When I began my apprenticeship in Britanny I had the choice of training as a baker, patissier or chocolatier. In France each one is a distinct profession with its own set of qualifications. Even though I knew that at heart I was a baker, I was always fascinated to know what my friends the patissiers were up to in the next room. Because bakers start work at two in the morning and finish at about midday, I was able to put in a double shift helping them out with the tarts and genoise sponges.
From being covered in flour and working with simple ingredients in the serenity of the bakery, where I had only one other person for company, it was such a contrast to be in the frenetic atmosphere of the patisserie, where half a dozen people seemed to do a thousand things at once. Whisks were constantly on the go and there would be fruit, cream, chocolate and sugar everywhere, and so much more washing up than in the bakery! Sunday was always the busiest day, when everyone came in to buy their desserts for Sunday lunch.
The very finest patissiers, who have risen to the top of their profession, are phenomenal artists, incredibly skilled and dedicated to the art of construction and perfect presentation – but I want to show you that at a simpler level you can still achieve great-tasting and great-looking patisserie. The recipes in this book are a mix of those that we teach in our cookery school in Bath, and the kind of thing that you would find in a small boulangerie-patisserie in France. They are what I call patisserie ‘maison’: simple tarts, mousses, meringues and pastries that you can make in your own kitchen with little experience. I have tried to keep the ingredients accessible, and the techniques as simple as possible, using only basic equipment.
Most of the recipes rely on a combination of classic base recipes: genoise sponge, sweet pastry, meringue, a selection of creams and syrups, chocolate ganache, and so on. The key to making life easy is to be forward thinking and organised. When you make a sponge or pastry, for example, make double, triple or quadruple the quantity and put what you don’t need immediately into the freezer. And read the recipes through first, as sometimes, especially when you are working with mousses, glazes or jellies, you will have to set each layer in the fridge before you can move on to the next. So, although a recipe might not be complicated, it might mean you need to start making it the day before you want to serve it.
We all taste with our eyes before we even put food into our mouths, so I have given a few ideas on simple, smart presentation. Sometimes just a minimal dusting of cocoa powder over a chocolate glaze, a thread of coffee run through a meringue, or a cleverly piped cream inside an éclair can make the difference between ordinary and eye-catching.
Most of all, I hope that once you get to grips with the various techniques, you will have the confidence to personalise the recipes by experimenting with different combinations of flavours, textures and decorations – and just have fun.
