Pastry is one of those words that have been abused ad nauseam in our country. Like has happened with other concepts in the gastronomic field as a beach bar, menu of the day, tapas or tavern. So there is no better time than now, when they are becoming true efforts to dignify the concepts mentioned above, to do the same with croissants, pretzels, brioche or the irresistible chocolate Neapolitans, among many other buns that we are going to talk about today.
As the Swedish pastry chef Daniel Lindeberg In his new book, ‘Bollería’, there are pastries beyond the industrial one, which is what many people think of when they hear the word bun. On the other hand, if these people had been born in Sweden, things would be very different, since there, at least in the 80s, mothers and grandmothers used to bake buns at home quite often.
Home vs. Industrial
“Pastry! I’m lovin ‘it! If I had to choose just one thing to eat for the rest of my life, I would choose buns, buns and more buns”. How many of us feel identified with these words from the Swede who has more than two decades of experience in haute confectionery and several Michelin stars in his record.
Go ahead that in this plea for homemade pastries we do not intend to imply that it is something that can be abused. not at all, in fact we recommend its use occasionally. But it is always going to be better to get into flour at home and start kneading like crazy, using top quality ingredients, than going down to the supermarket to devour a sponge cake or some ultra-processed cookiessince they will include less healthy nutrients and, yes, they will be much more palatable (we will tend to eat them without control).
It is clear that a bun, whoever makes it, still a bun. But it’s always better to make it at home (like this Swedish semla above), where you control the ingredients you use, rather than succumb to the charms of its food industry-created counterpart. Put here the commercial name that you most want: Phoskitos, Bollycao, DooWap, Donettes,… do we need to continue?
One of the important points to take into account when comparing both options is the oil, since, unfortunately, we are very used to seeing palm or rapeseed oils in much of the pastries that we buy in supermarkets. Obviously, the explanation is in the price. But the interesting thing is that, when we cook buns at home, we use olive oil (or sunflower oil in the worst case).
And these oils, dear friends, especially olive oils, provide healthy fatswhich are very different from those of industrial products, which generally contribute to increasing levels of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol).
Broadly speaking, the main differences that we can find between homemade pastries and industrial pastries would be:
- Homemade pastries are a lot less caloric.
- There is a less fat in homemade pastries.
- The fat quality is better when we make the buns at home.
- Also lowers cholesterol content.
- And of course, no trans fats used Never.
‘Pastry’ by Daniel Lindeberg
If you are a lover of this type of cooking, you can’t miss this play in which its author begins by recounting how and when his vocation for confectionery arose, and then moves on to resolve the most common questions around basic recipes such as pastry cream, toffee sauce or something as simple as kneading by hand.
In this book, edited by Col and Col, the renowned baker teaches you, through a journey through the 50 recipes that have marked you the most, to prepare the basic doughs and the different elaborations that can be created from them. From Walloon dough to wheat or croissant dough, which once mastered will allow you to create from a brioche tartlet with raspberries and passion fruit even a puff pastry saffron brioche with pears and oatmeal crumbs or those famous cinnamon rolls that are so successful in Instagram stories.
In addition, for the most demanding readers, a quite useful glossary of terms is included whose purpose is guide the reader in each of the preparations and avoid getting distracted. For example, it helps you to discover what the membrane test consists of or to understand why it is advisable to freeze the dough, among many other things.
And since we don’t want to disembowel you more curiosities of this salival work, we say goodbye with one of the basic premises in the Lindeberg kitchen, which we know you will like: “Use a lot of coverage, that way it will be better. And if it has a double amount of something, even more exquisite”. So unleash your creativity and don’t let yourself do any of these 50 homemade pastry creations that we should all practice in our homes.
And who is Daniel Lindeberg
As we assume that this good man will have aroused some curiosity in you, we will tell you that he was born in the Swedish town of Nyköping and that he has more than 20 years dedicated to the world of confectionery and the pastry. After training at the cooking school in his town, he made his first steps in restaurants Oaxen Krog and Edsbacka Krog (both in Sollentuna), where she made desserts and cakes full time.
Later he would return to Stockholm to try his luck at NK Bageriet department store bakerywhere many other famous bakers and pastry chefs passed in the 90s. And a year later, we don’t really know what went through his head, but decided to head for Antarctica to continue showing his good hand with confectionery in the kitchen of a cruise ship.
Pastries: 9 (Signature cuisine)
It was a matter of time before Lindeberg returned to Sweden, this time to settle permanently. And the first thing he did was apply for a job at the Riddarbageriet bakeryby Johan Sorberg. And this is going to be a turning point in his career professional, since there he had the opportunity to enhance his creativity and skilfully develop the art of pastries.
After this experience, he opened with chef Björn Frantzén in 2008 the restaurant Frantzén/Lindeberg, awarded with two Michelin stars two years after its opening and positioned on the list of Top 50 Restaurants at number twelve. But Lindeberg had not yet taken the final step in his career. Despite the success of the restaurant, the Swede went back to square one and decided to open his own place in the fall of 2014: Lindeberg Bageri och Konditoria space in which to devote himself entirely to his true passion: buns.
Since then, this is where develop all your bolero potentialcreating and perfecting their recipes in a Nordic culture that, unlike ours, is intimately linked to the world of homemade pastries.
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