Pastry

Makes 6 2¼cups flour1cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into1-inch pieces⅓cup water2teaspoons apple cider vinegar½teaspoon saltExtra flour (for sprinkling)1egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of waterCinnamon-sugar made with 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon and 5 tablespoons sugar 1. In an electric mixer bowl, combine the flour and butter. Use your hands to toss the mixture to coat the butter with flour. Transfer to the freezer. In a measuring cup, combine the water, vinegar, and salt.

MARLBOROUGH — The shop that Madrid-born Sergio Mendoza and his wife, Lia, opened three years ago and turned into Madrid European Bakery & Patisserie had been another bakery. The couple went about replacing sheet cakes and other American-style baked goods with beautiful European cakes, petit cream puffs and eclairs, and simpler treats, such as butter cookies, coconut macaroons, and butterfly-shaped puff pastry palmiers. On weekends, Mendoza, the sole pastry chef, makes croissants and other morning pastries.

Serves 12 PASTRY 6 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 2 eggs About 2/3 cup cold water Extra flour (for sprinkling) 1. In a big bowl, place flour, salt, sugar, butter, and shortening.

Tatte Bakery & Cafe, opened earlier this month, is the newest addition to the Kendall Square food mecca. This is the second and more ambitious location of the Brookline bakery Tatte Fine Cookies & Cakes, owned by Israel-born pastry chef Tzurit Or. The Kendall spot offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and coffee and little baked luxuries all day. Taste some of Or's favorite dishes from her homeland and North Africa, along with European classics,...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a New York company is recalling its rugelach (ROO-ga-lah) pastry because some ingredients labels may have omitted eggs. Bloch's Best Inc. of Monsey, N.Y., is recalling a batch of its Laromme Vanilla Rugelach distributed in 14 oz. round containers between Nov. 2 and Dec. 22, 2011. The pastry was distributed in stores in Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey. The FDA says the company traces the problem to a change in the product's packaging, which omitted the presence of eggs as an ingredient.

PARIS - Gaston Lenotre, considered one of France's best pastry-makers, died Thursday. He was 88. Mr. Lenotre died at his home in the Sologne region, south of Paris, the company that bears his name said without elaborating. President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement praising Mr. Lenotre as the man who transformed making pastries into an art, becoming "one of the greatest masters of sweets. " Internationally renowned chef Paul Bocuse called Mr. Lenotre a "pastry genius.

NASHVILLE -- The Nun Bun is nowhere to be seen. When Bob Bernstein arrived at his coffeehouse to assess the scene of an early Christmas morning break-in, the one thing he noticed missing was the cinnamon bun that bears a striking likeness to Mother Teresa. Bernstein said he believes the culprit is someone angry over the shop displaying the world-famous pastry, which has been preserved with shellac. A jar of money next to the Nun Bun was not stolen. "They went right for the bun," he said.

Tatte Bakery & Cafe, opened earlier this month, is the newest addition to the Kendall Square food mecca. This is the second and more ambitious location of the Brookline bakery Tatte Fine Cookies & Cakes, owned by Israel-born pastry chef Tzurit Or. The Kendall spot offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and coffee and little baked luxuries all day. Taste some of Or's favorite dishes from her homeland and North Africa, along with European classics,...

MARLBOROUGH — The shop that Madrid-born Sergio Mendoza and his wife, Lia, opened three years ago and turned into Madrid European Bakery & Patisserie had been another bakery. The couple went about replacing sheet cakes and other American-style baked goods with beautiful European cakes, petit cream puffs and eclairs, and simpler treats, such as butter cookies, coconut macaroons, and butterfly-shaped puff pastry palmiers. On weekends, Mendoza, the sole pastry chef, makes croissants and other morning pastries.

PROVIDENCE - When Johnson & Wales University undertook to build a new culinary facility to replace its outmoded student kitchens and labs, the school's president had one request. "He wanted a ‘wow' building," recalls Nicholas Koulbanis, of the architecture firm Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, of Cambridge. And that is what Johnson & Wales got. The new 82,000-square-foot Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence is state-of-the-art, with, among other things, 30 teaching labs and classrooms, seven pastry and chocolate labs, three dining rooms, two bake shops, and a microbrewery lab. The...

WHO Linkie Marais WHAT The North Attleborough pastry chef and cake decorator, 28, is one of 15 finalists on season eight of "Food Network Star. " Marais grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Mississippi at 16. Two years ago, she and her husband came to New England, where she's been freelancing in bakeries. WHEN A two-hour "Food Network Star" premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on Food Network. Q. What were your concerns entering the competition?

Makes 6 2¼cups flour1cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into1-inch pieces⅓cup water2teaspoons apple cider vinegar½teaspoon saltExtra flour (for sprinkling)1egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of waterCinnamon-sugar made with 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon and 5 tablespoons sugar 1. In an electric mixer bowl, combine the flour and butter. Use your hands to toss the mixture to coat the butter with flour. Transfer to the freezer. In a measuring cup, combine the water, vinegar, and salt.

CHERRY TOMATO AND LEEK TART Makes 1 18-inch tart 2 dry pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered Salt and pepper Flour, for dusting 1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed in refrigerator 1 egg, beaten ½ cup grated Parmesan 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 medium leeks, halved lengthwise and cut into ¾-inch pieces 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme 6 ounces brie...

McDonald's, the fast-food giant associated more with the smell of french fries than fresh pastries, is expanding its breakfast line at the chain's New England restaurants to include baked goods, taking aim at a market segment dominated by Canton-based Dunkin' Donuts. The new menu items - which are already in stores and will be officially promoted starting Monday - include cheese danish, two kinds of muffins, banana bread, and vanilla scones. Unlike the traditional McDonald's breakfast menu, which features offerings such as oatmeal, pancakes, and variations of the long-popular Egg McMuffin,...

PROVIDENCE - When Johnson & Wales University undertook to build a new culinary facility to replace its outmoded student kitchens and labs, the school's president had one request. "He wanted a ‘wow' building," recalls Nicholas Koulbanis, of the architecture firm Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, of Cambridge. And that is what Johnson & Wales got. The new 82,000-square-foot Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence is state-of-the-art, with, among other things, 30 teaching labs and classrooms, seven pastry and chocolate labs, three dining rooms, two...

Serves 6 Fishbowl Farm co-owner and professionally trained chef Gallit Cavendish makes this tart with cipollini onions, which are small and squat and especially sweet. PASTRY 1 1/2  cups flour  1/2  teaspoon salt  10  tablespoons cold butter, cubed  4  tablespoons ice water, or more if necessary   Extra flour (for sprinkling)  1. Have on hand a 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable base and 2 rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Makes one 9-inch pie When she was a teenager, Cindy Carpenter’s mother taught her how to make this pie from “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.’’ It is always the first pie to go at Thanksgiving, whatever other kinds the family makes. The pastry makes more than you need; roll out the scraps, cut them into shapes, and sprinkle them with cinnamon-sugar before baking. CRUST 1 3/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening 5 tablespoons butter, cut...

Makes 10 These dainty tartlets are worthy of a fine pastry shop. If you have trouble rolling the dough, do it between sheets of plastic wrap. DOUGH 1 ¼ cups flour 6 tablespoons ( ¾ stick) cold, unsalted butter, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons sugar ⅛ teaspoon salt 1 egg, lightly beaten Flour (for rolling) 1. Have on hand 10 tartlet pans (3 inches wide, ½ inch deep)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a New York company is recalling its rugelach (ROO-ga-lah) pastry because some ingredients labels may have omitted eggs. Bloch's Best Inc. of Monsey, N.Y., is recalling a batch of its Laromme Vanilla Rugelach distributed in 14 oz. round containers between Nov. 2 and Dec. 22, 2011. The pastry was distributed in stores in Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey. The FDA says the company traces the problem to a change in the product's packaging, which omitted the presence of eggs as an ingredient.

Makes one 9-inch shell 1 ¼   cups flour   ¼   teaspoon salt   6   tablespoons butter, cut into pieces   1   tablespoon sugar   1   egg   1   teaspoon distilled white vinegar   1   tablespoon ice water, or more if necessary     Extra flour (for sprinkling)   1. Have on hand a 9-inch pie pan. 2. In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt just to mix them.