“I liken it to when you go to a jewelry store and choose nice jewelry from the display case. A French patisserie is similar in this respect, you just choose desserts to take with you, for example to a celebration. They are complex and well thought out, they should be beautiful to look at and taste good,” says Tereza Pachtová from the Future Sailors confectionary located in Rumiště Street in Brno.
Among the passions of the twenty-eight-year-old native of Brno is the unusual pairing of tastes, which may require a little courage for Czech customers. Lately, she has become very fond of floral flavors. “You could say that these are the kind of perfumes that you can use to beautify a dessert. But some of them are specific, so if you’re not used to them, you need to get used to them a bit,” he laughs.
“I like to play and use combinations, I don’t want to say strange, but still bold for a lot of customers. But again, I can’t let go that much, I have to be careful with these tastes,” explains Pachtová. The more classic tastes are winning among customers, for example raspberry tartlet and caramel-peanut eclair.
Among the unusual combinations that Pachtová uses are, for example, the combination of mango and rose, violet and blueberry or black tea and citrus, for Maundy Thursday, for example, pistachio with orange blossom.
“French pastry shops make limited edition elegant desserts for Easter, for example in the shape of eggs, chocolate sculptures that look like chickens, or directly eggs filled with other candies or creams. I will make an Easter nest, a popular variation on the French Mont Blanc dessert, and then I have a special dessert that I only make at Easter – pomegranate eggs,” explains the confectioner.
Different types of cane sugar
In desserts, customers can also find spices, such as timut. “This is a very fragrant type of pepper and tastes good with red orange. You always have to find a second ingredient with which the first one will create something great together. Often the flavors combine so well that you don’t even know which of the ingredients is which,” reveals Pachtová.
The preparation of desserts takes several days. “I focus on quality rather than quantity. We have, for example, six to ten types in the showcase and present them side by side so that customers can view them from all angles. The menu is different every time, all the desserts are prepared by me alone,” explains Pachtová.
According to her, basic confectionery procedures are not very different in France, but quality ingredients are key. He therefore orders some of them from abroad, for example different types of cane sugar.
“I learned how to use these thanks to a biscuit course with the iconic French confectioner, Philippe Conticini, a great capacity in the field. I was fascinated by how many different types of sugar there are that can’t even be found here,” explains Brňanka.
The dessert is not meant to destroy the consumer
The goal is to make the desserts taste balanced and light. “That is, so that the dessert does not destroy you. I have the feeling that, unfortunately, this is still often the case with us,” he thinks.
And how to ensure that a person does not “drop out” after dessert? According to Pachtová, it is a mix of factors, one of which is the amount of sugar.
“It doesn’t have to be overdone with him. And then you always need to let the main ingredient of the dessert rise. In the Czech Republic, at best, butter creams or even mascarpone are used a lot. This is our favorite, but it’s a paradox because it’s very fatty. If you put a ton of mascarpone and then cream in one dessert, it will also affect the result,” he points out.
According to her, working with different textures is also characteristic of the French. “So there needs to be more layers in the dessert. One is crunchy, the other is soft and the other is semi-liquid. I also enjoy that a lot,” explains Pachtová.
A customer can only rarely get classic Czech desserts in her pastry shop. The unusual offer will surprise some passers-by who visit it. “I make cream rolls here and there, but rarely. I haven’t forgiven myself from Linz, I like that a lot. Sometimes someone comes expecting to find punch cuts and tips, but that’s not the case at all,” concludes the confectioner.
A recipe for an Easter variation of the classic French dessert Mont Blanc10 pieces, preparation 1 h 45 min + 2 h baking 1) snow merinque: 2) coconut cream: 3) blackcurrant cream: 4) chestnut cream: First, we prepare 80 g of egg whites at room temperature, which we beat to a creamy consistency while gradually adding granulated sugar. Add powdered sugar to the resulting product and mix carefully. The finished mixture should have a slightly creamy texture. We then shape patties with a diameter of approx. 5 cm on the pre-prepared baking sheet. Bake the snow meringues in an oven preheated to 90 degrees for about 1 hour 30 minutes (depending on the oven). When the patties are ready, they can be easily removed from the baking paper. While the whitish patties are baking, prepare the blackcurrant puree. Put the fruit mixture in a pot and heat it for about 1-2 minutes on a hot plate, stirring constantly. Gradually add sugar mixed with pectin and cook briefly (approx. 1 min). Let the finished mixture cool. In the meantime, we can start making the chestnut and coconut-cream cream. For both creams, we first mix all the ingredients and then beat them together into a uniform butter structure. Once the mixtures are whipped, we let them rest for a while and it’s done. All the parts of our dessert are already ready, so we can start assembling the Easter nest. Apply a ring of coconut cream around the perimeter of the meringue with a straight tip, which will create the base of the dessert, on which we will layer the chestnut cream so as to completely cover the coconut part. There should be a small hole in the middle of the dessert, into which we will later put the cooled blackcurrant cream. To layer the maroon cream, we ideally use a tip with multiple small holes, but we can also apply several layers of simple irregular strips, which will help you with the classic straight tip that we used earlier. If the nest with all the creams is ready, we can decorate it with chocolate eggs or seasonal fruit. |
