An experiment in patisserie recipe testing
How did a my non baker husband fare?
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For our baking experiment this week we are tackling… recipe testing.
Usually when other people recipe test for me, they are fellow bakers, with all the assumed knowledge which comes with that experience.
So when my husband, a complete baking novice, offered to test one of my more advanced recipes, I was very intrigued to see how he would get on.
My husband is a great savoury cook. But desserts? No dice. He can actually count on one hand the amount of times he has made a sweet treat. And he's certainly not one for frills and trills. He leaves that jam to me.
So, how would he fare baking one of my more advanced recipes - my coffee craquelin choux buns? Would this be a recount of triumph, or kitchen chaos?
The outcome was pleasantly surprising. It became a guide for anyone keen to take on choux pastry… with a few recipe writing tips too.
Rules of the experiment:
I was not allowed to personally help him. We wanted to see how a complete baking novice would fare with only my recipe instructions, and no further support.
He was testing:
How easy the recipe is to follow and understand from a novice perspective.
Is the recipe accurate? Eg. Does it take as long as the recipe indicates? Is the serving correct? Are all relevant tools included?
The outcome!
The Recipe
Bryan took on these Coffee Craquelin Buns:
Choux pastry buns, covered in a walnut craquelin. Filled with coffee crème pat and topped with coffee buttercream, and a coffee bean!
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How it went…
I’m handing over to Bryan now, to give you the honest lowdown of how the recipe went down…
Bryan: Firstly, a comment on my skills. I have never made a cake. Or buttercream. Or a crème pat. Or pastry. I have stirred things and whisked things and I even had a go at piping once. It went badly. That said, I’ve cooked a lot of savoury food of varying complexity in my time. I’ve also watched a lot of cookery shows, including baking ones and I live with a baker - so I’ve seen a lot of baking and probably picked up some things via osmosis.
I ended up doing this recipe over two nights because, work/kids/sleep/life got in the way. I made the crème patissiere on the first night, which seemed relatively straightforward - but I was still nervous, and convinced I’d done something wrong. That it would have somehow split or gone bad by the time I got back to it.
The second day I measured and arranged all the remaining ingredients mise en place (see, I do listen to my wife). This helped keep things organised so I didn’t have to raid the fridge every five minutes.
Next up was the craquelin, I mostly followed the recipe - mixing together the sugar with the walnuts and butter before squidging together (Note from Shell; the technical term for this is fraisering) and getting in the fridge to set. But I thought I could shortcut how long I needed to cool the craquelin for.
Turns out the timing in the recipe was for a reason - it was super squidgy as a rolled it, and it stuck to the baking paper. Once it was chilled properly it was a lot easier to work with, and cut into rounds. From here I was a lot more precise with my timings.
When making the choux, I remembered Shell commenting on really cooking out the initial roux mixture in the saucepan to get the water out, which was emphasised in the recipe too. I sat there over the pan stirring choux batter for a good ten minutes, probably longer than needed! (Note from Shell; five minutes is probably fine - just long enough so it leaves a dry film on the pan.)
After this, it was time to stir in the eggs. Shell mentions in the recipe that stirring in the eggs really hurts your arms. I scoffed at this, thinking; ‘hey I’ve been to the gym a couple of times, what is a wooden spoon going to do?!’ 15 minutes of ferocious stirring later and I was in agony. Shell has since told me you can also use a stand mixer for this bit. No pain required.
I got a bit nervous about if I had achieved the right ‘dropping consistency’ for piping. And I did end up googling a video. I just needed to see it in action to reassure me.
Piping itself was the next hurdle. I’d had a go at piping previously with Shell when she was doing some buttercream work, and it was a disaster. I got loads of air bubbles in it and it spluttered everywhere. So, I was extra careful in the way I loaded the piping bags and pushing the contents down.
I piped out a batch of 12 very even looking blobs and was feeling very proud of myself. This is when I looked up and saw Shell’s gaze burning a hole in me. I looked down at the piping bag and realised I still had loads of mixture left and it was only supposed to make 12. She stepped in and told me I’d piped them way too small, so I went back over and made each a lot bigger.
I then added the craquelin hats on very, very carefully and popped them in the oven. At this point I stood back and tried to look cool while secretly pooping myself and willing them to rise. Which they did! I sighed in relief and googled “how do I make buttercream” to do my decoration (Note from Shell; I’ve now updated my recipe to include buttercream tips.)
The buns came out of the oven and looked great! I didn’t really want to fill them or decorate them in case I messed them up and ruined all my good work so far.
Filling them with crème pat felt painfully slow, and I would be tempted to use a bigger piping tip next time round. I lost patience, which meant some were not properly filled and were half empty when we cut them open.
Lastly came decorating. I picked a fancy looking piping tip, had a quick practise on a plate and then got stuck in, before adding a coffee bean and a Shell mandated spray of golden glitter (she doesn’t consider a bake complete until she has sprayed the whole kitchen with edible glitter).
Honestly, I’m pretty shocked at how well they came out. And pretty proud of myself. All in all it took about 3.5 hours, spot on guidance from the recipe.
Concluding Statements
Bryan: As a complete novice, I was expecting this to go horribly wrong and to end up with split creams and a soggy mess of ‘pastry’. I was actually stunned at how well they came out!
What I liked about the recipe was that it wasn’t just a set of instructions, but included helpful tips. The details on why I was doing things, and descriptions of what things should look like or how long it takes gave me a lot more confidence. I think for patisserie, specific details are so important in a recipe - you can leave no ambiguities in quantities or techniques!
I’d give recipes like this a go again, so if you are on the fence or think they might look a bit too complicated, I really recommend giving it a go! You might be pleasantly surprised!
Shell: I am so, so proud of Bryan! Look at those consistent little buns!
I kept reassuring him that it was ok if something went wrong, in fact to expect it. I am quite blown away he has pulled this off so beautifully. My first attempt at choux certainly didn't look like that!
To be completely upfront, not helping him was hugely challenging. Bryan has known me more than a decade and can read my facial expressions like a book. Despite my attempts to remain poker faced.
While piping the buns, he instantly knew he was doing something wrong, just from a slight widening of my eyes. On the most part, I had to leave the room.
As a recipe writer, this exercise was exciting, to see one of my recipes being made in real time. And incredibly useful. I now know:
To be abundantly clear and exact at every turn. For example, do I mean 2 tsp of instant coffee dissolved in water OR do I mean 2 tsp of coffee, then dissolved in water. And how much water? (I mean the latter, and I have updated the recipe to address this)
And to consider where some sections may need a video - perhaps to display piping technique or batter consistency.
Also, Bryan admitted that having all the right kit at arms reach was a great help. I appreciate most people don't have choux bun mats at their disposal. Pdfs of templates or kit recommendations will be part of this stacks future.
I am a massive advocate for non bakers testing my recipes. Particularly as the ethos of my stack is to make patisserie accessible to the home cook. Bryan saw things I’m not sure a more experienced baker would have.
Overall, this is proof that patisserie isn't scary. And that once the tricks and techniques are demystified, anyone - even a complete novice - can pull off a beautiful patisserie bake. So my loves, give it a go. I believe in you.
Until next time…
Oh I love this! And what a brave husband you have to attempt such a recipe. Now I have absolutely no excuse not to make this, and soon!
Congratulations Bryan and Shell, such a fantastic post. If you can do it Bryan, you’ve issued a challenge for me to give it a go. If only I had Shell in the kitchen with me so I could read her facial expressions.