Colette Christian

Miniature French Desserts: Macarons, Madeleines & More

Colette Christian

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  • In-depth Instruction; over 216 mins
  • On-demand video access anytime
  • Bonus downloadable PDF resources
  • Access to class Q&A
Meet your instructor, pastry chef Colette Christian, as she previews the four iconic French desserts you'll make in this class: madeleines, tartlets, macarons and the impressive Opera cake. Then get baking by making mocha-flavored madeleines using the ribbon method, which helps tell you when you've achieved the perfect texture for your whipped eggs and sugar. Colette shows you how to pipe the batter into the madeleine pan and how to tell when your madeleines are done.
Discover an alternative method for making citrus madeleines -- the creaming method -- where you blend sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Then discover why sifting your dry ingredients is so important and make a simple-yet-traditional lemon glaze for the tops of your cakes.
Create the perfect combination of sweet and tart with the next dessert, a lemon meringue tartlet. Make delicious, silky-smooth lemon curd (without having to use a double boiler), then make a classic hand-blended pie dough known as pâte brisée. Pick up tips for rolling, cutting and baking the tartlet crusts and then see just how quickly you can whip up an Italian meringue to go on top. Finally, use a blowtorch to toast the meringue topping, giving your tartlets a show-stopping appearance!
Master the quintessential French sweet, the macaron. Find out how to prepare your ingredients, whip egg whites to the perfect peak and discover what gives macarons their signature color. Learn the proper technique for macaronage -- the process of removing excess air from your batter -- and how to pipe your macarons and know when they're done baking. Guests will think you had these little cookies flown in from Paris!
Colette will show you how to infuse your macarons with even more flavor and then how to make three luscious fillings: buttercream, ganache and even salted caramel. Learn techniques for mixing a delicious frosting, melting chocolate and cooking caramel to buttery perfection.
Build on several of the techniques you've already learned as you make the famous chocolate-and-coffee Opera cake, "a cake in six acts." Bake an airy sponge cake with whipped egg whites and almond flour, make a rich French buttercream and spreadable chocolate ganache to fill the cake and, finally, prepare a coffee simple syrup to soak the cake layers.
It's time to raise the curtain on your Opera cake! Discover how this cake comes together, rich layer after rich layer, as you cut your sponge cake into symmetrical layers and soak them in the intense coffee simple syrup. Learn how to pipe and spread the fillings -- coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache -- over your cake layers, top the cake with a chocolate glaze and then send your cake over the top with decorative piping and gold leaf!
 
 
7 Lessons
3  hrs 36  mins

Join certified executive pastry chef and popular Craftsy instructor Colette Christian as she demystifies iconic bite-sized French desserts. Starting with buttery madeleines, learn how to make these classic mini-cakes with their perfectly crisp edges and tender crumb. Next, make tartlets with a tangy lemon curd filling, from-scratch crust and quick Italian meringue topping. Then, master macarons, infuse them with flavors such as lavender and create decadent fillings, including buttercream and salted caramel. For the grand finale, make a scene-stealing Opera cake! Create airy sponge cake and dip each piece into a coffee simple syrup before adding layer upon layer of buttercream and chocolate ganache for a cake that’s certainly ready for its close-up – and maybe a bite or three.

Colette Christian

Colette Christian began working in restaurants at age 14 and went on to graduate from the New England Culinary Institute. In 2004 she began teaching at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California, and now offers classes at the Art Institute of Hollywood, Sur La Table and the Great News Cooking School in San Diego. She has extensive training in baking and pastry and is a certified executive pastry chef as well as a certified executive chef through the American Culinary Federation.

Colette Christian

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