Have you seen those beautiful cookie boxes that are popping up all over Instagram lately? I am smitten with the cookie box trend. Since “cookie baking season” is my second favorite baking season (first place is obviously Pie week at Thanksgiving) I whipped up a few cookie boxes to mail to friends and family that we won’t get to see this Holiday Season.
…
I was got a copy of French Patisserie: Master Recipes and Techniques from the Ferandi School of Culinary Arts for Christmas last year and was immediately smitten. The book itself is beautiful, filled with gorgeous photos of pastry-chef worthy recipes, but it also takes baking concepts and breaks them into levels (1= beginner- 3; expert). For months, I was too intimidated to make any thing out of it. Finally, I decided to take the plunge and make the Nantes Shortbread. The book is heavy on instructions, and light on history, so I know nothing about these cookies other than they go really well with a cup of coffee….
