Vincent Dallet, a master pâtissier-chocolatier, is one of the top chocolate-makers in France and no slouch as a pastry-maker either. His shop/tea room is in the center of town and he has another in Reims.

I first met Mr. Dallet, at his pastry and chocolate school, behind the Epernay shop, where individuals can join in occasional afternoon classes in French. I’d come to bake—or rather watch Mr. Dallet bake—his version of the region’s famous pink biscuit, the biscuit rose or biscuit rose de Reims, known in English as champagne biscuits.

Akin to the ladyfinger, the champagne biscuit is a light biscuit with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top. It can be softened, if you like, by dipping it into champagne. Though often sold packaged as a dry and crumbly biscuit, Vincent Dallet prefers them tender and moist, as he explains in his personal recipe which he was kind enough to share below.

Mr. Dallet’s apprenticeship and training in pastry- and chocolate-making came during his years of journey as a compagnon du Tour de France, an organization through which young craftsmen and artisans, from woodworkers to chocolate-makers, travel around France to learn from masters in their field. After working with several 3-star Michelin chefs, Mr. Dallet opened his shop in Epernay in 1991, where he now continues the tradition by training young compagnons in his business. He opened a second shop in Reims in 2006. That same year he was named Best Pastry Maker in France by Pudlowski, a major French gastronomy guide.

Vincent Dallet in Epernay. 26 rue du Général Leclerc. Tel. 03 26 55 31 08. Open Tues.-Sun. 7:30am-7:45pm. Closed two weeks Jan./Feb. and two weeks July/Aug.

Vincent Dallet’s Ecole du Chocolate is just behind the shop. The current schedule of afternoon classes can be found here.

Vincent Dallet in Reims. 27 cours Jean-Baptiste Langlet. Tel. 03 26 35 40 53. Open Mon. 2-7:30pm and Tues.-Sat. 10am-7:30pm.

© 2012, Gary Lee Kraut

Here is Vincent Dallet’s recipe for biscuits roses, first in English (GLK’s translation) then in the original French.

Biscuits Roses, a.k.a. Champagne Biscuits, Vincent Dallet’s way

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs
• 250 grams (1.1 cups) of powdered sugar
• 5 drops of red food coloring or carmine. [The scarlet coloring carmine that was originally used to color the biscuits pink came from cochineal insects, but other deep red food colorings will do.]
• 240 grams (1.9 cups) of flour
• 6 grams (.21 ounces or just under 1 packet) of yeast

Directions:
• Place a stainless steel mixing bowl on a saucepan of simmering water.
• Beat together the eggs and sugar and food coloring.
• Warm the mixture gradually until it becomes a thick mousse.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the bain-marie (boiler) and continue whipping until cool.
• Slowly pour the flour (previously sieved) along with the yeast and delicately mix it all together with a rubber spatula.
• Preheat the oven at 180°C (350°F).

• Butter the biscuit mold.
• Fill it with the mixture to the top edge of the mold.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar using a sifter.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the molds.
• Remove from the mold while hot.
• Allow to cool. And enjoy without moderation.

Tip:
• For me a biscuit rose should be tender and moist, not dry. That’s the big difference with industrially produced biscuits roses.
• However, if you prefer them dry, you can simply leave them in the over for an extra 15 minutes at a temperature of 80°C (175°).

Biscuit rose à ma façon (Vincent Dallet)

Recette de base :
• 5 œufs entiers
• 250 g de sucre semoule
• 5 gouttes de carmin (colorant alimentaire rouge)
• 240 g de farine
• 6 gr de levure

Procédé de fabrication :
• Sur une casserole d’eau frémissante, posez un cul de poule en inox.
• Travaillez au fouet les œufs et le sucre et le carmin.
• Faites tiédir doucement ce mélange, afin d’obtenir une mousse épaisse.
• Retirez du bain marie, et fouettez jusqu’à complet refroidissement.
• Versez doucement la farine préalablement tamisée avec la levure et mélangez le tout délicatement à la Maryse.
• Préchauffez votre four à 180°.
• Beurrez les moules à biscuits roses.
• Garnissez les de pâte à biscuits rose à ras du moule.
• Saupoudrez les de sucre glace à l’aide d’une passoire étamine.
• Cuisez les entre 25 à 30 minutes suivant la grosseur de vos moules.
• Démoulez les à chaud.
• Laissez refroidir et dégustez sans modération….

Astuce :
• Pour moi un biscuit rose doit être fondant et moelleux et non sec.C’est la grande différence avec les biscuits roses fabriqués de façon industriel.
• Mais si vous les voulez sec, il suffit de les laisser 15 minutes de plus au four, mais à une température de 80°.

The post Vincent Dallet, Master Pastissier-Chocolatier in Epernay, and His Recipe for Champagne Biscuits (Biscuits Roses) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

The video below shows various moments during that class under the instruction of the Atelier’s executive chef Antony Courteille and sous-chef Laurent Mosset.

The sound is a bit muddled at times and the chefs may not be comprehensible to some viewers since the class was given in French, nevertheless the instruction was indeed clear and concise, and the 2 hours event (instruction + lunch) flowed smoothly and convivially from tomato to onion to sea bream to chocolate mousse to decorating the plate… and then from an aperitif to the enjoyment of our own cuisine.

Taking part in the cooking class along with me and glimpsed in this video are Fabien Nègre, who organized of the event, and the following Paris-based food bloggers: Wai Ming Lung, Fabrice Ivara, Christophe Wakim, Vanessa Besnard,Salma Essafi, Barbra Austin, Géraldine Ranouil, Isabelle Chane Pane, and Phyllis Flick. The video was filmed and directed by Thibault Perois.

In view of the limited cooking skill of some in the group, beginning with myself, the instruction of this specific lunchtime class was kept rather basic. Classes for more experienced or trained cooks as well as specially tailored classes are also possible, including in English.

At the lunchtime cooking class and at a previous cocktail event I attended, I found the staff of the Atelier to be gracious, friendly, and highly knowledgeable and the atmosphere unpretentious and relaxed, leading me to believe that Atelier Guy Martin is well worth considering for those looking for a cooking class in Paris at any level. Classes are reasonably priced at about 80 euros per two-hour course. There are shorter and longer courses as well, along with classes for children.

Atelier Guy Martin, 35 rue Miromesnil, 8th arrondissement, Paris. Metro Miromesnil. Tel. 01 42 66 33 33. See the schedule of upcoming classes. Tailor-made classes and events are also possible.

© 2010, Gary Lee Kraut

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No, those aren’t crepes in the picture—they’re tourtisseaux, which are traditional Mardi Gras beignets or fritters and so also in the spirit of the season. Tourtisseaux come in different shapes: square, rectangular, diamond-shaped. They’re basically cheap, greasy donuts. They go by other names in other regions, but Vendée and Poitou, the area just south of the westernmost portion of the Loire Valley, call them tourtisseaux.

I took that picture yesterday while in a village in Vendée, a few miles from the coast. Tourtisseaux may have been replaced by crepes in the bakery today, but more likely the bakery has both crepes and tourtisseaux. I’m not sure that the crepes are big sellers though since everyone in Vendée knows how to make a crepe at home but not everyone knows how to make a tourtisseau. Actually, they probably do know (it’s basically the same recipe just fried) but would rather flip a crepe at home than fritter a tourtisseau.

I don’t know what’s in that bakery today because I’m now back in Paris, a town that isn’t big on tourtisseaux and their brother beignets. Parisians prefer more sophisticated sweets. Anyway, there’s better mark-up for the more convivial galette des Rois, the falky pastry tart with a frangipane filling (and a little token or effigy inside), that’s traditionally associated with Epiphany (Jan. 6).

The “growing” season for the galette des Rois traditionally ends by mid-January, but with global warming and the Church’s absence of influence in the pastry industry of late, the season now extends throughout the month of January.

When I returned from Vendée last night I found an envelope in front of my door, which could only mean that my neighbor was planning a party. He’s very nice about warning us neighbors about his parties so that in case we feel like going to sleep before 3am we have time to reserve a room at a hotel for the night. He even includes his phone number just in case we feel like giving it to the police so that they don’t have to drive over.

This time his letter announced “une petite soirée pour fêter la chandeleur,” a little party to celebrate crepe day. I figured that had to be a euphemism for something because I couldn’t understand why someone would have a petite soirée to fete Groundhog Day on a Tuesday and if so why we would need to be warned about it. But I’ve been home all evening and I’ve barely heard a sound, so I imagine that they actually did spend the evening next door flipping crepes.

My friend Didier, whom I was visiting in Vendée, made crepes for his family today. Years ago I asked him for his recipe because before then I was the only person in France who’d never made them. Here it is in French and in English.

Didier’s crêpe recipe (in French and in English)

Mélanger :
½ kilo de farine
4 oeufs
1 petite boite de lait concentré non sucré
1 litre de lait frais
Extrait de concentré de vanille
Un peu de huile (2 cuillères à soupe)
1 verre de bière

Laisser reposer 2-3 heures en dehors du frigo. Il est ensuite possible de mettre le mélange au frigo.

Faire les crêpes.

Mix together:
1 lb of flour
4 eggs
1 small can of (unsweetened) evaporated milk
1 quart of whole milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 cup of beer

Allow to rest for 2-3 hours out of the refrigerator. Mixture may then be placed in the refrigerator or used immediately.

Make crepes. (Circumflex optional if you don’t have one handy)

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The editor or guest writers or contributors to France Revisited have personally tested, and in many cases retested, the establishments described here.

The personal nature of these choices will be clear to you as you read them. Along with the table, the dishes, the wine, the service, the atmosphere and the decor, what leads us to appreciate a place or dish or drink is the adventure and the experience of eating and drinking in various setting with various people, and sometimes alone.

Wherever we eat, it’s the people at your table who make or break the meal. Good company, even if that company is yourself, will save a bad meal, but a good meal rarely makes up for bad company—though good wine helps. That in mind, you will encounter here a smorgasbord of food-friendly co-testers in these reviews, from faithful sidekicks to notable professionals to curious travelers.

Some of these restaurant writings may even read as interviews as much as reviews—call them restaurant intereviews.

There are no “must eats” on the Paris restaurant scene or in the various regions of France, only wise, personal selections. The wise hungry traveler knows that there’s a time to spend more for quality and a time to spend less for character, a time when you want to luxuriate in the view from the high road and a time to sit down to hearty tradition, a time to go regional and a time to go foreign, a time for a brasserie and a time for a café, a time to make reservations and a time to carry bread and cheese to the park.

If you want what are generally considered the elite of French restaurants you need only head for the stars in the Michelin Red Guides, a major influence of the reputation of restaurants of haute cuisine in France. We love haute cuisine with the right company, on the right expense account. We highly recommend the experience and the luxuriance. However, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you choose a restaurant by its ratings or polling results, whatever guide you may be consulting.

More than any specific restaurants, it’s variety that we recommend. It isn’t where you should be eating in Paris that counts, but where you will find your personal blend of enjoyment and gratification, perhaps with a touch of adventure and discovery.

A sophisticated palate is a nice arm to have in your traveling arsenal, but eating out in France shouldn’t be approached as an intellectual exercise or some form of X-Game in which only the strongest stomachs survive. Instead, this adventure calls for exploring the rich variety of eating experiences available in France (and this is particularly true of Paris): outdoor markets, cafés, bistros, brasseries, cuisine bourgeoise (serving polished classics), regional cuisine, gastronomic restaurants, foreign restaurants, wine bistros, and wine bars. You’ll find that variety—and variety within that variety—among these reviews and intereviews.

We am a hopeful, optimistic reviewers. We hope that every restaurant we test will excite us in some way, that we can recommend it as a perfect place for romance, family, friends, celebration, negotiation, onion soup, duck, fish, apple pie, etc. So we enter each restaurant wanting to believe the promise that led us there in the first place—its situation, its menu, its décor, its name, an advertisement, my own previous meals there, suggestions of friends, acquaintances, strangers, chefs, restaurateurs or fellow restaurant writers. By the time we leave we want to feel that we’ve discovered (or rediscovered) something, even if what we’ve just (re)discovered has been known and written about for years.

Of course, that isn’t always the case, so don’t expect rave comments about every dish and drink mentioned here.

Add to these reviews and writings your companion(s) for the meals, your taste and mood at the time, and the hazards of dining out, and you come away with your own restaurant adventures in France.

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