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Merveilleux


teagal

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In the April issue of the Oprah magazine Gayle King mentions getting some merveilleux, a pastry she had never heard of before. Neither had I, so Bing to the rescue I had hoped, but all I really found out was its a meringue and whipped cream concoction. Has anyone heard of this? Any links for recipes? Is it as wonderful tasting as it sounds?

Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality. Clifton Fadiman

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i saw a place in paris in october that specialized in these. was so stuffed from a chocolate tour that i failed to investigate further. have heard that there are places here in los angeles doing them now. here's some more info:http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/aux-merveilleux-de-fred/

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Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

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Here's a recipe in French. (If you need help with translation, just give a shout-out, there are several here who can help!)

 

http://allrecipes.fr/recette/10884/merveilleux-individuel.aspx

 

The link came from this PRI piece:

 

http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-12-04/got-sweet-tooth-belgian-pastry-chef-brings-merveilleux-new-york

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They've been popping up all over France for a while now- I just saw a Merveilleux shop in Lille this weekend.  They're pretty basic, just meringue and buttercream covered with chocolate shavings.  I don't really understand why people go crazy for them.  You see lines snaking out the door.

 

It just seems odd that in a place with the best pastry in the world you'd queue up for meringue and buttercream.

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Here's a recipe in French. (If you need help with translation, just give a shout-out, there are several here who can help!)

Oh yes, please can somebody do a translation, it would be greatly appreciated. John.

Cape Town - At the foot of a flat topped mountain with a tablecloth covering it.

Some time ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.

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Thanks all. Sounds like a dessert for Mother's Day to me. Seems like, in a basic sense, a pavlova without the fruit and covered with shavings/crumbs to me. Am I right? Since I'm not a fluent French reader, can someone tell me if it is a buttercream or just whipped cream layered with the meringue?

Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality. Clifton Fadiman

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Thanks all. Sounds like a dessert for Mother's Day to me. Seems like, in a basic sense, a pavlova without the fruit and covered with shavings/crumbs to me. Am I right? Since I'm not a fluent French reader, can someone tell me if it is a buttercream or just whipped cream layered with the meringue?

The two recipes linked here are one of each, one with buttercream and one with whipped cream. If you copy the URL, paste it in google and hit "search", it will list the page in the search results with an option to "translate this page". I've dealt with enough recipes in French that I can get by now but using the google translate option, while not perfect, makes the job much easier.

 

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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French is not my first language and I do struggle with correct translations. Google will translate but it's not perfect, as Tri2Cook says. Here's what I get running it through Google Translate:

 

·        1 day 4 hours

 

Ingredients

·        5 eggs, separated

·        1 pinch of salt

·        400 g of powdered sugar, divided

·        Butter 200 g

·        3 cups water  ?????  (originally 3 cl d'eau)

·        3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

·        Chocolate shavings and icing sugar for decoration

 

Method of preparation

Preparation: 1 day>  Cooking time: 4 hours>  Ready in: 1 day 4 hours 

Preparation of the meringue:

1.     Preheat oven to 130 ° C (thermostat 4/5). Break 4 eggs, separate the yolks from the whites.Keep the yellow in the refrigerator for the next day. Add 1 pinch of salt to the whites and beat until stiff.

2.     When the whites are firm, add continuing to mix 250 g caster sugar 5 times. The mixture becomes syrupy (consistency marshmallow cream).

3.     On a plate, put parchment paper, then take a small circular mold. Put the meringue into the molds and make several circles (with the amount obtained, it is possible to make 12 pieces). I used a mold of 7 cm diameter 3.5 cm high and I put 1 to 1.5 cm of foam.

4.     Put together in the oven for 3:30 to 3:45. Once cooked, let set in the oven overnight.

The next day, prepare the buttercream chocolate.

5.     Collect yellow and add a fifth yellow. Mix and set aside. Remove the butter from the fridge 2 hours before. When it is softened, cut into pieces and make an ointment with a spoon.

6.     Put in a pan of water and 150 g of sugar to prepare the sugar syrup. Heat quickly aspect changes. Prepare a bowl of cold water next to the pot.

7.     Dip your fingers in cold water and then quickly cooked in sugar. Immediately return fingers in cold water and wait for the syrup to cool. The consistency of sugar between his fingers indicate doneness, here a small stream 105 ° C.

8.     We then cut cooking pan is quenched in cold water to cut the temperature rise. Then poured sugar in mixing the yolks. Beat slowly and accelerate to get a ribbon. Stir several times the butter and continue mixing. Then add chocolate powder several times.

9.     Take a meringue, top coat with butter cream, place a second meringue. Napper and the contour of the above cream. Sprinkle chocolate chips and sugar. Do the same for the rest of the meringues. Refrigerate several hours for the butter cream freezes. Good tasting.

 

 

I do think that the translation of 3 cl to 3 cups of water is wrong. I think it's more likely that it should be 3 cl or 3 centiliters which is 30 ml or close to 2 Tbsp. Can anyone else comment on this? 

 

Also, as jmachaughtan says, they are basically just meringue and French buttercream, so you can always search for techniques for making these individual items as well. 

 

For example, here is a nice little post on how to make French buttercream - I liked it because it shows something going wrong and how to correct it.  

 

http://www.joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/buttercream/french-buttercream/

Edited by FauxPas (log)
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FauxPas, thanks for that and the further link to the French buttercream. And yes, 3 cl is 30 ml which is 2 metric tablespoons. I will try and give it a go next week! John.

Cape Town - At the foot of a flat topped mountain with a tablecloth covering it.

Some time ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.

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If anybody follows the method for the French buttercream in the joepastry.com link above, it has an error in it. It mentions, when making the sugar syrup:

"While the mixer is going, prepare your sugar syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring them up to 248 degrees Fahrenheit."

I think the temperature should be 238 degrees F, which is the softball stage (114 C). John.

Cape Town - At the foot of a flat topped mountain with a tablecloth covering it.

Some time ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.

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If anybody follows the method for the French buttercream in the joepastry.com link above, it has an error in it. It mentions, when making the sugar syrup:

"While the mixer is going, prepare your sugar syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring them up to 248 degrees Fahrenheit."

I think the temperature should be 238 degrees F, which is the softball stage (114 C). John.

 

Are you sure?  248°F (120°C) sounds right to me.  You're essentially making a pâte à bombe, so you'd want the sugar to cook to 118-121°C, like for an Italian meringue.

 

I'd also recommend making an Italian meringue and folding it into the finished buttercream.  It lightens it up.

Edited by jmacnaughtan (log)
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French is not my first language and I do struggle with correct translations. Google will translate but it's not perfect, as Tri2Cook says. Here's what I get running it through Google Translate:

 

 

I do think that the translation of 3 cl to 3 cups of water is wrong. I think it's more likely that it should be 3 cl or 3 centiliters which is 30 ml or close to 2 Tbsp. Can anyone else comment on this? 

 

Also, as jmachaughtan says, they are basically just meringue and French buttercream, so you can always search for techniques for making these individual items as well. 

 

For example, here is a nice little post on how to make French buttercream - I liked it because it shows something going wrong and how to correct it.  

 

http://www.joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/buttercream/french-buttercream/

 

For the record: 

 

3cl = 30ml = 30g of water (it's easier to weigh small amounts like that), but for this application you're going to boil off most of the water anyway, so accuracy isn't very important.

 

Sucre en poudre is not powdered or icing sugar.  Depending on your country, it's either caster or superfine sugar.  

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Are you sure? 248°F (120°C) sounds right to me. You're essentially making a pâte à bombe, so you'd want the sugar to cook to 118-121°C, like for an Italian meringue.

I'd also recommend making an Italian meringue and folding it into the finished buttercream. It lightens it up.

No, I am not sure and maybe I should have said that it "appears" to have an error in it. There are two reasons I say this. The first is that a recipe I have for French buttercream, which I have made a number of times, says to bring the sugar syrup to 115C and immediately cool the pan to prevent the temperature rising. Secondly, I looked at the photograph with the thermometer in it reading 239.8F and the caption says "Oops, a little too hot".

So I am not sure - maybe a bit confused and trying to ascertain a correct temperature. I think what I will do next week is experiment and make two batches - one at 114C and one at 120C - and see the difference in the results. John

Edited by JohnT (log)

Cape Town - At the foot of a flat topped mountain with a tablecloth covering it.

Some time ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.

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Can somebody who has actually made or eaten a Merveilleux please assist: is the meringue dry throughout or is it the type that is a bit "chewy" in the centre? I have never eaten a Merveilleux (or seen one other than in a photograph), so have no idea. I will be doing the meringues tonight and would like to ensure that they turn out correctly.

On another point, referred to in posts above, I wrote to "Joe Pastry" and received a reply that the temperature of 248F was a typo and they have rectified the error to read 238F on the web page. John.

Edited by JohnT (log)

Cape Town - At the foot of a flat topped mountain with a tablecloth covering it.

Some time ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.

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