Author

Jasmin

Vegan Puff Pastry Apple Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

by Jasmin April 25, 2024

written by Jasmin

One of my favourite things I learnt at Pastry School was how to make puff pastry. Once you know how to do it, the fun starts and you can get creative with it! This variation is perfect for cosy autumn and winter days. Just imagine warm and fluffy vegan apple cinnamon rolls with just the right amount of cinnamon, some icing on top and a hot cup of tea.

This is a great recipe for you to try making puff pastry yourself! Unlike croissants it really doesn’t need to be perfect. On the contrary we want it to be a bit messy and rustic.

Of course you can also make this recipe using store-bought puff pastry. But if you want to make sure it’s vegan or are tempted to try making it yourself, you should give this recipe a try!

I promise, these vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls filled with soft apples mixed with brown sugar and icing on top will be delicious!

As always, if you have any questions or if instructions are unclear, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. I’m here to help and don’t forget, others might benefit from it as well 🙂

Let’s take a closer look

This recipe for puff pastry vegan apple cinnamon rolls consists of four components:

Homemade vegan Puff Pastry
Our delicious Apple Cinnamon Filling
Icing to drip onto our finished Cinnamon Rolls

Everything you need to know to nail these perfect vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls!

Vegan Puff Pastry

150 g T45 flour
150 g T55 flour
6 g salt
45 g sugar
15 g yeast or 5 g dried yeast
145 g vegan milk
60 g vegan butter
150 g vegan butter of a percentage of 82% fat

Or use store-bought (vegan) puff pastry.

For this recipe, we will mix T45 and T55 flour. If you can’t get your hands on that kind of flour, bread flour (which has a higher gluten content) or all purpose flour will work as well. Further, we’ll use regular salt and white sugar. As for the yeast, I prefer using fresh yeast. However, this recipe also works with dry yeast, which you can substitute using a 3:1 ratio. Don’t worry, I listed both options for you.

Now you might wonder if making vegan puff pastry is a lot more complicated than normal puff pastry. But it’s actually not!

All you have to do is replace normal milk using your favourite plant-based milk and the normal butter with vegan butter. Make sure to get vegan butter with a percentage of 82% fat. Otherwise it will be more complicated to get beautiful layers as the butter will melt quicker. Make sure you do not use margarine that is labelled as “extra soft” or “extra spreadable” – these are so soft that it’ll be very tricky to get beautiful layers of butter and dough.

How to make your own vegan puff pastry

To start, add the T45 flour, T55 flour, salt, sugar, yeast, vegan milk and the first amount of butter to your mixing bowl. We want our dough to be cold in the beginning as it will heat up while we’re mixing. So make sure, that your plant-based milk and your butter are cold! Mix for 3 minutes on low speed to combine your ingredients. After, keep on mixing for 7-9 minutes on medium speed. Stop the machine when you can easily stretch your dough and you have a beautiful glutinous net.

In my giphy below you can see how easily I can stretch the dough – it almost gets transparent and you can see my fingers through it without the dough breaking. That’s what we want! So be patient and give your stand mixer some time.

Now, shape your dough into a ball, cover it with cling film and let it sit at room temperature for 35-45 minutes. During that time it should rise visibly, but keep an eye on it – we also don’t want it to rise too much.

In the meantime, prepare a 15 x 30 cm (6” x 12”) rectangle out of parchment paper.

While you’re still waiting, you can also already prepare another 15 x 15 cm (6” x 6”) rectangle, also out of parchment paper. Place your second (the bigger) amount of butter on it, close it and roll the butter into all the corners using a rolling pin. It should be as even as possible. After, pop the butter back in the fridge.

Once your dough has risen, remove the air from your dough by flattening your ball. Place it onto your 15 x 30 cm (6” x 12”) parchment paper rectangle, close it and move it into all the corners using a rolling pin. Again, your dough rectangle should be as even as possible. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

How to organise yourself: If you want to make your apple cinnamon rolls over two days, you can prepare your dough one the first day. For this, make your dough as mentioned above. Instead of letting it sit at room temperature for 40-45 minutes only let it develop for 10 minutes. After that, shape the dough into your rectangle. Place it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and leave it in the fridge overnight. Then continue exactly as outlined below.

Creating those beautiful puff pastry layers

If you are new to puff pastry or are still unsure about how to proceed, I recommend you watch my video. Seeing what I am doing will make it a lot easier for you to understand the next steps!

Now, take out your dough and your butter. Make sure both have the same texture. For the butter, this means that you should be able to hold it in your hands and bend it a little bit. It should not break (if it does it’s to cold) and it also shouldn’t be melting in your hands. Place your butter rectangle on one of the sides of your dough rectangle. Then, using a knife, cut your dough in the middle. Place the other half of your dough on top of the butter. You now have a square sandwich of dough – butter – dough.

Before you start rolling your dough, place your rolling pin on top of your sandwich and create some waves. For this you apply some gentle pressure onto your rolling pin. Create waves as shown in the image. If it feels very hard and you have to apply a lot of pressure for the dough to create the waves I recommend you let your sandwich sit at room temperature for a little longer.

Now start rolling. I like to always start rolling from the middle. So you start rolling from the middle towards you for 2-3 times, then you roll from the middle away from you for 2-3 times. This ensures you roll your dough out evenly. Keep on rolling until your dough reaches a length of around 60 cm (24”).

If your dough or your butter is too cold: If you have to force it, because your dough won’t move, you will quite likely break the butter. This means you will end up having lots of small butter pieces instead of the desired one thin layer of butter. Even if this happens to you, don’t panic! I have been there and you will still get nice cinnamon rolls in the end. This only really gets problematic for croissants, because that’s when we want everything to be perfect.

If your dough or your butter is too warm: This is the case if you have troubles rolling out your dough. You roll and you roll but it doesn’t get longer but instead it only keeps retracting. This means that your sandwich needs to rest. Simply place it in the freezer for 5 minutes and try again!

Once your dough is rolled out, we will first be doing a double fold. For this, cut the side closest to you with a knife. Then, using a pastry brush, remove the excess flour on top of your dough. Now, fold around 1/8 of your dough from the bottom towards the middle.

Why should I remove the excess flour? If you do not remove the excess flour on top of your dough before folding, your layers of dough might not stick together sufficiently. As a result, when you roll out your dough again after folding, the different layers may move instead of staying perfectly stacked on top of each other.
Another reason to remove excess flour is that you will be adding more flour to your dough. This can slightly dry out your final result.

To finish the double fold, take the upper end of your dough and fold it towards you. To fill the gaps, cut smaller pieces of the dough you cut off before. Place them in the gaps. Lastly, fold the dough over. For this, pick up the dough in front of you and fold it over to the upper edge. If your dough is still nice and cold you can continue with the following single fold straight away. In case it’s getting too warm, place it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes and continue after. And, when in doubt, I recommend popping it in the freezer for a little bit. 🙂

Is it really necessary to fill the gaps? Well probably every pastry chef has their own opinion on this. Alternatively you can also stretch your dough a bit to fill the gaps. But this is only possible if your gaps are rather small. By stretching the dough too much in one spot you might end up having slightly irregular layers overall.
Theoretically, you could also cut off the irregular dough on both sides. With this method you get it perfectly, but you will also waste a lot of dough.

Once you’re ready to do your single fold, place your dough in front of you. Using a knife, cut open the closed sides on the right and the left of your dough. Then follow the same steps as above: Flatten your dough by making waves, then roll it to around 40 cm (16”) length. Again, pay attention to the temperature of your dough (see above). Once you reached the right length, remove any excess flour with a brush.

This time only a so called single fold is required. If you risk having big dough gaps, cut off some dough like you did in the step before. Then, take one third from the bottom of your dough and fold it over. Now take the upper third of the dough and fold it down.
Again, cut the two closed edges open using a knife. Place your dough back in the fridge for at least one hour as it will need to rest.

Apple Cinnamon Filling

2-3 apples
70 g vegan butter
100 g brown sugar
1 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean

I know puff pastry is tricky! But this step is easy: Peel your apples, cut them into small cubes and place them in a bowl. Scrape 1/2 vanilla bean and add to the apples. Slightly heat the butter in the microwave until soft (not liquid!), add the sugar and cinnamon and mix everything well. You will get a creamy mixture. Keep the butter-mix and your apples at room temperature. And that’s it!

Curious about vanilla? Hop over here to learn everything I discovered when visiting a vanilla farmer in Bali!

Let’s fill these beauties!

Now that the two most important parts are done, we will combine them both.

For this, roll out your puff pastry to a rectangle of 30 x 40 cm (12” x 16”). It’s important that your dough had enough rest or it will be too elastic and difficult to roll out.

Now, spread the butter-sugar-cinnamon mix on top of your dough. Make sure you spare one centimetre on one side. That’s where we will close our roll. For the other sides you can be generous and go until the edges.

After, place your apples on top. Make sure to spread them evenly.

Start rolling on the opposite side from where you left the 1 cm border. Roll it tightly but gently. Once you reach the end, take some water and apply it onto the 1 cm (0.5”) border. Now roll until the end.

After that, this final step will help to tighten the roll. Again, watching the video will make it easier to understand what you need to do. Otherwise, I hope the images help as well. You need your cinnamon roll, parchment paper and I used a ruler. You can also use your rolling pin.

For this, place your roll in the middle of parchment paper. Cover it with parchment paper and place a ruler or a rolling pin close to your roll. With the other hand, pull the bottom layer of parchment paper towards you. This helps tighten your cinnamon roll. Then, cover it entirely in parchment paper and place it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

It’s time for vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls!

We’re almost there! Now that your apple cinnamon roll is nice and cold, you can cut it a lot easier.

Using a bread knife, cut the off pieces of 2,5 cm (1”). You should get 12 little rolls out of it. Place them on two trays with parchment paper. Let them rise at room temperature for 2-2.5 hours.

Once your cinnamon rolls are done proofing bake them for 20 minutes at 160° C (320°F).

Freezing your vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls: Don’t need 12 cinnamon rolls at once? You can either place half of them in the freezer before proofing them or once they’re baked. Thaw them in the fridge overnight and let them rise for 2-2.5 hours the next day if they haven’t yet risen. Then bake for 20 minutes at 160° C (320°F). If they were already baked, simply warm them up at 80°C (180°F) for 5-10 minutes.

Let’s finish with some icing!

Icing

250 g icing sugar
lemon juice or water

While your cinnamon rolls are in the oven, place the icing sugar in a bowl, add a small (!) quantity of water or lemon juice and mix. Continue until you reach the desired consistency.

By now your kitchen will smell amazing. Take your cinnamon rolls out of the oven and let them cool down a bit. Then add some of the icing on top and enjoy!

As you might imagine you can fill these rolls with anything you like. In France they are traditionally filled with raisins soaked in rum and pastry cream (called pains aux raisins). You can also do pastry cream and chocolate drops for example. It also doesn’t have to be rolled, you can give your puff pastry any form you like. Why not go for a croissant shape with some of the filling inside?

Whatever you decide to do with this recipe, I hope you enjoy it and create some happiness for you and the people around you. That’s what’s most important!

Also, feel free to share your result with me by simply tagging me @wildflour__patisserie on instagram or leave a comment below.

Vegan Puff Pastry Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe for fluffy vegan apple cinnamon rolls made out of homemade puff pastry, just the right amount of cinnamon and some icing on top.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 2

Resting Time 5

Servings 12 pieces

Ingredients

Puff Pastry

150 g T45 flour
150 g T55 flour
6 g salt
45 g sugar
15 g fresh yeast or 5 g dried yeast
145 g vegan milk (soy milk)
60 g vegan butter
150 g vegan butter, 82% fat

Apple Cinnamon Filling

2-3 apples
70 g vegan butter
100 g brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean

Icing

250 g icing sugar
lemon juice/water

Instructions

Puff Pastry

Add the T45 flour, T55 flour, salt, sugar, yeast, vegan milk and the first amount of butter (60 g) into your mixing bowl.
Mix for 3 minutes on low speed to combine your ingredients. After, keep on mixing for 7-9 minutes on medium speed. Stop the machine when you can easily stretch your dough and you have a beautiful glutinous net.
Shape your dough into a ball, cover it with cling film and let it sit at room temperature for 35-45 minutes.
Take a piece of parchment paper and fold it into a 15 x 30 cm (6'' x 12'') rectangle. Also prepare a 15 x 15 cm (6'' x 6'') rectangle out of parchment paper as well. Have a look the video or the photos above to understand better that step.
Now, take the second amount of vegan butter (150 g) and place it inside your 15 x 15 cm (6'' x 6'') parchment paper rectangle. Close it and roll the butter into all the corners. Your butter might have to soften a bit before. Once this step is done, put the butter back in the fridge
Once your dough has risen, place it inside your 15 x 30 cm (6'' x 12'') parchment paper rectangle. Now flatten it by pressing it down with your hands. You want to remove all the air that is inside of your dough.
Then close your rectangle and push your dough into all the corners. You want this to be as even as possible. At this step, don't worry if the dough doesn't stay perfectly in the corners. After, place the dough into the freezer for 10 minutes.
Take out the chilled dough and the butter. If necessary, roll the dough into the corners.
Place the dough rectangle in front of you. Place your butter rectangle on one of the sides of your dough rectangle. Then, using a knife, cut your dough in the middle. Place the other half of your dough on top of the butter. You now have a square sandwich of dough – butter – dough.
Roll out your dough to a length of around 60 cm (24''). Remove any excess flour on top of your dough and do a double fold. If you are unfamiliar with this step, check out my video or the description above.
Put your puff pastry in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
Then, cut open the two folded sides of your dough. These should be left and right of you, meaning that one of the open sides is facing you (see image 14).
Roll out your dough to around 40 cm (16''), then do a single fold. Now, put the dough into the fridge for at least one hour for it to relax.
Prepare the Apple Cinnamon Filling in the meantime.

Apple Cinnamon Filling

Slightly heat the butter in the microwave until soft. Add the sugar and cinnamon and mix everything well.
Peel your apples, cut them into small cubes and place them in a bowl. Scrape 1/2 vanilla bean and add to the apples.

Assembling, proofing and baking the vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls

For the next step, roll out the puff pastry to a 30 x 40 cm (12'' x 16'') rectangle.
Spread the soft butter mixture on top of the puff pastry. Make sure you spare one centimetre on one side.
After, place the apples on top.
Start rolling on the opposite side from where you left the 1 cm (0.5'') border. Roll it tightly but gently. Once you reach the end, take some water and apply it onto the 1 cm border. Now roll until the end.
Tighten the roll as shown in the video and images above. Freeze for 5-10 minutes.
Using a bread knife, cut the off pieces of 2,5 cm (1''). You should get 12 little rolls out of it. Place them on two trays with parchment paper. Let them rise at room temperature for 2-2.5 hours.
Once your cinnamon rolls are done proofing bake them for 20 minutes at 160° C (320°F). Take them out of the oven once their golden.

Icing

Place the icing sugar in a bowl and add a small quantity of water or lemon juice and stir. Continue until you reach the desired consistency.
Drip the icing over your rolls and enjoy!

Keyword vegan puff pastry apple cinnamon rolls, vegan puff pastry recipe

tips and techniques

My top 10 baking and pastry tools you need for French Pâtisserie

by Jasmin April 23, 2024

written by Jasmin

You are just starting your French Pâtisserie journey? You see all these fancy pastries and wonder which pastry tools you need to get started? Maybe you have no idea what is worth investing in at this point?

To make things easier for you I have listed below my Top 10 Baking and Pastry Tools I use and love the most. Most of them are rather basic and you might already have them in your kitchen. Every listed tool also comes with an explanation what it is mostly used for. I also added in which case it would make sense for you to invest in that tool.

At the end of the page, you will further find my favourite online shops for pastry tools and equipment.

You’re ready? Let’s dive into my favourite pastry tools!

1. An electronic Kitchen Scale

Yes, I admit that this seems pretty basic. But I cannot imagine baking without it. Maybe it already happened to you that your recipe didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to be? That might be because you didn’t weigh correctly. This is something that can be avoided so easily. By weighing using an electronic kitchen scale you have one less thing to worry about.

Who is this tool for? Anyone really!

2. An electronic Precision Scale

Never saw a micro scale? Nor did I before I went to Pastry School. There I learnt pretty fast how amazing it is to have one. Let’s take my recipe for Apple cinnamon Rolls, here you need to weigh 2 g of salt for the puff pastry. A normal kitchen scale often doesn’t weigh that precisely, making it hard to add the right amount. And it would be a bummer if your puff pastry didn’t turn out the way it should’ve because you added too much salt.

Tip: You do not want to get a micro scale at the moment, but want to weigh as precisely as possible? Then don’t tare your kitchen scale before adding the “micro ingredient”. Sometimes, kitchen scales react slower if they are set to zero.

Extra Tip: If this still doesn’t work for you, weigh the smallest amount that your kitchen scale detects into a small bowl. For example, your scale measures 3 g, but you only need 1 g. Then you simply divide by eye and only use 1/3 for your recipe.

Who is this tool for? Anyone who wants to work as precisely as possible. Don’t forget, weighing the right amount is the basis for the success of your recipe!

3. Bowls, Bowls and more Bowls

I don’t think you can ever have too many bowls. I’m sure you noticed that you can use an endless amount of them when making some more complex recipes! They are one of your best and most important friends when baking and help you stay organised. Say goodbye to constantly washing dishes because you need “just one more bowl”.

Who is this tool for? I think we all can use them!

4. A Hand or Stand Mixer

Anyone who ever tried to get stiff egg whites using a hand whisk knows how valuable a hand or a stand mixer is. If you don’t have any of it, I would recommend you to start with a regular hand mixer. I’ve used some cheap ones in my life and really, they do the job. Portable or not, that’s up to your preferences.

But how do you know if you should upgrade to a stand mixer? Let me just say that I got my beautiful, loved pistachio green Kitchenaid over 8 years ago. And I never ever regretted it because I knew that I will be baking my entire life and that I will eventually get a stand mixer.
Now you might say that it was an obvious choice for me – but back then I had just started studying sports and it took me another 7 years to switch to pastry professionally! You know yourself best. If you feel like you want to advance in French pastry, want to work more efficiently, faster and cleaner, then a stand mixer might be the right decision for you.

Who is this tool for? I really recommend getting some sort of mixer, it makes your life so much easier.

5. A Dough Scraper

You took all that time to precisely weigh your ingredients, followed precisely the recipe and got your perfect dough, mousse or cream – don’t let anything go to waste. A dough scraper is cheap to get and ensures that you get all of the deliciousness!

Who is this tool for? I think it’s an essential pastry tool for every baker, you can get them cheaply in any baking store but often also supermarkets have them.

6. A small Spatula

My small spatula is my favourite tool. I use it all the time. Unfortunately I cannot always take my Kitchenaid with me but believe me, my small spatula never leaves me. Seems weird? I guess it is.
Now you might wonder what I’m using it for. Especially for making entremets, a small spatula comes in handy. Whether it is for spreading a croustillant or a mousse inside a mould, a small spatula is the tool I use. It is also good to have for smaller cakes like tartlets e. g. to take off excess filling.

Tip: In some cases a small spatula can be replaced by a spoon. But as soon as you want to smoothen surfaces (think of the tartlet above) a spatula will do a much better job!

Who is this tool for? You want to have perfectly smooth surfaces for your small cakes? Then this tool is for you.

7. A big Spatula

This tool is the big brother of the small spatula. Anyone who does buttercream cakes probably already has one. In French Pastry, it is used to spread doughs evenly on a baking tray, to assembly an entremets, to take off excess glaze or to temper chocolate. You can get straight and curved spatulas, I personally prefer the curved one. This ensures some distance between your hand and what you’re working with. So no dough or mousse on your fingers, yay!

Who is this tool for? For French pastry, it is a bit more of an advanced tool I would say. But especially if you want to make entremets I recommend it.

8. A Rolling Pin

This tool is not only useful to make more elaborated pastries like croissants or pain au chocolat. A rolling pin is also handy to have when you roll out your dough to make tartlet shells or to place some craquelin on top of your éclairs.
If you don’t already have one, I would recommend getting a French-style one. These are flat and don’t have handles, which makes it easier to apply pressure evenly.

Tip: If you go for a French-Style rollin pin you might consider getting one with silicone rings. These (in theory) allow you to easily roll out your dough at the chosen height. I think they’re great for starting out as you might not (yet) have a feeling for the height of 3mm of dough.

Extra Tip: If you don’t have a rolling pin but need one, look around the house. Maybe there is a different object that you could use instead? I did this before as I sometimes bake in the most random places. When baking at home I always prefer my French rolling pin though.

Who is this tool for? Want to roll out your dough evenly? Then you have your answer 🙂

9. A Balloon Whisk

Whisks are a useful pastry tool to just quickly mix ingredients. I use them in situations where there is no need to get out the hand or stand mixer. Either because it’s just a quick stir, or because the hand mixer is too powerful even on lowest speed. Plus: it might save you from washing another bowl in the end of the day.

Who is this tool for? Even if you do not use it often, it is good for everyone to have at least one.

10. Digital Probe Thermometer

Ok, until here nothing seemed too unfamiliar or surprising right? Now let’s get a bit more specific! I could talk a lot about thermometers (I have three different ones!) but I believe that a digital probe thermometer is the best to start with.

Let’s take a recipe for Crème Anglaise, which is the base for a couple of French-style creams. Here, you need to heat your mixture to 83° C. If you don’t heat it enough your cream will be too runny and not stable enough. And if you heat it too much, the egg inside your mixture will cook too much, creating some sort of omelette. So both cases are not ideal.

It is possible to see by eye when your mixture has reached the right temperature, but if you don’t want to worry about that – get a thermometer with a probe and you’re safe.

Tip: For some of the thermometers you can even set a desired temperature. Once the temperature is reached, it’ll beep which can be really handy.

Who is this tool for? For anyone who feels ready to start recipes that need some more precision.

Where to find these pastry tools

You can find a lot of these items in stores, but in case you prefer online shops, I linked below my favourite ones for French Pâtisserie equipment!

Meilleur du Chef (within Europe or reach out to them for other destinations)
Cardin Deko (within Europe)
Pastry Chef’s Boutique (US, Canada, Mexico – please note that I have no personal experience here)

Some of these pastry tools made you curious or you’d be interested in knowing more about my two other thermometers? Drop a comment below and let me know, I might just do another blogpost on my favourite tools for more advanced pastries!

pastry lab

Bali Beans: The Secrets of Bali’s Vanilla Farmers

by Jasmin April 23, 2024

written by Jasmin

During my stay in Bali I mostly spent the days driving through rice fields on our scooter, admiring the beauty of the island and on the lookout for the next Nasi Goreng. But luckily I also knew that both cocoa and vanilla are being grown on the island. As I had already had the chance to visit a cocoa plantation in Côte d’Ivoire, I thought that it was time to see how vanilla grows. But don’t worry, I did not forget about cocoa and also went to visit a local chocolate factory in Bali.

We visited Gustu, a Balinese traditional vanilla farmer. He invited us to his family’s house, where we spent a good amount of time asking loads of questions. Though I had learnt the basics about vanilla during my time at Pastry School in France, my actual knowledge was pretty limited. Later on, Gustu took us to one of his plantations so we could see how vanilla grows.

The vanilla plant is an orchid, that uses trees or tree trunks to climb up. It can get as high as 20 m and produces the first flowers at an age of 2-3 years. It is one of the most expensive spices in the world and can only be grown in specific tropical countries, such as Madagascar, Réunion, Indonesia or Mexico. It is mostly commonly used in pastries but als in perfumes and cosmetics.

About Gustu’s Vanilla Farm in Bali

Gustu’s vanilla farm is located in Kediri, an area outside the busy tourist regions of Bali. He had taken over his father’s vanilla plants when Gustu was facing unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. His father had started growing vanilla in the 1990s, cultivating vanilla plants he had initially found in the forest.

Today, Gustu owns around 10.000 plants producing up to 2 tonnes of planifolia vanilla every year (pre hydration). As he told us, the production can vary every year depending on the weather conditions. A vanilla bean takes around 8-9 months to grow and needs to be picked while still green. Otherwise, the risk of the bean splitting is too high, which would diminish the bean’s quality.

Traditional Balinese Vanilla Production

In Bali, the vanilla harvest starts in June and ends in September. When we were visiting in December, we could already see new beans grow. Unfortunately we missed the vanilla flowers, as I would have loved to see their pollination. Pollination needs to be done by hand to ensure it’s done correctly and vanilla will grow. From what Gustu had told us, natural pollination would only be 20-30% effective compared to around 95% if done by hand. Crazy, right?!

When I asked about the use of chemicals or pesticides, Gustu gave me two reasons why he doesn’t use them. Firstly, they do make the vanilla plant grow faster, but it also means that it will be less productive faster. Traditionally, a new vanilla plant takes around 2-2,5 years to grow until it develops the first flowers. So it takes quite a while and some good care until it generates income. Secondly, he told me that the prices for pesticides are simply to high given his production quantity.

Steps post harvest

1. Once the vanilla is harvested, the green beans will be washed and “cooked” in hot water for around 3 minutes. This stops the ripening of the bean.
2. Afterwards, the beans are kept in a warm box for two days, where fermentation changes the bean’s colour from green to brown.
3. The next step is to dry the vanilla in the sun, usually from 9 am to around noon for one month and twenty days. Yes, Gustu was really specific about that. Afterwards, the beans are kept in a container and laid out into the sun again the next day.
4. During this phase the vanilla develops their aromas and the vanillin, which is mostly responsible for their taste.
5. Once this procedure is over, the vanilla beans are sorted by length and colour, weighed and packaged.

Selling vanilla as a traditional farmer

Honestly, I had thought that it must be pretty easy to sell vanilla. It is one of my favourite spices and I know how thought after and expensive it is to buy. From what Gustu told me of his experience is that selling vanilla in Indonesia is almost impossible. It is not a spice that is traditionally used in Indonesian or Balinese cooking. Therefore, he almost entirely relies on exportation. He exports his vanilla to different countries around the globe, mostly bakers like me or perfume makers.

A meeting beyond vanilla

Learning first hand from someone who spends his entire day committed to the production of vanilla was inspiring. Not only did I learn so much more about vanilla, but I truly enjoyed meeting and talking to Gustu. He shared his knowledge without hesitation, was curious about my experience about what to do with used vanilla beans and answered all our questions with patience. Of course, I had to get some of his vanilla and ended up getting some Tahitian vanilla on top. I can’t wait to experiment with it, don’t worry, I’ll share some delicious vanilla recipes with you!

Now I understand better, why vanilla is one of the most expensive spices out there. In case you head to Bali and want to experience Gustu’s vanilla plantation yourself, you can simply contact him on WhatsApp: +62 878 4614 0160 and he will be happy to chat and show you around! You can even get Nasi Goreng after at their family’s local Warung to make the day even more perfect.

french pastry recipes gluten-free

Irresistible gluten-free Strawberry Cake or French Fraisier

by Jasmin August 26, 2023

written by Jasmin

Hello, lovely bakers! Today, I’m super excited to walk you through a gorgeous treat straight from France but with a thoughtful twist—it’s completely gluten-free! It’s the exquisite Fraisier cake, and my version ensures that no one has to skip dessert!

Why gluten-free? Simply because everyone deserves a slice of heavenly cake! Plus, who doesn’t love a challenge? Let’s dive into making this culinary delight accessible to all!

Embracing the art of French pâtisserie in a gluten-free form has never been more delicious! This Fraisier cake is sure to impress with its layers of airy sponge, light diplomat cream made out of pastry cream and whipped cream, strawberry compote and the fresh zing of strawberries.

It is inspired by Aurélien Cohen, a pastry chef running a beautiful pastry shop and chocolaterie on the outskirts of Paris. During my pastry studies in France, I got to intern there during “Fraisier-Season”. But this version makes sure its perfect for any occasion and also for all those who can’t have gluten.

Watch my video for all my extra tips!

While I always try to explain as understandable as possible, it’s sometimes easier to watch a video. Hit the button below to check out how to make this wonderful gluten-free strawberry fraisier!

https://youtu.be/jLks_YzPC98

How to make this gluten-free strawberry cake

Sponge Cake (16 cm or 6”)

120 g or 2 large eggs
70 g sugar
70 g corn starch

Mastering a nice sponge cake might seem tricky but once you’ve mastered it you’ll see that it’s actually really easy! The key to success is time and patience. The most important step is to allow your eggs the time they need to triple in volume and get nice and fluffy. This takes around 5 to 7 minutes, so be prepared for that if you’re using a hand mixer!

There are some steps to follow for a beautiful sponge cake:

Add the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer or a regular mixer if you’re using a hand mixer. Also add the sugar.
Mix using a whisk attachment until it has visibly tripled in volume. This will take 5-7 minutes. You can also beat it for longer, you can’t go wrong here!
Sift in the corn starch. Now be nice and gentle. Using a dough scraper, fold the corn starch into the egg-sugar mixture. You want it to remain as fluffy as possible!
Pour into a 16 cm or 6” baking ring or baking pan and bake immediately for 25 minutes at 160°C/320°F.

Why is it important to beat the eggs for so long?

This recipe only consists of three ingredients: eggs, sugar and corn starch. Only the eggs can make your cake rise as there is no baking powder in it. This is why we want them to get as voluminous as possible from the start!

Can’t I just add baking powder?

There is no need for baking powder. This recipe is so great because it is simple, so why make things more complicated than necessary?

I don’t have a dough scraper. Can I add the corn starch using an electric mixer?

Unfortunately, the electric mixer is so powerful that it will lead to your eggs sinking when you work the corn starch into them. This will make the dough flatter when baked. If you don’t have a dough scraper, you can use a wooden spoon or even a regular spoon.

Can I bake my prepared dough later?

The longer the dough sits, the more it will sink. But we want to keep as much air in it as possible, so you should bake your dough straight away!

Diplomat Cream

This cream is my absolute favourite inside a fraisier! It is light and airy with a hint of vanilla. Just perfect!

400 g milk
1 vanilla bean
65 g egg yolk
65 g sugar
35 g corn starch
6.5 g gelatine powder + 39 g water
200 g whipping cream

Fun fact! Did you know that some of the most classic French pastry fillings are based off the same base?! This base is called pastry cream or Crème Pâtissière in French. For example, to turn it into a Crème Mousseline, you first do a Pastry Cream and then add butter to it. Or to turn it into a Diplomat Cream, you add whipping cream. Here, I will show you how to make a beautiful fluffy Diplomat cream!

We will start by making the pastry cream. For this, pour the milk in a saucepan. Remove the seeds of one vanilla bean and add it into the milk. Put in the empty vanilla bean as well. Now infuse the milk for 15 minutes, by bringing the milk to a simmer, then switching the stove off and then covering the top with cling film.

In the meantime, put the egg yolk and the sugar in a bowl. Mix with a whisk until the colour has lightened and you have a soft yellow tone. Then add in the corn starch and give it another stir.

Remove the cling film and heat up the milk. Then, pour around 1/3 of the milk over the egg yolk mix. Stir well and put everything back into the saucepan. Place it onto the stove and bring everything to a boil. Make sure your stove is at low to medium heat as we do not want our cream to burn. Now continue boiling your pastry cream for around 2 minutes. Keep stirring with a whisk continuously.

Off the heat, incorporate the gelatine mass. Then, add in the butter. Mix well and make sure that there are not more butter lumps inside the cream. After, place the pastry cream in a baking dish or a container and cover the surface with cling film. Refrigerate until it’s completely cooled down.

Then, once your pastry cream is entirely cold and you are ready to assemble the cake, take it out of the fridge. Using a hand mixer, mix it until it’s homogenous and smooth. Whip the whipping cream to soft peaks. Add in one third of your slightly whipped cream. With a whisk, incorporate the cream energetically.

Add the second third of the cream and now change to using a dough scraper. Gently fold in the cream. If your cream is whipped to soft peaks, it will be very easy to incorporate without losing a lot of air.
Continue in the same way with the last third of your cream.

Strawberry Compote

300 g fresh strawberries
30 g sugar
8 g pectin NH
16 g lemon juice

Now this step is pretty easy: Cut the strawberries into halves and place them in a saucepan.

Together with the lemon juice, slightly heat up the strawberries. Then add in the Pectin-sugar mix and bring to a boil. Place inside a bowl and let it cool down entirely.

Later on, you can either leave it as it is if you want to have strawberry chunks in your cake. If you want it to be smooth the way I showed in the video, you can mix it using a hand blender.

Did this recipe make your heart sing? Share your creations, thoughts, and questions in the comments below!

french pastry recipes Tarts & Tartelettes Uncategorized

Gluten-free strawberry tart for delicious spring days

by Jasmin August 26, 2023

written by Jasmin

Gluten-free strawberry tart

Print Recipe

Cuisine French

Ingredients

Pâte sucrée

100 g rice flour
50 g cornstarch
40 g icing sugar
1 egg
60 g butter
20 g egg yolk for egg wash
5 g cream for egg wash

Whipped white chocolate ganache

50 g cream (1) min 35% fat
1 vanilla bean
60 g white chocolate couverture
90 g cream (2) min 35% fat

Almond cream

30 g butter
30 g sugar
30 g almond powder
30 g egg

Strawberry compotée

300 g strawberries frozen or fresh
50 g sugar
30 g water

Decoration

200 g strawberries fresh

Instructions

Pâte sucrée

Sift the rice flour, cornstarch and icing sugar into a mixing bowl.
Cut the butter into small cubes and add it to the dry ingredients. With your hands or a mixer, combine until you get a texture that resembles sand. The smaller the butter pieces, the better.
Add the egg to the mixture and mix it until the dough starts to come together.
Transfer the dough onto your work bench and gently knead it until it forms a smooth and homogenous ball.
Flatten the dough into a disc, warp it in plastic wrap and place it in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Once your dough is chilled, place it onto your slightly floured work bench and roll it. Place it in a 16cm tart form. Put it back into the refrigerator or freezer for another 30 minutes. The dough should be as cold before baking.

Whipped white chocolate ganache

Pour the cream (1) into a pot, add the vanilla and heat the cream. Once it's hot, switch off the stove and let the vanilla infuse for 25 minutes.
Then, melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a Bain Marie.
Remove the vanilla bean from your cream and heat it top again. Once it's boiling, pour ⅓ of your cream over your melted chocolate. Use a rubber spatula to emulsify the chocolate and the cream.
Add another third and combine with the cream. Lastly, add the last third.
If you have a blender, it is recommended to mix your ganache.
Add the cream (2) and mix again. Pour into a flat container and place in your refrigerator over night.

Almond cream

Slightly warm up the butter, so that it is soft but not melted.
Add the sugar and combine well.
Add a little bit of the egg to your butter/sugar mixture.
Then, with a rubber spatula, incorporate the almond powder. Try to keep the mixing to a minimum, so that the almond cream does not rise too much while baking.
Then, add little by little the remaining egg. Place in your chilled tartlet shell and bake together at 155°C for 15 minutes. During that time, prepare the egg wash by combining egg yolks and cream. Remove from the oven, apply the egg wash and bake for another 10 minutes until your tartlet has a beautiful golden colour.

Stawberry Compotée

Cut the strawberries into pieces. Place in a pot, add the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Cook until slightly geliftet. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (should be touching the compote) and set aside.

Assembly

Keyword gluten-free, strawberry tart

french pastry recipes Viennoiserie

Fleur de Provence Apricot Croissants

by Jasmin August 25, 2023

written by Jasmin

This beautiful viennoisere was developed throughout a research and development class I had here at Pastry School in France! It was an amazing experience to be able to develop your own recipe and I have learnt to incredibly much over the past months.

So yeah, right now I mostly feel grateful for having had the possibility to come here, stop everything else in my life and truly dive into French Pâtisserie.

When I wrote down the steps for making this beauty I realised that, unless you’re a baker or you have previous experience making croissants, you will probably experience difficulties following my instructions.

For now, I will leave my recipe as it is but I promise that I will take the time to take detailed photos or even an explanatory video so that it’ll be easier for you to understand what you need to do.

But feel free to try the recipe anyways and don’t hesitate to shoot me a message on instagram or leave a comment below case you have any questions or troubles!! You can find me here on instagram.

Fleur de Provence Apricot Croissants

for six croissants/petals

Print Recipe

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine French

Servings 6

Ingredients

Raised Puff Pastry

145 g milk
16 g fresh yeast
45 g sugar
5 g salt
150 g T45 flour
150 g T55 flour
60 g butter goes into the dough
150 g dry butter (mind. 82% fat)

Apricot and thyme pastry cream

70 g milk
3 g fresh thyme
70 g apricot purée
30 g eggyolks
30 g sugar
5 g custard powder or cornstarch
5 g flour

Roasted Apricots

150 g fresh apricots
13 g honey
20 g sugar
20 g butter

Apricot Confit

150 g apricot purée
20 g olive oil
5 g honey
23 g sugar
1,5 g Pectine NH

Sirup

52 g sugar
40 g water

Decoration

1 piece apricot
some fresh thyme leaves

Instructions

Dough for Raised Puff Pastry

Before starting this step, I highly recommend you read the section above that explains the process in detail to make sure you'll have a great result that you'll be happy with.
As mentioned above, before starting, make sure that all of your ingredients are at the right temperature and in accordance with your room temperature.
Add all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix at slow speed for 3 minutes.
Increase the speed of your stand mixer to medium speed and mix for around 6-8 minutes. Verify your have a beautiful gluten network, the temperature of your dough should be around 24 degrees Celsius.
Shape the dough into a ball, cover it and leave it raise at room temperature for 10 minutes.
In the meantime prepare a rectangle made out of a guitar sheet or parchment paper of the size of 15x30 cm.
Once the 10 minutes have passed, place your dough ball inside of your rectangle, remove all the gaps developed by flattening your ball into a rectangle using your rolling pin.
After place your dough rectangle in the freezer for 15 minutes to stop the development of the yeast.
Then place your dough in the refrigerator over night
To finish for this day, take your 150 g of dry butter and place them in a square of 15x15 cm. Keep in refrigerator over night.

Preparation for Laminating your Puff Pastry

Take your dough rectangle and your butter square out of the fridge.
It's possible that you dough retracted, so take your rolling pin and make sure you also have dough in all of your edges and it has a size of 30x15 cm. Also be careful and try to roll out your dough regularly, it should have the same thickness everywhere.
To make sure that your butter is no to cold, you can also use your rolling pin and gently roll over your butter square. That will make it slightly more soft.
Once you did those steps, remove your dough from the plastic/parchment paper and place it on your previously floured workbench.
Take out your butter and place it on the left side of your dough.
Cut your dough in the middle, so that the left side of your dough has the butter on top and the right side is left empty.
Then take the dough on the right side and place it on top of the butter. You should now have a dough - butter - dough sandwich.

Laminating your Puff Pastry

Do some waves on top of your puff pastry using your rolling pin. Flip your dough and do the same on the other side.
Now start rolling. Roll until you reach a length of approximately 60 cm. If your dough retracts and you cannot roll it anymore, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes or in the fridge for 20 minutes, then continue.
Do your double fold and place the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes, then keep in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
Take out your dough, cut open the dough on the sides where you folded the dough. Then turn your dough by a quarter.
Do the same waves as you did before on both sides of the dough. Then start rolling out your Doug. This time it's enough if your dough is around 50 cm long.
Do a single fold and place in the freezer for 10 minutes and then keep in the fridge.

Finishing your Puff Pastry

After your dough had time to relax for at least an hour, take it out of the fridge.
Again, cut open the dough on one side, where you had folded your dough.
Now roll out your dough to around a size of 25 x 23 cm or until you reach a thickness of 0,9 cm.
Again, place your dough in the freezer for 10 minutes until it's cool.
Take it out again, and cut stripes of 1 x 23 cm. If your dough is around 25 cm, you will be able to cut out 12 of those stripes.
Turn your stripes so that the side showing the lamination is facing you. Now place your stripes with this face showing upwards on top of your remaining dough. You can use water to make it stick better.
Once you finished this, put your dough back into the freezer for around 10 minutes.
You can now proceed and roll out your dough. Make sure that you only roll in the same way as your lamination. By rolling the other way you risk to destroy your beautiful layers you just created before.
This means that you will get a relatively long dough of a width of around 12 cm. stop rolling when you reach a dough thickness of 0,5 cm.
Place again in the freezer for 10 minutes, then put your dough into the fridge until you use it.

Apricot thyme pastry cream

Heat your milk together with the thyme. Once its hot, switch off the heat and place cling film over your pot and let infuse for around 20 minutes.
In the meantime, put the egg yolks in a bowl and add the sugar. Stir using a whisk until the color of your mixture get lighter.
Then add the custard powder and flour and stir until homogeneous.
Once the infusion is done, strain your milk to remove all the thyme. Since some of the milk evaporated, add some more milk until you have again 70 g.
Then add your apricot purée to the milk and bring it to a simmer.
Stir again your egg yolk, sugar, custard powder and flour mixture. Then add around a half of your hot milk/apricot purée mixture and stir well.
Put this back into your pot to the remaining milk and purée. Heat again at low heat and bring slowly bring to a boil. It is important that you stir well using a whisk all the time. Your combination is going to thicken. Keep on cooking it for another 1-2 minutes once it thickened. It will get softer again and when this happens you know that you're doing everything right!
Once your cooking is done, put your pastry cream in a bowl and cover it with cling film. Make sure the film touches the surface of your pastry cream. Then place it in the fridge until utilisation.

Roasted apricots

Put your sugar and your honey into a casserole and caramelise it until it has a beautiful brown colour.
In the meantime you can cut your apricots into small cubes.
Then add your butter cut in small cubes to cook down the caramel. Be careful at this step and only add some of the butter at a time.
Now you can place your apricot cubes into the casserole. Cook them until they're soft and slightly caramalised.
Strain everything to remove the remaining caramel/butter and keep your apricots in a small bowl until usage.

Apricot and Olive Oil Confit

Place the apricot purée, the olive oil and the honey in a casserole and start heating on low heat.
Mix the sugar with the NH Pectin and add to the casserole. Stir using a whisk und increase the heat.
Bring to a boil and boil for around half a minute.
Place your confit in a bowl and let cool down at room temperature, then place it in the fridge. You can use it once the pectin did its job and gelified your confit.

Preparing your sirup

Put the water and the sugar into a casserole. Heat until the sugar has entirely dissolved and the sirup boils.
Remove from the heat and keep at room temperature or the fridge until usage.

Assembling and baking your viennoiserie

Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper and place six petal-shaped moulds on top of it.
Then take out your pastry cream and stir it using a whisk until its smooth. Put it into a piping bag if you have.
Take out your puff pastry and cut stripes of 1,5 x 19 cm. Place them inside your mould, making sure that your layers are showing to the outside.
Use your leftover dough to form the base of your petal. For this roll it out further until its around 0,4 cm thick. Cut out six petal forms. They should be smaller than your mould, so that you can place them inside your mould and the puff pastry you already placed inside.
Now you can add the pastry cream inside each of your petals. It should be enough to fill your petals.
If you want to bake the same day, let your petals rise for around 2-2,5 hours, ideally at a temperature of around 27-28 degrees celsius.
If you want to bake them the next day, place your tray in the fridge, take it out the next day and let rise for 2-2,5 hours.
Once your croissants have risen, bake them in a preheated oven at 160 degrees celsius (ventilating oven) for 12 minutes.
Remove the tray from the oven and remove the moulds. Place your tray back inside the oven and bake for another 3-4 minutes until they're golden.
Remove from the oven and apply the sirup on the puff pastry using a brush.
Then, place them again in the oven for 1-2 minutes.
Take them out and let them cool down. During this time, the pastry cream will sink down, so that there will be space to add the roasted apricots and the apricot confit.

Finishing your Fleur de Provence

When your petals have cooled down, place some of the roasted apricots inside of each one of them.
Then put your apricot confit inside of a piping back and fill up your petals until the rim of the puff pastry.
Now, cut out small pieces out of an apricot and place on top of your petals for decoration. Finish by adding some fresh thyme leaves.

Entremets french pastry recipes

Recipe – Peach entremets like in southern France

by Jasmin August 25, 2023

written by Jasmin

french pastry recipes Tarts & Tartelettes

Summery apricot and thyme tartlets

by Jasmin August 25, 2023

written by Jasmin

french pastry recipes Uncategorized Wedding cakes

Recipe and how to for beautiful vegan wedding cake

by Jasmin August 25, 2023

written by Jasmin

Last Weekend a good friend of mine got married! We went to Highschool together and believe it or not, but it’s already been 10 years since we finished school and went off to college!

Lucky as I am, she trusted me with making her wedding cake. Since I am currently going to Pastry School in France and the wedding took place in Germany, I wasn’t sure if I could miss out on a couple of school days to return to Germany early enough in order to have enough time to actually bake the cake.

Which is why we decided pretty spontaneously that I will be baking a cake for her. And guess what… It needed to be VEGAN. Do I have a lot of experience baking vegan pastries? Hell no! But I do like challenges and knowing that Germany offers a wide variety of vegan substitutes for butter, cream etc. I was pretty optimistic that I could do it.

And well, I guess I did it! To make my life easier and because the wedding took place in August, I decided to keep it fruity. In the picture above you can see the picture of my very first vegan wedding cake, which was not only pretty but also delicious! The top tier was a fresh strawberry-pistachio cake and the one below a fruity mango-passionfruit cake.

Since I also had no idea on how to make a vegan buttercream and I didn’t just want to mix vegan butter and icing sugar, I did what I usually do – I went for a Swiss Meringue Buttercream! Now you might be wondering how that worked. Well believe me, I was sincerely surprised that I worked out so beautifully on the first try. I was also doing vegan macarons for the wedding using a Swiss meringue. So I figured I would try to use this Swiss Meringue as the base of my buttercream. And it actually worked.

—– TO BE CONTINUED —–

Dear Readers, since I am quite busy with Pastry School, I am having troubles finding the time to finish this blog post. Rest assured that there will be more coming soon!

Vegan Strawberry-Pistachio Weddingcake

Print Recipe

Servings 80 people

Ingredients

Vegan Strawberry-Pistachio Weddingcake

Vegan Biscuit

56 g Coconut Oil
820 g Flour
616 g Brown Sugar
84 g Almond Flour
28 g Baking Powder
28 g Sodium Bicarbonate
8 g Potato Protein
620 g Soy Milk
208 g Sunflower Oil
82 g Apple Cider Vinegar

Vegan Strawberry Curd

240 Soy Milk
135 Sugar
50 Cornstarch
170 Strawberry Purée
60 Vegan Butter

Strawberry Compote

330 g Strawberry Purée
140 g Fresh Strawberries
8 g NH Pectin
50 g Sugar
7 g Lemon Juice

Vegan Pastry Cream

234 g Soy Milk
2,5 g Agar Agar
47 g Sugar
60 g Soy Milk
15 g Cornstarch
15 g Flour

Vegan Pistachio Creme Mousseline

230 g Vegan Pastry Cream from recipe above
72 g Pistachio Paste from recipe above or bought
120 g Vegan Butter room temperature

Vegan Creme Mousseline with fresh strawberries

135 g Vegan Pastry Cream from recipe above
55 g Vegan Butter room temperature
170 g Fresh Strawberries

Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream

380 g Water
24 g Potato Protein
124 g Water
492 g Sugar
600 g Vegan Butter
80 g Passionfruit Purée

Vegan Mango-Passionfruit Weddingcake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Vegan Mango-Passionfruit Weddingcake

Vegan Biscuit

112 g Coconut Oil
1.640 g Flour
1.232 g Brown Sugar
168 g Almond Flour
56 g Baking Powder
56 g Sodium Bicarbonate
16 g Potato Protein
1.240 g Soy Milk
616 g Sunflower Oil
164 g Apple Cider Vinegar

Almond Croustillant

77 g Vegan Butter
30 g Flour
77 g Brown Sugar
120 g Powdered Almonds

Vegan Mango Curd

240 g Soy Milk
135 g Sugar
50 g Cornstarch
170 g Mango Purée
60 g Vegan Butter

Vegan Passionfruit Curd

240 g Soy Milk
135 g Sugar
50 g Cornstarch
170 g Passionfruit Purée
60 g Vegan Butter

Mango Compote

50 g Water
330 g Mango Purée
1/2 g Fresh Mango
7 g Pectin NH
20 g Sugar

Vegan Passionfruit Confit

280 g Passionfruit Purée
80 g Mango Purée
72 g Sugar
8 g Pectin NH
50 g Sugar

Vegan Pastry Cream

172 g Soy Milk
2 g Agar Agar
34 g Sugar
43 g Soy Milk
11 g Cornstarch
11 g Flour

Vegan Creme Mousseline with fresh Mangos

270 g Vegan Pastry Cream from recipe above
110 g Vegan Butter room temperature
1/2 Fresh Mango

Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream

680 Water
43 Potato Protein
222 Water
881 Sugar
1.075 Vegan Butter
100 g Passionfruit Purée
Food Colouring liposoluble, for pistachio green you need green, yellow, blue and brown

Uncategorized

My first days working in a French Bakery!

by Jasmin April 30, 2023

written by Jasmin

And my very first experiences working in a professional environment

Okay, great! I just scheduled my first blog post to be published next Sunday (See here!). That is extremely exciting and I want to use that good energy to keep on writing. First I wanted to use it to go running but then I realised that it’s raining outside. So instead I am sitting on my bed, writing these words, breathing in the smell of spring rain, sometimes looking out of the window and staring at the Eiffel Tower in the distance. … Ok I admit that the last part was a lie, but I truly am in Paris right now and if I look outside the window I can see a tower. It’s just a regular church though.

So, I guess I will not write down my experiences from home baker to French Pastry professional chronologically but rather go with the flow. Or write a post according to what you want to know more about.
As you figured, I am currently in Paris (more the outskirts than next to the Louvre, but Paris is Paris!) doing an internship. It’s my first time ever working in an actual pâtisserie and I can tell you it is VERY different from baking at home! Today was my third day and honestly I am torn between „I’m slowly getting the hang of it“ and „What am I doing here?!“. This is not at all meant in a bad way, rather just an observation.

To give you some more context, I am currently doing a French pastry diploma that is supposed to prepare me to bake delicious French pastries autonomously after eight months of studying and learning. Six of these eight months are spent at school and during two months I’m doing two different internships. I am now doing my first one, which is in a beautiful pâtisserie just outside of Paris.

How is it different from baking at home?

Well, where to start. Already, you’re not the only one in your kitchen baking, but you’re surrounded by a lot more people. The amount of people around you can vary though. Some pastry shops are run by not even a handful people in total. In my case, we’re maybe four or five in the morning and when the second shift arrives at around noon, we’re twice as many. I heard friends say, that sometimes they’re around 20 at the same time or even more. This is something that might seem obvious but it influences me just as it probably influences everybody. I was so used to just being by myself in my kitchen, having all the time I need, the space I need, doing the recipes I want to do. All of this is different working in a professional environment. In my case, I can ask my colleagues any questions whenever I’m stuck and I never saw anyone roll an eye. After all, they do prefer asking questions over making a mistake and maybe having a cake ruined 😉

And how is baking at pastry school?

I’m glad I got to go to school for a while before having this first „real world“ experience. Not only did I learn about hygiene (yep, no finger licking or dough eating) but also how to handle having less space, trying a lot of French recipes that I didn’t know before (some really good ones included!!) and especially: Having and using professional equipment! That is something I really love, like big fridges and freezers, a chamber just to proof your viennoiserie dough (I’m talking croissants!) or a machine that provides you with perfectly tempered chocolate. A dream!
Well, that dream is a bit different in an actual pastry shop. Seeing the really fancy equipment like the tempered-chocolate-thingy or a system that cuts slices perfectly using a jet of water (called watercut) is rather rare. You always find the basics though, but it might be hard to find a spot in the fridge or freezer since space is limited.

My experiences in a French bakery

But then again, school is also really different from my internship experience. Obviously, you need to keep the boat afloat, so there are some times where things get hectic and you need to rush and be fast. And well, on day three I did not entirely know the processes so I made a couple of small mistakes. Part of me wishes I had not made them. But then again, let’s not forget that was day THREE. Like literally day three of me baking in a professional environment, abroad and working with people I have never met before. So another part of me is perfectly fine with having made these mistakes, since now I feel like I will remember them plus I’m here to learn. Also luckily it was not big of an issue, I guess these things happen from time to time (whenever a new intern arrives ha!).

Looks like this is the main thing I remembered about that day. Let’s switch to something more positive! Generally my internship is going fine, I’m really glad to finally be working in a real French Bakery. I’m sure that I’m learning loads without even realising it and I am just grateful that I get to be here. I’m definitely living one of my dreams right now, though I would change a thing or two if I could.

I will keep you posted on my adventure of working in a French Bakery! Gotta head to bed now, alarm’s ringing at 5am!

Talk to you soon!

Bisous

Jasmin

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