It was the 1920’s. The place, Chicago, Illinois. Francois and Antoinette Pope made they mark on the culinary scene first with the Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery. Then came the television show hosted by the couple. Finally, their cookbook, The Antoinette Pope School Cookbook. I would never have known about any of this had one of the Pope family members not presented me with a copy of the cookbook. The more I read about the Pope’s, (on line there are even blogs about the cooking duo with comments by the many people who graduated from their school or who have called the cookbook their “go-to” cooking bible), the more fascinated I became with their story. The Crunchy Top Butter Cake is one of the many delightful recipes from an American heritage cookbook that elevated the art of cooking to “Fancy Cookery.”
butter, room temperature
French Macarons
I walked into my cooking class this week knowing full well what I was up against. I was teaching the art, science… and frustration of making macarons. I knew the class would be divided. Half of my students would want to learn how to make these tricky little treats. The other half are here because they have attempted to make macarons and failed miserable. The pressure was on. The first thing I tell the group is that, no matter how much You Tube tutorials, Instagram posts or Tik Tok videos tout a “no-fail” macaron recipe, do not believe it. No such thing. The only way to make a “no fail” macaron is practice. With practice you will learn all the things that can sabotage macarons; your oven, the temperature and humidity outside, the way you fold the egg whites into the almond flour ingredients and how you pipe the batter onto a baking sheet. Having said that, if you’re willing to take a little time and don’t get flustered if the first batch or two don’t turn out perfectly, you may get as addicted to making macarons as I am! I’ve also included a delicious strawberry filling for your French delights.
