Petit Four Deguise

Deguise are cute little desserts that are disguised as something else. Usually it is a sugar dessert that looks like fruit, or animals, or whatever. In this case tuxedo strawberries are really easy and also really cute play on making the strawberry dressed up (no pun, I promise)

Since there isn't really a formula for this item I'll throw out some pointers:

• Pate glace does not give such a hard mouth feel to it when the chocolate dries or sets up. Because of that it is actually preferred to a tempered chocolate.
• White pate glace does not dip too well so you might need to dip it twice, just make sure the layers dry before re dipping.
• "Wash" the strawberries like you would mushrooms, with a wet paper towel. You want to clean it without removing the texture that the chocolate is going to grab on to.

Need:

White pate glace, chocolate pate glace, melted chocolate, strawberries

MOP:

• Wash strawberries, dry before use
• Dip the strawberries in white pate glace (shirt). Let it set up before dipping a second time. When you set the strawberry down try to let the excess chocolate drip off to avoid getting large foots. You will also want to pick up the strawberries and move them to help not create foots (pools of chocolate on the bottom).
•  Dip on an angle, then on the other angle with chocolate (jacket)
• Use a fine tipped piping bag, or parchment cone works best to draw a bow with two connecting triangles, or a bow tie with a small diamond and then an elongated diamond. If you piped a bow tie give the shirt three buttons.

You can also easily dip and decorate other fruit or dried fruit in this same style. Here dried apricots are dipped to resemble little cookies. And below the strawberry is given a corsage out of a cut apricot, a bride, and a groomsman in the background.

Verrine

Verrine is French for pretty glass. This essentially means a dessert that is built in a glass. When you do this you have to keep in mind layering and air bubbles that might form while layering. You also have to keep in mind that all the layers are going to be exposed. And to have the design play with the shape of the glass, something like a flower might flow on the inside of your glass if its a circle and has that organic shape to play with but might not work with the sharp edges of a square. The dessert usually has many components including, but does not have to include, a crunch layer to break up the space and also provide a different mouth feel.

Below is an example of a verrine that we did in class:

A play on a mojito: yields aproximately 14 verrines
Components:
Rum infused mousse: pâte à bomb method (adapted from Saus, 745)
100%, 35% Cream, 7 1/8 oz.
100%, 64% Couverture, 7 1/8 oz.
30% Egg yolks, 2 1/8 oz.
30% Sugar, 2 1/8 oz.
10% Water, 3/4 oz.
100%, 40% Cream,  7 1/8 oz.
80% Rum, 6 oz.

Rum Gelée:
8 oz. Rum
8 oz. Simple syrup
4 sheets gelatin*
*use approximately 3 oz. of gelatin per cup of liquid

Lime Mousse: anglaise method (adapted from Saus, 741)

27% Lime juice, 1 7/8 oz.
46% Sugar, split, 3 1/8 oz
33% Egg yolks, 2 1/4 oz.
26% Butter, 1 3/4 oz.
Lime Zest, 1 each
100% Whipped cream, 6 7/8 oz.

Mint Gelée: puree
4 oz. mint
6 oz. simple syrup
3 sheets gelatin

Tuile Paste pattern for Joconde Sponge

Joconde sponge is a very nice cake to use for decorations or visual enhancement for the sides of cakes or mousses because it can be spread very thin and can also be decorated with tuile paste very easily.



Formula:
1 recipe of Joconde spread on a full sheet pan
1/2# tuile paste (100% Butter, 100% Sugar, 100% Egg whites, 100% Pastry flour, 1% salt)
Colouring




MOP:

 

Gisslen, pg. 410

• Make tuile paste using the creaming method.
• Add colour to the appearance. You can easily make a cocoa tuile paste by adding cocoa powder, or colour it with food colouring.
• Apply stencil over a silpat lined sheet pan. Its really important to get a sheet pan that is not warped.
• Spread tuile paste very thinly over the stencil. You can also use your fingers to texture it, or you can use a brush (very much like we did in second block).
• Put in blast chiller to let set up.

• Make Joconde sponge while the tuile sets up. You dont want to spread the joconde sponge over the tuile unless it is frozen. Mixing it before will damage the two coloured layers.
• MOP: Melt butter and let it cool to room temperature. Place sifted almonds, confectioners' sugar, and flour into a your mixer. On low speed add whole eggs in stages using your paddle attachment. Increase speed to high and continue mixing until the batter turns into a pale yellow colour. Transfer to a stainless steel bowl.
  
  Clean mixing bowl throughly and whisk egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and continue whisking on high to a medium-firm peak.
  
  Fold egg whites into egg yolks, fully incorporate both batters. Drizzle butter slowly along the sides of the bowl and fold in the mixture. If you can assist someone else then have them drizzle in the butter while you whisk (like with mayonnaise).
  
  Make sure your stencil paste is set before pouring Joconde over the paste. Use your offset spatula to even out the batter. Use your fingers to clean the sides of the pan before baking.
  
  Bake at 375°F in a convection oven, bake until it is slightly golden in colour. About 7-15 minutes. In a deck oven bake at 400°F.

Battenburg Sponge

This is another kind of almond cake, it is mixed with a combination method which gives it a little bit more stability then the one stage almond cake. This cake is usually made into two different colours and then arranged similarly to a checkerboard cookie.


Formula: yields two half sheet pans
225 g    Almond paste
150 g    Confectioners sugar
120 g    Egg yolks
55 g      Eggs, whole
5 g        Vanilla extract
180 g    Egg whites
75 g      Sugar
30 g      Cake flour
70 g      Melted butter, at room temperature


MOP: separated egg sponge

• Sift confectioners sugar
• Cream almond base with confectioners sugar, it will not form a paste but should incorporate roughly.
• Add yolks, yolks help the mixture emulsify, in thirds. This will smooth out and form a paste.
• Add whole eggs and flavouring to the paste. When paste forms stop mixer. Set aside.
• Sift flour, twice. Set aside.
• Make meringue with egg whites and sugar. Bring it to a soft peak.
• By hand, fold in 1/4 of the meringue into the base, this will make the base less stiff.
• Fold in half of the flour, then 1/4 of the meringue, then the rest of the flour, then the rest of the meringue.
• Temper a spatula amount of batter into room temperature butter. This will lighten the density of the butter and help the butter not sink to the bottom of the bowl when folding it in.
• Fold the tempered butter into the base. Fold until uniform.
• Dive batter in two. 
• Pan one portion, run fingers along the edge and pop down on the counter.
• Colour the second portion slightly, remember that a little goes a long way with artificial colouring! 
• Pan the coloured portion, running fingers along the edge and popping down to release air bubbles.
• Put both half sheets on a full sheet tray and bake at 350°F (to 370°) until it springs back at your touch. Approximately 15 minutes.

Almond Sponge

This is a really sweet almond sponge cake, the addition of sugar leades to a longer shelf life, and when this cake is used for something like a petits four glace it remains moist for a pretty long time. It is also a pretty stable cake, so is good for small applications. Because of the high amount of eggs, liquid, in this formula you have to be careful because it tends to break on you rather then stay emulsified.

Formula: yields a half sheet pan
Almond paste*, 4 oz.
Sugar, 6.5 oz.
Eggs, whole beaten at room temperature, 6 each
Almond extract, 1/2 t
Salt, 1/4 t
Butter, 8 oz.
Pastry flour, 3.5 oz.
Baking powder, 3/4 t
*make sure to keep almond paste covered when not using or it will dry out fast.



MOP: creaming method

• Cream almond paste (almond paste is very high in fat so is usually considered a fat in a formula), butter, sugar until very well incorporated. The almond paste is a little hard to break up, so it might take longer then you'd think. You want to try to get rid of as many chunks as possible and get a smooth consistency.
• Sift flour and leavening agent, twice. Because the sponge cake is so light you want to make sure you have no impurities in the flour. If you are making a two stage cake its a good idea to sift the flours three times).
• Slowly add your room temperature beaten eggs to fats in three stages. The batter will break more easily then with other creaming method cakes. You really want the batter to grab at the sides leaving long strands before adding the next addition.
• Fold in flour.
• Pan batter into desired size sheet pan.
• Run finger along the sides, and knock on counter once to let air bubbles escape.
• Bake at 350°F to a springy and firm. Approximately 20 minutes.

Joconde Sponge

This formula can be made in different sized sheet pans depending on how thick you want your sponge to be. For mousse cakes we paned this amount in a full sheet pan, for the Opera Cake in a half sheet.

This formula is from Gisslen, Professional Baking, Ed. 5, pg. 410

Formula: yields 1# 1 oz.    3.5 oz. (340%) Almond flour
    3 oz. (300%)  Confectioners' sugar
    10 oz. (100%)  Cake flour
    4.75 oz. (480%)  Whole eggs
    3.25 oz. (320%)  Egg whites
    0.4 oz. (2.5t) (40%)  Sugar



Variation: hazelnut flour with 1.25 oz. melted butter can be substituted for almond flour. This is the original or traditional way of making this sponge cake.




MOP: separated egg sponge

• Prep a half sheet pan with spray and parchment.
• Sift cake flour, nut flour, confectioners sugar into a bowl. Sift twice.
• Make a well, and add beaten whole eggs into well. Stir from the center, bringing it to a paste. Set aside.
• Make a soft meringue with the egg whites and sugar, it will leave trails when it reaches a soft stage. It should look more foamy then the meringues that are made with soft ball sugar.
• Fold in the meringue 1/4, 1/4, 1/2. Its important to add the meringue this way because the first incorporation lightens the base, the second incorporates the mixtures, the third heaviest portion gives volume to the batter. This way deflation is avoided and equal distribution is achieved.
• Pan the batter from the center. Run fingers along the edge before knocking the pan on the counter once.
• Bake at 400°F for approximately 10 minutes. Until the cake springs back at your touch.

Almond Cream

This is a really nice baked filling choice because it does not not have an overpowering sweet flavour for an almond filling. It also gives a nice rustic baked colour that does not really need to be garnished at all. 


This formula is adapted from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 624
324.62% Butter, 8.5 oz.
324.62% Sugar, 8.5 oz.
147.69% Eggs, 3 7/8 oz.

Almond cream in a pâte sucrée
tartlet shell. This is unbaked.

324.62% Almond meal, 8.5 oz.
100% Bread flour, 2 5/8 oz.
9.23% Rum*, 1/4 oz.
Total: 1230.78%

*Can be omitted
MOP: creaming

• In a mixer using the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light.
• Add eggs in stages.
• Add sifted almond meal and bread flour. Mix to incorporate, add rum or other flavouring if you are using this addition.
• Store, covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.

French Macaroons

Adding egg whites to the almond mix

French macaroons are not at all like American macaroons. French macaroons are a meringue (Italian or Common) and almond based cookie comprised of cookie and fillings. It sometimes is also made with hazelnut flour instead of almond flour. It is a really sugary cookie but it is very nice, and popular, because it is a very stable cookie for colouring or flavouring or piping designs on. Common fillings for the cookie include: buttercream, icing, ganache, jam, paste + buttercream, or curd + buttercream. These cookies are probably very popular because of their versatility and ability to be adapted to different flavouring, fillings, and colours very easily. You can look up the French patisserie, Laudrée, or Pierre Herme. The chef Stéphan Glacier.

Whipped egg whites

Formula: yields approximately 40 macaroons
250 g Almond flour
250 g Powdered sugar
80 g Egg whites
225 g Sugar
60 g Water
80 g Egg whites


MOP:

• Sift almond flour and powdered sugar.
• Processes sifted almond flour and powdered sugar until combined and fine.
• Sift processed flour and sugar once again.
• Mix in with one portion of egg whites, using a bowl scraper, until it forms a thick, consistent paste. Set aside.
• Cook sugar to soft ball (240° F) and pour into whipped egg whites (make a hard meringue)
• Fold meringue into almond base in sections: fold in a quarter, then another quarter, then the remaining half.
• Pipe into dollar coin sized disks onto a silpat lined sheet pan, the same method of piping for cream puffs. You can pipe the macaroons pretty close together because they wont spread much.
• Once the sheet pan has been filled, bang the sheet pan several times on each side to flatten the cookies and to get rid of any "tails" you might have gotten while piping.
• If you want to reserve a portion of your batter and colour it, you can pipe designs on top that will blend in when baked. You can also finish cookies by sprinkling cocoa nibs or fuitine or other kind of desired chip garnish.

• Let the macaroons sit out until a crust is formed (for a duller, rustic looking cookie) or bake immediately (for a more shiny finish).
• Bake at 320° F until crisp and hard. The baked macaroon should not move at all when touched, but should spring to your touch slightly. Macaroons are best baked and filled the day before desired use, keep them refrigerated so the insides will absorb moisture over night.

Variation:

Flavouring or colouring can be added to the almond/sugar paste. For chocolate, sub 20% cocoa for powdered sugar. Fruit powder can be added, 15g raspberry powder was added here to give a slight taste difference but definite colour change. Powder is best added before egg is added so it can be sifted in for even distribution.

 

Poached Pears

Poaching something means to cook an object to 160° - 180°F in a flavourful liquid. Essentially you are infusing and simultaneously softening an object by simmering it in a liquid. Pears are good candidates for this because they will not loose its shape when left in liquid for a long time, rhubarb is also often poached as it is another good candidate for poaching.

Things that are often used to infused a poached item in a sweet application are: cinnamon, nutmeg (has a very strong flavour), cloves (strong), lavender (strong), syrups, wine, herbs, chamomille, mint (turns black when cooked), spices, peppercorn, rosemary, etc.

White or red wine can be used. You need to be careful about the flavour profile and the aesthetic choice between white or red wine. Aesthetics: if you use a red wine then the colour will bleed into the object which you can control by making choices over things like poaching the fruit whole or sliced. Whole fruits will seep colours in at a slower rate then sliced items. Flavour profile: if you use box wine it will taste like box wine (pretty much sums it up). Zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and syrah are good reds to use. Riesling, sauvignon blanc, and gewurztraminer are good choices for white wines.



Formula:
6 pears, whole and peeled
1# sugar
1 pt. wine
2 pt. water



MOP: takes roughly 40 min.

• Bring sugar, wine, and water to boil in a large pot
• While this is heating up, peel pears. Slice and core if you decide you want that aesthetic.
• Reduce sugar mixture when it reaches a boil (between 160° - 180°F). Place pears into the pot.
• Cover with a parchment circle and a plate (or if you have a top to the pot you can use that too) so that the pears and liquid do not escape and do not oxidize it is also so that the pears stay fully submerged.
• Cook pears until tender, check with a knife when the knife easily breaks the surface remove from heat.
• Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight. If you do not cool the liquid then the alcohol aroma will seep into other products in your store room, it is very strong.

Pastry Cream

The percentages here are a good guide for a basic pastry cream.

This formula is adapted from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 622

Formula: yields one quarter sheet pan

100%           Whole milk           16 oz.

12.5%          Sugar                    2 oz.

7.8%            Cornstarch            1 1/4 oz.

12.5%          Sugar                    2 oz.

12.5%          Egg                       2 oz.
9%              Egg yolks               1.5 oz.

Total: 154.3%

MOP:

·      Scale milk and the smaller portion of sugar in a sauce pot, bring to a boil.

·      While this is heating mix the cornstarch, larger portion of sugar, egg yolks together.

·      Temper the milk into the egg yolks when it comes to a boil.

·      Bring this portion back into the pot and heat, stirring constantly until it starts to boil, it will make a few bubbles. Like the reverse of listening for popcorn on the stove.

·      Take off heat and add butter in small bits, add each new bit after the previous has been absorbed.

·      Quickly chill by spreading on a sheet pan or over an ice bath.

·      Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Caramel Sauce

Traditional caramel can be made by cooking sugar in a little bit of water, just enough to wet the sugar to sandy consistency, until it forms an amber colour. Liquid caramel is often used for the turtles dessert (chocolate, caramel, pecans). It can be used for many applications though since it is just a smoother more caramel with volume to it.




Formula: yields about one squirt bottle
10 oz. Sugar
2 oz. Glucose
4 oz. Butter, room temperature
5 oz. Cream




MOP:

• Cook sugar and glucose to soft ball (320°F). Sugars should take on a robust colour.
• Off heat, whisk in warmed cream (if the cream is cold the mixture will have temperature shock and seize up) and the softened butter.

Pâte a Choux

Pâte a choux is a dough that is light and rich at the same time. The primary ingredients are some kind of liquid, fat, flour, and eggs. Liquid is usually milk or water or a combination of both. Fat is usually butter. The product is physically leavened by the steam in the milk and eggs. This batter can be made in advanced and then kept for a few days before needing to be piped. The batter, though, needs to be piped and baked day of. If you want to make this ahead of time you can also pipe the batter, bake it, and then freeze the unfilled shells until time of use. When you want to use the shells, flash them in the oven, and then cool before filling.




Formula: yields approximately 20 eclairs, 30 cream puffs, 20 swans, 30 swan necks.
125% Eggs, 342 g
75% Milk, 205 g
75% Water, 205 g
75% Butter, diced, 205 g
100% Bread flour, 274 g
1-2% Salt, 3 g
5% Sugar*, 14 g
Total: 331%, 2#


*optional. Depending on whether the filling is savoury or sweet.





MOP:

• Bring liquid, fat, sugar, and salt to a boil.
• When the liquids boil add flour, off of heat, whisk in carefully so you incorporate all the flour.  
• Bring it back to the heat. On high heat, use a wooden spoon and continuously stir the "ball" until a film is formed on the bottom of the pan. Move the ball around the pan and down so that the entire mixture is getting cooked. Be aware that the longer its cooked the more flavour will be extracted but the longer it cooks the more eggs you will need to hydrate the "ball".

• When that film has formed transfer the "bread ball" to a mixing bowl. Start mixing it on a low speed. Add eggs in one by one. Make sure that you whisk the eggs together so that you are incorporating whole eggs. After you add the first egg you will see the mixture separate, when it comes back together around the paddle add your next egg. Watch the mixture and scrape down the bowl as needed.
• When you have added most of your eggs test the batter for doneness. The dough should feel like a thick custard, a little firmer then a cake batter but not as thick as a cookie batter. You want to test the dough for doneness. There are three common tests that are used:

• Finger test: you should be able to easily pull the batter between your thumb and first finger forming either an hour glass shape, or stalagtites and stalagmites. Not always reliable depending on the speed you pull your fingers apart with.
• Curl test: if you turn over the batter it should hold a curl, this technique is similar to finding a stiff peak for whipping cream.

• Trough test: smooth out the surface of the batter in the bowl. Draw your finger through the batter quickly, and it should hold a line while the sides slightly curl inwards.

• If you are not piping immediately wrap the pâte à choux with plastic, letting the plastic touch the top of the pâte à choux so a crust does not form. Can be stored up to an hour before piping.

Cheesecake

There are different kinds of cheesecake: 

• New York style (east coast style), this ever popular American staple desert usually is heavy in cream and eggs. 
• West Coast, usually sour cream is folded in to the batter. Sometimes it also is set on top as a second layer, so that the cake is partially baked and then is allowed to finish baking with the contrasting sour cream layer.
• French cheesecake, is made with the usual creaming method by has a meringue base that is folded in to make it lighter yet still creamy.
• Italian cheesecake, is made with ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese.

There are several variations that can be done with cheesecake, here are some suggestions for how you can make substitute things for a less traditional cheesecake:

• Crust: Nougatine, brittle
• More savory cheese options: blue cheese, goat cheese
• Sweet cheese options and substitutes: tofu (low fat, vegan option), cottage cheese, mascarpone, neuf châtel (fresher, less processed cream cheese), fomage blanc (fresh cheese, un-aged, low fat option), ricotta, bakers cheese, quart (essentially bakers cheese)
• No bake: gelatin can set the cheese, making it more of a mousse type dessert

This formula is similar to the brownie formula where it yields a richer product then you are usually accustomed to. Because of that it is a perfect recipe for petits fours demi-sec or petits fours frais.




Formula: yields a quarter pan

Cream cheese, 455 g

Eggs, 3 each

Egg yolks, 1.5 each

Bread Flour, 20 g

Sugar, 188 g

Vanilla, 23 g

Heavy cream, 23 ml (1.5 T)

Optional*

Sour cream, 225 ml

* Optional Variations:

Lime: 63 g lime juice, 8 g grated lime

Amaretto: 88 g almond paste, 113 ml ameretto
Marbled: 88 g melted dark chocolate mixed into 1/3 of the plain batter. If you do not mix it into enough of the batter it will not marble correctly, the chocolate will harden on you.
Eggnog: 20 g rum, 11 g brandy, 1.5 g nutmeg
Hazelnut: 20 g praline paste, 43 g frangelico



MOP: Creaming method

• Cream room temperature cream cheese with a paddle attachment to soften it to a creamy consistency.
• Add the butter and sugar in and cream until smooth. Scrape down bowl as needed so sugar and butter lumps do not hide in the bottom of the bowl and get picked up later.
• Add in eggs in stages. Mix until the batter forms a creamy consistency without any lumps. You might need to scrape down the bowl as it mixes.
• When the batter is smooth add in vanilla, heavy cream, sour cream, and flavour variation if you are doing a full inclusion. Blend in.
• If you are doing a partial inclusion, pour 2/3 of the batter into a prepped mold or sheet pan with a blind baked, dry and cooled crust.
• Mix the remaining 1/3 of the batter with the inclusion. Pipe this in to create a marbled or feathered texture on the surface. You can also easily do leafs, or dots, or any other kind of elegant design that you determine appropriate.
• Bake below 350°F without a water bath. We baked it at 250°F in a deck oven for approximately 20-25 minutes. Until the center is firm and the cheesecake jiggles slightly.
• Cool before refrigerating.

Finishing:

Wait until the cheesecake is firm before cutting. You can get really clean cuts with hot water and a frozen cheesecake, its just a little harder to cut through a crust with a flimsy cutter when its frozen.

• Use an appropriate sized cutter for your application. For a demi-sec dessert, a 2" circle cutter works really well, or 1 1/2" squares also give a really elegant looking shape for a two bite dessert.
• Dip the cutter in hot water to warm, clean off with a clean town and cut out the cheesecake cleanly.
• You can garnish however you want, here are a few suggestions. Dust the sides with small chocolate shavings (using a cheese grater gives you a really nice small shaving size, make sure to use gloves when applying the chocolate so your hands do not melt the chocolate). Fresh fruit that is anchored by a whipped cream or chocolate ganache rosette is a pretty touch, make sure to glaze fresh fruit. A small tuile cookie is also a pleasant option, as is chocolate cigarettes.

Biscotti

This formula is adapted from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 422

Formula: yields approximately 50 biscotti
21.18% Butter, 1 7/8 oz.
80.59% Sugar, 7 3/8 oz.
42.94% Eggs, 3 7/8 oz.
3.53% Vanilla extract, 2 t
100% Bread flour, 9 1/8 oz.
1.76% Cinnamon, 1 t
1.18% Baking ammonia*, 1/2 t
1.76% Salt, 1 t
92.35% Chocolate, chopped
5.88% Orange zest, 1/5 oz.
Total: 351.17%


*baking ammonia can be substituted for 2.5% of the flour weight with baking powder.




MOP: Creaming method

• In a bowl with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar.
• Gradually add the eggs in, and the vanilla.
• Sift the flour with the cinnamon, leavening agent, and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter and mix until almost incorporated.
• Add additives (orange zest and chocolate chips). Fold by hand or just barely mix.
• Roll dough like an ice box cookie. For a demi sec cookie, roll up so that it is very long and thin, so that it goes on a diagonal along a full sheet pan.
• Place dough on parchment lined sheet pan and bake at 325°F for 35 - 40 minutes or until firm to the touch.
• Remove and let cool.
• When cooled, cut directly into 1/4" slices.
• Lay slices flat on parchment lined sheet pan, re bake biscotti at 250°F until well dried.

Finishing, these are a few possible techniques for finishing biscotti:

• Dip on a bias into melted tempered chocolate or pâte glacée. Drizzle a different colour chocolate, white chocolate pâte glacée.
• Dip on a bias into melted tempered chocolate or pâte glacée. Dip on a smaller bias into pistachio flour.

Lemon Bars

Lemon bars are very delicious but are slightly tricky because they can go from being baked to over baked very quickly. Once they are over baked there is really nothing you can do to save it from souffle-ing.

This formula is adapted from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 435

Formula: yields a quarter pan
1# Pâte Sucrée dough
722.58% Sugar, 1# 3 3/8 oz.
451.61% Eggs, 12 1/8 oz.
216.13% Lemon juice, 5 3/4 oz.
100% Bread flour, 2 5/8 oz.
Total: 1490.32%


MOP:

• Line sheet pan parchment and with pâte sucrée. Par bake, making sure in a class situation to place your name on a scrap of parchment underneath another sheet of parchment. Place pie weights or beans on top of the parchment and par bake the shell until it is firm. Cool before filling.
• Combine sugar and eggs by hand. Blend well.
• Add lemon juice and incorporate.
• Blend in flour while mixing to avoid getting lumps.
• If there are air bubbles, knock out or place plastic wrap over the surface to get the air bubbles out. 
• Bake at 300°F in a convection oven for 30 minutes or until set.
• When cool, dust with powdered sugar, and cut.

Brownies

This brownie formula makes a chewier brownie than normal cakey brownie formula. It is richer and is perfect for something like a demi sec cookie because it is too rich to eat any bit larger than a 2" x 2" piece.




This formula is adapted from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 434

Formula: yields a quarter pan
100% Bittersweet chocolate, 9 1/8 oz.
74% Butter, 6 3/4 oz.
74% Eggs, 6 3/4 oz.
172.8% Sugar, 15 3/4 oz.
0.8% Salt, 1/2 t
3.4% Vanilla extract, 2 t
100% Pastry flour, 9 1/8 oz.
Total: 525%




MOP: 

• Sift flour and reserve.
• Chop chocolate and place it, and butter and melt over a double boiler. Let the mixture cool slightly to 80° - 90°F.
• Warm the eggs and sugar to 90°F, whip with salt and vanilla to ribbon consistency.
• Fold in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth.
• Fold the flour into the whipped mixture.
• Spread the batter onto a sprayed, parchment lined sheet pan.
• Bake at 325°F in a convection oven for 30 - 35 minutes.

Assembly: This is one option for how you can finish off your brownies. There are many different appropriate finishes. This method of decorating glazes the brownies with ganache and then dusted partially with an appropriate finishing.
Petits Fours: Petits Fours Déguisés, Demi-sec

• Clean off the sides of the brownie and cut as you desire. Flip over the brownie so that the baked side is now the bottom.
• Make ganache. 
• Pour over brownies. To get the ganache to flow over the brownie evenly without having to re pour the ganache pour in a backward forward motion quickly.
• Use a offset spatula to clean off the top and make the ganache less thick.
• Tap the glazing rack on the floor to help smooth out the ganache on the top and sides of the covered brownie.
• Let the ganache set up a little bit.
• Use a tea strainer and desired garnish, pistachio flour for instance. Dust over a portion of the top.

Tant Pour Tant: Infused ganache

You can infuse ganache to enhance the chocolate flavour slightly or you can just make a regular ganache. Because chocolate has such a strong flavour by itself, you want to be aware of the flavours that you are adding to a ganache when you decide to add an infusing to it.


Formula: ganache
1 part cream to 1 part chocolate


MOP: tempering

• Scald milk: if you are infusing add the flavour to the cold milk, amount will vary by strength of the additive ingredient. Pistachios for instance have a weak flavour and draw more flavour if chopped, things like vanilla and herbs like mint have a stronger flavour so you will need less of  and will need to cook for a longer amount of time.
• If you infuse the milk, you will need to pass it through a chinoise when it reaches a scald. Strain into the chocolate  (temper milk into chocolate).
• Whisk together from the center to create an emulsion. An emulsion will form when you can run the chocolate over your finger and it holds a shape.
• Strain through a chinoise or knock against the table to get rid of the air bubbles or chunks of chocolate or flavour enhancer.