How long should snails be cooked

I was lucky enough to get a macaron session from a Michelin-starred pastry chef before Christmas and he gave me some invaluable tips.

• Use an Italian meringue recipe. In other words, pour warm sugar syrup on to the egg whites instead of sugar from the cupboard. The eggs will already have been 'cooked' into structure and will not require any crusting. They will retain the same shape that you pipe them out at. You can bake them straight away, or in a couple of hours - they won't be any different.

• When piping, use a moderate pressure. Don't wring the bag out. Keep the nozzle approx 2cm over the tray and maintain that height while you pipe - let the weight of the batter spread the macaron out evenly. When there is enough mixture in place (about 4cm across?) stop squeezing and flick the nozzle away in a controlled circular motion to avoid creating a 'nipple'.

I wrote about this including his recipe on my blog here.

PS. I just remembered that adding further weight to the Italian meringue technique a very prominent French chef in the UK, Raymond Blanc, said that he always uses this method. On his TV programme this week he said it delivers far more consistent results.

The dessert discribed is not truley a "Tom Pouce", that is a different pastry. What is discribed in the question is a "Napoleon" dessert pastry. The Mille Feuille or Puff Pastry is topped with an icing called "Fondant". Fondant in it's simplest (shortcut) form is made by mixed powdered sugar and water until the desired thickness is reached. Some time in the open air will harden it a little further beacause of the water drying out. Fondant made correctly is by making a simple syrup (water and sugar cooked together), cooking it to the "soft ball" stage or temperature of simple syrup, then dispursing it onto a marble slab (to cool it quickly) and with 2 baker knives (one in each hand) fold and kneed the sugar until it frosts from transluscent color to the frosty and shyny white color. This is an old skill which has been taken over by machines. Fontdant is now purchased from larger makers in 5 gal. buckets for a cost of appr. $25.00.