Welcome to our series featuring Food Holidays: December 9th, 2022. Did you know today is National Pastry Day? If you were going to get a Pastry what kind would you choose and why? For me I think I will have a Glazed Donut. That counts doesn’t it?
National Pastry Day
I don’t know about you, but I know there are people who’ve never met a Pastry they didn’t like. That’s why we’re thrilled to celebrate National Pastry Day. Pastries date back to ancient times: the ancient Egyptians made Pastry Dough out of Grain Meal and Flour and sweetened the Dough with Honey.
The ancient Greeks and Romans made sweets out of paper-thin Pastry 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.
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 out there. Why don’t you take one of each.
NATIONAL PASTRY DAY ACTIVITIES
- No matter whether you live in a tiny, remote town or a huge city, we pretty much guarantee that you won’t have to travel too far to find a Bakery. Walk in, and don’t think about the word “calories,.” Purchase as many Pastries as your heart desires. Remember your doing a good deed because your supporting a local business.
- Eat with your eyes and binge-watch a bunch of 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 to satiate you, try “Ace of Cakes,” or one of our personal favorites: old YouTube footage of Julia Child.
- We know it can be tempting to take a Pastry shortcut and purchase premade Dough from the freezer aisle at the grocery store. In honor of National Pastry Day, why not try your hand at making Pastry dough entirely from scratch? It might not be easy, but it will be extremely rewarding. Plus you’ll get to channel your inner child and sneak bites of the unbaked dough. Set aside an afternoon, throw an apron on, and get to kneading. Just make sure you have plenty of butter on hand.
- We know it can be tempting to take a Pastry shortcut and purchase premade Dough from the freezer aisle at the grocery store. In honor of National Pastry Day, why not try your hand at making Pastry Dough from scratch? It might not be easy, but it will be rewarding. You’ll get to channel your inner child and sneak bites of the Dough.
DESSERTS
- Bomboloni might sound like “bomb Baloney,” but the similarities end there. Vanilla Cream-filled, Sugar dusted delicacy is closer to a Donut.
- Toasted-Marshmallow Butterscotch Pie isn’t your ready-in-a-Jiffy dessert. Decked out with Chocolate, Cream, Brown Sugar, and a WHOLE lot more, this dessert will have jaws dropping.
- Jam-Filled Cronut Croissant? Donut? What ever it might be ee’ll go nuts for Cronuts any day of the week.
- Palmiers Peanut butter might be more popular, but there’s no convincing us that Nutella’s not the best spread out there.
- In case the Bombolonis were a bit Vanilla for you, we’ve got something with even MORE decadence. Meet this majesty — they’ve probably got enough Sugar to give an Elephant a rush, but who’s checking labels?
- 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 are SURE to be a crowd-pleaser.
WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL PASTRY DAY
- Carbs, fat, and Sugar: three things we love, but aren’t necessarily the healthiest foods to put in your body. If there’s only one day of the year where we get to celebrate all things Pastry, bring on the Donuts. or Eclairs.
- 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 an exact science than cooking. There’s a lot of chemistry involved! It’s very easy to screw up a Pastry if you don’t get the measurements or temperatures just right. Baking also requires a lot of creativity to take the different kinds of Pastry Dough and make them into a vast variety of desserts. Pastry chefs don’t often get as much acclaim as regular chefs, so we’re glad we can take this holiday to applaud them.
- When we say the word “Pastry,” we imagine your mind immediately jumps to Dough-based sweets. There are tons of delicious savory pastries out there, 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
