2 Bignè 2 Furious

For our final project we made bignè di san Giuseppe. Bignès are italian pastries that are traditionally eaten on Saint Joseph’s Day. They are airy, golden brown pastries stuffed with sweet yellow pastry cream. The bignès are puffy and textured from expansion during frying, while the pastry cream is smooth and creamy, with a slight vanilla flavor.

We began by making the pastry cream. We whisked egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture became pale and creamy. Then, we stirred in cornstarch and transferred everything to a saucepan set over low heat. We added the milk, little by little, stirring between each addition, and added vanilla to flavor the cream.

We stirred continuously with a whisk until the mixture became smooth and thick, heating without letting it boil, then removed it from the heat. It took a long time to reach the desired “mayonnaise-like” consistency, but allowing it to reach that point gave it the desired final consistency once it set.

In the pastry cream, two chemical processes account for the thickening of the cream. The protein in the egg yolks is denatured through heat and whisking, and when it coagulates it contributes to the firmness of the cream. However, the egg proteins are diluted by other molecules, including sugar, fat, and water, which makes the cream remain soft instead of having the consistency of cooked eggs.

Also contributing to the thickening is the cornstarch. When the starch from the cornstarch is heated and whisked, the granules swell and break apart, releasing starch molecules which form a gel. This recipe includes egg yolks, which contain alpha amylase that breaks down starch, but heating the egg yolks denatures the alpha amylase so that it cannot degrade the cornstarch. The cream is then cooled, which causes the gel to undergo retrogradation, which makes the gel harder. We observed that the cream was firmer after cooling, which reflects this change.

We cooled the cream quickly by transferring it to a bowl over an ice water bath and covered it with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic was on the surface of the pastry so it didn’t develop a skin. Once the cream was a bit cooler, we moved it to chill in the refrigerator until it had cooled completely.

Next, we made the bignès. We combined water, butter, and sugar in a saucepan and brought it to a boil. Then, we turned the heat down to medium-low and added the flour, stirring continuously until the mixture became smooth and pulled away from the sides and bottom of the pan.

We then removed it from the heat, stirred the eggs directly into the saucepan, and whisked using a hand mixer for several minutes. The dough was lumpy, with a scrambled egg texture, for a long time, but it eventually became smooth and sticky.

We let the dough rest, covered, for 30 minutes, and when the dough was ready, we used a deep fryer to fry it. First, we tested the temperature of the oil by dropping in a small bit of batter. We knew it was hot enough when the dough sizzled lightly around the edges.

To create the bignès, we scooped a tablespoon of the batter and dropped it carefully into the hot oil. We aimed for smaller spoonfuls because they double in size as they fry. The bignès cooked slowly with low heat, and we turned them occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until they were golden and very puffed. When they were done, we left them to drain on paper towels and cool completely.

The browning of the bignès when they are fried is caused by the Maillard reaction. In the bignès, the open glucose from the sugar and the amino acids from the egg proteins bond due to the high heat from frying. This creates an isomer of the Amadori Compound, which eventually rearranges to become an Amadori Compound. This compound then breaks down into molecules that create the flavor, aroma, and brown color associated with Maillard browning. Different proteins form different Amadori Compounds, creating a range of aroma and flavor molecules.

Finally, we made a small incision at the bottom of the bignè. With a piping bag, we piped the chilled pastry cream into each bignè until full and dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Full recipe