Who doesn't love a good pastry? I'm not ashamed to admit that my husband and I traveled to different bakeries in the area while watching The Great British Baking Show where we purchased a few baked goods we have never tried and saw on the show. And naturally, we reenacted the judges reactions after each bite. Who also did this? Were you Paul Hollywood or Mary Berry?Well, judging other baker's creations aside, these Almond Pastries were my attempt to be judged. I'll share how I faired.
My personal challenge: baking my way through "How to Bake". This post is my experience baking and learning new skills from tackling each recipe in Paul Hollywood's, "How to Bake". I will also document any recipe changes that I made - mainly as a result of not having the ingredients on hand (i.e., we never have regular sugar in the house) - and how the recipe fared. I will not be providing the recipes that are in his book.
For the seventh recipe that I made, I decided to lean on my husband and asked him to randomly flip through the pages of "How to Bake", and he choose the Almond Pastries. I was really excited to try out a puff pastry recipe again and add something new to my repertoire: frangipane. Of course, my husband played an excellent Paul Hollywood reaction when he tried these Almond Pastries. (no handshake given, but I did get a kiss for my efforts).
Frangipane is basically an almond-flour paste. It's often an ingredient in most European and French desserts, and while it may sound super fancy to conjure, it's really simple to assemble. But, don't let the simplicity fool you. Frangipane adds a wonderful nutty sweetness to desserts and elevates its richness.
Just like the several other of my baked goods posts, this recipe required a book turn - here was my third chance at nailing the book fold and turn! Third time is the charm, right? After rolling out the dough, you cut the sheet into squares and then press each corner into the center, add a dollop of frangipane into each risen star. Then, sprinkle with shaved almonds, brush with an egg wash and bake to perfection!
Here are some of the lessons that I learned:
All Bakers Really Do Press Their Faces in the Oven Door. Okay, so yet again, my final end product did not look like the photo. The pastry browned more than the "How to Bake" photo. Despite the overly golden brown color, the final product smelled divine, and I opted for a fresh squeeze of orange once out of the oven rather than Paul Hollywood's orange icing. But back to the lesson learned. I think I was overly obsessed with the browning of these pastries that I ignored my gut. Based on the last pastry not being as browned as the photo, I kept these almond pastries in longer than ideal. Like all the bakers in the British Baking Show, I kept my nose pressed against the oven door and watched the pastry bake. I watched as it slowly puffed up and expanded on the baking sheet. I watched so intently the minutes felt like hours ticking by and I could no longer notice the color changes in the pastry. I guess this should have been my sign to remove from the oven! Alas. Live and learn.
I Prefer Fruit. I am a HUGE fruit fan. I was that kid at parties that stood by the fruit bowl and gorged herself until sick. And, if no one was looking, I am sure that I stuffed my pockets and socks with extra sliced fruit for later. So, please take this lesson with a grain of salt, or understanding of my purist nature when it comes to fruit. As a comparison, my husband loves fruit pies and tarts - he is often ordering some "insert fruit here" dessert and I am more of a chocolate dessert orderer. With all of that out of the way, I have to say that this pastry was not my favorite. I think I would have preferred the orange to stay out of this pastry, and left the butter and almond do the majority of the talking. I also don't think I truly enjoyed the texture of the pastry, but I totally blame the baker on this (me) because it was over-baked, which did leave the pastry a bit dry.
Sleep Deprivation May Not Be Favorable. There are some times when I am sleep deprived when I feel as though I am a genius in the kitchen and I move around like I am a professional figure skater doing triple axles on the ice like it's no big deal. And, more often than not, while sleep deprived I am fumbling around the kitchen making a mess - dropping essential ingredients, accidentally flinging batter on the walls and floor, and forgetting a key step almost until too late. I believe that this recipe fell into the later category. After letting the pastry rise properly, I did not finish baking until WAY late at night, and I was not focused on the task. As with anything you may be baking, look at the timeframe required and the suggested rise times, and THEN plan accordingly. This may be a "duh" and obvious learning lesson, but sometimes you get so excited and you over commit yourself to your baking challenge. It happens. When it does, give yourself some grace.
On that note, I hope that you find a recipe book you enjoy, or this one that I am currently baking my way through. Either way, enjoy baking and nourishing yourself and your family.
All my light. All my love. Namaste.
xx,
Jordan
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