technique/sweets

puff pastry
Sift 4 cups of flour allowing it to form a fountain, add a teaspoon of sugar and mix adding enough water to obtain a homogenous dough. After mixing, place in the refrigerator for one hour. In the meantime, mix 1 cup of margarine with 1 cup of sifted flour and form a thin block. Remove the first mixture from the refrigerator and wait for it to reach the same temperature of the margarine block. Roll out the dough, and place the margarine block in the center, covering it and sealing it with the dough. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch in height and fold into four, placing it back in the refrigerator for one hour.
Repeat three times, leaving it to rest in the refrigerator each time.

pastry cream
Boil 1/4 cup of milk together with 2 lemon rinds or a vanilla bean. Place 4 egg yolks in a bowl, and using a wooden spoon, mix for a few minutes with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Dilute the mixture with 1 cup cold milk, and without stopping, add the hot milk. Pour the cream in the saucepan where the milk was boiled and cook on medium heat. Continue to stir continuously, and cook until it becomes dense. When cooked, remove the spices and place into a bowl to cool. During cooling, stir every so often to prevent a skin from forming.
For chocolate pastry cream, after adding the cold milk, add 6 tablespoons of melted dark chocolate.
For different flavorings, fresh peach leaves may be substituted for the lemon rind or vanilla bean. This spice is similar to bitter almond, and is ideal for pastries, cakes or fruit.

sugar glaze
Sugar glaze is a mix of saccharose, sugar beet or sugar cane, water and glucose. The product is white paste that is soft, velvety and is characteristic of its elevated plasticity. It is ideal to glaze pastries, cakes or fruit.