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Quick bit of help needed

1K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  black dog 
#1 ·
Quick bit of help if you don't mind?
Going to my mums tomorrow and am serving her a Traditional Afternoon Tea. I'm serving sandwiches, scones and clotted cream with jam, and fancies.

I want to make as much of it as I can today, will it be ok to make the following and store them over night in a plastic lock/air tight container or will they go soft?

Eclairs - I won't fill or ice them until the last minute tomorrow
Summer berry tartlets - pastry cases in filled will fill with the lemon cream and fresh berries tomorrow
Unfilled scones

I would hate to make it all today and then it have gone horrid tomorrow morning.

Thanks so much. Also making macarons but I know I can make them today, they're always better when they've had a day or 2 to sit. Will make vanilla and strawberry millefeuilles first thing tomorrow as they're quick and I know I can't make them today.

Thank you thank you!

Goldi
 
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#2 ·
Scones if nothing in the dough that will go bad....yes.
If by tartlet (you Brits seem to have a problem with your English ;-) you mean a tiny one crust pie shell yes.
The eclairs IDK.....(may go spongy?) tho very quick to stir up and bake as well as cool then fill in a few hours....right?
Your mom is very fortunate to have won the daughter lotto.
:)

mimi
 
#3 ·
You can "waterproof" your tartlette shells by brushing in a little white or dark chocolate, letting it set, and then piping in your filling.  This seems to hold up for about 24 hrs with very few problems.  If using whole berries, you can go ahead and decorate the tarts a day before, if using cut berries--best do it as late as possible.

If your baking off your puff pastry tomorrow, you can also crisp up your choux paste  eclairs a  bit before filling them. 
 
#4 ·
Summer berry tartlets - pastry cases in filled will fill with the lemon cream and fresh berries tomorrow...
At 375F in the upper third of my oven I blind bake my shells for 15 minutes, remove the weights and brush (my nine inch shells) with one whole slightly beaten egg white (frothy) mixed with a bit of sugar. Seems to work well for me. Do a search on my username in this pastry forum for further information.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Thank you everyone! It took quite a while to make but I think it was worth it, mum seemed pleased anyway. It was made extra challenging because my husband was emptying the kitchen around me! We have builders starting today and the place had to be empty so it can be gutted. I'd go to pick up a pan only to find he'd moved it to another side of the house... still, new kitchen - exciting!

Here's a few pics:





 
#8 ·
Hello, and thank goodness, a fellow Escoffier fan.

Can I please come next time you prepare tea for your Mum. If your photos are anything to go by, you do not really need much help do you? I am positively salivating!!!

It's too late to reply BUT for future reference:

I usually make my eclairs, or any choux paste items the day before. It gives them a chance to dry a little in an air tight container. You can always pop them in the oven for a moment or two next day if they do become soft. But they don't want to be too dry either.

It is always best to fill eclairs at the last minute, but the icing does need time to set.

After cooking the tartlets blind, they should cool on a rack for 5 mins, then I brush on a little beaten egg white which cooks on the hot pastry and seals the shell. Or, you can sprinkle on some icing sugar to absorb any moisture from the filling, or a light glaze of the appropriately flavoured jam will do equally as well.

The scones, are no problem at all. Allow them to cool completely and put them in an air tight conatiner.

I keep little sachets of silica gel in my Tupperware boxes which helps draw away any moisture.

Your Mum is very fortunate indeed, and your hubby too!

Good luck with the new kitchen.

PS Not quite sure about flipflopgirls reference to our apparent difficulties with English. We are English after all, are we not?

Tartlet derives from the French Tartelette. A small tart. These small pastries date back to the Middle Ages when they were usually filled with meat.

Only much later did they start to be filled with fruits and creams etc

No offence intended, BUT are we now really going to have Americans teaching us how to speak our own language? I think not....
 
#10 · (Edited)
Thank you folks /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

Thanks Black Dog, but if I told you how long it took me to make all that I'd have to hang my head in shame. Clearing down and wiping up before every single component, well, it took ages!

I work for an American company and flipflopgirl's comment cracked me up. The difference in language sometimes can be hilarious (*cough* fannypack *cough*). flipflopgirl, I'll have to dm you the meaning for us if you're not sure - probably a bit too rude for an open forum!

As to the kitchen, well, it currently looks like this.





It's going to be a few weeks yet, but I'm sure it will be worth it. It's only day 5 but I'm already bored with M&S microwave meals!

Goldi
 
#12 ·
From what I can tell from the pix your kitchen *to be* will be gorgeous!

The teardown has revealed extremely nice "bone structure"!

Absolutely green with envy....

mimi

umm fannypack?

I do have one around here someplace.

A leftover from my underpacking travel habits (back in the day).

Have a hunch it has nothing to do with that at all lol.

/img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif
 
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