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PASTRY TIPS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY

Chefs from National Trust Historic Hotels of America Share Baking Secrets

By Madelyn Miller

Valentine's Day evokes feelings of romance and is celebrated with champagne, candlelight dinner for two or with bouquets of flowers. But don't forget the sweets! We asked pastry chefs from National Trust Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to share their baking secrets.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

When in doubt on how to "wow" your loved one, try chocolate-covered strawberries. 

Pastry Chef Laura Costello at The Colony Hotel and Cabaņa Club in Delray Beach, Fl., offers this simple recipe. Wash ripe berries well in water. Let dry.  Do not remove the leaves.  Melt real chocolate (not imitation) in a mixing bowl over boiling water or in a double boiler.  Hold the strawberries by the leaves and dip in chocolate.  Place on wax paper and cool.

 Pastry Chef Joseph Sciegaj with The Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, Va., offers additional tips. Be sure to rinse the strawberries in cold water flowing gently from the tap so as not to bruise the fruit. Do not let the water touch the bottom of the double boiler pan or the chocolate will become too hot and cook.

Peggy O'Keefe with The Old Tavern in Grafton, Vt., suggests a way to add a little zing! Before dipping the strawberries in chocolate, use a small hypodermic needle (purchased from a drug store) to inject the strawberry cavity with your favorite liqueur. O'Keefe's favorite is Grand Marnier.

Chocolate Dipped Almond Hearts

 Billy Jack, assistant pastry chef at The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, offers a decorative suggestion.  Prepackaged sliced almonds make terrific heart shapes to decorate cookies or cakes.  Take the pointed edge of two slices and overlap them so that a heart shape is formed.  Then dip the pointed edge in melted chocolate to "glue" together, or dip the entire heart shape in melted chocolate for an all-chocolate version.  These almond treats can be used to line the edges of cookies or cakes or stand upright in a mousse, pudding or ice cream.

Chocolate Garnishes

To make dazzling chocolate garnishes, Christopher Boos, pastry chef with Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, N.Y. shares the following tip. Tape plastic wrap on the back of a cookie sheet. Spread the melted chocolate on the plastic about 1/8 of an inch thick. Chill until tacky but not hard. Use cookie cutters or a paring knife to cut into shapes. Place in ice cream, on a cake or use to garnish any dessert. If the chocolate cracks while cutting, repeat the melting process.

For a free form chocolate garnish, Peggy O'Keefe with The Old Tavern in Grafton, Vt., recommends melting chocolate and adding a touch of oil to make the chocolate a bit runny.  On wax paper drizzle in a web-like fashion.  Chill and break apart.  Use these shards of chocolate atop your Valentine dessert.

Fun With Phyllo

Not all Valentine treats are made with chocolate.  Peggy O'Keefe with The Old Tavern in Grafton, Vt., recommends buying phyllo dough sheets from the frozen food aisle to make exquisite baskets for ice cream or mouse.  Layer squares of phyllo with melted butter.  Push the assembled layers of phyllo into a muffin tin, custard cup or small bowl.  Leave the corners and excess sheet of phyllo "fluffed" around the cup.  Bake at 350 degrees until golden.  Let cool and fill the phyllo basket with mousse, fruit or ice cream.

Helpful Hints

Bill Hallion, pastry chef at the Renaissance Vinoy in St. Petersburg, Fla, offers several helpful hints. When icing cakes, instead of using a spatula to spread icings, use a slicer, a slicer has an edge on it and will make for a smother finish on the cake.

When working with corn syrup or glucose, always wet your hands with cold water.  This will prevent the corn syrup or glucose from sticking to your hands.

When using a pastry bag, instead of putting the ingredients directly into the bag, wrap the  ingredients in plastic wrap and cut the end off, then place in the pastry bag.  This keeps the pastry bag clean.

Back to the Basics

While it is easy to get caught up in the fun of decorating pastries, don't neglect the basics.  Master Chef Josef Zimmerman with The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee reminds bakers to follow recipes accurately, set the timer for the proper cooking time and temperature and be sure to keep the work space clean.

Diane Austin, pastry chef at The Admiral Fell Inn in Baltimore offers similar reminders: be sure to read through the entire recipe before beginning and clean as you go.  But Austin offers perhaps the best tip from a professional pastry chef -- remember that your creation may not look exactly like the magazine picture.  Publications have a whole team of people who make the dessert look perfect for the photo.  What counts is that the dessert tastes good.

National Trust Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It has identified over 100 hotels that have faithfully maintained their historic integrity, architecture and ambience. To be selected for this program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old, listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or recognized locally as having historic significance.

To receive a copy of the 168-page National Trust Historic Hotels of America membership directory, send a $3 check to National Trust Historic Hotels of America, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.  20036. 

Reservations can be made by calling 800-678-8946.

 When reservations are made through this number, a portion of the cost is returned to the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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