Chef Juliette
Smelt (Éperlans)
Tiny éperlans, lightly floured and fried until their tails stand crisp, arrive in a generous heap on a napkin with fried parsley and grooved lemon, a weeknight lesson in heat and restraint.
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Barquettes
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 314, Barquettes, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Little boats of short paste, baked until truly dry, then filled at the last sensible moment. Their elegance comes from crispness and proportion, because a fine garnish cannot rescue a damp shell.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
Special Occasion
20 min
Active Time
8 min cook•45 min total
Yield24 barquettes (8 appetizer servings)
Barquettes teach a severe little pastry lesson: the shell must be completely dry before it can be delicate. A damp barquette is not tender, it is simply unfinished. Bake until the base no longer yields, cool it completely, and only then let the garnish in.
The original service assumed drawers of very small boat moulds, trays moving through a drying-box, and another pair of hands tending compound butters, mousses, or clear aspic. At home, twelve moulds work twice, a low oven replaces the drying-box, and the batch stops at 24, enough for eight guests rather than a full dining room. The linked pastry and garnish remain separate preparations, as the book intended. For this one-cook version, compound butter replaces the more elaborate aspic arrangement because both belong to the original family, while only one needs no separate jelly service.
The brigade's dedicated drying station was scaffolding and can go. The final drying is the dish and must stay. If stored shells soften, ça se rattrape: refresh them in a low oven and cool them again. The one step that decides everything is that complete cooling before filling.
Barquettes belong to the classical hors-d’œuvre table, particularly the formal dining rooms and grand kitchens of Paris where small garnished pastry cases were grouped among Frivolities (No. 350). They are not a separate pastry invention: Tartlets and Barquettes (No. 387) share the same paste and preparation, while Croûtes et Croustades (No. 2393) place them within the broader family of edible pastry cases. Only the indented little boat shape distinguishes a barquette from its tartlet cousin.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very small boat-shaped pastry shells
Quantity
24 Croûtes et Croustades (No. 2393), prepared and blind-baked through Tartlets and Barquettes (No. 387)
prepared compound-butter garnish
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 225 g), chosen from Frivolities (No. 350)
cold but spreadable
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very small boat-shaped pastry shells | 24 Croûtes et Croustades (No. 2393), prepared and blind-baked through Tartlets and Barquettes (No. 387) |
| prepared compound-butter garnishcold but spreadable | 1 cup (240 ml / 225 g), chosen from Frivolities (No. 350) |
Equipment Needed
- •12 very small metal barquette moulds, about 2¾ by 1¼ inches (7 by 3 cm), if preparing the linked shells
- •Rimmed baking sheet
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Small piping bag or two teaspoons
Instructions
- 1
Inspect the shells
Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Arrange the 24 Croûtes et Croustades (No. 2393), prepared as boat-shaped shells through Tartlets and Barquettes (No. 387), on a bare baking sheet. They should be evenly golden, rigid at the indented edges, and dry beneath. The old drying-box was brigade scaffolding; your low oven does the same work perfectly well.
- 2
Dry them completely
Bake the empty shells for 5 to 8 minutes, until their inner surfaces feel dry rather than greasy and the bases sound faintly hollow when tapped. Watch the narrow ends, which colour first. If they darken before the centres dry, cover those tips loosely with small pieces of foil and continue for another 2 minutes. Ça se rattrape.
The shells need crispness through the base, not merely colour around the rim. A pale but dry shell is useful; a bronzed shell with a yielding centre will soften as soon as it is filled. - 3
Cool without trapping moisture
Transfer the shells immediately to a wire rack and leave them until completely cool, about 15 minutes. Don't crowd them in a bowl or seal them while warm, because trapped moisture undoes the drying. If filling touches a warm shell and begins to melt, lift it out at once, wipe the shell gently, dry it again for 3 minutes, and cool it fully.
- 4
Temper the garnish
Work the prepared compound-butter garnish chosen from Frivolities (No. 350) with a spoon until smooth and spreadable, never melted. If it is hard enough to crack the pastry, leave it at room temperature for 5 minutes. If it becomes glossy and loose, chill it for 10 minutes. Butter, not margarine; the filling must set cleanly without leaving an oily shell.
- 5
Fill and serve
Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons of compound butter into each cooled shell, keeping the filling just below the indented rim so the boat shape remains clear. Set the filled barquettes in the cold for 15 minutes, then let them stand for 10 minutes before serving so the butter is cool but not hard. Arrange them generously on one platter. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Very small means roughly 2¾ by 1¼ inches (7 by 3 cm). Twelve metal barquette moulds are enough for the linked Tartlets and Barquettes (No. 387); bake two rounds instead of buying a brigade's drawerful.
- •The source gives two garnish families for Frivolities (No. 350): compound butter or an aspic arrangement over mousse. This home version chooses compound butter because it can be filled and served by one cook without a separate jelly service.
- •Fill lightly. The shell should still be felt beneath the garnish, because the contrast between dry pastry and smooth butter is the whole pleasure of the bite.
- •Choose the wine according to the compound butter. A seafood or anchovy butter likes a dry sparkling wine or a mineral white; a ham or herb butter will take a light, cool red.
Advance Preparation
- •The Croûtes et Croustades (No. 2393), made through Tartlets and Barquettes (No. 387), can be baked two days ahead. Cool them completely and store them airtight; refresh them for 5 minutes at 300°F (150°C) before filling.
- •The compound-butter garnish selected from Frivolities (No. 350) can be prepared three days ahead, wrapped closely, and chilled. Let it soften only until it can be piped.
- •Filled barquettes may be chilled for up to 4 hours. Bring them out 10 minutes before serving so the filling loses its refrigerator hardness while the shells remain crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 55g)
Calories
345 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
19 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
330 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
2 g
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