Sweet and Savory Holiday Baking with Holly Herrick

Holiday Baking à la Holly Herrick

Looking to take your holiday baking up a notch? Pick up a copy of Holly Herrick‘s new book, The French Cook:  Cream Puffs & Eclairs, and whip up some sweet and savory creations that will leave you and your guests swooning. This cookbook, second in the series, showcases luscious-looking delights in glossy images that you’d never believe are so easy to make. But according to Holly, they are. And they’re also economical.

With choux as the foundation for most everything in The French Cook:  Cream Puffs & Eclairs, you learn about this fun and messy pastry dough that becomes light and airy once baked. You can make these floaty confections weeks ahead and keep them in your freezer and take them out as you need them. I see this as a wonderful holiday baking project either by yourself or say between mother and daughter. “It’s always my goal to get people really exciting about cooking. It’s important that it’s fun and delicious,” says this renowned food writer and author of six cookbooks.

“Happily (choux) is one of the easiest pastries to make:  bring a little water and butter to a simmer in a saucepan, dump in flour, beat over heat to thicken it, and whip in a few eggs. That’s all there is to it…”

—Julia Child, The Way to Cook, 1989

Zee Book

Holly opens this new book with the above quote from Julia Child. A most apropos beginning, since it was after a meeting with this iconic chef  at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival in 1990 that Holly was given direction about how to become a food writer. She followed her advice and did a stint at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She embraced French cooking full on at that time and there was no turning back.

Listen to what Holly has to say below about French cooking, the making of cream puffs and eclairs, charming French chefs and more. You’ll hear about chouquettes, gougères and lots of other beloved French goodies from our recent Travel Fun interview. Holly’s on the phone from Charleston, South Caroline where she has lived fourteen years, so she also weighs in on the food scene in this beautiful southern town.

If you’re at all like me, you’ll be inspired to go out and buy this alluring book and begin your holiday baking toute de suite.

Bon appétit!

Holly Herrick

Click on the play button below to listen to my half-hour interview with food writer Holly Herrick:

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