PORTLAND, Maine — The Cooking Channel’s show “Unique Sweets” features her artistry. Bon Appetit called her pastries at Tandem Coffee + Bakery the top reason to visit Portland. And everyone on Congress Street curses the extra pounds they’ve gained since “pastry genius” Briana Holt came to town.
With the holiday baking season officially underway, we stopped into the colorful cafe in a former gas station to ask the woman behind the marble counter to share the commandments to her “altar of sweets.” Fresh from turning out 175 pies at Thanksgiving, she talks crust.
First tip: Don’t stress
“Baking should be a beautiful and fun experience this time of year,” says Holt. To make sure you don’t go crazy and miss out on the festivities because you are in hell’s kitchen, she suggests having everything ready when it’s time to bake:
Think like a Boy Scout
“Always be as prepared as possible,” says Holt. “If you have to roast almonds, toast the nuts ahead of time. If you have to separate the eggs, separate the eggs. Like a cooking show, have all ingredients in bowls ready to go.”
Her signature holiday pie is a tart and sweet cranberry. Made with local berries tucked into an all-butter pastry crust, it’s topped with crumbled oats and roasted pistachios.
How does she get a flaky, tender crust?
“Use the best butter you can find with the highest fat content,” says Holt, who aims for an 84 percent European-style butter and has gone up to 86 percent. “The best butter you can find makes the best crust. That is just how it is.
She admits, “People swear by their grandmother’s crust. Everyone has different ideas about it and if it works keep doing it for sure.”
What about Crisco or margarine?
“Don’t consider margarine, it’s kind of fake. It’s like vegetable oil. Some people swear by Crisco. I think it makes a crisp, oily crust. Butter makes a tender, flaky crust that has way more flavor. If you learn to handle your dough correctly all you need is butter.”
On handling the dough
“Butter has to be kept very cold. Cut butter into small pieces ahead of time and let it get really, really cold.”
Best tool
“A food processor with a sharp blade. If your butter is cold and you grind your butter with dry ingredients the butter starts to look like peas.”
Next, gather dough together in a ball and let it sit overnight wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator. Consistency is key.
“It should stick together: a bit like Play-Doh,” says Holt. “When you roll pie dough out, butter spreads out in layers, and when it bakes it creates air pockets and you get a tender, flakey crust.”
Practice makes perfect
“You don’t want to overhydrate. Strike a balance between a little too dry and just wet enough. You have to learn how the dough feels in your hands. Not too wet. You have to get used to it. It should feel like crumbly sand that sticks together in your hands, almost like Play-Doh, but not wet or too sticky.” Tip: Make dough the day before. Wrap it tightly and refrigerate.
Why are people intimidated by crust?
“A lot can go wrong. If you are nervous about it, make a large batch and hydrate it differently, separate into different containers to feel what you are doing. Fill up a container with ice and water and a few dashes of vinegar, which adds tang to dough and tenderizes the dough.”
How much?
“Unlike a lot of things in this kitchen we don’t measure the water for the pie dough. It can depend on the day and how humid it is and the temperature of your hands — all these can have a lot to do with it.” From the Bangor Daily News. Click here to continue reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment