“Paris is always a good idea.”
Parigi sì, è sempre una buona idea, lo sapeva bene Sabrina, lei che a Parigi era andata proprio per imparare a cucinare. Noi non andiamo più a Parigi per imparare a fare soufflé (quanto ci piacerebbe?), ma la stagione e le festività in arrivo creano il giusto mood per visitare la Ville Lumière. E quindi siamo qui, sullo sfondo Place des Vosges, le ultime foglie ingiallite agli angoli della piazza, una musica di sottofondo suona la Vie en Rose, ovviamente, e l’aria dei pomeriggi parigini si fa leggermente più pungente, proprio quando le luci si accendono, Parigi diventa magica, ci stringiamo in un caldo abbraccio e ci innamoriamo di nuovo. E il timer suona! Le madeleine al limone e mirtilli sono pronte da sfornare.
Paris Pastry Club sembra scritto apposta per portarci qui (o per far salire il desiderio di un weekend nella Capitale francese). L’autrice Fanny Zanotti racconta i dolci sapori della sua infanzia con un’eleganza tutta francese. Classe 1985, cresciuta nel sud della Francia, la passione per la cucina nei suoi geni e un destino come Chef già scritto. Ma d’altra parte le ricette di famiglia sono sempre le migliori, non c’è gourmet che tenga, perché il segreto sta proprio nella loro imperfezione: la torta della domenica all’arancia e yogurt della mamma, la ricetta delle crepes del papà, il torrone ‘ricco’ della nonna. Un ricettario pieno di ricordi d’infanzia, di sapori caldi e avvolgenti, di sorrisi complici tra persone dello stesso sangue.
LEMON & BLUEBERRY MADELEINES
Taking a tray of madeleines from the oven feels like pressing the shutter of a Polaroid camera. Boom, instant gratification.
The batter is made up to three days in advance, because it makes for plump little cakes with the fat domes we’ve all come to love. And by the time you bake them, you’ve forgotten the effort you put into making the batter. Calling it effort is somewhat misleading, though. Eggs and sugar are whisked together until fluffy. And flour is folded.
The only tricky step is incorporating the butter without deflating the batter. But I’ve come up with a little trick to make that stage easier after the commis-of-my-life tried to turn madeleines into pancakes: the butter is creamed with a tablespoon of sugar until very soft and light. It’s then mixed with a part of the batter before getting folded back into the rest. Ever so gently.
Makes 24 madeleines
butter 80g, really soft
caster sugar 100g
eggs 2
lemons zest from 2
sea salt a pinch
plain (all-purpose) flour 100g
baking powder (baking soda) ½ tsp
blueberries a punnet
Cream the butter with a tablespoon of the sugar. Whisk the remaining sugar with the eggs, lemon zest and the pinch of salt in a separate bowl until light and fluffy.
Gently fold in the flour and baking powder until just combined.
Scoop out a third of the batter into the butter and mix vigorously. Transfer into the remaining batter and fold in very gently.
Scrape the batter into a plastic piping bag and chill for at least 3 hours (or up to 3 days).
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Butter and flour a madeleine pan. Snip a small 8mm hole from the tip of the piping bag and pipe the batter three-quarters of the way up the prepared moulds. Stick two blueberries in each madeleine. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/gas mark 4 and bake for 14 minutes or until the edges are a deep golden brown and the domes are just beginning to brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then turn out on to a wire rack.
The secret to making plump madeleines is heat shock. I chill my batter for at least 3 hours (2 hours is OK-ish too, so go ahead, I’ll close my eyes and pretend nothing ever happened) or up to 3 days. And I preheat my oven to 220C/gas mark 7 for a good 30 minutes before reducing to 180C/gas mark 4 to bake them.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack.
- di Mariapaola Bossini
Paris Pastry Club – A collection of cakes, tarts, pastries and other indulgent recipes
Autore: Fanny Zanotti (blog: www.fannyzanotti.com)
Editore: Hardie Grant Books
Lingua: inglese
In vendita:
Hardie Grant Book
Amazon Italia
