French Classics Made Easy (74 page)

Although some of the recipes that follow are not strictly “sauces,” they are the basic dessert-building tools of a classic pastry chef. Once you have made them successfully and begin to see the many uses they have, I recommend that you commit them to memory (this is what a chef in training must do). Learning the structure and the proportions of a pastry cream or a crème anglaise, for example, will give you the freedom to quickly make dessert soufflés, filled cream puffs, ice cream, and dessert sauces whenever you want to.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

[SAUCE AU CHOCOLAT]

If you start with a good-tasting chocolate, it is a simple matter to make a good sauce. A chocolate sauce can be made with water, milk, or cream. In the following recipe, I use the most convenient and least caloric of these liquids to produce a dark, shiny sauce.

You can create a thin or thick sauce by merely changing the amount of liquid used. The amount shown in the recipe below produces a sauce that is thin when hot and thicker when cold, the proper consistency whenever a chocolate sauce is called for. It is also an ideal consistency for flavoring ice creams, custards, and the like. Using
half
the amount of liquid produces a thick, hot sauce that becomes fudgy when cold. In this form, it is perfect for pouring over ice cream, and at room temperature mixes well with buttercreams and makes a wonderful coating for cream puffs and éclairs.

You can add a teaspoon or two of Cognac, rum, Grand Marnier, or liqueur to change the flavor of your sauce, or make it richer by using milk or cream, instead of water.

MAKES ¾ CUP

4 ounces (115g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

½ cup water (see Note)

1.
In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate with the water over medium heat, about 2 minutes. When the water and chocolate come to a boil, stir gently with a whisk until smooth.

2.
If the sauce is too thin, cook it longer. If it is too thick, add more liquid and stir to blend well.

3.
Remove the sauce from the heat and serve hot or cold. Refrigerate any leftovers.

NOTE

Use only ¼ cup water for a thick sauce.

IN ADDITION

Over the years, I have been told by chefs, cooking teachers, and cookbook writers that you can’t mix water and chocolate and boil it to make a sauce. It is true that when melting chocolate, a drop of water will cause the chocolate to seize up, but if enough liquid is used you won’t have a problem. I often use a microwave oven to make this sauce. I put the water and chocolate into a glass or ceramic bowl, and when the water boils, there will be enough heat to melt the chocolate, allowing you to stir it to make a smooth sauce. If too thin, use the microwave to boil the sauce to thicken.

RASPBERRY COULIS

[COULIS DE FRAMBOISE]

A raspberry coulis, or purée, is an extremely versatile sauce. Its flavor and color can dramatically alter a dessert and, in effect, create a new one. More than a century ago Auguste Escoffier did so when he created his now famous
pêche Melba
by adding a sweetened raspberry purée to a poached peach perched on top of vanilla ice cream. The addition transformed the simple peach and ice cream into an extraordinary dessert.

Raspberry coulis is great served over other fruits like strawberries or blueberries, or over ice creams such as chocolate or coffee. And the coulis can be frozen into a great sorbet.

MAKES 1½ CUPS

2 boxes (4 ounces each) fresh raspberries or 1 package (10 ounces) frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed but undrained

Confectioners’ sugar, Sugar Syrup (
page 359
), or red currant jelly, to taste

1 tablespoon kirsch or framboise (optional)

In a food processor or blender, purée the raspberries. Taste and add confectioners’ sugar, sugar syrup, or currant jelly if too tart. Add the kirsch (if using) and strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds. (This sauce can be made a day in advance and refrigerated until used.)

S
TRAINING THE
C
OULIS

As you strain the raspberry purée, tap the side of the strainer to encourage the purée to go through, but leave the seeds behind. When you use a spoon to push the purée through a strainer, you risk pushing the seeds through as well.

CREME ANGLAISE

Crème anglaise is a vanilla custard sauce with many uses. It is usually used as a sauce and served both warm and cold to accompany cakes, French
puddings,
crêpes, fruit, and soufflés. It is the base from which both French Ice Cream (
page 290
) and Bavarian cream desserts (such as Marquise Alice,
page 271
) are made, and it can be easily flavored with chocolate, coffee, or any variety of liqueur.

The classic technique for making a crème anglaise requires beating the egg yolks and sugar to the “ribbon” stage, adding warm milk, and stirring over simmering water until the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon. This procedure takes between 10 and 20 minutes.

For my crème anglaise, I skip the beating of the egg yolks and sugar and eliminate the use of the double boiler. Once the milk and sugar come to a boil, it takes no more than 10 seconds to make the sauce. The classic technique leaves the surface of the sauce smooth and shiny, while this one leaves it with many small bubbles. The bubbles are easily removed with a spoon (but if you’re using the crème anglaise in ice cream or a Bavarian creamh the center. Bake until evenly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

W
HOLE
-W
HEAT
B
READ

[PAIN COMPLET]

Substitute half whole-wheat flour and half bread flour for the unbleached all-purpose flour. The rest of the recipe is the same; or shape it into a
boule
(see illustration, at right).

F
ORMING A
B
OULE

A
boule,
or ball-shaped loaf of bread, with its tight, smooth outer surface is not hard to form, but takes a little practice to make perfect.

1.
Tuck the edges of the kneaded dough underneath itself.

2.
Shape the dough into a smooth round ball.

DESSERT SAUCES

Here are the basic sauces, fillings, icings, and flavorings that you will need to make the desserts in this book. I have also included my recipe for quick and easy homemade jam, which is only lightly sweetened and intense with fruit, and my sugar syrups (used for moistening cakes and making sorbets). You will notice that for all of my dessert sauces, I use less sugar than most classic recipes call for.

Although some of the recipes that follow are not strictly “sauces,” they are the basic dessert-building tools of a classic pastry chef. Once you have made them successfully and begin to see the many uses they have, I recommend that you commit them to memory (this is what a chef in training must do). Learning the structure and the proportions of a pastry cream or a crème anglaise, for example, will give you the freedom to quickly make dessert soufflés, filled cream puffs, ice cream, and dessert sauces whenever you want to.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

[SAUCE AU CHOCOLAT]

If you start with a good-tasting chocolate, it is a simple matter to make a good sauce. A chocolate sauce can be made with water, milk, or cream. In the following recipe, I use the most convenient and least caloric of these liquids to produce a dark, shiny sauce.

You can create a thin or thick sauce by merely changing the amount of liquid used. The amount shown in the recipe below produces a sauce that is thin when hot and thicker when cold, the proper consistency whenever a chocolate sauce is called for. It is also an ideal consistency for flavoring ice creams, custards, and the like. Using
half
the amount of liquid produces a thick, hot sauce that becomes fudgy when cold. In this form, it is perfect for pouring over ice cream, and at room temperature mixes well with buttercreams and makes a wonderful coating for cream puffs and éclairs.

You can add a teaspoon or two of Cognac, rum, Grand Marnier, or liqueur to change the flavor of your sauce, or make it richer by using milk or cream, instead of water.

MAKES ¾ CUP

4 ounces (115g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

½ cup water (see Note)

1.
In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate with the water over medium heat, about 2 minutes. When the water and chocolate come to a boil, stir gently with a whisk until smooth.

2.
If the sauce is too thin, cook it longer. If it is too thick, add more liquid and stir to blend well.

3.
Remove the sauce from the heat and serve hot or cold. Refrigerate any leftovers.

NOTE

Use only ¼ cup water for a thick sauce.

IN ADDITION

Over the years, I have been told by chefs, cooking teachers, and cookbook writers that you can’t mix water and chocolate and boil it to make a sauce. It is true that when melting chocolate, a drop of water will cause the chocolate to seize up, but if enough liquid is used you won’t have a problem. I often use a microwave oven to make this sauce. I put the water and chocolate into a glass or ceramic bowl, and when the water boils, there will be enough heat to melt the chocolate, allowing you to stir it to make a smooth sauce. If too thin, use the microwave to boil the sauce to thicken.