I was both excited and sad this morning when I got up and found our the #Holiday being celebrated today is December 9 National Pastry Day #NationalPastryDay. I would have liked to go and get Pastry’s for brekfast but David is working and didn’t leave me any money so I can’t even walk to the Donut Store which is better for my diet.
I don’t know about you, but there are people who’ve never met a pastry they didn’t like. Is that you? Because it sure isn’t me or Charlie because there are a lot of Pastry’s we don’t like. Before you ask what about David he likes most Pastry’s.
This is why I’m thrilled to celebrate National Pastry Day on December 9th with you. If your #Homeschooling your children you can let them know Pastries date back to ancient times: when the ancient Egyptians made pastry dough out of grain meal and flour and sweetened it with honey, and the ancient Greeks and Romans made sweets out of paper-thin pastry dough (the predecessor to what we now know as phyllo dough).
Pastries traveled to Europe in medieval times, where they added fats like butter and shortening to make a sturdier dough. You’ll find pastries in pretty much every culture you can think of, but pastries became incredibly refined in French kitchens during the 18th century. There’s a reason we think of France as the pastry capital of the world. Today there are countless types of pastries out there, and we’ll take one of each, please.
If your #Homescholing your children, you can have them do a cooking class today and let them make different Pastries to share with their friends and family. Or you could go on a #FieldTrip and visit different Bakeries to try different Pastries at. Visit different cultures when trying out the Pastries.
National Pastry Day Activities
- No matter whether you live in a tiny, remote town or a huge City, you won’t have to travel too far to find a Bakery. Walk in, don’t you dare think about the word “calories,” and buy as many pastries as your heart desires. You’re supporting a local business, after all.
- Today is the day to eat with your eyes and binge-watch a bunch of pastry baking shows. Like “The Great British Bake Off,” or the singular-pastry-focused “Cupcake Wars.” If those aren’t enough to satiate you, try “Ace of Cakes,” “Top Chef: Just Desserts,” or YouTube videos of Julia Child.
- We know it can be tempting to take a pastry shortcut and buy premade dough from the freezer aisle at the grocery store. But in honor of National Pastry Day, why not try your hand at making pastry dough entirely from scratch? It might not be easy, but it will be extremely rewarding. You’ll get to channel your inner child and sneak bites of the unbaked dough. Set aside an afternoon, throw an apron on, and get to kneading. Just make sure you have plenty of butter on hand.
Pastries to try today:
- BomboloniIt– a pastry that might sound like “bomb baloney,” but the similarities end there. This vanilla cream-filled, sugar dusted delicacy is closer to a donut than anything else out there today.
- Toasted-Marshmallow Butterscotch Pie– isn’t your ready-in-a-jiffy dessert. Decked out with chocolate, cream, brown sugar, and a WHOLE lot more, this one’ll have jaws dropping.
- Jam-Filled Cronut– Which can also be known as a Croissant/Donut? People don’t even care they’ll go nuts for cronuts any day of the week.
- Nutella Palmiers-Peanut butter might be more popular, but there’s no convincing us that Nutella’s not the best spread out there. When combined with pastry Nutella is Heaven isn’t it? I think not.
- Brookies– Hold up, croissants — there’s another hybrid dessert on the block. After trying one of these gems, there was only one question: why didn’t someone think of Brookies sooner?
- Caramel-Filled Chocolate Munchkins– In case the bombolonis were a bit vanilla for you, we’ve got something with even MORE decadence. Meet this majesty — they’ve probably got enough sugar to give an elephant a rush, but who’s checking labels?
- Snickerdoodle Cupcakes-You’re probably more familiar with this cupcake’s cousin, the snickerdoodle cookie, but it’s time to get to know the real star of the family. Snickerdoodle cupcakes which are SURE to be a crowdpleaser. Aren’t they?
Why We Love National Pastry Day
- National Pastry Day gives you an excuse to indulge in carbs, fat, and sugar: they’re three things we love, but aren’t necessarily the healthiest foods to put in your body. But hey, if there’s only one day of the year where we get to celebrate all things pastry, bring on the donuts and croissants and eclairs or fruit tarts.
- In the culinary world, becoming a pastry chef is no cake walk. It takes a ridiculous amount of professional training—baking is, after all, more of an exact science than cooking. There’s a lot of chemistry involved! It’s very easy to screw up a pastry if you don’t get the measurements or temperatures just right. A Pastry job also requires a lot of creativity to take the different kinds of pastry dough and make them into a vast variety of desserts. Pastry chefs don’t often get as much acclaim as regular chefs, so we’re glad we can take this holiday to applaud them.
- When we say the word “pastry,” we imagine your mind immediately jumps to dough-based sweets. But there are tons of delicious savory pastries out there, too. Think quiches, vegetable tarts, biscuits, and popovers. Yes, that does mean that you can celebrate this holiday by having a pastry for your main course and a pastry for dessert. We won’t tell.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
