Pour Ma Bébé

Exactly twenty years ago today, I got to know I was to become a mother. Already on that very day both my husband and I had a strong feeling that this first Bébé of ours is a girl. And we certainly had a baby girl 8½ months later! Now, at the age of 19 she is tall and beautiful,  wonderful and gorgeous, and she has ambition and self-discipline. Being my daughter, she cannot resist a good pastry, though. After eating a huge piece of cake she may go to the gym but that is another story which certainly has nothing to do with my baking blog... 

So today, I baked these Bébé Pastries for my first baby - pour ma bébé. 

Unfortunately stories tell very little about the origin of these pastries. Why are they called Bébés? In Finland they have "always" existed, since 1910's according to YLE (Finnish broadcasting company) website (in Finnish). They may or may not have a French origin - obviously when you think about the name, but again, the baker who created them might just have been a Francophile.

The main thins is, like with all pastries, that they are good, they are yummy and they are pretty. Traditionally they are pink and small petits fours but next time I just may make them black and huge with a licorice sauce filling...

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Bébé Pastries (16 small, about 5 cm Ø)

Dough

120 g butter

1,25 dl / ½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 large egg

2,5 dl / 1 cup plain flour

1. Preheat the oven to 175C / 350F.

2. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla sugar.

3. Add egg and mix well.

4. Add flour.

5. Wrap the dough in cling film and put in the fridge for about an hour to harden.

6. Roll small balls of the dough and place them in a muffin tins. Line each tin with the dough.

7. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Filling

Raspberry Jam

Vanilla Creme

1,25 dl / ½ cup fresh cream

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tsp vanilla sugar

½ dl / 1/4 cup sugar

50 g butter

1. Heat cream, egg yolk and cornflour in a pan so that the mixture thickens but does not boil. Let cool.

2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl.

3. Mix the creamy sauce and butter and sugar mixture together until smooth.

Icing

2,5 dl /  1 cup icing sugar

2 tbsp water or lemon juice

a few drops of red food colouring

Sprinkles

To compile the pastries

Spread about ½ tsp of raspberry jam in the bottom of each pastry. Then add about 1-2 tsps of vanilla creme. Let set about 15 minutes, preferably in the fridge. 

When set, spread pink icing on top of each pastry and decorate with sprinkles of your choice.