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Apple ButterChoux pastry (Pâte à choux)This is a must in your baking arsenal. Few ingredients but lots of technique! Read on....
You can stuff them with ice cream, whipped cream or crème pâtissière and then cover them with chocolate sauce or caramel. Unless you are making savoury ones, in which case you omit the sugar and you might want to add cheese or spices to the dough. You can then stuff them with chicken salad for example.
When stuffing with a cream, if you do not want to split the puffs open, you can pipe the cream in with a pastry bag through a small opening at the bottom of the puff.Crème anglaiseThis is not a destination, it is the trip....meaning it is a component to several dessert recipesCrème pâtissière (Pastry cream)This is another staple in pastry making, it is what you fill éclairs and mille feuilles and choux à la crème with. This is a traditional recipe, I know some people use cornstarch...I don't.CrêpesThese are not pancakes, these are thin crêpes also known as crêpes dentelle (lace crepes).
I use them for everything from crêpes Suzette to savoury confections. Crêpes can be served as is, with maple syrup, or filled with fruit and covered with either ice cream or any number of sauces. They can also be used in savoury dishes and filled with vegetable (like asparagus) or seafood (like crab) and covered with a sauce (like béchamel). The possibilities are endless. Feel free to add flavourings such as orange zest or fresh herbs in your batter according to what dish they will be used for.Italian buttercreamThis is a classic. It provides silky buttery icing. It has nothing to do with the butter and icing sugar some people call butter cream. But it is a lot more work. This recipe provides a large amount, sufficient for three dozen cupcakes or three cakes, depending on their size. It takes food colouring well.