When I was in New York last week, I heard about the “macaron invasion” on every television in every taxi I took. With the recent opening of a Ladurée outpost in Manhattan and a spate of American-made macarons appearing in dessert cases all across the country, the assumption is that the cupcake has finally met its match. Before long, it will suffer the same fate as the American confection and end up on McDonalds and Starbucks menus.
Although they inspire puerile, sometimes exaggerated reactions and adjectives like “cute”, “dainty” and “adorable”, I’ve never been particularly enchanted by the orb-shaped specialty. If you put them in front of me I’ll indulge (especially if they’re from Pain de Sucre) but I’ll never go out of my way for them. Maybe it’s that they are too small for the flavor to last or perhaps I’m not so easily seduced by branding and packaging, but I simply prefer heartier French desserts.
Lucky for me, I had an opportunity back in September to take a French Dessert class at Cook’n With Class, one of the few cooking schools in Paris with English-only instruction, and none of the 5 recipes on the docket for the afternoon were macarons. I loved my experience making macaron at La Cuisine Paris two years ago particularly because they are quite difficult to master and I enjoy a good challenege. But this time, I was thrilled to be gearing up to make Raspberry Crème Brûlée, Soufflé Glacé au Grand Marnier, Mousse au Chocolat, a Sablé aux Pommes Sautées Façon Tatin and Lemon Madeleines.
It was a grey, brisk Saturday afternoon and I loved the idea of keeping warm with sugar and high-powered ovens. The five of us (students) shared the prep responsibilities and were pleasantly entertained by our instructor, Alex, who infused the kitchen with good humor and a visible enthusiasm for French sweets. He debunked certain French baking myths (I can’t divulge them here, you’ll just have to take the class!), answered all of our questions with factual but always clever responses, and taught us the techniques we needed to look like we’d been whipping up French classics all our lives.
We managed to get through five French recipes in three hours without ever feeling hurried – and that included breaking to try the chocolate mousse midway through the class. Already on a sugar high, I stayed focus -whisking like mad, measuring meticulously and cracking eggs in rapid succession to make sure our Soufflé and Apple Sablé, the two I was most looking forward to tasting, came out perfectly.
But what proved to be the most fun was finishing off the crème brûlée. Alex showed us both ways to create the burnt sugar topping which give Crème Brûlée its character – by torch and by broiler. The benefit of the broiler is that it chars the top without exposing the custard underneath to more heat than necessary.
Admittedly, we were fatigued and savagely eyeing the Apple Sablé by the time we reached the end of the course. Silence swept over the kitchen as we finally tasted the twang of the Grand Marnier from the soufflé and felt the lubricious, caramelized apples slide down our throats with ease. The only sound to be heard was the clanking of spoons and sighs of delight before finally realizing we had thoroughly spoiled our dinners. But what a way to do it.
Cook’n With Class
21 rue Custine
75018, Paris
Métro: Château Rouge
info@cooknwithclass.com
