We happened to be in the Marais on Gay Pride Day June 2006.  We usually stay on the Left Bank when visiting Paris, but had just returned for one night after a week in Provence and decided to stay near the Gare de Lyon.  That way, we would be able to walk to our hotel from the train station, eliminating a costly taxi ride.  I expected a quiet night, having dinner near our hotel and turning in early since we were catching our flight back home the next morning.  What was I thinking??  We were in Paris, and when you are in Paris, and when it's your last night in Paris, YOU DO NOT TURN IN EARLY!  We arrived at our hotel, threw down our luggage, and we were out of there. 
   Once on the streets, the crowds in the Marais seemed unusually large.  In fact, the streets were packed!  We had been in Provence for a week, had not read a newspaper, had not seen a television, had not remembered it was Gay Pride Day. 
   Had we stayed on the Left Bank we most likely would have been oblivious to this totally happening event.  It was quite the festive atmosphere.  The Bastille no longer looked like a monument, covered as it was with bodies gyrating along with music blaring from the massive speakers surrounding it. 
   As we stood in queue for gelato at Amorino, 31 rue Vieille du Temple, I asked to snap this stunning photo.  I love it for the contradictions... and there are many; but especially the chiffon against the graffiti.  Certainly a memorable evening in Paris.  And if you ask my daughter what her favorite part of the trip was, without pause, she shoots back -- What do you think?  Gay Pride Day, of course! 



 

  When I traveled to Paris for the first time in 1997, I was introduced to  macarons.  They are amazing little almond meringue confections with endless varieties of fillings.  If you've never had one of these you are truly missing out.  The December 1996 issue of House & Garden magazine published a beautiful article, "Cookie Fortune" which included the history of the French macaron, photographs that I have been tempted to frame, and a recipe from patisserie Ladurée.  I found that recipe and the procedure totally intimidatiing.  I filed it away, only taking it out occasionally to admire again the photographs of the beautiful, pastel-colored marcarons.  As I've become more involved in visiting pastry-themed blogs, I've realized that the French macaron does not have to be intimidating and is something that can easily be made at home, and has been on my growing list of "things I need to bake".  In fact, it has been on my list for quite a long time, but a photograph that was posted by Corey of Tongue and Cheek was what finally inspired me to set aside a morning for my first attempt at making macarons.  I am now hooked and on the way to further experimentation.
  What I learned:
  • There are many recipes on the web for macarons and different baking times and techniques.  I found Corey's to work the best for me.  She baked her macarons at 300˚F for 12-16 minutes, then left them in the oven with the heat off and the door ajar for another 2 hours.  I found that this technique preserved any color that was added to the meringues.  When I baked them for 16-18 minutes, as another recipe recommended, they were brown, instead of the intended pink.
  • They really don't spread much after being piped onto the parchment.  I used 4 cookie sheets for this recipe since I left about 2-inches in between each meringue.  Next time I'll be fine with just 2 sheets.
  •  Drawing circles on the underside of the parchment paper will help achieve more consistent-sized meringues.
  •  Serious Eats has a great post on making and baking macarons.  I used their recipe for ingredients and some of the procedures along with Corey's of Tongue and Cheek

                                      Almond Macarons

• 225 grams powdered (Confectioners') sugar
• 125 grams almond flour (I ground 125g of blanched almonds along with the powdered sugar to a very find powder in my food processor)
• 110 grams egg whites (leave in a jar at room temperature for 1 to 2 days before using in this recipe)
• 30 grams sugar
• pinch of salt

1.  Preheat the oven to 300˚F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2.  The powdered sugar and almonds should be mixed together in a food processor to a fine powder.  Pour into a large mixing bowl.
3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks; slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
4.  When the egg whites are glossy, add food color, if desired, until combined.
5.  Gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture, folding until fully incorporated. 
6.  Using a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch round tip, pipe the macarons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (it helps if you secure the parchment to the cookie sheet by placing a little bit of the meringue on each corner between the sheet and the parchment) in 1 1/2-inch discs.
7.  After piping, let the meringues set at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before baking.
8.  Bake for 12 minutes at 300˚F, turn off the oven, and open the oven door.  Leave the meringues inside the cooling oven for 2 hours.

The fillings:  Buttercream is typically used for the filling of French macarons, but anything and everything is possible.  I made a chocolate ganache for half of the macarons and a white chocolate-raspberry for the other half.  For each I started out by pouring a little heavy cream in a small saucepan, heated over a low flame, and removed before it came to a boil.  I removed the pan from the heat and added enough dark chocolate or white chocolate to give a good spreading consistancy, stirring until melted.  I added a little unsalted butter to the dark chocolate to give it some shine, and seedless raspberry preserves was added to the white chocolate.  These were piped onto the meringue discs using a smaller pastry tip.

  I took a morning off from what seems to be constant busyness and enjoyed a cappuccino and pastries with a friend.  One of my all-time favorites is chouquettes, made from choux pastry dough that is piped into little mounds and topped with a large course-grained sugar.  I was first introduced to chouquettes in Paris by our friend Maria.  She would purchase a little bag full of them from a patisserie for snacking while we walked the city.  It's another one of those "when you can't be in Paris" treats that is easily made at home, but gives me the feel of being somewhere special. 
                 
                                        CHOUQUETTES
                  adapted from a recipe on Chocolate & Zucchini
• 50 g of unsalted butter
• 125 ml water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt
• 75 g flour
• 2 eggs
• chouquettes sugar or pearl sugar

1.  Combine the butter, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and pour all of the flour in at once.  Stir quickly with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and forms a ball.
2.  Place the dough into the bowl of an electric mixer and let cool for 2 minutes.  Turn on the mixer and add the eggs, one by one, until totally incorporated.  You will have a nice, shiny dough.
3.  You can either drop small mounds of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, or use a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip.  You should have enough dough for approximately 25 chouquettes.  Make sure to leave space between the dough mounds so they have room to expand and puff up.  Take the coarse sugar and press grains gently onto the top of each chouquette.
4.  Bake on the middle rack of a preheated 425˚F oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375˚ and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.  You want the chouquettes to be golden brown and dry.  Take out of the oven and pierce each chouquette with a toothpick or wooden skewer to let the steam escape.

  So what do I do when I dream of being in Paris and can't?  I bake French pastry and try to trick my mind into thinking I am actually there.  Sad, but true, I doubt I will be visiting Paris anytime soon.  Never say never, but I just don't think this is the year.  After my trip last summer, I came home to stories of my dog Pipi acting suicidal while I was gone.  That's when I said, as long as I have Pipi I cannot travel anywhere without her.  (But, give me a convincing argument why I should go, and who knows... )

  A pastry that you will see in many of the pâtisseries in Paris is Brioches aux Gouttes de Chocolat (chocolate chip brioches).  I found Patisserie Gérard Mulot's recipe for this in the book, Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie, by Linda Dannenberg.  It takes some time, but is worth every minute.  This brioches recipe is my favorite.  I've always had fantastic results.  After the second rise, in the refrigerator, it is rolled rather thin into a large rectangle and spread with vanilla pastry cream then sprinkled with chocolate chips before folding and cutting into thin strips.  Any brioche dough that is left, I form into a ball and bake. 

                                   Brioches aux Gouttes de Chocolat
                    from Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie by Linda Dannenberg
Brioche Dough:
• 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 4 cups (500 G sifted all-purpose flour)
• 1/4 cup (50 G sugar)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
Pastry Cream:
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Assembly:
• 4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg, well beaten, for glaze

Brioche Dough:  Place the lukewarm water in a small bowl and sprinkle with the yeast.  Let stand for 10 minutes, then transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook or a large mixing bowl.  Add the sifted flour, sugar, salt and 3 eggs.  Mix at low speed until blended, using the dough hook or by hand with a wooden spoon.  Gradually add the remaining 2 eggs and raise the speed to medium.  Mix until the dough is smooth, elastic, and fairly soft, about 10 minutes.  When it is ready, it should stick to the sides and bottom of the bowl. * My dough was extremely dry and I had to add additional water until I got the texture of dough described above *  Gradually add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing just until it has been absorbed, then quickly adding more.  Don't overmix, or the dough will become warm.  Transfer the dough to a buttered large mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (my house is always cold and took quite a while to double, probably more like 4 hours).  Punch down or fold the dough over onto itself.  Cover again with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight

Pastry Cream:  Bring the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan.  In a large nonaluminum mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar, then add the cornstarch and whisk until well blended.  Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, then return the mixure to the saucepan and bring to a boil.  Boil over medium-high heat, whisking vigorously, for 2 minutes.  Strain the cream into a clean mixing bowl; if you are using vanilla extract, add it now.  Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard.  Cool, then chill at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days. 

Assembly:  Roll out the cold dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 12 x 18-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick.  Stir the cold pastry cream once or twice to smooth it.  With a spatula, spread 1 cup of the pastry cream over the surface in a thin layer.  Scatter the chocolate pieces  over the top.  Fold the short ends of the rectangle toward the middle, so one short end meets the other in the center.  With a very sharp knife, cut the dough in half along the center seam.  Cut each half crosswise in 12 strips, cutting decisively all the way through so the dough doesn't pull.  Place the strips on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about 3/4-inch apart.  Cover loosly with plastic wrap and let rise until the dough is puffy-- about 1 1/2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly brush the tops of the dough strips with the beaten egg.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Cool the brioches in the pan on a wire rack.  * Cutting the strips of brioches as described in the recipe will give you 24 pastries.  I have previously cut the dough to give me 18 pastries, which I think had better results.  The top dough tends to slide on the pastry cream and chocolate during the last rise and again in the baking, and I found this to be less of a problem when the strips were cut a little wider. 

I have been making this French orange-currant cookie for many years.  Recently however, I found the identical recipe printed in Linda Dannenberg's book Paris Boulangerie Patisserie.  Dannenberg attributes the cookie recipe to Jean-Luc Poujauran (actually his father, also a baker).  Not far from the Eiffel Tower, Patisserie Poujauran is located on rue Jean-Nicot on the Left Bank of Paris.  Both a patissier and a boulanger, Poujauran's organic breads and pastries are considered by many the best in Paris.

Poujauran delivers his breads to restaurants around Paris in this truck with a basket on top.

I have been to the shop (with the pink paint and spotted dog on the front) several times, but it wasn't until my last visit that it was actually open when I passed by.  Fortunately, I have a good friend that hauls home bags of these cookies whenever she is in Paris, allowing me to compare my home-baked to the originals. 

I suggest when making these cookies to use all organic ingredients as Jean-Luc does, and European butter, if possible. A wood burning oven wouldn't hurt either (sigh).  Also I have found that kept in a tin, allowing the orange zest to infuse the cookies, they just get better and better over time.

                            Sable a l'Orange et Raisins
        (from Paris Boulangerie Patisserie by Linda Dannenberg)

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 Tablespoons ground almonds
1 2/3 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel (or grated zest of one orange)
1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water for glaze

1.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until light.  Add the egg, egg yolk, and almonds in turn, mixing after each addition until well-blended.  Sift the flour with the baking powder and add to the butter mixture, mixing just until partially incorporated.  Add the currants and orange peel or zest, and finish mixing the dough with a large rubber spatula just until blended.  Be careful not to overmix.  Cover dough and refrigerate at least one hour.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place parchment paper on two baking sheets.  Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface about 1/8-inch thick.  Cut out the cookies with a cookie cutter and place on the prepared sheets.  Brush the cookies lightly with the egg wash.  Bake until light golden, about 13-15 minutes.  Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack to cook completely.
3.  Invite a friend over for coffee. 

This is my ultimate obsession... my French Bulldog Pipi (yes, I know what her name means in French and it's quite appropriate).

My first encounter with a French Bulldog was ten years ago at the Hotel Saint-Germain in Paris.  Jules (Julius Augustus Caesar) was the resident Frenchie and he totally stole my heart.  I couldn't get down to the lobby fast enough in the mornings to see him again.

Three years later when I returned to visit Jules, he was joined at the hotel by his daughter Ogune.

              I would even see Frenchies used in window displays!

After that visit, I made it my mission to find a Frenchie of my very own.  And this is the little girl I found.  Pipi is now seven years old.  (In this photo she is modeling her coat designed and constructed by me).

Frenchies are becoming very popular in our neighborhood of St. Paul.  They are described as little clowns in a philosopher's robe.  Here Pipi is shown with house guests Tayto and Belle.

                            How can you not love a Frenchie?

Over the years I have clipped many pages from the food section of the Sunday New York Times Magazine.  The September 25, 1988, magazine featured the article Time for Snacks by Patricia Wells and listed recipes for after-school treats from four pastry shops in Paris.  One recipe that I make often is Tartelettes aux Pommes (free-form individual apple tarts) from Poilane on the Rue du Cherche-Midi. 

The breads and pastries baked and sold there have a charming rustic quality due to the brick wood-burning ovens. 

Lionel Poilane's breads have a world-wide reputation and are served in some 400 Parisian restaurants.

Poilane's butter cookies, known as Punitions, can be found in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Paris Sweets.

The recipe for Tartelette aux Pommes makes four, but I have quadrupled it for parties.  It's quite impressive to have a large basket full of 16 individual apple tarts.  One caveat, if you saute more than 4 apples at a time you will need to cut back on the amount of butter used or you will be steaming the apples instead of caramelizing.  (I recommend doing only four at a time).

                              TARTELETTES AUX POMMES
                            (as adapted from Patricia Wells)

1 recipe flaky sweet pastry dough (see below)
4 Golden Delicious or Gala apples
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. light brown sugar

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2.  Divide the dough into four equal portions.  Roll each portion into a six-inch circle.  Place the circles of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to bake.
3.  Peel and core the apples, then cut each into 12 pieces.  Heat the butter until hot (but not smoking), in a large frying pan.  Add the apples and granulated sugar.  Saute' until lightly browned and starting to caramelize.
4.  Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and spoon the apples into the center of the pastry rounds, dividing them evenly.  It helps if the apples have cooled somewhat before being placed on the pastry rounds.  Fold the edges of dough up over the rim of the apples and pleat, forming about a one-inch border.  Brush the border with the egg.
5.  Bake in the center of the oven until golden, about 20 minutes.  Sprinkle the apples with the brown sugar. 

                                        PATE BRISEE

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. ice water

1.  Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the water and slowly pulse3 just until the pastry begins to hold together. Form a disc and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate for at least an hour. 

Valentine's Day a year ago was our last day in Paris.  It was a cold, rainy, windswept day.  We decided to spend that day at Chateau de Chantilly, 30 minutes north of Paris by train.  The chateau's art collection is second only to Le Louvre in France, but the reason we really wanted to go there was to eat...

especially the desserts.  Chateau de Chantilly is where Chantilly Cream was accidentally invented!

The tables in the charming stone-walled dining room at the downstairs restaurant Les Cuisines de Vatel were decorated for the special occasion. 

                 My niece's husband was also color-coordinated!

                After our bellies were full, we toured the chateau.

                         and admired the mosaic tile floors...

         and looked out through the windows to the formal gardens.

                 The Chateau de Chantilly even has its own chapel.

Soon enough it was time to walk down the cobbled road and catch the bus back to the train station...   

For our last night in Paris.

A year ago this week I was in Paris along with my sister, her daughter and her daughter's husband.  We always stay on the Left Bank at either the Hotel Saint-Germain or the Hotel Lindbergh and because of that location we always find ourselves passing by Deyrolle.  The first floor is a small shop devoted to outdoor items and clothing for gardening and hunting, but if you walk up the centuries-old staircase to the second floor you will be astonished at the diverse collection of animals in this taxidermy shop. 

                          Not something you see every day. 

Even tho' the animals are so amazing, I also find myself admiring the architectural details; like the herringbone parquet floors and the old French windows.... 

and these beautiful wooden file drawers.  In addition to these stuffed animals, Deyrolle also has a room full of rare butterflies and bugs. 

                                        Don't miss it!