With our March/April 2019 issue, we return to the epicenter of baking: France. Here we are again for a deeper dive into cake, custard, and crème. Our French Issue is stacked with both classic and revamped recipes signature to the French. We have the Parisian Flan, a custard creation that checks all the boxes on texture, taste, and sheer beauty. Then we’re focusing on France’s top cultured cream and one of our favorite ingredients to bake with: crème fraîche. We put fraîche spins on pain de mie, pound cake, and butter-rich mille-feuilles. And what would a French issue be without a guide to pâte à choux, the airy, golden base dough for cream puffs, éclairs, and Paris-Brests? Plus, two famous bakers, Dorie Greenspan and David Lebovitz, invited us into the kitchens of their Paris apartments for a day of baking and fun. Next, we did a boulangerie roundup, singling out the best bread in Paris. But we didn’t just stick to the city! We ventured to the romantic Beaune-based cooking school The Cook’s Atelier and then we headed to Normandy for a day of brocante-ing with Cat Bude. May you enjoy baking from this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together!
from the editor
INSTAGRAM OBSESSIONS • Before you jet to France, get to know the city like a local by following these Parisian-run accounts packed with delicious visuals.
TRENDING TOMES
WHAT TO DO • From markets to eateries, these are the places and activities I never miss on a trip to Paris.
contributors
GLOSSARY • Use this list as an easy reference for the French terms used throughout this issue of Bake from Scratch.
CHOCOLATE PEAR CLAFOUTIS • BAKE FROM SCRATCH’S LILLIE MERMOUD SHARES MEMORIES OF HER GRANDMOTHER’S CHERRY CLAFOUTIS. WE REIMAGINE THE CLASSIC WITH A CHOCOLATE AND POACHED PEAR TWIST.
BROOKLYN BASED, FRENCH TASTES • BUSHWICK BAKERY L’IMPRIMERIE SENDS PATRONS STRAIGHT TO FRANCE WITH AUTHENTIC CROISSANTS, PAIN AU CHOCOLAT, AND MICHE
CRÈME FRAÎCHE • THIS TANGY FRENCH CULTURED CREAM IS A GAME CHANGER FOR YOUR FROSTINGS, BATTERS, AND GLAZES
A GUIDE TO HOMEMADE CRÈME FRAÎCHE • Having trouble locating crème fraîche in your grocery store? Don’t panic. Two common ingredients can easily combine to create the uncommon cultured cream.
Their Paris Kitchens • BAKING ICONS DAVID LEBOVITZ AND DORIE GREENSPAN WELCOME US INTO THEIR PARISIAN HOMES FOR EXCLUSIVE BAKING AND CHAT SESSIONS
In the Kitchen with Dorie
In the Kitchen with David
The Cook’s Atelier THE CULINARY SOUL OF BURGUNDY
PRO TIP
FRESH WAYS WITH Crème Fraîche • KNOWN FOR ITS SUBTLE, SWEET TANG, CRÈME FRAÎCHE IS FRANCE’S FAVORITE CREAM. FROM DRAMATIC MILLE-FEUILLES TO A COOKIE VERSION OF GÂTEAU BASQUE, CRÈME FRAÎCHE TAKES RECIPES TO A NEW LEVEL OF LUSCIOUS.
PRO TIP
Copper en Cuisine • THE MOST FRENCH WAY TO BAKE? IN GLEAMING, FIERY COPPER.
PRO TIP
COPPER CARE 101
A COPPER QUEST IN NORMANDY • With Cat Bude as our guide, we headed to the seaside town of Honfleur for one of the finest brocantes in Normandy
BEST OF THE BROCANTES • These are France’s brocantes we’d break for.
Beyond the Baguette • MOVE OVER, PÂTISSERIE. BONJOUR, PAIN! EXPLORE THE BOULANGERIES BEHIND PARIS’S BREAD-BAKING RENAISSANCE.
Better Bread, in and out of the Bakery
The Language of Bread • Terms for Navigating a Bakery Visit
the essential... PÂTE À CHOUX • OUR CHOUX PRIMER GUIDES YOU FROM ITS BEGINNINGS ON THE STOVETOP TO ITS FINAL FLUFFY RISE IN THE OVEN AND ALL OF THE FINE PIPING IN BETWEEN
Tools of the Trade • BEFORE YOU EVEN REACH FOR THE FLOUR, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS IN YOUR ARSENAL TO MAKE PROPER CHOUX
If the Choux Fits • BECOME...