Why this blog?
It all started with macarons.
These small colourful pastries that come in hundreds of flavours, halfway between a meringue and a biscuit, changed my life.
Since I moved to France last February, I had noticed that every single pastry shop or boulangerie was selling them. I had never seen them before in Italy nor anywhere else, and I was reluctant, “They are just coloured meringues, what’s the big deal?”, I said.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. As soon as I tasted them last month, I started to love them. Crunchy on the outside and stunningly soft on the inside, they soon became a favourite of mine, but all good things come at a cost.
Macarons are relatively very expensive compared to their size, about 1.30€ each (at least here in the south of France… in Paris their price can easily reach 2€): this price forbids me to eat as many macarons as I want, and I simply cannot accept this fact! 🙂
That is why I decided to take a pastry course for amateurs in Cannes at Lenotre, one the best pastry shops in France, so that I could learn how to make macarons myself at a cheap price!
I had never done pastry before (except for some muffins with a powder mix in a box) but I loved the experience.
The chef taught us at once the most important thing of all:
Pastry is chemistry. Everything must be weighed carefully and recipes must be followed step by step. If ingredients are added in a certain order and at a specific temperature, there is always a reason.
That was like a revelation to me: if all I need to do is weigh and follow a recipe, pff, I can do that, and well too!
Actually, macarons are not the easiest thing to make, but I was so impressed with my beginner’s results that I felt encouraged and wanted to learn more about pastry.
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried recipes taken from the Internet or from cheap pastry books for grannies: they just don’t work. I felt I needed something different with a more structured and methodical approach. That is why a few days ago I decided to buy on Amazon “On baking”, which is the textbook used in American pastry schools (I am not fluent in French yet to buy a real book of pâtisserie).
This book is amazing, it is very complete and explains everything step by step. I really feel galvanized and I am eager to start experimenting with all sorts of pastry stuff (following the chapter order of course), from muffins, to cookies and tarts, cakes and so on.
So, long story short: this blog is to keep track of my progress from complete beginner as I experiment pastry recipes and techniques, since I’ve decided that I want to learn on my own as much as I can about pastry.
I will try to share on this blog everything I learn, so that anyone can benefit and maybe become passionate of pastry like me! Enjoy!
