Day Four

on
Friday, July 20, 2012

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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. 

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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!

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I’m pulling up too much when I pipe.  The tops look like Dairy Queen ice cream cones.

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Tear shapes. Too much tail going on here.  Some aren’t bad, though!  Maybe I’ll practice piping this weekend.

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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.

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Eggs get beaten it.  The egg is the only leavening in the dough.

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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!

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29 comments on "Day Four"
  1. I am so enjoying your blog! I love the Pastry School postings. They are so interesting. Thanks so much for sharing with us!

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  2. Cream 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!

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    1. Oh me too! Would have filled them with that if I had any!

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  3. Applauding and cheering for you. ;)

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  4. I am so loving your updates. So interesting to see what you are learning. Keep up the good work, you're doing great.

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  5. Hi 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!

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    1. Hi 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.

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  6. I 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.

    I 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).

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    1. I want to go to this Italian dinner.

      I 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.

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  7. Eeeee I'm so excited for you-that all looks like soooo much fun!

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  8. Cream puffs! How fun. Meringue is something I never practice making until I have to make it.

    Do you notice a difference between the stability of the French and Italian meringue?

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    1. 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.

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  9. i am loving your pastry school posts! keep it up!! :)

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  10. This 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 :)

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  11. Does it get any better than getting to play with food all day?!? . . . and making puffs . . . and piping . . . sigh, you're so lucky :)

    *afterthought* . . . I guess it could get better . . . having somebody clean up after you :)

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    1. Oh that would be nice! We always have a lot of dishes at the end of the day!

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  12. Cream puffs for dinner -- I love it! Great posts, it's almost like we're all there at school with you.

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  13. Yummy.
    Great job. I would love to eat all you are making. :)

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  14. Cream puffs for dinner! What a great idea :)

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  15. After seeing this, I think cream puffs for dinner is necessary at my place tonight!

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  16. What 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?

    bises, la cuisiniere

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  17. 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!

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