Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1

by Julia Child

  MELTED CHOCOLATE

  Because baking chocolate burns easily, it needs special treatment. We find it best to break the chocolate into small pieces (or use chocolate drops: 2 ounces make ⅓ cup). Place the chocolate in a small covered saucepan by itself, or with the liquid specified in your recipe; set the pan in another, larger pan of simmering water, and at once remove the larger pan from heat. In 4 to 5 minutes your chocolate will be perfectly melted and smooth. Keep it in the warm water until ready to use.

  ALMONDS

  Whole, slivered, and powdered almonds have many uses in French pastries and desserts. Luckily you can buy blanched almonds in airtight cans at almost any American market, and although you do not often see powdered almonds, they pulverize easily in the blender or processor. You will note that all the recipes which use almonds also call for a bit of almond extract to bring out the almond taste. This is not necessary in France, as one or two bitter almonds are always included. But as the oil of bitter almonds is poisonous when taken in too large a quantity, it can only be bought with a doctor’s prescription in this country. But be careful with almond extract. It is strong; a few drops or a quarter teaspoon are usually sufficient.

  Measurements Four ounces of whole, broken, or powdered almonds are equivalent to about ¾ cup or 125 grams.

  Blanched Almonds Drop shelled almonds into boiling water and boil 1 minute. Drain. Squeeze each almond between the thumb and forefinger, and the almond will slip out of its skin. Spread the blanched almonds in a roasting pan and dry them out for 5 minutes in a 350-degree oven.

  Pulverized Almonds These are most easily done in the blender or processor, and should always be ground ½ cup at a time for the blender (1 cup for the processor) with several tablespoons of sugar to prevent them from becoming oily and lumpy, which would make them impossible to combine with other dry ingredients.

  Toasted or Grilled Almonds Spread whole, slivered, or powdered almonds in a roasting pan and set in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes. Stir them up frequently and keep an eye on them so they do not burn. They should emerge an even, light, toasty brown.

  Pralin

  [Caramelized Almonds]

  This delicious ingredient is quickly made and can be stored for weeks in a screw-topped jar. It is used in desserts and sauces, as a sprinkling for ice cream, and as a flavoring for cake icings and fillings. In France, pralin is also made with hazel nuts or a mixture of hazel nuts and almonds.

  For about 1 cup

  ½ cup slivered or powdered almonds

  Toast the almonds in a 350-degree oven as previously described.

  ½ cup granulated sugar

  2 Tb water

  An oiled marble slab or large baking sheet

  Boil the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar caramelizes (see directions for caramel farther on). Immediately stir in the toasted almonds. Bring just to the boil, then pour onto the marble or baking sheet. When cold, in about 10 minutes, break the hardened mass into pieces. Pulverize in the electric blender, pound to a coarse powder in a mortar, or put it through a meat grinder.

  Pulverized Macaroons

  Pulverized stale macaroons may be substituted for pralin. Break macaroons into small pieces, spread them in a roasting pan, and set in a 200-degree oven for about an hour. Remove when they are fairly dry and lightly browned; they will crisp up as they cool. When crisped, pulverize them in the electric blender, pound in a mortar, or put them through a meat grinder. Store in a screw-topped jar where they will keep for weeks.

  Caramel

  [Caramel]

  Caramel is sugar syrup cooked until it turns a light, nut brown. It is used as a flavoring or coloring, or for coating a mold.

  For about ½ cup

  1 cup granulated sugar or crushed sugar lumps

  ⅓ cup water

  A small, heavy saucepan (with cover)

  Blend the sugar and water in the saucepan and bring to the simmer. Remove from heat, and swirl the pan by its handle to be sure that the sugar has dissolved completely and that the liquid is perfectly clear. Cover the pan tightly and boil the syrup for several minutes over moderately high heat—keep peeking, after a minute or so, and boil until the bubbles are thick. Uncover the pan and continue boiling, swirling the pan slowly by its handle. In a number of seconds the syrup will begin to color. Continue boiling and swirling a few seconds more, until it is a light caramel brown, then remove from heat and continue swirling—it will darken more. Set the bottom of the pan in cold water to cool it and stop the cooking.

  Caramel Syrup

  Pour ⅓ cup of water into the preceding caramel and simmer, stirring, until the caramel has dissolved.

  HOW TO LINE A MOLD WITH CARAMEL

  Un Moule Caramelisé

  [A Caramel-lined Mold]

  Custard desserts are often baked in a mold lined with caramel so that the dessert will be covered with a brown glaze when unmolded. You may make the caramel directly in the mold when you are using a metal one such as the charlotte illustrated for soufflés. If you are using porcelain, make the caramel separately. Metal takes a caramel lining more evenly than porcelain, and the dessert is usually easier to unmold. We therefore suggest you buy metal molds if you plan to do many desserts of this type.

  For a 6-cup metal mold

  A plate½ cup granulated sugar or crushed sugar lumps

  2 Tb water

  A pan of cold water

  Boil the sugar and water in the mold over moderate heat, swirling the mold frequently, until the syrup caramelizes. At once, dip the mold in the cold water for 2 to 3 seconds to cool it very slightly. Then tilt the mold in all directions to film the bottom and sides with caramel. When the caramel has ceased to run, turn the mold upside down over a plate. This is now a caramelized mold.

  For a fireproof porcelain mold (or cup-custard molds or ramekins)

  Make the caramel in a saucepan. While it is cooking, warm the porcelain mold in a pan of hot water; remove it as soon as the caramel is done. Pour in the caramel and tilt the mold in all directions to film its bottom and sides. When the caramel has ceased to run, reverse the mold on a plate.

  Charlotte Malakoff

  HOW TO LINE A MOLD WITH LADYFINGERS

  Some of the grand desserts such as the charlotte Malakoff, the diplomate, and the charlotte Chantilly, call for a mold lined with ladyfingers. Any kind of a cylindrical mold or dish will do for the operation, but the dessert will be more spectacular if your mold is the charlotte type 3½ to 4 inches deep, like that illustrated in the Soufflé section. Some recipes direct that the ladyfingers be dipped first in diluted liqueur; others do not. The procedure for lining the mold is the same in either case.

  Warning

  Do not attempt any dessert calling for a mold lined with ladyfingers unless you have ladyfingers of premium quality—dry and tender, not spongy and limp. Inferior ladyfingers, unfortunately the only kind usually available in bakeries, will debase an otherwise remarkable dessert. The recipe for homemade ladyfingers is here.

  Lining the bottom of the mold

  Cut the ladyfingers into a design of wedges to fit the bottom of the mold exactly. Lay them in the mold, their curved sides down.

  Lining the sides of the mold

  Place a row of ladyfingers upright and pressed together, their curved sides against the sides of the mold. If your mold slants outward, you may have to trim the edges of the ladyfingers to make them slightly wedge-shaped.

  The mold is now ready for filling, as directed in your recipe.

  HOW TO UNMOLD A DESSERT

  Many other desserts in this chapter, besides those with ladyfingers in the preceding paragraphs, are formed or baked in a mold, and are unmolded for serving. The easiest way to unmold them is: place a serving dish upside down over the mold and reverse the two quickly so the dish rests over a flat surface, give a sharp, downward jerk to dislodge the dessert, then remove the mold.

  Vanilla

  We have specified vanilla extract in all of the de
ssert and cake recipes. If you prefer to use the bean, steep it for 20 minutes in whatever hot liquid you are using. Sugar with a mild vanilla flavor is made by burying a vanilla bean for a week or so in a screw-topped jar with 1 pound of granulated sugar. For a strong flavor, pulverize ½ ounce or 2 whole vanilla beans in a mortar with ¼ pound or about ¾ cup of sugar lumps, then pass through a very fine-meshed sieve. If you use an electric blender for this, allow the pulverized mixture to stand in a closed jar for a week or so before sieving it.

  Glazed Orange or Lemon Peel

  This provides a nice decoration and is easy to make.

  For about ½ cup

  5 lemons or 3 bright-skinned oranges

  A vegetable peeler

  1 quart of simmering water

  Remove the colored part of the lemon or orange skin with a vegetable peeler. Cut into julienne strips 1½ inches long and 1/16 inch wide. Simmer in water for 10 to 12 minutes or until just tender when bitten. Drain. Refresh in cold water. Dry on paper towels.

  1 cup granulated sugar

  ⅓ cup water

  A candy thermometer, if possible

  1 tsp vanilla extract

  Boil the sugar and water in a small saucepan to the thread stage (230 degrees). Remove from heat. Stir in the drained peel and the vanilla. Let the peel stand in the syrup for at least 30 minutes. Drain when ready to use. Under refrigeration, the peel will keep in the syrup for several weeks.

  Flour

  Be sure to measure your flour correctly. This is especially important for cakes. All recipes are based on the flour-measuring method described on this page.

  SWEET SAUCES AND FILLINGS

  Sauces Sucrées et Crèmes

  Crème anglaise, a light custard sauce, and crème pâtissière, a thick custard filling, are fundamental to French desserts and pastries. Both are quick to do, and should definitely be in anyone’s repertoire.

  CRÈME ANGLAISE

  [Light Custard Sauce]

  This sauce is a blend of egg yolks, sugar, and milk stirred over heat until it thickens into a light cream. If it comes near the simmer, the yolks will scramble. Although it can be omitted, a very small amount of starch in the sauce acts as a safeguard just in case the heat becomes too much for the egg yolks. Some recipes direct that the sauce be cooked in a double boiler; this is slow work and quite unnecessary if you concentrate on what you are doing, and use a heavy-bottomed saucepan. A candy thermometer is a useful guide.

  Vanilla is the basic flavoring for crème anglaise; others are added to the vanilla if you wish, such as coffee, liqueurs, or chocolate. The sauce is served either warm or chilled, depending on your dessert. Less rich than cream, crème anglaise is used on fruit desserts, molded creams, puddings, ice cream, or accompanies any dessert where it could be substituted for cream. With additional egg yolks and with heavy cream, it becomes the custard used for ice creams. Also with more egg yolks, plus gelatin, whipped cream, and flavoring, it is ready to be a Bavarian cream.

  For about 2 cups

  ½ cup granulated sugar

  4 egg yolks

  A 3-quart mixing bowl

  A wire whip or electric beater

  Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon, this page.

  Optional: 1 tsp cornstarch or potato starch

  Beat in the optional starch.

  1¾ cup boiling milk

  While beating the yolk mixture, very gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets so that the yolks are slowly warmed.

  A clean, heavy-bottomed enameled or stainless steel saucepan

  A wooden spatula or spoon

  Optional but recommended: a candy thermometer

  Pour the mixture into the saucepan and set over moderate heat, stirring slowly and continuously with a wooden spatula or spoon, and reaching all over the bottom and sides of the pan, until the sauce thickens just enough to coat the spoon with a light, creamy layer. Do not let the custard come anywhere near the simmer. Maximum temperature is 165 degrees on the candy thermometer (170 if you have used starch). Then beat the sauce off heat for a minute or two to cool it. Strain it through a fine sieve, and beat in one of the flavorings at the left.

  Flavorings

  1 Tb vanilla extract

  OR, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 Tb rum, kirsch, cognac, orange liqueur, or instant coffee

  OR, 2 or 3 ounces or squares of semisweet baking chocolate melted in the boiling milk, and 1 tsp vanilla extract stirred into the finished sauce

  To serve hot: Keep the sauce over warm but not hot water. If you wish, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons of un-salted butter just before serving.

  To serve cold: Set the saucepan in a pan of cold water, and stir frequently until cool. Then cover and chill.

  Crème Brûlée

  Crème brûlée originated in England, it appears, at Christ’s College in Cambridge. Make the basic cream exactly like the preceding crème anglaise, but use half the amount of sugar, and whipping cream instead of milk. Chill in a serving dish. Rather than glazing the top of the cream with brown sugar, try spreading a ⅛-inch layer of pralin, over the cream. This would then be a crème anglaise pralinée, and is good as a dessert either by itself or served with strawberries.

  CRÈME PTISSIÈRE

  [Custard Filling]

  This custard is also made of egg yolks, sugar, and milk, but unlike crème anglaise, it contains flour so it may be brought to the boil, and is much thicker. The proportions of flour vary according to the use of the filling; the following recipe is designed as a base for fruit tarts. With the addition of beaten egg whites it becomes a crème Saint-Honoré and may be used as a filling for cream puffs, or may be mixed with fruit to make a quick dessert like the plombières.

  For about 2½ cups

  1 cup granulated sugar

  5 egg yolks

  A 3-quart mixing bowl

  A wire whip or electric beater

  Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon.

  ½ cup flour (scooped and leveled)

  Beat in the flour.

  2 cups boiling milk

  Beating the yolk mixture, gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets.

  A clean, heavy-bottomed 2½-quart, enameled saucepan

  A wire whip

  Pour into saucepan and set over moderately high heat. Stir with wire whip, reaching all over bottom of pan. As sauce comes to the boil it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as you beat it. When boil is reached, beat over moderately low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour. Be careful custard does not scorch in bottom of pan.

  Flavorings

  1 Tb butter

  1½ Tb vanilla extract

  OR, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 2 to 3 Tb rum, kirsch, cognac, orange liqueur, or instant coffee

  OR, 3 ounces or squares of semisweet baking chocolate melted with 2 Tb rum or coffee and 2 tsp vanilla extract

  OR, ½ cup pulverized almonds, or pulverized macaroons, ¼ tsp almond extract, and 2 tsp vanilla extract

  Remove from heat and beat in the butter, then one of the flavorings at the left. If the custard is not used immediately, clean it off the sides of the pan, and dot top of custard with softened butter to prevent a skin from forming over the surface. Crème pâtissière will keep for a week under refrigeration, or may be frozen.

  CRÈME SAINT-HONORÉ

  [Custard Filling with Beaten Egg Whites]

  A crème pâtissière with the addition of stiffly beaten egg whites is used as a filling for tarts and cream puffs, and as a dessert cream. It is flavored with chocolate, liqueurs, grated orange peel, pralin, or whatever your recipe calls for.

  For 5 to 6 cups

  2½ cups crème pâtissière

  8 egg whites

  Big pinch of salt

  2 Tb granulated sugar

  Make the crème pât
issière as directed in the preceding recipe. Beat in the flavorings you have chosen. Beat the egg whites and salt together until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Stir one quarter of the egg whites into the hot custard, fold in the rest. If the cream is to be served cold, chill it in the refrigerator.

  FRANGIPANE

  [Almond Custard Filling]

  This is a very thick type of crème pâtissière with crushed macaroons or powdered almonds. Use it as a filling for crêpes or tarts. Any leftover frangipane may be mixed with an equal amount of crème pâtissière and used as a filling.

  For about 2 cups

  A wire whip or electric beater

  1 egg

  1 egg yolk

  A 3-quart mixing bowl

  ¾ cup granulated sugar