Welcome to How To Cook That I am Ann Reardon
You've been asking for more 200 year old recipes
so this week I am challenging myself to make
this amazing dessert centre piece by Napoleon
Bonaparte's French pastry chef.
The recipe to make this masterpiece is 10
pages long and it took 2 and a half days to
make it!
To start with it says to make the confectioners
paste.
It says "take one pound and a half of sifted
flour, make a hole in the centre as usual,
and put therein two eggs, three yolks a pound
of pounded sugar, and a pinch of salt; stir
this for two minutes only, in order that the
sugar may be little melted; add afterwards
the flour and another yolk if necessary, so
that it may be of the same thickness as paste
for making hot and cold pies."
Back then they called pastry 'paste' and this
is way too dry to be a pastry so I'll add
another egg, let's cheat and swap to the mixer.
It is still too dry so another egg and that's
still not enough so I'm going to add another
egg.
At this point I'm beginning to worry that
the recipe might not be accurate because instead
of 2 eggs and 3 yolks we've needed 5 eggs
and 3 yolks.
The recipe then says to give it "five or six
turns by working it well with your wrists
which will render it particularly sleek and
binding".
It says on the main page that we need a pound
and a half of this confectioner's paste so
let's weigh what we've got.
3 pounds so that's double what it says we
need.
So we should have plenty.
It doesn't actually look like it's going to
be enough to me which is strange because it's
supposed to be double the amount that we need
so we'll try.
"Roll it out to a little more than one-sixth
of an inch in thickness and put on a large
baking plate lightly buttered and then cut
it round fifteen inches in diameter."
15 inches is huge and it's not going to fit
on any of my baking trays or in my oven!
From the picture this is the base and it sticks
out quite a long way so I am going to make
it 12" and use the largest cake tin I've got
to cut the circle size.
"Place another piece of paste on a middle
sized baking plate, buttered and cut it likewise
round ten inches in diameter."
So now we have a 15" circle and a 10" circle
and then it asks for another round piece of
paste six inches.
And this is all the pastry that I have left
after doing that!
And we have more pieces to make so I will
have to make up another batch of confectioners
paste so the quantities in this recipe are
way out.
"Take two more pieces each forming a half-round
of eight inches in diameter and cover two
moulds lightly buttered."
I wasn't sure if it meant half circles or
hemispheres but after looking at the picture
of the finished piece I think it must be hemispheres.
"With the left over roll them out in large
strips a full half inch in diameter cut them
into small columns of 13" in length."
Now if they are 13" in length the columns
aren't going to fit when you read further
on it says they have to go inside this bit
here but those ones are only 3" so we can't
put something that is 13" in there.
I'll make them 3" for the top and 5" for the
bottom, I'm not sure if they should be strips
or columns so let's just go with strips and
hopefully that is good.
The version I have of this recipe has been
translated to English from French nearly 200
years ago and I am not sure if some of the
quantities were incorrectly translated and
that's where the inaccuracies are coming from
or if Careme could not do maths.
That is entirely possible because he was only
10 years old when he was abandoned by his
family during the French Revolution.
To get food to eat and a place to sleep he
worked pretty much like a slave in a kitchen.
He was only 10, he was only a little kid,
I just feel terrible thinking about that.
By the age of thirty due to this talent and
determination, despite his terrible start
and terrible situation, he ended up becoming
the pastry chef for the king and for quite
some time he was the pastry chef for Napoleon
and even made his wedding cake.
The recipe says to "put the whole in a moderate
oven and turn the three round pieces and when
they have acquired a regular yellow colour
take them out as also the upright provided
they are thoroughly dry."
"As soon as the half round are a little coloured
take them out."
Look at that, this stuff is pretty crazy,
it's harder than gingerbread.
It's a bit like baby rusks but it's sweet.
It is edible but I don't think anyone will
eat this part because it is so hard.
"With the point of a small knife make an opening
of an inch in width in the centre of one of
the half rounds and another of two inches
and a half in the centre of the other."
This stuff is so hard to cut, look it has
started to crack in the corner there, you
should definitely cut this out before or during
baking not after.
That's exactly what I did with the second
one, that is heaps easier, there were no cracks
in that one.
"Afterwards make 30 wafers with pistachios
as directed on page 84."
"Let them be three inches in length and a
1/4 of an inch in width."
Now this is confusing me because 3 by a quarter
is like this it is super skinny and according
to the picture it has to go all the way around
the circle.
So if we look at our 6" circle, the circumference
of a circle is 2 pi r and the radius would
be 3 so that's 2 pi times 3 which would be
equal to... let me get a calculator ... that
equals 18.85
So if we have strips that are a 1/4 of an
inch and we divide 18.85 by one quarter then
we would need 75 wafers just to do this section
and it only told us to make 30 and it is supposed
to do both this section and the one below.
So I think this is definitely wrong there's
something going on with the numbers in this
recipe.
Let's try 1 and 1/4" instead which will look
more in proportion to the way it is pictured.
Then we'd need 15 for the 6" circle.
So I will do that for this level.
Then on the picture the bottom one is actually
taller than the middle one so I'm going to
make those 5" instead of 3 and we'll do that
with 1 and 1/4 width too.
So using our same calculations for the 10"
circle that is going to mean that we need
25 of the 5" ones.
Ok?
Good, let's do that.
"Cut half a pound of sweet almonds blanched
in very fine thin fillets, put them in a small
tureen with four ounces of powdered sugar,
half a tablespoon of flour the peel of an
orange (grated), two whole eggs, the yolk
of another and a grain of salt."
"Stir the ingredients gently together, so
not to break the almonds.
When the whole has been well mixed, butter
lightly a baking-plate; pour this mixture
upon it and level it with the blade of a large
knife."
I am using the back of a spoon because I think
it is easier, these wafers actually turned
out amazingly yummy.
I've never seen a recipe like this before
with no butter in it and they are gorgeous
so you'll want to make those.
I'll write out these recipes of you on the
howtookthat.net website so you can make them
too, there is a link to that below.
"Then cover that lightly with two ounces of
pistachios blanched and cut into small fillets
and put in a moderate oven so that both sides
of the wafer may acquire a clear light brown
colour."
I found it easiest to cut these while they
were still a bit soft into all of the strips
and then bake them in the oven again to make
sure they were all evenly golden.
You actually need to make three lots of the
wafer recipe to get enough for this dessert.
Then it says: "Make also 24 cakes a la duchesse."
Duchess?
Duchesse?
I don't know, I'm not French, I don't know
how to say these words.
"Put in a stew pan two glasses of water and
two ounces of butter.
When it boils, take it off the fire and add
six ounces of sifted flour.
Dry the paste in the usual manner."
Now if you've ever made choux pastry before
you'll recognise this recipe straight away.
You need to stir this mixture over the heat
for a couple of minutes or it won't puff up
properly in the oven.
"Put into it a little salt, two eggs and two
ounces of pounded sugar.
When the ingredients have been well mixed
add to it two more eggs."
"And the peel of a lemon chopped very fine."
I am going to pipe these but they didn't have
piping bags back then so the recipe says:
"Sprinkle a board with flour and form your
choux of the usual size after which roll them
out to three inches in length but with as
little flour as possible in order to make
them look clear when baked.
Place them successively on a baking plate
at the distance of two inches and a half from
each other."
"Bake them in a hot oven, when cold fill with
marmalade of apricots, peaches or gooseberry
jelly."
I don't know about you but I can not imagine
eating one of these filled with jam so I am
going to use custard to fill them instead.
Careme apparently invented the croquenbouche
so he must of swapped to custard in the future
because people tend to prefer these filled
with custard.
Further on in the recipe it says we also need
croquignoles a la reine I don't know how to
say these things, so let's make those now.
"Pound a stick of vanilla with two ounces
of sugar."
You can see al the little seeds from the vanilla
bean are now mixed into that sugar, that looks
great.
"Pass the whole though a silk sieve.
Then add seven ounces of sugar and eight ounces
of sifted flour after which add the whole
to the whites of four eggs beaten up very
stiff."
"Then work it for some minutes until it becomes
sleek and soft."
This is looking pretty dry, not so much slick
and soft, and I am not sure if the recipe
quantities are wrong here too but I don't
know what they are supposed to look like.
It may have needed more egg whites but because
I don't know I'm just going to go with what
the cookbook said.
It also said that these can be coloured red
green or yellow - I am going with red.
I'm also going to use a piping bag, they put
spoonfuls on a buttered baking tray.
Now these did turn out really super hard so
if I was making this recipe again I'd swap
them for modern macarons but I'm not going
to make this recipe again because it took
so long to make!
"Then beat up the whites of 6 eggs very stiff
and mix them with eight ounces of pounded
sugar."
They would of course be doing all of this
by hand but I am going to use my stand mixer.
"Put half of it over each half-round taking
care that is be everywhere of an equal thickness.
Put them in a slack oven and let them bake
an hour."
I have never seen anything like this before,
covering a hard pastry shell in meringue - this
is just like genius.
I am using some acetate to smooth that out
and then it can go in the oven.
"The half rounds being thoroughly dry, beat
up the whites of 6 more eggs and mix them
as the former with eight ounces of pounded
sugar."
"Make thirty small meringues of an inch in
width and the same in height.
covering them with very fine sugar.
As soon as the sugar is melted strew some
coarse sugar over them and immediately put
them on a board in the oven."
"Mask the half round which has the smallest
opening first with half of the remaining white
of egg then place your pistachios with points
upwards carefully and regularly upon them
observe however that they should not be stuck
in deep; nor be put where you intend placing
the other small meringues, for which you must
leave six vacant spaces at regular distances
from each other, and of an inch in width."
"Then proceed to ornament the other half round
in the same manner, placing, however the pistachios
the contrary way, that is with their points
downwards.
Put your half rounds immediately in the oven."
"When your small meringues are baked place
three of them on the half round that has the
large opening; thus put the first on the vacant
space where there are no pistachios and close
to the edge of the half round; the next a
quarter of an inch above the former and the
third a quarter of an inch above the second.
Place afterwards three meringues in the same
manner on each of the five remaining vacant
spaces where you have put no pistachios."
Now I of course have put four not three but
this one is going to be sitting on the base
so it can't have four on these ones, I've
got to take them off and put 4 on the other
one.
Then it says to put the half round in the
oven again!
And bake until it is evenly coloured, so this
is the fourth time these hemispheres are going
back into the oven.
So now I have all the components of this dessert
ready, all of these plus the filled choux
pastry that is in the fridge, I sure hope
it all fits together or I will have wasted
2 days of baking!
It says: "After this put four ounces of sugar
to the boil with a fourth part of a glass
of water and the moment it begins to be lightly
coloured, cover the stove partly with ashes
so as to absorb the heat and still leave the
fire sufficiently strong to keep the sugar
in a syrup."
Wow!
Can you imagine doing all of this over a wood
fire?
And all of that baking in a wood fire oven!
How easy is it for us just to turn things
on and turn the stove down when we want it
down, this guy was amazing.
"Dip the end of a wafer in the pan and place
it immediately on the middle sized piece of
paste.
Proceed with the remaining wafers in the same
manner placing them upright close to each
other so as to form a perfect circle."
And next it says to put the centre column
in for support, so obviously they were supposed
to be columns and not strips it's just changing
its mind halfway through the recipe but I'm
sure strips will be fine.
Now that I'm putting them in I can see these
strips are a bit shorter than the wafers which
means they have shrunk in the oven as they
dried out.
So it would be a good idea to make these first
and then measure them to make the wafers match
those.
So hopefully the weight of the top is not
going to make the wafer crack now that these
supports are a bit shorter.
Then it says to: "heat the sugar and after
pouring some drops of it on the ends of the
columns (and I'm going to have to pour some
on the wafers because the columns are a bit
short) turn the small pice of paste together
with its columns on the centre of the larger
and fasten it by pressing it lightly down."
Ouch!
I burnt my finger with the hot sugar so I
am going to swap to thicker gloves for the
next bit.
Let's do the same thing for the smaller circle,
I am so glad we did our calculations earlier
or we would not of had anywhere near enough
of these wafers to go around one of these
circles, let alone both of them.
If you can read French, I'd love to know if
you can find the original book online and
let me know if the measurements and everything
was wrong on the original French version or
if it's just in the translation.
I'd love to know which it is.
Flip that over and make sure it is in the
middle.
Next it says to: "glaze the small cakes a
la duchesse with sugar boiled to a crack and
fix them in the manner represented on the
plate by fastening them lightly with a little
caramel."
It says to put these around the edge here
but in the picture they look so much smaller.
We did pipe them to the exact size it said
so perhaps that measurement was out too.
When we made the 200 year old fruit pie recipe
it had meat in it, which was pretty disgusting,
and you were supposed to leave the filling
unrefrigerated for four months.
So we put some aside in a jar and lots of
people have been asking how the unrefrigerated
meat is going?
We actually opened that jar on a LIVE video
a few weeks ago and amazingly it actually
smelt really good.
It smelled exactly the same as the day we
put it in!
"What's smell of?"
"It smells exactly the same as it did 2 months
ago."
"It doesn't actually smell off at all!"
There was no mold, there was nothing on it,
so their method of preserving that meat in
the fruit pie worked really well.
Then it says: "Put immediately eight croquignoles
a la reine (however you say them) part on
the bottom on the inside of the half round,
let them project a little above the rim in
order to steady the second half round."
So this is going to sort of hold the top in
place.
"Then place the half round with the large
opening like a cup on the small piece of paste."
I guess it does look like a cup and saucer
there.
"The moment you are going to serve it fill
the bottom with cream a la chantilly flavoured
with vanilla and fine sugar; taking care that
the cream is raised in a pyramid above the
edge of the half round on the top of which
you put some fine strawberries."
"Place the second half round on top of the
first."
Now apparently you are supposed to use that
hole to fill it with even more cream but there
is already more than a litre of cream in this
so I'm not going to whip up any more.
I am just going to do the last step which
is to add one more meringue on top to hide
the hole.
Look at that magnificent creation!
Now all we need is some friends to eat it.
Woahhhh!
That's huge!
The recipe says: "When it is served the top
of the meringue should be taken off and be
broken and a piece of it handed round with
a spoonful of the cream."
Everyone's favourites were the custard filled
cakes a la duchesse, the almond wafers and
the meringue with cream and strawberries.
As I suspected the confectioners paste was
too solid to eat, you just couldn't bite into
it.
So it is basically there just for the structure
of the piece.
Click here to see more 200 year old dessert
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Make it a great week and I'll see you on Friday.
