Ten Top Tips for Perfect Pâtisserie

We sat down with Master Pâtissiers William & Suzue Curley to find out their 10 top tips for creating perfect pâtisserie at home.

Tip 1: When using butter in cakes in, allow it to come to room temperature, it will more easily become light and fluffy.

Tip 2: When adding eggs to any mixture, ensure you add them slowly, to prevent the mixture separating.

Tip 3: When melting chocolate, melt over a water Bain-Marie, with the water hot, but not boiling, as the chocolate will burn if it gets too hot.

Tip 4: When preparing pastry, it is important to let the pastry rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. This will prevent the pastry shrinking or changing shape upon baking.

Tip 5: A good set of digital scales is well worth the investment as precision is essential for successful baking.

Tip 6: Sieving dry ingredients is important, thus breaking up any lumps that have formed, when using baking powder it is advisable to sieve with the dry ingredients twice.

Tip 7: When whipping cream, insure you have a dry cool bowl, it may worth popping your bowl in the fridge in advance to keep it cool until you need it.

Tip 8: I love my chocolate, always pick good quality chocolate, but try use the flavour characteristics to match the flavour of dish/cake you are making.

Tip 9: Recipes can be adapted to suit different shapes and sizes of moulds and tins, you don’t always have to buy new equipment when you make something new.

Tip 10: Always shop around for good quality ingredients, ideally in season.

Happy baking!