On day four, we made meringue: French meringue and Italian meringue. French meringue is what most of you are probably familiar with – raw egg whites, cream of tartar and granulated sugar. We practiced piping the meringue on Silpat into different shapes.
We also made Italian meringue. A hot sugar syrup is poured into frothy egg whites, creating a cooked meringue. After the meringue is cooled you can make an Italian buttercream by adding butter. 
Italian meringue buttercream is to die for. I could eat it with a spoon. Once you’ve had Italian or Swiss buttercream, you’ll never want American buttercream again.
Here’s some of my piping. Practice makes perfect!
I’m pulling up too much when I pipe. The tops look like Dairy Queen ice cream cones.
Tear shapes. Too much tail going on here. Some aren’t bad, though! Maybe I’ll practice piping this weekend.
We also made pate a choux! I love pate a choux! It’s so much fun to make, and very easy. I’ve made cream puffs and eclairs with choux paste before.
You cook butter, milk, water, salt and sugar in a saucepan, then stir in flour, and a dough ball forms. 
Eggs get beaten it. The egg is the only leavening in the dough.
We were allowed to take the choux paste and Italian buttercream with us, so when I got home guess what I did?
Cream puffs for dinner!
I am so enjoying your blog! I love the Pastry School postings. They are so interesting. Thanks so much for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks! I appreciate it!
DeleteCream puffs are one of my favorite dessert... except, I prefer them with crème patissière! I'm not so good in piping too... I would have to practice too!
ReplyDeleteOh me too! Would have filled them with that if I had any!
DeletePerfect piping and pastries!
ReplyDeleteApplauding and cheering for you. ;)
ReplyDeleteI am so loving your updates. So interesting to see what you are learning. Keep up the good work, you're doing great.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anj!
DeleteHi Emily! I love reading about your school! I'm learning so much. The Italian meringue buttercream sounds divine! I have a question: Do all of the students use the school's pots & pans, Silpats, Kitchenaid mixers, etc.? Do you all have the same equipment to use? Do you have to provide any of your own equipment, such as knives? Take care! I look forward to more of your posts!
ReplyDeleteHi Jane! Thanks for reading! The students use the school's equipment. We have our own set of knives and tools, though. The tools are included in the price of tuition.
DeleteI spent years trying to make the perfect cream puff and failed almost every time till I tried Julia Child's recipe. Hopefully it will work again for me when I make St. Joseph's pastries for an Italian dinner in the fall. You remind me it can be done.
ReplyDeleteI have made Italian meringue. It's sort of like marshmallow. I used it to frost my tres leches cake. How does the butter cream version differ from Swiss buttercream though? I made my first Swiss mergingue buttercream this year (and was surprised it came out fine).
I want to go to this Italian dinner.
DeleteI love Swiss meringue buttercream! Swiss meringue is cooked by whisking egg whites and sugar over a water bath. The whites are beaten with a mixer until fluffy, then butter is added.
Those cream puffs look fab!!
ReplyDeleteEeeee I'm so excited for you-that all looks like soooo much fun!
ReplyDeleteCream puffs! How fun. Meringue is something I never practice making until I have to make it.
ReplyDeleteDo you notice a difference between the stability of the French and Italian meringue?
The French was pretty stable because it had a lot of sugar in it. We didn't practice piping the Italian because we immediately added the butter to it, making a buttercream. It was more marshmallow-y, so I think it would be harder to pipe than the French, but I'm not sure.
Deletei am loving your pastry school posts! keep it up!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nora!
DeleteThis is so cool; I feel like I'm going to pastry school with you. I love Italian meringue, and I actually refuse to make American buttercream now that I've had Italian buttercream. It's my favorite! Can't wait to see more :)
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel!
DeleteDoes it get any better than getting to play with food all day?!? . . . and making puffs . . . and piping . . . sigh, you're so lucky :)
ReplyDelete*afterthought* . . . I guess it could get better . . . having somebody clean up after you :)
Oh that would be nice! We always have a lot of dishes at the end of the day!
DeleteCream puffs for dinner -- I love it! Great posts, it's almost like we're all there at school with you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Tom!
DeleteYummy.
ReplyDeleteGreat job. I would love to eat all you are making. :)
Cream puffs for dinner! What a great idea :)
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing this, I think cream puffs for dinner is necessary at my place tonight!
ReplyDeleteWhat happens to all the sweet stuff you are making at pastry school except of the things you seem to be allowed to take home sometimes?
ReplyDeletebises, la cuisiniere
Delicious looking dinner! I often have too much tail going on with my piping. I have to learn to stop squeezing before I pull up. Great job though! And yes, practice makes perfect. Keep at it girl. I know you got this!
ReplyDelete