Muffin dough

Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)

Quite similar to crème anglaise but much thicker. It is used in many pastries like choux pastry (pâte à choux) or millefeuille.

Cooking sugar

Cooking sugar, which is one of the basics of patisserie and sweet-making, is a delicate operation in which sugar is heated from 100°C or 212°F to 180°C or 356°F. Here is some information on this tricky subject. [Translator's note: the terms used below correspond to the French tradition, as often used by English-speaking chefs, but there are other stages and terms in other traditions. Best to use a thermometer, and be guided by temperature, as the English terms commonly used in domestic...

You should not put an aluminum container directly in the oven

If you put an aluminum container, containing food to be cooked or reheated, in your oven directly on the shelf, the shiny base will reflect a large part of the oven heat (like a mirror). This means that the food will take much longer to cook or heat through than usual.

Pistachio powder or paste

Pistachio paste has a similar texture to almond paste, but the similarity ends there, as its flavour and colour are quite characteristic.

Rillons de Tours

Rillons de Tours (a town in the West of France, in the Loire valley) is a winter pork recipe. Bacon is cooked long and slow in lard and white wine until "confit". Rillons can be eaten like potted meat (rillettes) with bread, wine and pickled gherkins, but they can also be used instead of lardons in a recipe.