Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Sunny-Side up Apricot Pastries
October 7, 2014 at 12:01 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWJ, general pastry, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 14 CommentsTags: baking, breakfast
Michel Richard is a chef with a sense of humor. Case in point, these cute Sunny-Side Up Apricot Pastries. At first glance, they’re fried eggs on toast. At first bite, they’re poached fruit and pastry cream on top of crispy puff pastry.
Before you can have these for breakfast (or for dessert, if you are like I am and this is too much to process in the morning), you have to make pastry cream and poach fruit. I’d take care of these a day in advance. You also have to deal with the puff pastry situation and decide if you are going to buy it or make it. I’ve worked in restaurant and bakery kitchens for more than 10 years now…while not every place I’ve worked has made puff from scratch, a few of them have, so I’ve laminated me some dough. Frankly, it can be a pain in the neck (literally). On a large scale, those of us with no upper body strength (who me?) struggle to roll a ginormous batch by hand if there isn’t a dough sheeter. If the kitchen’s too hot, butter oozes everywhere. It’s often a rush-job because no one bothers to mention that they took the last sheets from the freezer and left me with nothing for the day’s production. But, I’ve made this very puff pastry dough recipe at home before–I actually chose it several years ago when I hosted a Daring Bakers Challenge— and I know that it’s not hard at all, especially if you make it a day or two before you need it and the temps are relatively cool. If you are on the fence, a half-batch is super-approachable, doesn’t take too much counter space to roll and will give you plenty of puff for treats. And if you’re still on the fence, just get a nice store-bought one….I do it all the time, so no judgments.
Apricots aren’t in season here anymore, so I had planned to just use canned ones instead (and also skip the recipe’s poaching step). Then at the Greenmarket this weekend, I saw that nectarines are still around, so I picked out a few of the smallest “apricot-sized” ones and went ahead with those. I gave them a gentle poach and left their skins on. I thought they were pretty, but they kind of wrinkled up in the oven. Next time they’re coming off. Next time I’ll also leave the puff a little fatter than the book indicates. I think the recipe says to roll it too thin, so while the front and back ends puffed nicely, the sides were a little flatter than I would have liked. Super crispy, though.
These were delicious, and a fun weekend kitchen project. I’ll make them again, especially since I have extra homemade puff in the freezer now. Here’s a document that I typed up about making puff pastry for my DB Challenge back in 2009…somewhere near the end are some tips and suggestions.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here). There’s a video of the BWJ episode showing how to make both the puff pastry dough and the pastries. Finally, don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
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I love apricots! This looks perfect. I watched the episode where Julia made this with chef Richard and it looked amazing.
Comment by Chaya— October 7, 2014 #
Nice work! Your puff pastry dough looks perfect. I hope to tackle puff pastry one day.
Comment by Created by Carlene— October 7, 2014 #
Love this post!
❤
Emory
helloscarlettblog.com
Comment by Hello, Scarlett Blog— October 7, 2014 #
This is so impressive! Will definitely wait for a weekend morning for my first attempt 🙂
Sues
Comment by wearenotmartha— October 7, 2014 #
Like you, I have worked in places that make their own puff pastry. I can recall having to stand on a milk crate to get the leverage I needed to roll out the dough to incorporated a 10 pound block of butter-that pastry chef also had a sense of humor, a sadistic one! Years later, I mastered the process with a dough sheeter and now when I want it, I usually just buy it. But every now and then, there is a certain sense of satisfaction that only comes with making it yourself! Your pastries look beautiful!
Comment by jane of many trades— October 7, 2014 #
You are so right – these look exactly like a fried egg sunny side up! What a treat for breakfast..
Comment by Daisy Chain Feasts— October 7, 2014 #
Gorgeous!
Comment by Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas— October 7, 2014 #
I agree with your thought that the pastry was rolled out too thin. Thicker would have been better. Still delicious, though!
Comment by sharron- one clever mom— October 7, 2014 #
I agree with rolling them too thin in the middle- no puff! Your laminated layers look perfect.
Comment by sunshine x 2— October 7, 2014 #
This looks mouth watering, really hope I can try this one out .
Comment by staplemeknot— October 8, 2014 #
Such beautiful puff pastry! I would like to get to your skill level one day. 🙂
Comment by smarkies— October 8, 2014 #
How absolutely lovely.
Comment by saffronandhoney— October 10, 2014 #
Wow. Your dough looks awesome. I only made two of these (store-bought dough and canned apricots) and rolled one as directed, and the other thicker and shorter, turned out pretty much the same. I thought they would have puffed more as well. Yours look great.
Comment by Cathleen— October 12, 2014 #
Your dough looks lovely all by itself!
And kudos for hosting a DB challenge – I’ve done one for Daring Cooks and I know that is bit of a project 🙂
Comment by Cher— October 13, 2014 #