Baking With Julia

Boom!

Hello, I'm Julia Child.

Welcome to my house.

What fun we're going to have baking all kinds of incredible cakes, pies and breads right here in my own kitchen.

Pastry chef, Gale Gand puts her training as an artist to good use in creating such delightful desserts as this towering Napolean and this Fettuccine ice cream sandwich.

Learn how to do it on Baking With Julia.

[Captioning sponsored by VIEWERS LIKE YOU] This magnificent dessert is a Chocolate Napolean and it has all kinds of things in it.

It has a chocolate ganache and the whipped cream with ginger in it and poached pears and chocolate phyllo dough and this is all the invention of Gale Gand who is going to show us every bit of how to make it.

Every stage of it.

Every stage of it, good.

We're going to start out wi th the phyllo.

Usually when you buy phyllo do ugh, it comes frozen.

And it comes in a box, bu y it at the grocery store.

You can keep it in th e freezer.

The night before yo u want to use it I put it in the fridge let it thaw overnight, re al slow.

I know if you leave it in the fridge it begins to... mildew because I did that once and I could never get the smell out of the fridge.

Oh, really?

Okay.

What I do is just cut th e package open and... reveal our pastry, th ere it is.

It's usually wrapped in sort of a wax paper to help protect it.

I never worked with phyllo.

I've done puff pastry...

I'm delighted to know about this.

Just open it up and if you've thawed it correctly you'll have nice... see how nice and se parate these sheets are?

It's very easy to peel back... it's like bed sheets, kind of.

Now, one of the things th at happens with phyllo is it tends to dry out if you leave it in open air.

So we're going to cover it up with a towel.

They say it should be a damp towel but you found the opposite.

I don't really like using a damp towel because I find it sort of creates moist pockets and makes it a little bit soggy, so I just keep a regular towel.

Yeah, and that... as we'll see.

We'll see that it keeps it moist.

So this is how we're going to leave it while we get our...

I call it co coa butter, going.

We're going to mix a quarter cup of cocoa.

Is this Dutch processed cocoa?

This is, yes.

And then we're going to blend in with that a half a cup of melted butter.

Normally, I use cl arified butter.

But you can also use ju st melted butter.

But you don't go down to the milky substance.

Make sure yo u don't go down too far.

So this is really clarified.

It's sort of a quickie clarification.

But there's no... no milk solids none of those milk liquids th at you'll see in the bottom.

Just pour it in with the cocoa and I just mix it wi th my pastry brush.

So this is sort of a... no t a tanning cocoa butter, an edible cocoa butter.

Okay, we'll put that here.

Now, what I want to do with my phyllo is I'm going to cut th ese sheets in half so they fit on to my sheet pan, he re we go.

And we're going to take the first one.

See how you see that?

You just place it on the sheet pan.

You want to cover th e pastry back up when you're not using it, pu t it back to rest.

And I drizzle a little bit on first.

And then you're go ing to brush... looks like a Jackson Pollock painting.

( both laughing ) All that art school pa id off, see?

And we just ca refully brush it.

And then we're going to sp rinkle a little bit of sugar across the whole surface, ju st like that, pr etty liberally.

And later that sort of helps it get crunchy, on ce you bake it in the oven.

How much would you say is that about?

Well, I think it 's about a tablespoon.

All right, we 're going to repeat that.

Grab another sheet.

See, it's still staying ni ce and... separate.

If you do have a spot th at seems to be sticking you just kind of work it out with your hands.

Pick it up.

And if you have a little tear it wouldn't make any difference.

It really doesn't be cause you've got a bunch of layers that will cover it up.

Again, just drizzle.

I know this is su pposed to be work but it kind of lo oks like fun, doesn't it?

How many layers are we going to have?

We're going to do three.

So that's our second one.

Okay, now we'll do one more.

And normally I would bake two layers.

And what I mean by that is once I get this together I stick another piece of parchment on top... and then I do it again.

I'm actually baking of f a bunch at one time.

And it kind of sa ves you room in the oven.

I usually just do two sets, on e on top of each other because you've got th e heat of the metal pan fr om underneath that cooks the un derneath layer and then we're going to weight it on top wi th another pan-- the metal pan.

So the heat from th is metal pan is going to help co ok the top layer.

Very clever.

Now we'll put this in the oven.

Okay.

We're going to bake it at 350.

People always ask.

ho w long do you bake things and I always say, "till it's done."

But it's about ei ght to ten minutes, okay?

We're going to poach so me pears now.

Good.

And I've got two cups of sugar in the pan here, already.

I'm going to add a cup of wine.

This is white wine.

That's nice.

Dry white, I guess?

A dry white wine.

The sugar ac tually sweetens it.

We'll add fo ur cups of water.

That helps give it so me liquid to bob around in and some orange rind to flavor it.

I just cut the peel right off big hunk of it, bi g ribbon of the rind.

I think the white stuff doesn't matter because we're not going to eat it anyway, are we?

No, basically, we're go ing for those oils that are in the sk in of the orange to give it the orange flavor.

And, then I just use a little bit of the juice.

The juice helps keep th e pears from going brown.

Take one vanilla bean...

I'm just going to cut it in half so we can get to the good stuff inside it.

Drop that in and a couple cinnamon st icks for flavor.

We'll bring that to a simmer wh ile we're peeling the pears.

So, I've got th ree of them, here.

I'm going to ta ke the peel off so that the flavor of the poaching liquid can really get in to the pear.

Are these fully ripe pears?

These are.

What are these ones?

Are they Comice or what?

This, I believe, is a Bartlett pear.

To core them-- to take the seeds an d stuff out I just use a melon baller.

That's a good idea.

Just go in there.

It takes most of the undesirable out.

And then just do a little trimming.

Take that core, ta ke the stem out, an d then just pull and you kind of get th at little string out, too.

And drop it right in.

There it goes.

Go in the bath.

One more.

I cover it with a little bit of wax paper.

That's a good idea, so... That keeps that air fr om getting into the pears wh ile they're cooking so they're in a moist environment.

Well, that's a good idea.

Do you think the phyllo is done?

I think we should check an d see if it is.

Oh, yeah, th at looks done.

Let's take it out and show them, how we can see.

What you're looking for-- is a little bit of br owning on the edge.

It's hard to tell be cause it's brown anyway.

See how the pastry's looking a little golden there?

It really smells of chocolate.

You can smell the chocolate an d we've got both layers there.

You can see the bo ttom's cooked, too.

We'll let that cool a little while and I'm going to do the cr anberry compote next.

Oh, yes.

I'm going to use on e cup of cranberries.

Just put them in there.

And...

The frozen cranberries would be okay.

They're fine.

That's one cup of orange juice.

And fresh orange juice, not from concentrate.

And then a qu arter cup of sugar.

And bring that to a boil.

Just mix it up a little bit there.

We're going to cook that down.

We're looking fo r the skins to break.

And what that does is he lps kind of thicken th e sauce a little bit.

While that's cooking, we can br eak our phyllo dough up.

And we're looking for sort of jagged shards.

So all you need to do, it 's very hard to do this wrong.

You just take your phyllo and kind of crack it off.

You want a big, a big piece?

A big hunk like that.

You usually can get ab out six out of a sheet.

That's wonderful, isn't it?

It's just... do you think we should taste one piece?

It's a little warm.

See if we like it?

Very crispy.

Um, it's crisp and sweet and chocolately, that's lovely.

That was a great invention.

Want to try breaking some?

Um-hmm.

And see if it works for you.

Little piece that you have to eat.

That is delicious, it's so...

It's nicer than puff pastry because it's so crisp, I think.

And it's very thin which is nice.

And easy to do.

Let's check how th ese are doing.

Almost there, see ho w they're starting to expand?

And as soon as they pop they're done?

Yep.

Oh.

But they all have to pop, no t just one.

All of them.

Now that these are done, we 're going to pour them in to a bowl, so they can cool.

Oh, they're pretty, aren't they?

Nice color.

They smell great, too.

Let's check the pears an d see how they're doing.

That was a good idea covering them with the paper.

And it helps them ke ep from oxidizing, so... Ooh... Ooh, that looks real tender, th ey look ready.

Okay, we'll turn the heat off and just let them cool ri ght in their liquid, th en they absorb the flavor.

It's like making te a in there.

Yeah, it is, exactly.

Next, we're going to make th e mocha ganache to go inside.

And that goes inside?

Right.

Oh, lovely.

I take half a cup of cream.

Mmm, that looks ni ce and thick.

Heavy cream?

Heavy cream, my best friend.

And half a cup of milk.

I'm going to br ing this to a boil.

I want to flavor it with some coffee.

One tablespoon of coffee.

That's right.

This is ground coffee, ju st regular... Oh, regular.

What you make your br eakfast morning coffee out of.

Then I add a third a cup of sugar.

Okay?

That would make a nice mixture, I think.

Give that a little stir.

And let that come to a boil.

Then we want to chop up our chocolate.

This is a bittersweet ch ocolate I've got.

This... imported one?

This is from Venezuela.

Uh-huh.

I've got ten ounces here.

You just rough chop it.

There we go.

Okay.

I'll get this in the bowl.

Oh, just breaking it up, obviously, because it will melt faster.

That's right.

This is already st arting to boil.

Basically what ganache is is cream and chocolate.

Mm-hmm, and that's all?

Th at's it.

All right, we 're coming to a boil.

So that's going to bring out th e flavor in the coffee.

I can already smell it, it's nice.

All it needs to do is to come to the boil.

That's it.

Okay .

Ready?

Yep .

I'm just going to strain it ov er this chocolate.

That helps strain out th e coffee grounds.

And all you do is just whisk.

Just stir it around.

Just whisk it around and the hot milk an d cream melts that chocolate.

It's beautiful.

See how nice an d smooth that gets?

And once that chills it kind of sets an d gets real fudgy.

All right, we can se t that aside now.

Now we're going to make the ginger cream.

This is basically ju st a whipped cream with a little bit of sugar and ginger.

We've got one cup of cream there and we're going to peel some fresh ginger.

Just use a knife.

Peel it, yeah.

And I use one of these graters like a parmesan ch eese grater and just grate it ri ght in.

That's a good idea to put it in.

It's easy.

I don't think people use enough ginger.

And we're going to add some brown sugar.

Two tablespoons.

I use brown sugar a lot in stead of white sugar.

It just has a little more flavor.

Yeah, it does add flavor.

And then I'll ju st whip this up.

Gives you that sort of warm molasses taste.

Yeah.

We're almost there.

There we go.

See how it's kind of stiff and holds peaks?

Mm-hmm.

See if it's any good.

See if you like th e ginger level.

Do you like that?

Mmm, mmm, it's subtle.

It'll come out a little more as it sits.

The ginger flavor comes out after you've had it in your mouth.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

Good-- delicious.

Now we're ready to assemble the dessert.

First we're go ing to start by draining some of the pears off.

Mmm.

I like to get rid of some of that liquid so it doesn't make yo ur dessert soggy.

So I'll just le ave one here.

That looks perfectly poached and they remain nicely white.

The way we plate this up we're going to take a little ganache.

This is the chilled ganache.

Didn't it co me out nice?

And I put a dab down, ki nd of as glue.

Yes.

It helps the phyllo st ick to the plate.

And just push that fi rst layer down, okay?

And now we're go ing to top it with a little more.

There we go.

So that's th e first layer and we like to cut these pears and I'm going to fan them.

Just do little slices, so rt of a quarter inch apart.

They look just right, don't they?

They came out re ally perfect.

Because we have two chefs in the kitchen today.

( chuckles ) There we go.

So... just place it in your hand and kind of fan out th ose layers... That's lovely.

and place it on top.

As we say, chefs have impeccably clean fingers.

Well, they have to because a lot of this you can't do with instruments, I guess.

Next thing we want to do... Beautiful cream.

Put a little bit of ginger cream on top for contrast in texture.

And even just like that would be nice.

You could se rve one layer.

We're going to top it wi th one, and build it up.

We're going to repeat that again.

Vertical cuisine.

Well, I think be cause I'm so short I'm always so rt of building up.

I'm very envious of your height.

One more pear fa nned out.

Oh, that looks... that pear looks absolutely delicious.

Topple over there.

Little more ginger cream... Mm-hmm.

and then the final ph yllo on top.

And you can see, yo u can choose any slice.

There you go.

That's the cranberries we made.

That's a nice accompaniment.

They're pretty.

Kind of sharp, ta rt flavor that goes well wi th the chocolate and the ginger.

Grand finale.

Little bit of mint.

Mm-hmm.

And just to kind of show off the layers I do a little po wdered sugar.

That's a good idea.

Right at the edge.

That's lovely.

Now, are we going to eat it?

We're going to eat it.

Now, it's one of those desserts you have to kind of dive... just dive ri ght into it.

You start it.

There we are.

Cut through that.

See how crispy th at came out?

Mmm .

There we go.

Give it a try.

Now, that's a real dessert.

That's beautiful.

And it isn't heavy.

Very light.

And see all the different textures going on in your mouth?

Just lovely.

The crispy, an d the soft of the pear and the light cream.

All that chocolate and the ginger.

Thanks ever so much.

Oh, I'm glad yo u like it.

This colorful dessert is known as a fettuccine ice cream sandwich.

And our chef, Gale Gand, is going to show us exactly how to make it.

Great.

I've got some phyllo here that's left from the last dessert we did.

And with this one you don't have to unroll it and... Oh.

do the towel an d everything.

Just leave it all rolled up right in it s waxed paper.

And we're going to cut slices a quarter inch thick.

That first slice yo u don't really use.

You're leaving on... Leaving on the paper.

I'll get it off la ter, I promise.

We just cut the size of fettuccine noodles.

Yeah, this is just the way you'd make fettuccine, anyway, isn't it?

Is that how?

You roll it up li ke that and cut it?

And now, if I just ki nd of fluff it... And you can see how the waxed paper's pr etty easy to pull off.

Yeah.

Let's pull that out.

And you just ki nd of aerate it and fluff it up there and it looks like a big pile of noodles.

Yeah, it does, exactly.

All right.

And now I can use these strands to make nests.

Oh!

Now, this is another one of your inventions.

( laughing ): That's right.

So now we're going to just spatter them with a little butter.

And you're just spattering.

Well, you couldn't paint it.

You don't re ally need to.

You don't want too much on.

Right, and you don't wa nt to pat them down.

You kind of want that... yo u want them fluffy.

So just a little drizzle.

That brush spatter.

A little more Ja ckson Pollock there.

( chuckles ) And then, sprinkle wi th a little sugar-- just like maybe a quarter teaspoon per nest.

We can put this in the oven now.

Okay.

What is it going in?

Three fifty.

How long does that take, about?

Eight to ten, five to ten, but I keep my eye on it.

Okay, next thing we want to do we're going to make th e raspberry filling.

My favorite fruit is raspberry so I use it ev erywhere possible.

Yeah.

What I'm going to do is julienne tw o leaves of mint.

Fold them in half-- that's what I do-- and then... That's a good idea for julienning.

I just sl ice very thin and I use my fingernail to lean my knife against and that helps me space my julienne so that it 's very fine.

Okay.

That last little bit th at's got the stem I leave that out.

Yep.

Just put that in your berries.

And then I add ab out a quarter cup of raspberry puree th at we made this morning but I added a little bit of sugar to it just to sweeten it because they we re quite tart.

And that was about a quarter of a cup but it's just enough to kind of dress the berries.

Is this a whole little basket?

This is two cups.

Yeah, two cups.

And you're just ge tting them shiny and dressing them like a nice li ttle fruit salad.

Then we're going to make a little sauce to go with it.

So I've got one cup of heavy cream here and one tablespoon of brown sugar.

Mm-hmm.

I just...

I always us e brown sugar instead of white sugar wh en I can.

It has a lot more flavor, hasn't it?

Then you don't really need vanilla when you have brown sugar.

That's a good point.

Gives it a little color, too.

You're going to "whop" the cream?

I'm going to "whop" the cream.

That was wonderfully fast.

There you go.

See how it still... ki nd of drips?

All right, the other th ing we need is a fruit skewer to go on the top.

Aha .

That's sort of the toothpick that holds the whole sa ndwich together.

Oh, that's a good idea, yes.

Let's make one of those.

We've just got a regular wo oden skewer here and the berries we got today.

We got blueberries.

A good raspberry, on e of these blackberries and a strawberry wi th a nice green bit.

So we'll use that for the garnish.

Let's check th e phyllo in the oven.

Let's check and see if they're ready.

Mmm, they're nice and brown, aren't they?

Oh, they look great.

Let's put them on a cooling rack.

Here's a rack for you.

Thank you.

Aren't they nice and light?

Now, how far ahead co uld you bake those?

You could do them the day before.

Really?

And let them cool on the pan and cover it with plastic wrap.

Keep them airtight.

Then you could always crisp th em again in the oven.

Well, that's fun, is n't it?

That really lo oks like...

Doesn't it look like fettuccine?

We're going to plate this up now and make one of our little sandwiches.

Gale: Go t that brown sugar cr eam to sauce the plate and just kind of drizzle it around and then decorate that with a little bit of th e leftover raspberry puree.

Mmm .

Put a little glue in the center so it doesn't slip around.

That's such a good idea.

Take one of our nests, pu t it down in the center.

So we'll make a bed of the raspberries.

It's okay if a couple of them tumble off to the side.

They look awfully nice with that little bit of sauce on them.

Really makes them gl isten and look fresh and it's all they need.

Not much more.

There we go.

And we'll top it wi th some ice cream.

Vanilla ice cream.

Right, th is is vanilla but you could us e almond or... Or caramel... Yeah.

Cinnamon mi ght be good.

Cinnamon might be good.

There we go.

Mmm .

And then a little... le t's pick out a good one.

This one?

Mmm, that looks lovely.

Set that on top.

Now, to secure it... ( chuckles ) Gingerly stab this through.

That's wonderful!

And then I slide down th e berries so it fits ni ce and tight.

There we go.

And it couldn't be simpler, could it?

Isn't that great?

Gosh.

Gale, well, this has been wonderful.

And you've even gotten me enthused myself.

I'm going to use phyllo-- fy-lo-- tomorrow.

I have a feeling you're going to start cooking with it now.

Thanks ever so much.

Thanks for ha ving me here.

I appreciate it.

Julia: Bo n appetit.