Chapter 135 Perfect Palmier
Alex watched the commotion excitedly while Zhang Liang followed him into the kitchen. He said, “Is it troublesome to make the palmier? Why don’t I help you?”
“Sure.”
“The most troublesome thing about this is the forming the crispy layers, so the choice of flour is especially important. You must use T65 high-grade flour. Only then can the dough be kneaded and stretched again and again without breaking.”
Xu Le took the flour, butter, sugar, milk, salt, and water and mixed them together. First, he wore gloves and stirred them evenly. Then, he added the liquid ingredients into the dough portions by portions until it was soft. Zhang Liang said, “It doesn’t look too difficult.”
Xu Le shook his head with a sincere smile. “I don’t recommend anyone to try making this dessert at home. Some desserts still need to be made by professional bakers.”
“It’s not like you to say such depressing things at the start.”
“To make the palmiers, you need a professional Pastry Machine and some other large equipment. If you make it by hand, you can only control the thickness of the dough based on personal experience. If there’s even the slightest deviation, it will fail.”
The dough was kneaded until the surface was smooth. He used a knife to form a cross in the middle and then put it in the refrigerator to cool down. When the time was up, he took it out and rolled it flat.
Xu Le kneaded the dough and held the rolling pin. He knew that making butterfly crisp by hand was a huge challenge. He rolled the dough into a rectangular shape and put a large piece of butter in it. He folded the sides and formed the seams.
Then, there was an endless cycle of folding, rolling the dough flat, brushing the flour on the surface, putting it into the refrigerator, and continuing to fold… He repeated the cycle three times.
The principle of making the palmier was to fold it repeatedly so that the skin would be covered with butter, and then the layers would form.
He cut open from the middle and sprinkled sugar cubes on it.
“The sugar cubes are made of white sugar, cane sugar, and yellow sugar. Then, fold the two sides of the dough into a heart shape, cut it to 1.5 cm thickness, and bake it at 180 degrees. Once the color darkens, flip it over until both sides are brown.”
As Xu Le spoke, he cut off a piece and laid the oven tray flat with a serious expression. Seeing that the steps did not seem difficult, Zhang Liang rolled up his sleeves and came over to help. He cut off a piece and could not help but say, “It’s just that the crispy part is a little troublesome. The rest seems easy.”
Xu Le smiled and frowned while saying. “Actually, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to succeed in making this pastry.”
After saying that, he looked at Zhang Liang’s dough and said, “If you slice it too thick, it will break easily when it comes out later.”
“It can’t be? It looks almost the same!”
Zhang Liang refused to believe this. It was impossible to see any discrepancies with the naked eye. He took out a baking ruler and carefully measured it. Xu Le’s standard was 1.5 cm while his was only two millimeters different.
“1.7 cm, just a little bit. The difference shouldn’t be too big, right?”
“Hmm?”
Xu Le shrugged his shoulders. His meaning was obvious.
The dough skin in the oven gradually expanded and became fluffy. The surface was baked until it was golden and sizzling.
Ding!
Xu Le quickly took out the tray with his gloves. The palmiers had expanded too much. The left sides had become much bigger than the right side, while Zhang Liang’s one at the bottom was broken into pieces. He could not even lift it up.
Zhang Liang’s face turned red as he held his chest and said, “My heart feels like it’s broken like the palmiers… Why is it so difficult?”
Xu Le had failed in front of the camera for the first time. He stared at the palmier and then looked at the dough. He had an idea and said, “I missed out a step just now.” It was not written on the recipe that oven arranged by the program team was different from the top baking oven in the system. That was why he had failed. However, it was not a big deal. He just had to try again. “Do you want to try the taste?”
“It’s okay, I’ll just eat mine.”
Zhang Liang put a piece into his mouth and said with a puzzled expression, “It tastes nothing special…”.
Xu Le took a bite of what he had made. It was only not perfect on the outside. The texture, the sweetness, and the depth of taste was so crispy that the moment he took a bite, it produced a clear crisp sound between his teeth.
Even Zhang Liang, who was standing beside him, could hear the crispness. “They’re all made from the same ingredients and were only just two millimeters different in thickness. Is there really such a great difference between them?”
As he spoke, he took a bite.
The palmier baked by Xu Le tasted exactly the same as the desserts sold in the Michelin store.
Zhang Liang raised his eyebrows and gave him a thumbs up. “That’s awesome. This is exactly the same as the one I ate at the Michelin store previously. It’s only two millimeters different in thickness. Not only did mine break, it’s not even as crispy as yours.”
Xu Le collected himself and continued to slice the dough. He wanted to try again.
“Do you have any good way to control the shape? With the mold?”
As soon as the suggestion was out of his mouth, Zhang Liang felt that it was ridiculous. He rejected his own idea and said, “Once it expands in the oven and is restricted by the mold, it might crack. No, no, no. Do you have any ideas on improving it?”
“Mmm.”
Xu Le said calmly, “Use your right hand to roll it into a ball. When you first laid it on the oven tray, you had to ensure that both sides have an even shape.”
“…Haha.”
Zhang Liang laughed speechlessly. “I thought there would be a grand plan.”
After waiting for another 10 minutes, the palmier was out of the oven. The palmier that had been painstakingly improved was bigger than the face. The two sides were equal in size and beautiful-looking. With a gentle twist, the crispy layers scattered and fell.
“Wow, we succeeded!”
The palmier Xu Le made was even more perfect than he had imagined. He said happily, “Now we can mass produce it.”
Zhang Liang was in charge of adjusting the shape of the large pile of sliced dough. He had to ensure that the sides were symmetrical and perfect before placing them all into the oven.
In less than half an hour, pieces of perfect palmiers were ready.
Layer after layer of crispy skin blossomed and scattered in the mouth. It tasted crispy and sweet.
When he took it out, Bai Xiaoming’s argument with the customer had come to an end. The two of them were sitting at the table with ugly expressions.
Zhou Huangya imitated Xu Le’s actions that day and served a few cups of Mango Sago Dew. She smiled and said, “Everyone, calm down first. It’s not a big deal. Sit down and talk calmly.”
Unfortunately, the customer did not accept her kind intentions. After tasting a mouthful, he spat and mumbled something. From his expression, it did not seem like he was saying anything good.
The interpreter had no choice but to act as the mediator and said, “Our little friend here made desserts. Please try it first. It’s true that we aren’t open for business today, and we didn’t prepare any ingredients…”
The manager was so angry that he complained, “You were the one who broke the rules in the first place. What right do you have to come here and cause trouble? Do you really think you are God…”
Before he could finish speaking, Xu Le interrupted him. He picked up a piece of golden brown palmier that had just been baked and handed it over. “Manager, try this.”
When the troublemaker heard that it was made by Xu Le, he was instantly appeased and took a piece to taste.
Perhaps it was because the sweet food itself had the ability to soothe anger, after the crispy crumbs melted in his mouth, the man beamed with joy.