heart palmiers

we have neighbors

with fabulous taste

crown molding

silver service

art gallery lighting

kind of taste

i almost wonder

if hubs and i 

are their pro-bono friends

while residing in california

we rang in 

london's new year

together

complete with

champagne

caviar

and

crown roast

imagine my horror

as i catch

from the corner of my eye

hubs

in all his glory

hands full of palmiers

flaky crumbs falling to his beard

a smile as broad as his shoulders

complimenting the hostess

on her fabulous dessert

turning to me

gave a grand wink

and said

"you should make these"

so i did

   simple easy heart palmiers

1 sheet puff pastry--cold but not frozen

2 Tbs unsalted butter--melted

2 Tbs granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar for dipping

place puff pastry on a sheet of parchment. in a small bowl, mix together the 2 Tbs granulated sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. using a pastry brush, brush the butter evenly covering the entire piece of pastry. evenly and liberally sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the butter. measure or eye the center of the puff pastry and gently score with the dull end of a knife (do not cut through) starting on one end, tightly roll the dough to the center.  roll the opposite end to the center, forming what looks like a scroll.  gently press together, and if you would like an exaggerated heart shape, pinch the bottom to a point.  wrap in parchment and/or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill. after 1 hour and up to 24 hours, preheat the oven to 375F.  line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a saucer or shallow bowl. remove the dough from the refrigerator and slice crosswise in 1/4" sections.  reshape as necessary, then dip both sides in the sugar. place on parchment paper approximately 1" apart. bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.  allow to cool a bit, but not fully before removing from the parchment.  the sugar will cause them to stick if they cool too much.  allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.

eat with abandon!

linking up to

504 Main--tickled pink

chocolate eclairs

while in paris last fall

hubster and i made a quick stop

at

lauduree

a beautiful pastry shop known world-wide 

for 

gorgeous confections and beautiful tea salon

only in paris for the afternoon

arriving 

via chunnel from london in the morning

and scheduled

on a sleeper train to barcelona, later in the evening

we were making a whirl-wind day of it

while waiting in a very long taxi queue, i spotted a gentleman

with a car for hire

because it was hubster's first time in paris

 and 

we wanted to see as many sights as possible, in our short stay

i made a unilateral decision 

a hired car was definitely the way to go

thankfully

pierre was a good sport

and 

negotiated fairly with me

despite my butchering of his beautiful language

as i waved hubster from the taxi queue, i saw a look i have never before seen 

one that perfectly combined the relief he felt that we would be on our way

and 

worry that i had blown our entire travel budget on a frivolous luxury

he was partly right

the day was perfect

we climbed the eiffel tower, stood under the arc de triomphe

glided down the the champs-elysees, spent hours in the louvre

relished in a languid lunch with a bottle of wine

and

shared afternoon tea with well dressed dames at laudree

drunk with culture and satiated with sweets

i eagerly purchased the laudree sucre cookbook

a beautiful tome with a cover of suede

presented in a gift box

so beautiful and full of promise

i tucked it away for the rest of our journey

and promptly forgot about it

recently i discovered this little jewel

and became inspired

which is why

on a whim

i made eclairs

printable recipe

i am linking this to hearth and soul

and
a little birdie told me

pains au chocolat

i may owe you an apology

this week 

is going to have a lot of sweets in it

particularly chocolate

i will sneak in something savory

for tuesday night supper club

but beyond that

i can't make any promises

i've 20lbs of chocolate

to play with

the other day

i tried my hand at croissant dough

it is a 2 day process

appropriate to its name (pain)

i hadn't made it in years

and to be honest

it is obvious

not my best effort

which only means

i will be doing this again

and possibly

again and again

until i can give myself a passing grade

good news is

hubster and the neighbors

aren't as critical as i

actually,

 i think i may have caught them 

praying for mistakes

pain au chocolat
(printable recipe)

(recipe from le cordon bleu professional baking)

225 gr milk--scalded and cooled to room temp

15gr fresh yeast

15 gr sugar

8 gr kosher salt

40 gr unsalted butter--softened

400 gr bread flour

225 gr unsalted butter--room temperature

chocolate batons or good quality chocolate chips

egg wash

dissolve yeast in cooled milk.  add sugar, salt, 40 gr butter and bread flour.  do not add 225gr unsalted butter. mix into a smooth dough, being careful not to develop gluten.  cover and let sit for an hour in a warm draft-free place.  punch down and spread out onto a sheet pan.  place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

remove from refrigerator and roll out to a rectangle about 1/4" thick.  smear the softened butter over 2/3rds of the dough.  leave a margin around the edges.  fold the unbuttered 1/3 of the dough over the center (i think i messed this part up). fold the remaining 1/3 on top.  rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll into a long rectangle.  place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.  do this process 2 more times, for a total of 3 turns (or folds).  after the final turn, roll the dough out to 1/4", wrap in plastic wrap and place on a sheet pan in the refrigerator overnight.

to assemble:

roll dough out to a rectangle 1/8" thick.  cut into rectangles 6"x4" or 3"x2" for minis.  place 2 chocolate batons or a row of chocolate chips along the short end, leaving about an inch border.  egg wash the opposite end of each rectangle so that the roll will seal. roll up tightly. proof uncovered in a warm draft free place.  brush with egg wash and bake at 400.

hmm...now that i look at it

it sure seems tedious

i think i need to go back to the drawing board with this...maybe a vlog?