How to Make Crêpes | Rouxbe Cooking School Lesson

This new lesson, which has been requested by many of you, is a lesson on crêpes. While we normally don’t take requests (not because we don’t want to, it’s just that we are focused on a particular culinary path), this time we made an exception. What can we say...it’s the holidays and we are feeling all warm and fuzzy

Crêpes are thin, unleavened pancakes that are made from a very basic and pourable batter. They can be filled with an endless array of sweet or savory fillings, which makes them an extremely versatile menu item. Crêpes are quick to prepare and can be served at any time of the day. They can be served as a delicious breakfast or brunch, as an afternoon treat, or as a fancy appetizer or main course. Crêpes also make for show-stopping desserts.

In this Rouxbe Cooking School lesson on How to Make Crêpes, you will learn about the basic equipment required for making crêpes and how to prepare, flavor and tweak a basic batter in order to create ultra-thin crêpes. You will learn the key steps for properly cooking crêpes and a variety of ways in which to fill, shape and serve them. Finally, you will learn how to make and store crêpes in advance so you can have quick and easy access to them. A properly-made crêpe is well-received and much appreciated. From very simple to quite elegant, crêpes can make an appearance on your table just by following just a few basic steps. 

You may also be interested to know that crêpe, is pronounced “krepp” in French, and since that is where the crêpe originated that is how we have pronounced it as well. If you try to order a “kraype” in France they may wonder what it is you are talking about. Regardless of how they are pronounced, crêpes are magical. And since the holidays are upon us, we thought this was the perfect time to share this lesson with you, so you can make delicious crêpes for your family and friends. We also thought you might just want to put a crêpe pan on your wish list.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and most of all Happy Cooking!

The Rouxbe Cooking School Team

Tagged as: [ crepes pastry rouxbe school ]

How to Shape an Épi | Rouxbe Cooking School Lesson

An épi is a loaf of bread that has been specifically shaped to represent a stalk of wheat. Though this may look somewhat intimidating, you will be surprised at just how easy it is to create this rather impressive-looking bread.

In this follow-up Rouxbe Cooking School lesson, we are going to demonstrate how to shape an épi. Consider this lesson your homework assignment from last week's lesson on The Stages the of Bread Making. This is a great way to put your newly-learned breading making skills to the test. Plus, it's a pretty cool way to impress your friends and even yourself

Happy Bread Making!

The Rouxbe Cooking School Team.

Tagged as: [ bread making pastry rouxbe ]

The Stages of Bread Making | Rouxbe Cooking School Lesson

There is something magical about combining the simplest ingredients and kneading them together with your very own hands to create a beautiful, rustic loaf of crusty bread.

No matter what type of bread you choose to make, all yeast breads go through the same main bread making stages. In this Rouxbe Cooking School lesson on The Stages of Bread Making, we will walk you through these stages, using the most basic dough - a lean dough - as our example. Artisinal breads are much more difficult to make and require precise understanding and methodology, which we will get into down the road. The goal with this lesson is to get people baking bread. We are trying to get those people who have never made bread before - which is actually the majority of people out there - to learn how to make bread by hand?from scratch, using the most basic ingredients and equipment (their hands). So, for now, let's start with the basics. You might find it useful to review the lesson on Wheat & Gluten, as well as the Basics of Bread Making before you get your hands dirty. Rouxbe Facts about this lesson that you may find interesting:

• Over 12 hours of footage was recorded.
• 500 additional shots were captured (in addition to the 600 that were captured for the previous lesson).
• 23 batches of dough had to be made to capture all of the different stages of bread making for this lesson and the last lesson.

Happy Bread Making!

The Rouxbe Cooking School Team.

Tagged as: [ bread making pastry rouxbe ]

How to Make Madeleines

Many people say that one either loves culinary (the savory stuff) or they love pastry (the sweet stuff) - that can't love or do both; but, I tend to disagree. By default, I tend to cook more than I bake, so, when the opportunity strikes to make some sort of pastry treat, a little sparkle in my eye appears. For me, when I get to pick up a piping bag - whether it is for piping truffles, putting icing on a cake, or batter into a pan - I get a bit giddy.

Madeleines are shell-shaped, tiny French cakes with a long history. These soft and moist cakes have delicious, lightly-crisped edges. While there are a few different methods in which to make these, this recipe is quick to put together and can be one of those "go to" treats when you unexpectedly have company coming. They are also a great hostess gift or can help to cheer someone up. We actually took a batch of these to Dawn's little niece who is currently fighting cancer. She's definitely a positive, little trooper and she was so pleased to be able to pass them around to share with everyone!

While I have learned to let go of recipes in the culinary world, with baking I get to feed that part of my personality that loves to measure, be exact and follow certain rules. It never ceases to amaze me how many different things can be made out of butter, sugar and flour. Once you learn a bit about the function of ingredients and how they produce certain textures and flavors, you have a better understanding of the whole process of baking, so there's no need to be afraid of it. It's just like learning a new cooking technique. Madeleines are best served warm, so they are one of those pastries that you don't have to wait for them to cool completely before diving in (and that's a good thing, as it's almost impossible to wait for them). This easy-to-make batter keeps well in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days so you can have freshly-baked madeleines any time. Click on the link to view the full text recipe for Madeleines. Happy Baking!

Tagged as: [ pastry ]

Lemon-Cranberry Scones with Lemon Fondant

I recently woke up at 3am from my first-ever root canal which had gone bad. I couldn't sleep, so I thought why not bake? I made one of Marcelo's favorites - lemon-cranberry scones. Even though I couldn't chew very well, the cake-like texture, along with the lemon fondant, melted in my mouth.

Scone Ingredients: 140 ml whole milk 2 large eggs (100 ml) 1 tsp lemon zest 120 g unsalted butter 100 g sugar 320 g cake flour 80 g bread flour 10 g baking powder 3 g sea salt 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1 large egg (for egg wash)

To make the scones, first preheat your oven to 340º degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk the milk, eggs and lemon zest together and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light. Sift the dry ingredients together and fold them into the mixture. The texture should be crumbly, so don't over mix.

Lightly fold in the milk mixture just until combined; then add the cranberries. Dust the counter top with flour. Gently divide the dough and shape into two rounds, so they are about 1 inch high. Cut into triangles and transfer to a baking sheet. Brush lightly with egg wash and bake until light golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Lemon Fondant 3/4 cup fondant 1 tsp. egg white zest of 1/2 a lemon 1-2 tsp. lemon juice

While the scones are baking, place the fondant in a bain marie. Heat over low heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice and egg white. Stir to combine and bring the mixture just above body temperature.

Once the scones are done, place them onto a cooling rack and let cool slightly. Drizzle with the lemon fondant and enjoy.

Makes about 12.  

It's important not to over work the dough. Be gentle with it and work quickly. Avoid over-baking - bake just until they are light golden brown underneath.

Tagged as: [ pastry recipes scones ]