French Pastries:  Who Doesn’t Love Them?

Anaïs Galpin is one of the world’s finest vegan pastry chefs, producing some of the world’s most awe-inspiring French pastries, all with plant-based versions of butter, sweet dough, custard, and whipped cream. Her desserts are works of art. Anais worked with famed American chef Matthew Kenney in creating the breathtaking vegan pastries and desserts at the tres chic Ladurée in Beverly Hills! Now, Anais cooks for us! Wow! What an honor.

 

 

French Pastries Veganized By Who?

We know Anaïs Galpin is an incredible pastry chef, but how did she end up in this field? Clearly she has a huge passion for creating vegan French pastries…and she is great at it!  We asked her to tell us a little bit of her background…and here is what she had to say:

“It all started with my childhood in France, a taste for good things, a love for gourmet pastries and for the power of flavors. Then life: law school, becoming a lawyer in Montreal, adapting, performing. And, suddenly, the need for something different. I wanted to feel the material, and to shape it: that was the turning point that led me to change my professional path and move from practicing law to baking plant-based pastries, with a real leap into the void less than two years ago.

In the meantime, I experienced a deep shift in awareness regarding food and our consumption habits. Plant-based eating imposed itself in my life, for all possible reasons, including out of compassion for all of the beings that inhabit this planet. 

That’s when I began to veganize the basics of classic French pastries such as butter, sweet dough, custard, and whipped cream. Influenced by modern French pastry and the aesthetics of Scandinavian cuisine, I particularly enjoy working with a simple and clean presentation with a focus on taste and texture.”

In the summer of 2019, I had the amazing opportunity to be involved, in collaboration with American chef Matthew Kenney, in the implementation of a plant-based menu for Maison Ladurée in Beverly Hills, California. I am currently pursuing various other collaborations and plant-based pastry consultations around the world, with chefs and restaurants alike.”

 

 

Wow!  what a story.  She clearly found her passion and talent because she sure knows how to whip up the best and most beautiful vegan French pastries!  I can’t wait to go and visit  Ladurée in Beverly Hills and try some more of her creations.  Yum!

Are You Craving a Bite?

I know I am!  So let’s dive right into the delicious pastry that was made for us today on #LunchBreakLIVE!  This is one you DO NOT want to miss.  Especially for those of you with a sweet tooth.  This Pastry looks so tasty, with just enough sweetness!  It is called a Red Fruit Tartlet!

 

 

 

 

It’s Time For You To Try This At Home!

For those of you who love French pastries, please consider trying this Red Fruit Tartlet recipe at home, and defiantly let us know how it turned out.  You are being given this recipe by one of the greatest vegan pastry chefs, so please don’t let this slip by!  Don’t be afraid…just go for it!  There is nothing like getting messy in the kitchen,,. baking up some delicious sweet vegan treats!  Below is the recipe for you.

Red Fruit Tartlet by Anaïs Galpin

1. Vanilla Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

• 45 g corn starch
• 90 g blond cane sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 485 g plant milk of your choice (we used oat milk)
• 100 g plant-based butter

Process:

Cut in half lengthwise your vanilla pod and scrape it to extract the seeds. Put the seeds and the scraped pod, as well as the sugar and sifted corn starch in a medium pot. Slowly dilute by whisking in the plant-based milk. Bring to a simmer for 1-2 minutes (while whisking) and stop when the mix thickens and reduces. Add the diced plant-based butter and whisk energetically or until well combined. Pour the cream with the vanilla pod in a container and put some plastic film right on the surface of the cream before reserving in the fridge. Once the cream has reached the consistency of a pudding, remove from the fridge and whisk it well to make it a softer cream (easier to use a stand mixer for this step). Transfer the cream to a pastry bag (ideally with a tip) and store it in the fridge.

1. Marinated strawberries

Ingredients:

• 10 strawberries
• Few drops of Lemon juice
• Lemon zest of half a lemon
• 5 basil leaves
• 1 tsp blond cane sugar

Process:

Cut the strawberries in small dices. Pour the lemon juice, sugar, and lemon zest on top. Cut thinly the basil in a chiffonade and add it to the mix. Let sit in the fridge while preparing the biscuit dough.

1. Crunchy biscuit

Ingredients:

• 15g plant-based milk
• 2g psyllium husk
• 55g sugar
• 70g softened plant-based butter
• 100g cake flour
• 2g fleur de sel (salt flower)
• 3,5g baking powder

Process:

Mix the plant-based milk with psyllium husk. In the stand-mixer bowl: cream the plant-based butter with the sugar with the paddle attachment. Then add the plant-based and psyllium mix and mix again. Then add, at the same time, the flour, fleur de sel, and baking powder. Gently mix to have a homogenous dough (do not over mix) and spread it between two parchment paper sheets. Let sit in the freezer for 1hour. Then use stainless steel rings to cut the dough (1 ring per biscuit: leave the dough circle in the ring) and put each dough circle with ring on a baking sheet lined with a airmat (or silicon sheet or parchment paper). Bake for 22 minutes at 320F and 5 minutes at 390F (the baked dough should have a nice golden colour).

1. Assembling

Strain and cut the strawberries to remove excess juice. Pipe a circle of cream on top of the biscuit (leave about 1/2 inch of biscuit edge) and put some marinated strawberries in the center of the cream circle. Cut some fresh strawberries and any other red fruit of your choice and nicely arrange them to cover the cream. Sprinkle some basil chiffonade and lemon zest and enjoy!

Vegan French Pastries:  I’m In Heaven!

This was super enjoyable for me, as I am sure it was for you too.  I am so impressed with Anaïs’s baking skills.  I am certain my Red Fruit Tartlet won’t turn out as beautiful as hers, but I am sure it will taste delicious!  So off I go to purchase my ingredients and test drive this incredible recipe!

Thank you for stopping by and be sure to check out some of the previous episodes of #LunchBreakLIVE for more delicious and creative recipes.  There are tons to choose from.  Until next time…