[Pastry Diary] Un Dimanche à Paris

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As part of the Intensive Program in Professional Pastry at Ferrandi, all students are required to complete a 3~6-month internship. The school has contacts to some of the top pastry boutiques, hotels, and restaurants in Paris, and students have a certain degree of liberty in choosing the venue for his or her internship. I had set my mind on working at an independent boutique as opposed to a 5-star hotel or a 3 Michelin-star restaurants, and the place I eventually stumbled upon was Un Dimanche à Paris, a pastry shop tucked away in this cute passage in the stylish Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood.

Actually,  let me rephrase. Un Dimanche à Paris is a lot more than just a pastry shop. On the first floor there is a spacious boutique for pastries and chocolates, an exhibition kitchen, a restaurant that also functions as a tea salon in the afternoon, and up on the second floor there is a sleek teaching kitchen and lounge area. You can find out more  through its official website (French only).

So why did I choose Un Dimanche à Paris? Well, I didn’t, really. The situation was like this: despite Un Dimanche à Paris being one of the top pastry shops in Paris, no one from my session wanted to go there because UDAP only signs 2-month unpaid internships (which is actually not an uncommon practice among pastry shops in Paris). This means that not only do students not get paid, they also need to find another internship at the end of 2 months in order to fulfill the minimum of 3 months required by Ferrandi. Despite this, I visited the shop and had a good feeling about it…so I went ahead and signed – and thank god I did. I ended up loving the work and the people I worked with, and (fortunately) my team appreciated me as well and kept me for an extended internship of 5 months. It all worked out perfectly.

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[Ferrandi] Week 10: Macarons

We took a break from entremets to learn something all of us had been looking forward to for a long time – macarons. The recipes we used are apparently from Pierre Hermé, who has previously taught some classes at Ferrandi. There were a dozen flavors to choose from, and I set my heart on olive oil.

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The first step is to make the macaron batter. Part one is a mixture of almond powder, icing sugar, and egg whites, which is quite tough to stir because the batter is very stiff, but it’s important to whisk until the mixture becomes homogenous. Do not forget to sift the almond powder and icing sugar before mixing, otherwise the result will not be as smooth. Part two is an Italian meringue, which is done by pouring cooked sugar (117°C) to whipped egg whites. Continue to whip the egg whites until it cools to about 50°C, and add food coloring to the meringue if desired.

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Combine part 1 and part 2 delicately, and beat the mixture with a wooden spatula to remove some air from the batter. The result should be slightly liquidy, but not so liquidy that it spreads out too thinly when piped on the baking sheet. It’s a little hard to explain the exact texture – to perfectly judge if a batter is ready, you just need to do this a few times to accumulate experience. To pipe the macarons, we used these boards with pre-drawn circles to make sure that the sizes are correct – this is unnecessary course for those who already can pipe very regularly.

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[Ferrandi] Week 9: Entremets – Part 2

The week continued with more entremets. Moka, yet another classic entremet, is for the coffee lovers. To start, we made a simple genoise biscuit, sliced it into three layers, and soaked each layer with an abundant amount of coffee syrup.

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Cover with a layer of coffee butter cream (I absolutely dislike this cream…it’s super rich and heavy) and sprinkle with chopped walnuts and rum-soaked raisins.

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Rake the side of the entremet to create a pattern.

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To decorate, use a small ring-shaped mold to mark six rings on top of the entremet.

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[Ferrandi] Week 9: Entremets – Part 1

Week 9, entremets. “Entremets” literally translates to “between servings”, and in pastries this typically refers to desserts composed of layers of mousse, cream, and biscuit. We first learned Feuillantine Choco Praliné, a layered dessert consisting of chocolate biscuit, feuillantine praliné, and praline chocolate mousse. First step, make the feuillantine praliné by mixing melted milk chocolate, hazelnut paste, house-made praliné, and fueilletine. If you haven’t heard of feuilletine, these are caramelized, praline-flavored crispy flakes that can provide a nice crunch to anything you add it to. I’m totally addicted to just eating these by the spoonful.

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Above the layer of fueillantine praliné, top with praline chocolate mousse, and make desired patterns with a rake tool.

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After letting the entremet set in freezer, spray it with a dark chocolate-cocoa butter mixture for a velvety finishing.

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