Tag Archives: how to tutorial

How to Make Almond Paste – Or Not!

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON June 27, 2016
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Last week I posted a recipe using almond paste. One of my regular readers asked me if I had a recipe to make almond paste since it is so expensive. At the time I remembered seeing such recipes so I hopped on the internet and found quite a few.

Most of them featured blanched almonds, powdered sugar and egg whites as the binder.
Armed with a pound of almonds, plenty of powdered sugar and egg whites, off I went.

The first hint of a problem was getting the almonds fine enough. Processor blades dull after a while and I don’t know if they can be sharpened. I generally just replace mine. However, since my processor is on it’s last leg, I haven’t and the blade is not as sharp as i would like it. So I restorted to placing them in a blender with the powdered sugar and it did a great job after a lot of scraping and blending. After the nuts were finely ground, I transferred the mixture to the processor and added the egg white. It balled up into a gorgeous mass and when shaped into a log it looked spectacular.

I went to bed that night happy with my conquest. Almond Paste – DONE!!! When I woke up the next morning I had a nagging feeling of needing to test my perfect product. Continue reading →

One Batter – Two Classic Cakes

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON January 26, 2016
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Two Classic Cakes from German Chocolate Cake batter, makes either one the star. I have to admit I am one of the few people in America that doesn’t get one of the Two Classic Cakes – The Red Velvet Cake. Traditionally a white cake with the barest amount of cocoa colored with red dye to which a bit of vinegar is added to make it even more red which, after baking, is filled and finished with Cream Cheese Frosting.

To make the cake part more interesting at the bakery, we used the Second Classic Cake – the German Chocolate Cake to which we added red dye and a little vinegar. As you can see from the photos – red it is. The cake has one of the most tender crumbs of any cake. Continue reading →

Updated Lemon Bars

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON January 11, 2016
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

To see the recipe for the Cream Biscuits from the KMOV-TV Great Day St. Louis program on January 12th, please go the recipe index above and scroll down to TV recipes.

Lemon bars are as American as chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies and loved just as much. Lemon is the number 2 flavor in America, just behind chocolate. The buttery shortbread base is the perfect compliment to the tart sweet lemon bar filling.

We made pan after pan of lemon bars at the bakery. Sometimes we would switch out the lemon juice for lime and make lime bars. But no matter what we made, they were always welcome.

Since leaving the bakery, I have had a chance to revisit some of my old recipes. This was one of them. This is the only recipe I have found that uses baking powder in the filling. The recipe for my lemon bars came from my first copy (which I still have) of the Betty Crocker Cookbook, given to me when I married. However, what I found is that sometimes the crust would pull away slightly from the sides allowing the liquid filling to seep downward. There is a little trick we used to keep this from happening at the shop. As soon as the Lemon Bars come from the oven, the back of a spoon is used to attach the crust to the side of the pan, preventing any seepage. Continue reading →

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON November 23, 2015
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

This Double Chocolate Mousse Cake was one of our premier offerings. Both white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse team up with a deeply chocolate, yet light textured chocolate chiffon cake. The Double Chocolate Mousse Cake is beautiful, light and easy to make and while full of flavor is not overwhelming sweet.

After much testing, I came to the conclusion that chiffon cakes, because they use oil and not butter, have a longer shelf life than do butter cakes. While the majority of our wedding cakes were butter cakes, if the cake was to be sold to our wholesale clientele or needed a shelf life, it was made with a chiffon cake or an oil based cake.

Chiffon cakes are one of the easiest cake to make. Basically, the dry ingredients are mixed together and the wet ingredients, except for the egg whites and a bit of sugar, are placed in the mixing bowl. The dry ingredients are plopped on top and they are beat together. No creaming or adding the flour in stages. The only other thing is to beat the whites with the sugar and fold all of it together. This Double Chocolate Mousse Cake is extremely dark in color and moist, providing a counter point to the white chocolate mousse filling and the dark chocolate mousse finish. Continue reading →

Cranberry Fresh Pineapple Relish

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON November 16, 2015
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

You’re right, Cranberry Fresh Pineapple Relish has nothing to do with pastry. However, before I had Pastries Like a Pro, I had another blog for which I am no longer writing. It featured all manner of food and I couldn’t help think, as I prepare for the holidays that this Cranberry Fresh Pineapple Relish would be something you would like also. This is one of the most popular recipes from my take out shop and we featured it every year for Thanksgiving. I still do. I think if you try it, it will become one of your traditions also.

I love cranberries almost anyway you can serve them. In fact, when I had the bakery, the staff had to restrain me because I had so many cranberry items on the menu.

I don’t know if it’s their tart taste, beautiful red jewel like color, or their ease of preparation. I suspect it is all of them. This quick to put together Cranberry Fresh Pineapple Relish will keep in the refrigerator for a week, so make it ahead of time so you have one less thing to do on the day of service. As an aside, we froze cranberries in season so we had them all year as we featured an appetizer sandwich of biscuits, brined roasted pork tenderloin topped with this relish. It was always a huge hit – even with people not prone to cranberries.

Cranberry Fresh Pineapple Relish1 -12 ounce package fresh cranberries
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons apricot preserves
1/2 cup finely cut fresh pineapple
1/4 large orange

Pick over the cranberries to remove any bad ones by placing them in a rimmed pan so they can’t roll away. Place the cranberries, water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, over medium heat, stirring frequently. Continue to a full boil, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the apricot preserves. Cool completely at this point. If you are in a hurry (as I am invariably) quick cool by thinly spreading out on a plate.

In the meantime, cut the orange including the rind into about 6 pieces. Place in a processor and process until very finely chopped.Combine all, stirring well. Store the Cranberry Fresh Pineapple Relish in the refrigerator up to a week.