[jerry i h]

Doin' a little traveling this summer. Rather tired of being confronted with an entire case of french pastry, all under-baked. Look: pastry based on puff paste should be nice and dark, think rosewood or cherrywood. NOT: pale like yellow pine.
If this is how you bake yours, try this: when you take the sheet pan out of the oven, leave a couple of pieces on the pan and stick it back in the oven. I promise you that the interior will still be soft and buttery; and the contrast between the dark, carmelized, crunchy exterior will contrast nicely with the rich insides.

[Gunnar]

so more like a croissant (brown and tan) then say...any eclair I have ever seen? they are usually pasty yellow.

[m brown]

Golden brown, rich, lush caramelization!
On cue and baked.

Happy Travels!

[chefpeon]

Just to add, we pastry chefs would probably prefer to bake our croissants and danishes a little darker.....problem is, you have American customers and even bosses who insist on a lighter bake. I've encountered this many times. Lots of people in the US think the European bake is just plain "burnt".

[chefelle]

I hear ya, Annie. I have the same problem here in Canada!

[dgcooks]

I agree darker is better, tell the customers they are wrong!!

[MeatPie]

I agree darker is better, tell the customers they are wrong!!

And you will have customers who will buy elsewhere.
Over here, there is a preference for brown but not burnt.
I've not seen pastries the colour of rosewood in Paris boulangeries either.

[Galit]

My French chefs always told us in school- make it darker, flakier, tastier....
Why not educate the American costumers?

If they all fell inlove with cupcakes...u can teach them to love darker..

[ChefRobin]

Up until I got laid off at the country club a few weeks ago........ If we were to serve a croissant or pastry that was more than a little golden, they were sent back. Is it a "we aren't french" attitude and don't want to be like them or what? It was hard to study in France and then come to the US and have them tell you your food is overcooked.

[ChefRobin]

Up until I got laid off at the country club a few weeks ago........ If we were to serve a croissant or pastry that was more than a little golden, they were sent back. Is it a "we aren't french" attitude and don't want to be like them or what? It was hard to study in France and then come to the US and have them tell you your food is overcooked.

[MeatPie]

If they all fell inlove with cupcakes...u can teach them to love darker..

Cupcakes were always in America.
It's just that they were usually relegated to kids' parties (as they should be! *s*)
Then a few bakeries got a hold of them and made them hip and the usual food fad followed.

Same thing applies to croissants etc. You can try to "educate" the American palate but culture is what it is and if a culture rejects a certain style then so be it.

I kind o' like the fact that in America just because it's French doesn't mean it has to be that way. And to be honest, Australians don't like the 'dark' look or taste either. And when your bottom line speaks, thou shalt pay attention

[ChefRobin]

You are right. At home we can make what ever we want because we are serving ourselves, and if we want it darker or euro style we can. But in service to the customer, "the customer is (usually) always right. They pay my bills, so they are going to get what they want. Ah commercialism...

[MeatPie]

Ah commercialism...

Don't you just love the smell of dollars in the morning....

[trecilhop]

I accept: If they all fell inlove with cupcakes can teach them to love darker.

[Mikeb]

Pastries shouldn't be that dark unless they're glazed or caramelized with sugar on the outside. If you're cooking non-caramelized puff the colour of rosewood, it will taste burnt.

And BTW, when I was in France the pastries really weren't any darker than they are over here (unless you're counting supermarket pastries), and the baguettes were probably lighter in colour over there...