French pastries are distinguished by their variety and sophistication. Baguettes are a kind of symbols of France. Croissants are one of the most popular baked goods. Among the confectionery products in France, the world famous ones were invented: creme brulee, eclairs, meringues, roasted nuts and profiteroles, thin crepes.
Croissants with ham and cheese
Croissants can be either without filling or with a variety of fillings. One of the most popular croissant fillings is ham and cheese. Unlike sweet fillings, they are very satisfying and perfect for a hearty breakfast.
Ingredients:
- puff yeast dough - 0.5 kg (homemade or from a store);
- ham - 200 g;
- hard cheese - 80 g;
- 1 chicken egg;
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.
Defrost the dough at room temperature before cooking croissants. While defrosting, you can start preparing the filling.
Grate hard cheese on a fine grater. Cut the ham into thin slices or buy pre-cut.
Roll out the thawed dough with a rolling pin, moving it in one direction so that the layers of dough do not mix with each other. The dough must be rolled out so that the result is a long ribbon, about 18 cm wide. After that, cut the dough into triangles. Grease the top side of the triangles with Dijon mustard, maybe with grains of this mustard.
Place the pieces of ham on the dough triangles so that the ham is as close to the base of the triangle as possible. Sprinkle with grated cheese on top.
After that, the triangles, starting from the base, are rolled up into a tube. The edges of the tubes are either bent into a crescent shape, or the entire tube is curled up into a crescent shape. Sometimes the base of the triangle is notched in advance so that when it is rolled into a tube, the required shape is created by itself.
After that, put the finished products on a baking sheet, the bottom of which is lined with baking paper. Grease the products themselves with an egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.
Croissants with condensed milk in a bread maker
Ingredients:
- wheat flour - 480 g;
- milk - 280 ml;
- butter - 2 tablespoons for dough and 140 g for greasing products;
- sugar - 3 tablespoons;
- dry yeast - 2 tablespoons;
- 1 chicken egg;
- boiled condensed milk.
Put the products in the form of the bakery in a certain sequence: first milk, then salt and sugar, softened butter, finally flour and yeast. Put the form in the bread maker and turn on the "Kneading dough" program for 1, 5 hours.
After that, remove the finished dough from the mold and roll it into a layer. Put one third of the existing butter on the dough. Then fold the layer in half and cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, roll it out and add another third of the butter. Fold and refrigerate for another hour. Repeat the procedure a third time.
As a result of the above actions, you should get a puff yeast dough, from which you get excellent croissants. Roll it out again and cut it into triangles.
Put boiled condensed milk on the base of the triangle and roll the dough into a tube, bending the edges of the tube so that the future croissant has the shape of a crescent.
Break the chicken egg into a separate bowl, add a pinch of sugar and beat. Put the tubes with condensed milk on a baking sheet and brush with a beaten egg. After 10-15 minutes, bake in the oven at 180-200 degrees for 15-25 minutes.
French baguette
French baguette is a thin long loaf, perfect for making sandwiches, baked on the basis of yeast dough. The recipe for such bread is simple and straightforward, does not require any tricks and is available for baking at home.
Ingredients for the dough:
- baking flour - 1 kg;
- dry yeast - 1 tablespoon;
- butter - 150 g;
- sugar - 100 g;
- milk - 0.5l;
- chicken egg - 1 pc.
Knead the dough not too thick and not sticking to your fingers. After kneading, leave for 1 hour in a warm place. During this time, it should increase in volume by 2-3 times. Then mash for 10-15 minutes.
The finished dough should be porous in the cut. If there are few pores, it can be additionally defended for 15-20 minutes.
To prepare one baguette, separate a piece of dough with a diameter of 6-7 cm and roll it into a layer 0.5 cm thick. Then roll the layer into a thin long tube, if desired, grease with butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds, place on a baking sheet greased with butter or vegetable oil. Use a knife to make cuts on the surface of the future baguette, brush the dough with an egg. Leave in a warm place for 20 minutes before baking.
Bake baguettes at 180-200 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
Clafoutis according to Gerard Depardieu's recipe
Clafoutis is a traditional French pie with berries or fruits based on shortcrust pastry. According to Depardieu, it is prepared with any berries and fruits for every taste and served as a delicious dessert.
Ingredients:
- flour - 330 g;
- butter - 150 g;
- chicken eggs - 3 pcs.;
- sour cream - 200 g;
- fresh berries or fruits - 500 g;
- sugar - 75 g.
To prepare the dough, pour 300 g of flour into a deep bowl, lightly salt and add 150 g of butter, previously frozen, cut into small cubes or grated. Knead the food with your hands until a homogeneous crumb state, beat in the yolk of one egg and knead the resulting dough. Cover the resulting mixture and refrigerate for 40-50 minutes.
While the dough is cooling, sort out the berries, rinse well and drain all the water. Cut the fruit into small pieces. Prepare a filling from sour cream, two eggs, sugar and 25-30 g of flour by mixing and whisking the indicated products. The finished mixture should be homogeneous, without lumps. If desired, you can add a little vanilla extract to it.
Remove the chilled shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator and place in a baking dish. The thickness of the dough layer should be no more than 0.5 cm, the sides along the edges should be high. Send the form to an oven preheated to 200-220 degrees for 10 minutes.
Remove the dough from the oven and spread the berries over the surface of the dough, then fill with sour cream filling. Bake for 15 minutes.
Cool and cut before serving. Garnish with cream, berries, fruit or chocolate as desired.
Talleyrand pies with egg and onion filling
Ingredients:
- wheat flour - 0.75 cups;
- butter - 3 tablespoons;
- sour cream - 3 tablespoons;
- onions - 300 g;
- hard cheese - 70 g:
- 1 chicken egg;
- salt pepper.
To prepare the dough, mix the existing flour, butter and 2 tablespoons of sour cream. Once smooth, chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
For the filling, fry the onion in a pan until transparent. Prepare baking dishes by greasing them with butter from the inside.
Distribute the dough inside the molds and fill with fried onions. Chill the resulting products in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Mix one egg with 1 tablespoon of sour cream and beat with a whisk, add pepper and salt to taste. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.
Fill the forms with dough and onions with the egg-sour cream mixture and cover with grated cheese. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
French apple pie
Apple pies are very popular in the Normandy region of northwestern France, where they are part of the regional cuisine. A characteristic feature of the pie is a crispy savory dough and a step-by-step cooking recipe.
Ingredients:
- wheat flour - 150 g;
- butter - 75 g;
- yolks of 4 eggs;
- zest of one lemon or orange;
- sugar - 2 tablespoons;
- apples - 2-3 pcs.;
- high fat cream - 2 tablespoons;
- cinnamon - 0.5 teaspoon.
The first step is preparing the dough. To do this, cut the butter into a deep container, add the sifted flour, two egg yolks, a tablespoon of sugar and half of the lemon (orange) zest. Mix all this thoroughly, preferably with a mixer. Then knead the dough with your hands.
Put the finished dough in a baking dish and distribute it on the sides and bottom of the container. Make several punctures with a fork so that the dough rises better during baking. Place it in the oven for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
The second stage is the preparation of the filling. Rinse the apples, remove the skins and cut each into 8 pieces. Remove the seeds and stalks, and then cut each part into 2-3 more smaller pieces.
Cool the dough and distribute the sliced apples over it, starting from the center and fanning in a circle. Ultimately, the apple wedges should fill the entire surface of the dough.
To prepare the filling, combine the cream, a spoonful of sugar, 2 egg yolks, the zest of half a lemon (orange) and cinnamon. Beat all this with a mixer until smooth. Pour the finished mixture over the apples.
Bake the pie for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. At the end of the specified time, pour melted butter over the cake, sprinkle with powdered sugar and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the sugar caramelises.
French brioches
Brioches - French buns made from sweet dough with and without berry additives. Classic brioches are famous for their tender and soft dough, which requires only quality products to prepare.
Ingredients:
- wheat flour of the highest grade - 500 g;
- live fresh yeast - 15-20 g;
- chicken eggs of the first grade - 5 pcs.;
- butter - 400 g;
- milk - 100 ml;
- sugar - 60 g;
- a teaspoon of salt.
To prepare the dough, boil the milk and cool it to room temperature. Dissolve 1/3 of the available sugar in milk and add yeast. Cover the mixture with a towel or warm cloth and place in a warm place for 15-20 minutes.
Sift the flour through a fine sieve 2-3 times, then mix with the remaining sugar and salt. Heat the butter to room temperature.
Pour the flour into a deep container, add 4 eggs, milk mixture and softened butter, then mix with your hands or with a mixer until a homogeneous mass is formed. Knead the dough for at least 15 minutes. Pierce the finished dough in several places, cover with foil and refrigerate for 12-16 hours. This is a necessary condition so that it does not rise immediately, but immediately before baking.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up to 5-6 degrees below room temperature. After that, divide the dough into 5-6 portions, roll balls from each part and mold the balls together so that you get an uneven circle.
Wait 15-20 minutes for the dough to rise. During this time, preheat the oven to a temperature of 200-220 degrees. Remove the yolk from the last egg and apply it to the dough.
Bake the brioches on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 15 minutes. Immediately after sending the brioches to the oven, the temperature in it must be lowered to 160-170 degrees. Check the readiness of the buns by piercing them with a toothpick.
Cool before serving. Garnish the brioche with candied fruits, berries, melted chocolate or cream if desired.
Quiche with cheese and onions
Quiche is an open pie made from shortcrust pastry stuffed with cheese, meat, seafood, vegetables, chicken, mushrooms, etc. The classic quiche Lauren appeared in France, in the historical region of Lorraine. The quiche is very tasty stuffed with cheese and leeks.
Ingredients:
- wheat flour - 1.5 cups;
- butter - 100 g;
- leeks - 100-120 g;
- hard cheese - 100 g;
- milk - 130 ml;
- 2 chicken eggs;
- salt pepper.
Pour flour into a deep container, add finely chopped butter, salt to taste and knead the mixture until smooth with your hands or with a powerful mixer. Then add 6-7 tablespoons of water and knead the dough.
Place the resulting base in a baking dish and stretch it along the bottom and along the edges so that the sides are quite high.
Pre-fry the onion in butter for 5 minutes so that it becomes soft, but does not darken. Then place in a bowl, mix with diced cheese and place on the dough.
Mix eggs and milk and beat. Add salt and pepper to taste in any proportion. Pour the onion with the resulting mixture.
Bake in the oven at 180-200 degrees for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into triangles before serving. Optionally, you can eat with a green salad.
