cream at least doubles in volume. The food processor, however, produces a whipped cream that does not increase in volume. Its dense and velvety texture makes it ideal for piping decorative borders.

I like to sweeten whipped cream with one tablespoon of granulated sugar per cup of cream. Powdered sugar adds an undesirable slightly powdery texture because of the cornstarch it contains to keep it from lumping. (I use powdered sugar only when it is dissolved in liquid and heated to boiling to swell the starch and make its presence undetectable.)

Whipped cream must be refrigerated to preserve its texture. Therefore, unless the pie requires refrigeration anyway, such as a chiffon pie, it is best to add the whipped cream shortly before serving if you are not using a stabilizer.

The high heat required for ultrapasteurizing destroys some of the butterfat in cream, and many areas of the country have cream with a low butterfat content to
begin with. The combination of ultrapasteurization and low butterfat content makes whipping the cream more difficult and causes the finished cream to lack stability without the addition of certain stabilizers, losing two or more tablespoons of water per cup of cream if allowed to sit, even in the refrigerator. Consequently, ultrapasteurized cream has many other stabilizers added to it to enable it to whip. I have worked out a simple method for increasing the butterfat content of cream (see page 552) and another easy method using cornstarch that locks in the moisture without increasing the butterfat. Both result in a more stable cream that holds up beautifully when piped. I have recently seen a “gourmet whipping cream,” with a higher butterfat content, in the supermarket, standing shoulder to shoulder with all the low-fat, no-fat permutations, and rejoice in its appearance. Very little whipped cream goes a long way to enhancing a slice of pie or tart, and it should be all that it can be.

Chilling the mixing bowl, beater, heavy cream, and even the sugar before beating helps to make the most of what butterfat the cream does contain. Whipped creams flavored with firm ingredients such as chocolate, cocoa, or fruit jams do not require any additional stabilizer. Except for chocolate or chestnut whipped cream, however, these will not hold for prolonged periods at room temperature.

To make plain whipped cream ahead without stabilizers, place the whipped cream in a cheesecloth-lined sieve to allow the excess liquid to drain off and then refrigerate, lightly covered with plastic wrap. Or refrigerate the whipped cream and when ready to use whip it lightly to reincorporate the liquid.

For topping a pie or making decorations, it is best to use whipped cream as soon as it is made, when its texture is smoothest. Decorated pies can be kept one or two days in the refrigerator. Because cream absorbs other odors, it is important to cover tightly any other more odiferous ingredients in the refrigerator, as storing the pie or tart airtight will cause the crust to become soggy.

The best cream stabilizer I know of is Cobasan, from Germany (see page 644), available to the industry, and a reasonably small quantity can also be purchased by the consumer. It is one of the staples in my baking kitchen and I consider it to be sheer magic. Just a few drops of this colorless, flavorless liquid added to the cream before whipping produces a whipped cream that is exceptionally light and soft, yet with a seemingly magical, invisible, totally undetectable veil that maintains its form for as long as six hours at room temperature. Cobasan doesn’t do a thing for ultrapasteurized cream (which is the soul of mediocrity and should be banned). If cream is ultrapasteurized, it will be indicated on the container.

Another excellent stabilizer for whipped cream, available in some supermarkets and specialty stores, is Whipit by Oetker of Ontario, Canada. It is a powder undetectable in the cream and gives a slightly ivory color and slight sweetness, with no added flavor, to the whipped cream. The sweetness can be counteracted by using less sugar than usual. Whipit will work with ultrapasterurized cream and is slightly more stable than Cobasan but produces a slightly less light textured whipped cream.

PERFECT WHIPPED CREAM

A
dollop of softly whipped fresh cream alongside a piece of pie is one of life’s perfect things. If you want the cream to hold up for hours, the optional Cobasan will make it possible, with no compromise of flavor or texture. If you prefer an unsweetened counterpoint to a sweeter pastry, leave out the sugar.

In a large mixer bowl, place all the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. (Chill the whisk beater alongside the bowl.)

Beat the mixture until soft peaks form when the beater is raised or the cream mounds softly when dropped from a spoon. Do not overheat.

VARIATIONS

MOCHA WHIPPED CREAM
Increase the sugar to 2 tablespoons and add 1 tablespoon of cocoa (preferably Dutch-processed) and 1 teaspoon of Medaglia d’Oro instant espresso powder. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to dissolve the cocoa before beating.