The little chefs of ‘Le Meilleur Pâtissier’ have indeed discovered the secret cakes of Mercotte, the star of the program broadcast on M6. Charming, smiling, this pastry expert admits “doing nothing without cheerfulness”. Discover in this article his 5 tips for being a pastry chef.
To start baking, remember to read the recipe carefully.
You probably remember what your teachers told you before an exam. Before starting, you must first take the time to read the instructions before starting. Well, to make good cakes, the principle is the same.
“Reading the recipe to the end carefully allows you to understand it, to better visualize it and to organize yourself. Start by preparing all the ingredients and weighing them in advance. For example, to make a sponge cake, always melt the butter at the beginning so that it has time to cool and not act on the baking powder before going into the oven…” This way, the dough will develop much better.
Cakes: the list of utensils
What is essential for making cakes. “Pastry robots are better for saving time. Especially since today most women work. But you can do without it and of course bake by hand. The basic essentials are the whisk, the spatula, the rolling pin… But if there is one utensil that you absolutely must have for successful baking, it is a scale that weighs to the nearest 10th of a gram. It does not cost very much and we are sure by doing the right weighings that the recipe will work!” Specifies Mercotte.
No good cakes without good ingredients, it’s now clear! According to Mecrotte: “You should never skimp on the quality of a product! For example, if you have flour that has spent two months at the bottom of a cupboard, you shouldn’t be surprised if your brioche does not rise! ”explains the expert, before adding:
“For the chocolate, it is better to use a couverture chocolate (you can find more and more of them in stores and on websites specializing in pastry). We are going to work it much better than a chocolate in a lambda tablet. Generally, labels should be read. If the list of ingredients begins with “sugar”, it’s a bad sign! Better to do less and better!”
Mercotte’s secret to successfully cooking all your desserts
Indeed, so as not to make any mistakes when baking the cakes, Mercotte has only one piece of advice… You must test the oven before you start. “All cooking times are given for information only. In reality, they depend a lot on the ovens. It’s up to you to test yours and take notes. To bake pie dough, for example, recipes often indicate 180°C. But for them to be crispy, it is better to cook the shortbread dough longer at 165°C.” she explains.
