Pithiviers and Other Puffed Pastries
December’s Chef's Kisses
Hello friends! I hope you are enjoying a lovely holiday season, filled with delicious food, friends, and family. As you may have some time off this week and may be getting more creative in the kitchen, I wanted to share what I’ve been making with puff pastry, one of my favorite ingredients during the holiday season.
So this month’s Chef’s Kisses (my favorite food-adjacent moments from the month) includes notes on making your own puff pastry (regular, inverted, and recipes), as well as holiday happenings thus far, outfit details, and OOO NYC plans (peep my Bite-Sized section).
Puffed Pastries
During the holidays, puff pastry is as ubiquitous as wrapping paper. It shows up on nearly every party table (breakfast buffets, hors d’oeuvres and finger food, meat and stew casing, dessert tables, and cookie trays), and it makes whatever’s inside feel extra special, like a little present.
Of course, puff pastry makes everything better; it is essentially two delectable ingredients in equal weights: butter and flour. So when you pair it with something else yummy (in my case, sausage, cheese, potatoes, beef etc.), the deliciousness doubles. I have done more puff pastry wrapping than gift wrapping this year. ‘Tis the season.
Sausage rolls are an all-time favorite food of mine. I grew up eating a lot of pigs in a blanket, and they are still my preferred finger food in adulthood. Recently, I was introduced to the British version, the sausage roll, typically larger than pigs in a blanket and made with seasoned sausage meat rather than a link in casing. The filling often includes herbs and spices, and sometimes other mix-ins depending on the style. I fell in love at first bite (P.S. Hani’s makes a delicious one for those in NYC).
This year, I made my own blend with bacon, onions, garlic, ginger, paprika, fennel seed, chili flakes, thyme, parsley, and rosemary. I then smooshed it in with ground pork, a bit of chunky, savory-sweet fig and onion jam, breadcrumbs, and an egg. The sausage mixture is usually rolled up in puff pastry and baked, but I wanted a higher proportion of sausage to puff, so I gave the sausage an initial cook in a log shape (to ensure it was cooked through and holding its shape). I then froze it, rolled it in puff, and baked it all together. Slicing and serving it up with some Maille was delicious.
In high school, on one Christmas Eve, I was introduced to brie baked in puff pastry, and it changed my life. While I had never been much of a cheese fan prior, the gooey, warm cheese in the soft, airy puff pastry made my heart melt. From there, I began eating more cheese and learned that I just liked it funkier and gooier than I had previously tried. Since then, I have not had the pleasure of eating cheese baked in puff pastry, and this month, it felt like the time was ripe to rectify that.
For this version, I wanted to make the whole thing look like it was cheese, meaning the pastry coating would be thin enough to encase the melty goodness inside, but not puff up, obscuring the cheese shape. I knew this was a bad idea deep down, but I didn’t want to admit it. For my first attempt, I used very melty cheeses from one of my favorite cheese shops in NYC, Murray’s. One was a cousin of Epoisses (think super funky and melty), and the other was a soft, still quite funky, creamy goat cheese. I wrapped them in puff pastry, turned them seam side down, and baked them. I had to run out, so Théo was tasked with watching the oven, and when I opened the front door to the building, I was greeted–or rather punched in the nostrils–by the scent of fromage. As I raced up the four flights of stairs I realized I had created a stink bomb, and it had exploded. Upon opening the oven door I saw a giant puddle of gooey cheese bubbling on the baking sheet. We scarfed it all down immediately, hoping to neutralize the scent and hide the evidence (Théo apparently smelled nothing). Like a milkshake, we had consumed far more dairy in liquid form than we would have if it were solid, and it was nothing short of heavenly. So I was committed to trying again.
For the next attempt, I purchased slightly less smelly and firmer cheeses: Taleggio and Champlain Valley Triple. I froze them before wrapping them in a layer of phyllo (seam side up) and a layer of puff (seam side down). I then froze them again overnight and baked them for lunch the following day. This, miraculously, baked scent-free, and was very gooey and melty. I served it with some sliced baguette, pears, and dates. It was so delicious I decided to make it again for my family the night before Christmas, again with Taleggio and some Mt. Tam (which flowed like a river) so that my whole family could re-live that initial baked brie experience.
Last year, for my wedding, I made the most indulgent dish I could think of: potato gratin-stuffed Pithiviers adapted from The Pie Room by Calum Franklin (the best book for all things pie). The Pithiviers were cheesy, carby, soft, tender, and–of course–buttery. All great qualities of a holiday dish, so I knew I wanted to make it again for Christmas supper. I wasn’t sure how to incorporate it, but then Théo said he wanted to make a Beef Wellington for the main, so we combined the two. Creating a christmas supper en croute complete with: beef, potatoes, and carrots. The potatoes were sliced in half cooked in cream and aromatics and stuffed with cheese (as opposed to gratinated, i spent far too much energy being mad at myself for not keeping them whole to keep the aesthetic the same), and on the other side, roasted and braised giant carrots. The beef was prepared in a classic manner, with a layer of mushroom duxelles, spinach cooked in cream and garlic (with the leftover cream from the potatoes) all rolled up in prosciutto. I laid the potatoes and carrots on the bottom, and perched the prepared beef on top, draping the whole thing in a fresh batch of inverted puff pastry - as this assembly made the most sense for trying to get an even cook on the beef. I then simple decorated with a bow, to reference a wrapped present under the tree, and froze it overnight before baking off in the afternoon. It took far longer to bake than expected and in the process the potatoes and carrots overcooked, and because the beef was on top of the carrots and potatoes it was impossible to cut cleanly. but I do see potential here for next year - using less cooked vegetables to begin with and baking from fridge cold instead of frozen, and all the items in one layer.
This month, I also got a head start on a French post-Christmas tradition for Théo, the galette de rois (loosely translating to king’s cake). The galette de rois is puff pastry stuffed with almond frangipane and a fève, a trinket (a bean, an almond, or even a baby figurine, etc.) that grants its discoverer the title of roi or reine for the day. All this to explain why I baked my galette de rois as a crown. It was a fun and delicious interpretation indeed. I look forward to re-making it in the new year, just grander and with more frangipane stuffed inside.
Making Your Own Puff Pastry + Inverted Puff Pastry
I often get asked how to make croissants, and my answer is always to perfect your puff pastry first. Croissants and puff pastry have largely the same process: making and shaping a butter block, making a dough, encasing the butter in the dough, and rolling/folding it repeatedly until you have thin sheets of butter layered with dough. Puff pastry is great to master before making croissants because it allows you to practice those same tricky steps before adding on additional challenges (a softer yeasted dough makes it more difficult to roll out and manage proofing temperature and time).
If you are interested in making your own puff pastry, it is quite the task, but for me the reward is worth the effort (1. IMHO it does taste better than its store-bought counterpart, and 2. the store-bought stuff is quite expensive). If you are in need of a recipe, Nicola Lamb did a deep dive on her Substack, and it looks like a great recipe. My only suggestion is to double it so you have enough for multiple baked goodies. Puff pastry holds very well in the freezer, as long as it’s wrapped tightly in cling film (and maybe a sealable bag).
photos from this weeks batch of inverted puff with 3lbs of butter, a true labor of love.
You can also try your hand at the more complicated, inverted puff (which Nicola also has a recipe for). I prefer to use the inverted over the standard; it is noticeably more tender and flakier (though it doesn’t puff up as tall, but this also means it bakes up more evenly). I used an inverted puff for every dish above.
Bite-Sized
December in New York City is lovely, and this one was especially great. Not only did we get some gorgeous snow, but I spent much more time outside the apartment, seeing friends, cooking for others, and eating delicious things.
At the beginning of the month, I had the honor of making the dessert for Sotheby’s Creators & Collectors dinner. The event was held at the Breuer Building, Sotheby’s new home in NYC, and a brutalist masterpiece. My favorite detail is the variety of textures and treatments in the building’s concrete, so I incorporated the molded and poured elements of the ceiling concrete into everyone’s dessert, featuring chocolate, hazelnuts, and caramel.
The following week, I did a little bake sale raising funds for Project EATS at Derby Cup Coffee. Afterwards, Théo and I went to Yi Ji Shi Mo for delicious steamed rice rolls, made even more perfect by the wide variety of spicy condiments on offer. We also walked two blocks over to Mott Street Eatery for lamb cumin noodles, which were deliciously chewy.
Some more delectable, memorable, holiday bites: Chanel had little interlocking C pretzels at their Métiers d’art afterparty – fun. Thistles & Highsnobiety hosted a party at Bridges, and the little bites were delicious, especially the cured tuna over dates. Feed Me, my favorite media newsletter, turned three (happy birthday) and held their holiday at the Waverly INN with a beautiful cake by Lauren Schofield. Lauren has been making so many gorgeous desserts this holiday season, and she made a gorgeous display with Romilly Newman at the new Baccarat flagship in the Meatpacking District. Cherry Bombe magazine (which has just joined Substack), threw a party for the launch of their cake issue. Claire Saffitz hosted a cookie exchange at Salt & Straw, I was so in love with her chewy molasses cookie ice cream flavor (somehow the cookie is still soft and chewy when frozen) I didn’t even try any of the other cookies. Loewe Perfumes has a pop-up at Rockefeller Center, and the new Iris Root is an instant favorite. I was lucky enough to get sent home with a bottle and have been wearing it as a daytime scent. The pop-up also has hot chocolates inspired by the new scents at the Glace truck outside. We went to Cafe Zaffri afterwards, and their fries were excellent.
Also, some fun holiday outfits I wore recently (I spend so much of winter in sweats and sweaters, so it was fun to get dressed up). Since nearly all of this stuff is secondhand or vintage (some of it I’ve had for a decade), I’ve tried my best to link similar things when I couldn’t find exact matches! Also, I promise these outfits are more fun when you can see the whole shoe.
Upper row from left —> right:
Skirt is YSL. I got it a few years ago for an absolute steal. The exact version is here, but there are a handful of similar ones online here, here, and here. I’ve gotten lots of inquiries about the boots - I got them at a Helmut Lang sample sale in college. Here are some in brown, and I adore these similar coperni ones, but if you’re looking for any tall black boots, I’ve had my eyes on these for over a year now, and they’re finally 50% off. Plus, these are similar too.
The pants are MM6, size 36, & 42. The top is Courrèges, and there is one left, but this is similar, 50% off, and has more sizes.
Bottom row from left —> right
The top is 440ME and I’ve gotten so much use out of it. It’s very comfortable and flattering. The skirt is a sample from back when I used to design, and the boots are Jil Sander. I can’t find an exact match, but I have been coveting these white Jil Sander boots for ages.
As for future plans, I’ll be spending this holiday season and my birthday at home. While it’s been hard to pull me away from the kitchen or computer this year, I am determined to leave the apartment and see a bunch of things across the river in NYC. While I know I want to visit the newly reopened Studio Museum, the Coco Fusco, Rashid Johnson, Spectrum of Desire and Man Ray exhibits, as well as some downtown galleries, I’m not sure what else to do… Any other exhibits that are a must-see? Movies to see in theaters (I’m excited by what MoMa is showing)? Is ice skating in Central Park as fun as it used to be when we were young? Are there restaurants I should try (bonus points if there is an activity nearby)? And I’m having a bit of decision paralysis for my birthday dinner. Do you have any recommendations or past birthday inspo? Let me know in the comments.
Happy holidays to you and yours! Talk soon.
P.S. I just shot next year’s recipe for my birthday cake. It’s very delicious, easier than my last two birthday cakes, and equally as fun.
PAST BIRTHDAY CAKES:
PAST DECEMBER RECIPES:
