Make popular miniature French desserts — from macarons to madeleines — and master accessible pastry techniques that will transform your baking!

Join certified executive pastry chef and popular Craftsy instructor Colette Christian as she demystifies iconic bite-sized French desserts. Starting with buttery madeleines, learn how to make these classic mini-cakes with their perfectly crisp edges and tender crumb. Next, make tartlets with a tangy lemon curd filling, from-scratch crust and quick Italian meringue topping. Then, master macarons, infuse them with flavors such as lavender and create decadent fillings, including buttercream and salted caramel. For the grand finale, make a scene-stealing Opera cake! Create airy sponge cake and dip each piece into a coffee simple syrup before adding layer upon layer of buttercream and chocolate ganache for a cake that's certainly ready for its close-up — and maybe a bite or three.

What you get:

7 HD video lessons with anytime, anywhere access
Class materials, including recipes
Hours of close-up instruction
Answers from Colette in our virtual classroom

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Lesson plan:

Madeleines (17:54)
Meet your instructor, pastry chef Colette Christian, as she previews the four iconic French desserts you'll make in this class: madeleines, tartlets, macarons and the impressive Opera cake. Then get baking by making mocha-flavored madeleines using the ribbon method, which helps tell you when you've achieved the perfect texture for your whipped eggs and sugar. Colette shows you how to pipe the batter into the madeleine pan and how to tell when your madeleines are done.
Citrus Madeleines (27:56)
Discover an alternative method for making citrus madeleines — the creaming method — where you blend sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Then discover why sifting your dry ingredients is so important and make a simple-yet-traditional lemon glaze for the tops of your cakes.
Lemon Tartlets (39:32)
Create the perfect combination of sweet and tart with the next dessert, a lemon meringue tartlet. Make delicious, silky-smooth lemon curd (without having to use a double boiler), then make a classic hand-blended pie dough known as pÃ¢te brisée. Pick up tips for rolling, cutting and baking the tartlet crusts and then see just how quickly you can whip up an Italian meringue to go on top. Finally, use a blowtorch to toast the meringue topping, giving your tartlets a show-stopping appearance!
Basic French Macaron (35:45)
Master the quintessential French sweet, the macaron. Find out how to prepare your ingredients, whip egg whites to the perfect peak and discover what gives macarons their signature color. Learn the proper technique for macaronage — the process of removing excess air from your batter — and how to pipe your macarons and know when they're done baking. Guests will think you had these little cookies flown in from Paris!
Customizing & Filling Macarons (34:47)
Colette will show you how to infuse your macarons with even more flavor and then how to make three luscious fillings: buttercream, ganache and even salted caramel. Learn techniques for mixing a delicious frosting, melting chocolate and cooking caramel to buttery perfection.
Classic Opera Cake (26:33)
Build on several of the techniques you've already learned as you make the famous chocolate-and-coffee Opera cake, "a cake in six acts." Bake an airy sponge cake with whipped egg whites and almond flour, make a rich French buttercream and spreadable chocolate ganache to fill the cake and, finally, prepare a coffee simple syrup to soak the cake layers.
Assembling the Opera Cake (33:05)
It's time to raise the curtain on your Opera cake! Discover how this cake comes together, rich layer after rich layer, as you cut your sponge cake into symmetrical layers and soak them in the intense coffee simple syrup. Learn how to pipe and spread the fillings — coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache — over your cake layers, top the cake with a chocolate glaze and then send your cake over the top with decorative piping and gold leaf!

System Requirements:

Supported OS: Web Browser