French Pastry Shop Classics
Colette Christian
Class Preview
0:58
- In-depth Instruction; over 270 mins
- On-demand video access anytime
- Bonus downloadable PDF resources
- Access to class Q&A
Introduction & Pastry Basics
28:33
Meet pastry chef Colette Christian and learn three building blocks of French pastry: vanilla pastry cream, crème Chantilly and chocolate ganache.
Making Pâte à Choux
31:05
Pâte à choux is a fundamental pastry dough for eclairs, cream puffs and gougères. It's the only dough we'll make on the stovetop.
Finishing the Pastries
21:15
Turn your pâte à choux shells into delicious confections with the additions of vanilla cream filling, crème Chantilly and chocolate ganache glaze.
Pâte Sucrée
31:52
Make a delicious pâte sucrée, an easy-to-make sweet tart dough. Colette demystifies the techniques of blind-baking and partial baking the tart shell.
Tarte aux Fruits
23:30
As you assemble and glaze your fresh fruit tart, you'll learn pastry shop secrets for perfect cutting, foolproof assembly and an easy, inexpensive recipe for nappage (glaze).
Tarte aux Poires
27:11
En route to your finished pear tart with almond cream, you'll see how Colette infuses flavor into poached pears and how to make frangipane, or almond custard.
Pâte Feuilletée
33:57
You'll never buy frozen puff pastry again after Colette shows you, step by step, how simple it is to make light and flaky laminated dough.
Palmiers, Tarte Tatin & Cheese Straws
43:37
Three different treats show the versatility of puff pastry: sugar-crusted palmiers, golden-brown cheese straws, and tarte Tatin, an apple dessert invented by mistake!
Gâteau St. Honoré
28:53
The pièce de résistance is the opulent Gâteau St. Honoré, a combination puff pastry/pâte à choux base edged with caramel-glazed cream puffs and filled with vanilla and chocolate pastry cream, with a party hat of spun sugar on top. Bon appétit!
Create decadent texture and tastes as you learn how to make French pastries, guided by expert pastry chef Colette Christian! Discover pâte à choux, the only pastry dough cooked on the stovetop, and learn to hand pipe it into perfect éclairs and cream puffs. Whip up luscious vanilla pastry cream, chocolate ganache, and Chantilly cream, and transform pâte sucrée into an incredible tarte aux fruits and a poached pear and almond cream tart. Plus, make phenomenally flaky puff pastry with step-by-step guidance from Colette, and turn it into exquisite palmiers, addictive cheese straws and a flavorful apple tarte tatin, complete with homemade caramel. Once you’ve mastered these elemental doughs and techniques, combine your new skills to create your grand finale: a Gâteau St. Honoré complete with spun sugar topping!
Colette Christian
Colette Christian began working in restaurants at age 14 and went on to graduate from the New England Culinary Institute. In 2004 she began teaching at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California, and now offers classes at the Art Institute of Hollywood, Sur La Table and the Great News Cooking School in San Diego. She has extensive training in baking and pastry and is a certified executive pastry chef as well as a certified executive chef through the American Culinary Federation.
Bonus materials available after purchase