How appropriate for our last recipe of the year- peppermint patties. Seasonally relevant and great stocking stuffers. A creamy, minty filling enrobed in dark chocolate, simple and elegant and so delicious! After sourcing a few hard to find ingredients, these are a breeze to make. Quite a nice send off before we tackle the next chapter in the new year, puff pastry and croissants. I hope you'll all join us as we continue to bake through the book!
Tania
I absolutely love peppermint patties! The dark chocolate and mint flavor combo is superb. This recipe seemed a bit intimidating at first, but it was really only a matter of procuring the correct ingredients. The process itself wasn't complicated. The optional ingredients I omitted, since I couldn't find them anyways. I decided to make my own pouring fondant, there were lots of recipes online. So first I made that, then stared on the peppermint centers.
I followed the instructions properly, took the sugar to the correct temp and added all the ingredients. But the mixture never got to be opaque white, it was still clear-ish. I thought it might change as it set up, but no. Instead of using a piping bag, I just poured the hot sugar into a glass measuring cup with a spout, and poured it into the individual silicone molds. I re-used the cupcake liners from the last recipe. The book says they should solidify in about 15 minutes, but I found it look much longer. Just to be safe, I let them set up overnight. I think the pouring fondant I made wasn't correct, because they never got a creamy texture. You could still see the grains of sugar in the patties. The taste was ok, but the texture wasn't as nice.
I used the pouring method to enrobe them in dark chocolate. I dipped the bottoms, let them set up, then poured the chocolate over the tops. I find you use more chocolate this way, and there's more wasted, but it does work. Again, the tempering was an issue, so it took a long time for them to harden properly. But overall, I'm pleased with the result. It's hard to believe that you can make a store-bought treat like this at home, but with the proper ingredients, it's not hard at all!
What a fun name for a sweet treat! This recipe is guaranteed to please sweet lovers of all ages. Although the name is playful and the ingredients are simple, the team at Bouchon still presents it in a sophisticated and elegant manner. Instead of a bar shape, these are individual rounds, much better for munching. A sprinkling of fleur de sel on top lets you know, these are grown-up versions of a childhood favorite.
Pâte de fruit is a sophisticated holiday treat made from pure fruit puree. Its translation means fruit paste, but it more resembles a jelly candy. The process is much like making jam, but with a stronger gelling agent. Most high-end chocolatiers and confiseries carry this sweet treat, which can be quite pricey. They are best eaten right away, which is usually not a problem; they get gobbled up immediately. They can be made with any flavor of fruit, but berries tend to be popular, both due to their distinctive flavors and bright hues. Although some of the ingredients in this recipe are hard to find, it's worth searching them out to achieve the proper results.
Nougat, this week's recipe, is a common Christmastime treat is southern Europe. It is made from egg whites, honey, nuts, and sometimes dried fruit. It's a popular sweet in France, Italy (torrone), Spain (turron), Greece (mandolato), and Malta (qubbajd). It is also used in many candy bars, including the duty-free airport favorite Toblerone, which this recipe tells you how to make with the scraps. It keeps for about a month, so it makes the perfect holiday gift to make in advance and ship to friends and family who can't be together this time of year.
Well bakers, it's been a whole year since we started this blog. That's right, we have successfully completed 53 weeks of baking, for a grand total of 76 recipes! And that's not including all the creams and fillings we had to make in order to complete those recipes. Believe it or not, that's only halfway there. There's still a lot of baking in our future, with puff pastry, croissants, and breads still to come.
To celebrate this occasion, we were inspired by the season. We decided to pumpkin-ize our favorite recipes so far, just like Bouchon Bakery does in its bakeries this time of year. Our bakers chose from a few options offered at the bakery, featured in this article.
We hope everyone has enjoyed reading about our baking adventure, and that you continue to follow us as we finish the book. As always, feel free to email us with your own baking exploits, and we'll be happy to feature you on the blog.
