I’ll never forget the apple tart I made when I was living in Paris. The recipe was in French, and I was using the metric system with a very out dated scale. Needless to say I winged it. Expecting a catastrophe, it turned out to be the best tart I had ever made. It was beautiful. The crust was perfection. Without question, it was all thanks to that butter. Everything else I had done was exactly the same as always, apart from using unsalted Président butter. I had heard using french butter was the way to go when making pastries, and man is it true. Never again will I settle for less.
So when I got invited to an event hosted by that precise brand, I was on it like white on rice. A small group gathered at the French Cheese Board, a studio dedicated to all things French cheese, for a cooking class with Chef Gavin Kaysen (who is incredible). Technically, Chef Gavin was supposed to instruct us on how to make the recipes ourselves, and we would complete them at our stations; in the end, it was more like Troy and me stuffing our faces while Chef Gavin did all the heavy lifting. We completely neglected our crepe (turns out the hot plate wasn’t even on), and with a stuffed smile full of bread and melty cheese we just said “uhhh psthorry” and continued to stuff away…
The one cheese that really took me by surprise was the Rondelé cheese. Troy is obsessed. It’s a fluffy, spreadable cheese flavored with different herbs and vegetables. Either sexily smeared it on a piece of slate like Chef Gavin, or prepare a crostini or canapé to serve alongside your cheese plate.
The Brie before it has been baked with sliced pears, shallots, thyme, saba and olive oil.
Triple Cream Sandwich with fresh figs, jam salt and pepper
Post face stuffing…
Thank you so much Président for the incredible cheese! I have so many recipe ideas that I can’t wait to try!
- 2 packages of pre-made puff pastry (1 box)
- 1 egg
- splash of milk
- Water
- 2 oz. brie
- For the Praline Pecans
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 T corn syrup
- 1 T pure maple syrup
- 3 T brown sugar
- 1 T unsalted butter
- 1 pinch salt
- Take out the frozen puff pastry and defrost until it reaches room temperature. This will take about an hour.
- When your puff pastry is almost completely defrosted, begin making your pecan mixture.
- In a small sauce pan, mix all of the ingredients together over medium heat. Cook until the sugar has dissolved completely. About 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Preheat the oven 375 F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry. Using a small cookie or biscuit cutter (1½ inches), cut out the puff pastry into small circles.
- Take two circles and outline one of the rims with water using the tip of your finger.
- Place a small piece of brie in the center of the circle and top with about ½ tsp of the praline pecans. Top with the other circle and seal with a fork.
- When all of the bites are complete, whisk the egg with a splash of milk and brush each bite lightly with the egg wash.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
You can probably be a little more generous with the cheese here
You forgot to add brie to the ingredients list!!
OMG thanks jessica for the catch!