Bouchon Bakery - Pate Sucree and Pastry Creme
Got some fresh blueberries this past week and decided to make fruit tarts. Finally got back to the Bouchon book. Made the pate sucree and pastry creme. The pate sucree came out great. Was easy to make and handle during the roll-out. The pastry creme was flawed. The book says to use 83g of custard powder for the small batch, DONT! I did some research and feel they transposed the numbers wrong. Use 38g for a small batch and 46g for a large batch. I have not tried the chocolate pastry creme yet. Not sure if the numbers are right. My wife who is not a fan of pastry creme even liked this version. She had been subjected to store grade bakery crap upon trying this was converted. I can honestly say that I enjoy the Bouchon book the most out of all my cookbooks.
Comments
I didn't mention the construction of this. The finished product is not in the book. I used two recipes from the book to construct this dessert. The tart shell was blind baked completely. I made the pastry creme and chilled it. Removed it from the fridge and stirred for a uniform texture and spread it in the cooled shell. Topped with blueberries and a light coating of simple syrup for some shine. I wouldn't use this tart dough the next time I make this. It was to sweet for this application. I would also make the shell ahead of time and let it cool. Pour the hot pastry creme in the shell and then chill. The looseness of the pastry creme after setting up and getting stirred would be good for a cake but not a tart or pie where you want it to hold together after cutting. Mine started to run after cutting, slowly, but surely. Very happy with the outcome. Gleeful baking everyone!
Looks like a great blueberry tart.
Your pastry cream started to run? If so then I would gander to say that the decreased amount of PCP (pastry cream powder), which by the way can be subbed with corn starch, shouldn't have been decreased. Pastry Cream is quite thick and most certainly shouldn't run. If you want it lighter for the filling you can fold whipped cream in and you'll have creme legere. Also for a fresh fruit tart I wouldn't pour hot custard into a cooled crispy pastry shell or it will speed up the soggy process. With a small offset spatula you should be able to spread the cooled custard into the tart shell and still get the structure that you mentioned. Unfortunately i don't have the book so i can't say whether its high or low compared to the norm for starch in a pastry cream.
Here is the pastry cream formula we made in school for comparison
474 m Milk
1/2 vanilla bean
124 g sugar
50 g eggs (1 large egg)
30 g egg yolks (2 large yolks)
50 g Pastry Cream Powder (or cornstarch)
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Bring cream and vanilla to a boil and steep for 30 minutes
Add 1/2 sugar and bring back to the boil.
In another bowl Mix Pastry Cream Powder with remaining sugar with a whisk.
Whisk in the eggs.
Once cream has boiled temper the egg mixture and then bring all back to a boil for 1 minutes stirring constantly until
thickened. Pour into a pan through a strainer and then cover direcltly with plastic wrap or melted butter to avoid skinning. and chill until set.
Regardless the tart looks wonderful in the picture and I have to assume it tasted fantastic
Josh
There is actually a little more custard powder in the bouchon book than in your stated recipe. Dont get me wrong the custard wasnt runny just slightly loose. The weight of the blueberries was a-bit much for it probably. If cooled at room temp for awhile then poured into the shell and chilled it wont have much softening of the shell. Two days after making this the shell was still crisp on mine. The bouchon book calls for 83g of custard powder. After searching around and reading different reviews EVERYONE who made the pastry creme said something is wrong and dont use stated amount of custard powder. I figured that the numbers got switched and made it with 38g. It came out just like the old bakeries used to make when I was a kid. Speckled with vanilla and all.
I haven't used that formula in some time but I recall it being quite good. The pastry cream I've been making of late is all yolks and finished with butter. It still has a very thick consistency and is richer than this pastry cream. And if you have the resources to use farm fresh eggs they shine in custards.
And finally. Having been to a Bouchon bakery a couple times I can certainly understand why the cookbook would be amongst your favorites. Of the best pastry shops I've been to. Great Bread too.
Josh
This recipe is all yolk and then butter is added after cooking. I have not been to Bouchon but this book brings it into my home for me. I have been baking bread for awhile now. This book is nice because its a step into the pastry world for me. I want to get a bigger skill set for making more items. Hopefully one day I can open a small bakery and produce small batches of specialty items. It will keep me busy once I retire. I bake for farmers Markets now. Wood fired oven to be built in the future. And then, who knows?
I made blueberry custard pie last night too.
9449190388_7fae4c0212.jpg
As you can see, mine were a bit
ugliermore rustic, but it was still delicious!They look fine to me. I love custards.
Beautiful baking! I will be glad to buy your pastries and cakes any time!
When you said runny I had the wrong idea. So it was a softer pastry cream. Well you could adjust the starch to the perfect consistency or even replace some or all of the milk with 1/2 and 1/2 but of course this make s richer custard. I think its great you want to expand into pastry. Costs a bit more to fail but worth it. Does the book have his caramel macaroon in it? I've pushed my sights on other forms of fermentation like pickling and krauts. I've been wanting to brew beer for a some time but honestly I don't drink much and the costs for all the stuff, I'd just as well put into an earthen oven.
I bet there is a lemon curd formula in that fancy book too. You could put a small layer of the curd on the bottom and then cover with the cream (why not hit the cream with a bit of amaretto) and then top with the berries. Gotta love booze in pastry cream. Well I thought the tart look fantastic and look forward to see more of your Bouchon bakes.
Josh
PS Floyd your tart looks like a rustic clafoutis and that is a good thing. I bet it was delicous. And its obviously blueberry season
Now that you mention that , I did use 1% milk in the PC. If I had used whole milk or heck even ran over to the farm and gotten some raw milk it would have been thicker. Hmmmmm, raw milk in the PC sounds delish. I could get some eggs while there too. Pastry and cakes have been quite fun and tasty. I have been working on my piping skills also. My wife has been running extra miles lately to keep it all in check. And the blueberries are bountiful right now.
Hi MANNA,
The perfect pastry and shiny blueberries atop that beautiful plate - your pastry is a vision!
I love the simple syrup glaze, brilliantly shiny and bringing out the blue color of the berries so vividly :^)
This past weekend I made a blueberry tart too, Rose Levy Beranbaum's Blueberry Tart with Lemon Curd (these blueberries are glazed with a cornstarch glaze instead of simple syrup):
The lemon curd is spread out in the pre-baked pastry shell and then gently baked again, 300F for 7 to 10 minutes, to help set the curd (this seemed to work, no problems slicing the tart). I wonder if you could try that with your pastry cream?
Your pastry is perfect and what an artful presentation - thank you for the gorgeous photo - something to aspire to for the next blueberry tart!
Happy baking,
:^) breadsong
Blueberry with lemon curd, that sounds yummy.
Hi MANNA,
The blueberry and lemon was a delicious combo - thanks to Rose, for all of her good ideas!
And thank you for yours, shining up the berries with simple syrup - tried this tonight (infused a simple syrup with lemon verbena, brought syrup to a simmer, added the blueberries and left in just long enough for them to change color).
Used the blueberries as topping for pavlova and was delighted with how the berries turned out.
Thank you!
:^) breadsong