Questions from my reading of "La Patisserie" by Pierre Herme:

M

marilynfl

Moderator
(This book is French with English translation.)

1. Why does he specifiy "use only pure cornstarch"? I was at the grocers and looked at 3 different boxes. They ALL listed "cornstarch" as the only ingredient.

2. Why does he mix portions of "old eggwhites" and "new eggwhites" for many of the cake bases?

3. Does anyone know about Italian Piedmont hazelnuts? He claims they are the best to use, but I've been pretty darned impressed with the fresh ones from Oregon. They were twice the size of your normal grocery store hazelnut and peeled much easier when roasted.

4. Is "powdered almond" different from "almond flour"?

5. Any clue what "cocoa paste" is?

Mein Gutt, the man is driving me crazy. I think I'm in love.

 
My thoughts---old eggwhites provide volume while new whites give structure. He problably..

doesn't know about the wonderful quality of our hazelnuts from Oregon. powdered almond is the same as almond flour.

 
No...recipes are that hard...just making sure I understand his ingredients. Haven't hyperventilated

once yet....although there are some drool marks I'll have to mask before shipping it back to the owner library.

 
If I ever get a weekend off again, I'm trying "inverted puff pastry". Same recipe in

Dorie Greenspan's pastry book (from Pierre, of course.)

 
Went to visit his place in Paris - ooh la la!

I took a chocolate tour of about 6 different pastry shops in Paris this spring when I was there. His place was amazing. There was a long line at the shop, and our tour guide told us that during the holidays the line snakes around the block. The pastries were sooo good.

 
I don't think so. A friend sent me the link to the site. I don't remember seeing anything

about the Liebowitz blog.

 
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