Valentine’s week I attempted the Bouchon Bakery macarons, twice. I didn’t get them quite right and not because of the recipe. It is a solid one and I plan to use it in the future but I need to experiment with placement in the oven so they bake properly. In this post I go into detail on the process. The filling is a raspberry buttercream that I made by flavoring a French buttercream with seedless raspberry jam.
This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.
I always say Laduree is the Tiffany’s of sweets. Walking out of the shop with a pastel green bag is chic and tres Parisian. The interior is truly opulent with crystal chandeliers and wall paintings inspired by the Sistine Chapel and nearby Opera Garnier. Everything is gilded in gold from the porcelain china for tea to the macaron boxes that I admit to saving because they are so beautiful. I typically brave the long line, buy my macarons and leave but on my latest trip I decided this was a fitting place to celebrate graduating from pastry school since my final project was a pastry assortment inspired by the ones at Laduree.
Three of the locations in Paris have tea salons, Champs-Elysees, rue Bonaparte and rue Royale. The latter is the oldest and I wanted to be at the original establishment so allons-y! Off to rue Royale for tea!
This recipe from Bouchon Bakery yields very moist muffins from letting the batter sit overnight. I used a standard oven so they rise beautifully, as long as you don’t overfill the liners. I was particularly excited to try out the panettone baking molds that give the muffins an artisanal look.
Only good things to say about this scone recipe. There are three scone flavors in the book and this recipe is based off the plain scone recipe which means there are unlimited things you can add to the base. Honestly it is the best scone I have ever tasted and as I write this I still can’t get over how good they are. Using cake flour in this recipe makes the scone texture more crumbly and delicate whereas with all purpose flour, it is more flaky and dense. Note for those wishing to try this, you need to chill/freeze three times over the course of the recipe.
Florentines are what I’ll label as “fancy” cookies from the Bouchon Bakery book. While Thomas Keller’s cookie offerings primarily focus on American classics and interpretations of childhood favorites, florentines are more complex both in execution and flavor.
