Month: December 2015

Bacon and Cheese Twists

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These are based on pastry twists called “Sacristains” we made at patisserie school. In French Patisseries, there can be a lot of left over puff pastry trimmings after making a particular dessert. If you have ever made puff pastry from scratch you will understand why they wouldn’t want to throw the trimmings away! Instead they layer the trimmings on top of each other and roll them out. The layers won’t be as precise as when first made, which makes them perfect for making Sacristains. At school we made sweet Sacristains with cinnamon and almonds, but you can really put whatever you like in them – bacon and cheese is a very good choice though!

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Bacon & Cheese Twists

  • 1 pack of ready made puff pastry (about 375g)
  • I pack of streaky bacon
  • 65g mature cheddar cheese
  • 35g parmesan cheese
  • a good pinch of English mustard powder
  • 1 egg

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Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grate both of the cheeses and mix together in a bowl. Roll out the pastry to a thin rectangle the width of a pound coin. Beat the egg lightly and brush a thin layer over the pastry. Spread out the cheese evenly over the top of the pastry. Press the cheese in to the pastry gently using the rolling pin. Sprinkle the mustard powder over the top.

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Split each rasher of bacon in two lengthways (the bacon I had separated naturally down the middle but use a sharp knife if it’s not playing). Lay each piece of bacon along the pastry with a small gap in between each slice.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry in between each piece of bacon. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Pick up a slice of pastry and twist it round a couple of times, then place on the baking tray. Repeat this with the rest of the pastry. Leave a gap in between each twist on the baking tray as they will puff up – you may need 2 baking trays.

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Brush a thin layer of egg wash on to the exposed pastry on the twists. Then pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes. These are best when they are still warm from the oven but can be eaten cold as well.

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Lemon and Raspberry Millefeuille

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Millefeuille are available in every patisserie in Paris and I was looking forward to making them at pastry school. So you can imagine my disappointment when they were not on the course. However after making them myself I can see why we didn’t spend precious school time on them. They are so easy to make, especially if you buy the puff pastry ready made.

These millefeuille have a layer of raspberry and a layer of lemon crème pâtissière. Be warned, there is no tidy way to eat a millefeuille!

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Raspberry Crème Pâtissière 

  • 250g raspberries
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 30g cornflour

First of all, heat the raspberries in a saucepan with a tablespoon of water. Stir gently until the raspberries have broken down and become a liquid. Remove from the heat and pass the liquid through a sieve to remove all the seeds. Place the raspberry purée back in to the saucepan and turn the heat up to a medium heat.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, with the sugar and the cornflour.

Once the raspberry purée is starting to steam, pour a small amount in to the egg mixture and whisk together very quickly. This will help loosen the egg mixture and gently heat it through, reducing the whisk of scrambling the eggs.

Pour the whole mixture into the saucepan, put on a high heat and whisk constantly. The mixture will start to thicken. You need to be careful not to allow any part of the bottom to burn. The easiest way to do this is to keep rotating the pan with one hand and whisk in different directions with the other.

When the mixture is thick and glossy, remove from the heat and pour in to a clean bowl straight away. Leave to cool.

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Lemon Crème Pâtissière, you will need…

  • 150ml milk (I use semi skimmed)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 30g sugar
  • 20g cornflour
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Pop the milk in a saucepan and put over a low heat. Meanwhile, whisk all the other ingredients together in a separate bowl.

When the milk is starting to steam, pour a small amount in to the egg mixture and whisk. Then (just like with the raspberry crème pat) pour the whole mixture in to the saucepan, turn the heat up to max and whisk continuously. Once the mixture is thick, pour in to a clean bowl and leave to cool.

You can cool both of these in the fridge, but cover with cling film and make sure the film is touching the crème pat to stop a skin forming and to stop condensation developing.

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For the pastry, you will need…

  • Ready rolled puff pastry, approx 300g
  • 1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Prepare a baking tray with baking paper. Unroll the pastry. With a clean ruler, measure and cut out 12 rectangles, 9 cm long and 5 cm wide. Place on to the baking tray and space the pastry out.

With a pastry brush, brush a thin layer of egg wash over the top of each piece of pastry and allow to dry. Take another sheet of baking paper and put on top of the pastry. Then place another baking tray on top. This stops the pastry rising too much.

Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

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To assemble the millefeuille, fill two piping bags with the crème pâtissèrie. I used a 12mm round nozzle for both. Lay out 4 pieces of pastry and pipe circles of the raspberry crème pat on each piece (I did 8 circles on each one).

Take four more pieces of pastry and add a layer on top of the raspberry crème pat.

Then pipe circles of lemon crème pat on top of these. Finally adding the top layer of pastry.

To finish, dust with icing sugar and serve straight away.

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