Good morning, welcome to our series sharing Food Holidays: December 9th, 2021. Did you know today is National Pastry Day? I have a question for you. What do you think Charlie should create in his Homeschool Cooking Class to celebrate National Pastry Day and why?
National Pastry Day
II wanted to let you know that I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a Pastry I didn’t like. Which is why I’m thrilled to celebrate National Pastry Day on December 9th. Did you know Pastries date back to ancient times: when ancient Egyptians made Pastry Dough out of Grain Meal and Flour and sweetened the Pastry Dough with Honey, and ancient Greeks and Romans made sweets out of paper-thin Pastry Dough. This is the predecessor to what we now know as Phyllo Dough. Pastries traveled to Europe in Medieval Times, where they added Fats like Butter and Shortening to make a sturdier Dough. You’ll find Pastries in pretty much every Culture you can think of, but Pastries became incredibly refined in French kitchens during the 18th Century. There’s a reason we think of France as the Pastry capital of the world. Today there are countless types of Pastries, and we’ll take one of each, please.
NATIONAL PASTRY DAY ACTIVITIES
- No matter whether you live in a tiny, remote Town or a huge City, we guarantee that you won’t have to travel too far to find a Bakery. Walk in, and don’t think about the word “calories,”, Then purchase as many Pastries as your heart desires. Then you would be supporting a local business.
- Eat with your eyes and binge-watch Pastry Baking Shows. There’s the recent mega-hit “The Great British Bake Off,” or the singular-pastry-focused “Cupcake Wars.” If those aren’t enough, try “Top Chef: Just Desserts,” or old YouTube footage of Julia Child.
- We know it can be tempting to take a Pastry shortcut and buy premade Dough from the freezer aisle at the Grocery Store. But in honor of National Pastry Day, why not try your hand at preparing Pastry Dough entirely from scratch? It might not be easy, but it will be extremely rewarding. You’ll get to channel your inner child and sneak bites of the unbaked Pastry Dough. Set aside an afternoon, throw an apron on, and get to kneading. M sure you have plenty of Butter on hand.
MOUTHWATERING DESSERTS THAT WILL HAVE YOU DROOLING
- BomboloniIt might sound like “bomb baloney,” but similarities end there. This Vanilla Cream-Filled, Sugar dusted delicacy is closer to a Donut.
- Toasted-Marshmallow Butterscotch Pie which isn’t your ready-in-a-jiffy dessert. Decked out with Chocolate, Cream, Brown Sugar, and a WHOLE lot more, this dessert will have your jaw dropping.
- Jam-Filled Cronut or Croissant? Donut? We don’t even care. I don’t know about you but I will go Nuts for Cronuts any day of the week.
- Nutella Palmiers Peanut butter might be more popular, but there’s no convincing us that Nutella’s not the best spread out there. Combine Nutella’s with Pastry? Heaven.
- Brookies. Hold up, Croissants — there’s another hybrid dessert on the block. After trying these gems, there was only one question: why didn’t someone think of this sooner?
- Caramel-Filled Chocolate Munchkins. In case the Bombolonis were a bit Vanilla for you, we’ve got something with even MORE decadence. Meet this majesty — they’ve got enough Sugar to give an Elephant a rush, but who’s checking labels?
- Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. You’re probably more familiar with this Cupcake’s cousin, the Snickerdoodle Cookie, but it’s time to get to know the real star of the family. Snickerdoodle Cupcakes.
WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL PASTRY DAY
- National Pastry Day gives you an excuse to indulge. Carbs, Fat, and Sugar: they’re three things we love, but aren’t the healthiest foods to put in your body. But hey, if there’s only one Holiday of the year where we get to celebrate all Pastry, bring on the Donuts and Croissants or Eclairs.
- Pastry Dough celebrates skill. In the Culinary world, becoming a Pastry Chef is no cake walk. It takes a ridiculous amount of professional training. Baking is, after all, more of a Science than cooking. There’s a lot of Chemistry involved! It’s easy to screw up Pastry if you don’t get the measurements or temperatures correct. The job also requires a lot of creativity to take the different kinds of Pastry Dough and turn them into a variety of Desserts. Pastry Chefs don’t often get as much acclaim as regular Chefs. We’re glad we can take this holiday to applaud Chefs.
- Did you know Pastry Dough has a savory side. When we say the word “Pastry,” we imagine your mind jumps to Dough-based Sweets. But there are tons of savory Pastries too. Including Quiches, Biscuits, or Popovers. That does mean you can celebrate this Holiday by having a Pastry for your main course and a Pastry for dessert.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
