A Pastry Showpiece
Cooking Skills: Pastry 2
Chapter 8 · A Pastry Showpiece
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
The last skill in pastry is not a pastry at all but a plan. Almost every pastry here can be made in advance and finished at the last minute: dough in the fridge or freezer, shells baked and filled just before serving, pies baked a day ahead and chilled. A table of three or four savoury pastries and three or four sweet ones looks generous and is much less work than it seems, because most of the labour is in the days before.
Three rules help. Work backwards from the time guests arrive. Do the cold, wet jobs early (doughs, jellies, creams) and the crisp jobs late (filling choux, warming filo). And choose contrast: something flaky, something crisp, something soft, something cold, something warm. See the earlier chapters of this course for each recipe, Cooking Skills: Pastry 1, chapter 8 for freezing and planning, and Cooking Skills: Sauces 2, chapter 6 for a chutney to go with the savouries.
The method
- Write the menu and count portions: about 3 to 4 savoury and 2 to 3 sweet bites per person.
- List every task with its time and fridge/freezer needs, then work backwards from serving time.
- Bake in the order the oven allows: hot-oven pastries first, lower-temperature bakes after.
- Fill and glaze at the last minute, so choux stays crisp and mille-feuille doesn't go soft.
- Label each plate with its name and main allergens (gluten, egg, milk, nuts, sesame).
| Item | Make ahead? | Finish | Serve |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gougères | Bake a day ahead | Re-crisp 5 minutes | Warm |
| Filo triangles | Freeze unbaked | Bake from frozen | Warm |
| Small pork pies | Bake a day ahead | Jelly set | Cold |
| Éclairs and choux tower | Shells a day ahead | Fill within 2 hours | Cold |
| Mille-feuille | Pastry a day ahead | Assemble within 1 hour | Cold |
Hot caramel: caramel reaches about 170°C and sticks to skin, causing deep burns. Use a heavy pan, long tongs for dipping, never touch it, and keep a bowl of cold water nearby to plunge any splash on skin at once. Soak the pan in hot water to clean it.
Keeping and freezing: raw pastry keeps in the fridge for about 2 days wrapped tightly, and freezes for about 3 months (general guidance). Cooked pies and tarts keep for about 2 days chilled; reheat pies until steaming hot all the way through, and freeze cooked pies for no more than about 2 to 3 months.
Try it
A savoury buffet for 12
Three savoury pastries from this course, each made in a batch, with chutney and a salad. Use the recipes in the earlier chapters; this one is the plan. Make the pies and shells the day before, and warm everything for the table.
Ingredients (12 portions)
- 1 batch of cheese gougères (chapter 1)
- 2 batches of spinach and feta triangles (chapter 2)
- 1 batch of small pork pies (chapter 6)
- 1 jar of chutney (Sauces 2, chapter 6)
- 200 g mixed salad leaves
- 6 tbsp vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp English mustard
- Two days before: make the pie crusts, bake and chill the pork pies with their jelly. The day before: bake the gougères and freeze the filo triangles unbaked.
- On the day: bake the filo triangles from frozen for 20 to 25 minutes, and re-crisp the gougères for 5 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4). Take the pork pies out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving.
- Arrange the warm and cold items on boards with the chutney, mustard and salad, and label each one.
Jelly and chilled pies: pies with jelly must be chilled below 5°C and eaten within about 2 days. Do not leave them at room temperature for more than about 2 hours. Gelatine is made from animal bones; use agar or leave the jelly out for a vegetarian version.
Allergens: contains gluten, milk, egg, pork and mustard.
A sweet tea table for 12
Éclairs, Eccles cakes and a mille-feuille, served with tea and coffee. The pastry for the mille-feuille and the choux shells are made the day before; the filling happens in the last hour.
Ingredients (12 portions)
- 1 batch of éclairs (chapter 1)
- 1 batch of Eccles cakes (chapter 3)
- 1 mille-feuille (chapter 4)
- 500 ml double cream, whipped
- 300 g strawberries
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- The day before: bake the choux shells and the mille-feuille pastry sheets, bake the Eccles cakes, and store the shells and sheets in airtight tins.
- On the day: re-crisp the shells for 5 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4). Whip the cream and fill the éclairs and mille-feuille within 1 hour of serving.
- Slice the strawberries, dust with icing sugar, and keep the finished pastries chilled until serving.
Keeping and freezing: raw pastry keeps in the fridge for about 2 days wrapped tightly, and freezes for about 3 months (general guidance). Cooked pies and tarts keep for about 2 days chilled; reheat pies until steaming hot all the way through, and freeze cooked pies for no more than about 2 to 3 months.
Allergens: contains gluten, milk and egg.
A choux tower
A cone of filled choux buns held together with caramel, like a small croquembouche. Make 30 small shells (2.5 cm) from two batches of choux paste; they bake in about 20 minutes. Use a conical template of card to build.
Ingredients (12 portions)
- 30 small choux shells (chapter 1), baked and cooled
- 400 ml double cream, whipped with vanilla
- 150 g caster sugar
- 50 ml water
- Pipe the cream into each shell through a small hole in the base. Make a cone of card on a plate.
- Make the caramel: dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat, boil without stirring for 5 to 8 minutes until golden amber. Take it off the heat and dip the base of each bun, then stick it to the next.
- Build from the bottom upward, spiralling in. Serve within 2 hours of assembly. Spin spare caramel into threads if you like.
Allergens: contains gluten, milk and egg.
Your signature pastry
Combine two methods you have learned: choux with a savoury filling, filo with a sweet one, puff with a surprise. Write the recipe as you make it, and make it twice. A signature bake is one you can repeat and be known for.
Ingredients (your choice)
- 1 pastry from this course (choux, filo, rough puff, full puff, laminated or raised)
- 1 filling from your own ideas
- 1 finish: glaze, dust or sauce
- 1 notebook and pen
- Choose a pastry and write down your filling and finish before you start.
- Make it, noting times and temperatures, and what you would change.
- Make it again with your changes. Write the final recipe on a card and share it.
Allergens: label every allergen, especially nuts, egg, milk and gluten.
Experiments
A timed pastry session
Planning.
- Make a mille-feuille from start to finish with a timer, and note each stage.
Look for: You will see how much time is spent chilling and how much is active. Plan other jobs for the chilling windows.
Swap one bake
Flexibility.
- Replace one item on the plan with another from the course, such as sausage rolls for pork pies.
Look for: A good plan has swappable parts. Note which swaps work.
Your own table
Design.
- Plan a table for 8 using three pastries from the course and write out the timeline.
Look for: The best tables balance flaky, crisp, soft, cold and warm. Check that your plan does.
Freezing and reheating
Make ahead.
- Freeze a filo triangle, a gougère and a baked tart case, then bake or reheat each.
Look for: Unbaked filo and gougères freeze well; fully filled choux do not. Frozen cases re-crisp in the oven.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savoury buffet | ||||
| Sweet tea table | ||||
| Choux tower | ||||
| Signature pastry | ||||
| A timed pastry session | ||||
| Swap one bake | ||||
| Your own table | ||||
| Freezing and reheating |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Choux soggy before serving | Filled too early | Fill within 1 to 2 hours of serving; re-crisp the shells first |
| Mille-feuille soft | Assembled too early | Assemble within 1 hour of serving |
| Too much to do at once | Poor timeline | Write the plan backwards and prep earlier |
| Caramel hardens too fast | Too cool | Re-warm gently for a few seconds |
| Pies warm and soft | Not chilled | Chill for 6 hours and serve cold |
| Missing allergen labels | Forgotten | Label every dish when you put it out |
Hot caramel: caramel reaches about 170°C and sticks to skin, causing deep burns. Use a heavy pan, long tongs for dipping, never touch it, and keep a bowl of cold water nearby to plunge any splash on skin at once. Soak the pan in hot water to clean it.
Keeping and freezing: raw pastry keeps in the fridge for about 2 days wrapped tightly, and freezes for about 3 months (general guidance). Cooked pies and tarts keep for about 2 days chilled; reheat pies until steaming hot all the way through, and freeze cooked pies for no more than about 2 to 3 months.
- I can plan a table backwards from serving time.
- I can make pastry components ahead.
- I can fill and finish at the last minute.
- I can label allergens.
- I have a signature bake.