The
invite was from France Tourism Development Agency and Bonne Mamam at Studio
Fifteen. We, The FBAI members were to acquaint with fine art of French pastry
making that would be further enhanced by the indulgent flavours of renowned French Confectioner Bonne Mamam.
Now
Bonne Mamam, as you might know, make preserves and jellies that are 100%
all-natural ingredients, made from same
time-honoured traditional French recipes. So making the cookies in normal traditional way and then adding a dollop of Bonne Mamam jelly on the top would naturally
enhance the taste.
I
don’t
normally bake (actually I need to buy a decent oven to begin with, it’s on my wish list) but the fact remains
that I would be learning something different (everyday is a learning
experience) from the expert chefs like Pooja Dhingra and Pablo Naranjo, and
that was good enough reason to accept the invite.
Due
to heavy Mumbai traffic, I was a bit late for interaction with other food
bloggers, but luckily, I was in time to try my hand on baking Jam Thumbprint Cookies and Matcha Apricot
Financiers.
After
the brief introductions, we were split up in four groups of three persons each,
so that all of us would get hands-on experience on preparation of these cookies
and financiers. It was so easy that I am thinking why had I not baked these
before. There is really no trouble at all, baking is just mixing the right
proportion of ingredients and baking them at right temperature.
The
cooking session was fun really, everybody had a story to tell, that made the
session very interesting.
With
ingredients, all measured and kept on the table, and under guidance of Pooja
and Pablo, we began to work on the
recipe given to each one of us.
Sharing
the recipe of
Matcha Apricot Finanaciers (of Studio15)
First
important thing is to preheat oven at 200C
Whisk
together 100 gms icing sugar, 20gms flour, 50gms almond powder and 1tsp Matcha
powder
Add
2 egg whites and mix gently using fork
In
a sauce pan, heat 60gms butter till it browns and strain over mixture
Pipe
the batter into financier moulds and bake for 8-10 minutes
Add
Jam on the top of financiers, as per your taste.
Sharing
the recipe of
Jam Thumbprint Cookies (of Studio15)
Whisk
together 100 gms butter, 120 gms castor sugar, and 1tsp vanilla essence till light
and fluffy
Add
one eggs and whisk well
Sift
together ½ tsp baking powder and 175 flour
Fold
into the above mixture with a spatula
spatula
Mix
well and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours
Preheat
the oven to 165C and line your baking tray with parchment paper
Take
small quantities of the dough, make small balls, flatten with your finger tips
into medium sized cookies
Put
them on the baking tray, leaving 2-inch gap between each cookie. Using your
thumb, make a small well in the middle of each cookie
Put
a spoonful of jam in each well
Bake
for 15 minutes or till the edges start browning
Once
cooled, top the well with some more jam and serve.
Tasting
is the best part of cooking or baking
Bringing
back food favours of a bottle of apricot
jam and a pretty cookbook will inspire me to try my hand on baking, for sure..
Thank
you Studio Fifteen for hosting us.
