This Marco Pierre White Dessert is NOT as easy as it seems

Preheat oven to 425. Soak the MP cookbook in warm water. Drain. Put on a non stick baking tray. Turn oven down to 250. Bake until hardened and pages are stuck together. Use as a doorstop.

it's wild how the ability to be a good chef and the ability to write a solid recipe are two skills that exist almost entirely independently of each other

That cookbook is designed to make cooks fail. You didn't make any mistakes. Your knowledge and instincts rescued a bad recipe.

The vanilla bean seed segment will go down in history for all the right reasons.

I hate diva chefs- The recipe is supposed to be Pâte Sucrée - which of course he didnt say. As a trained chef i always pressed it into the pan- like shortbread crust. It doesnt need water the butter and egg are the binders. MPW is a bit of an idiot. Poo-pooing those that may not have the skills that he does. Skills he has- personality not so much. Julia was my hero- no histrionics just cooking and sometimes having fun in the kitchen- that's where the passion come from- enjoying what you are doing. She was a true teacher and chef who passed on the love of cooking. Saluting you Jamie with a glass or 4 of wine. Well done!

i feel like i say this with every marco pierre white video but from everything you say, it's not that the recipe is hard, it's that it's badly written. too few instructions, too many assumtions, not enough info. it's absurd.

I think MPW has the same issue a lot of college professors have: just because you're an expert in your field doesn't mean you'll be an expert at teaching it.

“It just says to ‘fold it in.’” was giving me Schitt’s Creek flashbacks.

I prefer Mary Berry's recipe for Tart Citron (Lemon Tart). Highly recommend doing a series on Mary. She and Delia Smith rule.

Reliving the vanilla bean incident is a mood all of its own.

I personally think this is genuinely a testament to your skill, Jamie. The recipe seems to be poorly written, and it looks like you absolutely nailed it.

When you said fold in the heavy cream; I wondered if whipping it 1st was another unprinted assumption.

I'm guessing that it takes MPW's tart lists "30 minutes" to cook because his staff bakes them in huge commercial ovens that have been running for hours, not pre-heated home ovens. The ingredients are vague because he's not used to writing them down. He's used to screaming them at his kitchen staff, who actually do the cooking/baking.

99.9% of aspiring chefs learn about vanilla pods at a fancy culinary school, in front of no one, while being yelled at by a drill instructor chef who hates his/her students. Jamie learned about vanilla pods in real time on the internet, in front of 400k subscribers, who love him for helping them remember why they love cooking and cooking videos. Jamie wins.

I’m so glad you found the pastry cutter! It’s a tool that my mom always used in her famous pies. I say famous, because before Medicare in Canada, my dad suffered a stroke. When my mother asked his physician how much she owed him, he told her “2 coconut cream and 2 lemon meringue pies would do it”. 😁 Great job as always Jaimie! ❤️❤️

When you said "250f for 30 minutes", I KNEW that it would take MUCH longer because that is too low for the temp!

I realize no one's going to read this, but just in case... The reason the pastry was so difficult to work was because the butter was kept ice cold, the way you would for a pie crust. The recipe specifically says to use your fingers, because the heat of your hands will warm the butter, allowing the liquid to hydrate the flour, create a small amount of gluten, and pull the dough together. If you do this recipe with a mixer or a pastry cutter, the butter stays together, the water doesn't hydrate, and the dough falls apart. I've made this mistake before too. Marco's recipes are obsessive about removing water as a mechanism for intensify flavor or, in this case, creating a much shorter crust than you would get from adding water along with the egg. (Or two eggs, etc.) Anyway, it isn't a big deal, but since the top comment as I type this boils down to "MARCO WRITES JERK BOOK ON PURPOSE TO UPSET CHEFS," I feel like I needed to say something.

Ah, the vanilla bean fiasco. That cemented this show in my heart. So sweet. I still miss that doofus, but I appreciate your ascension to one who likes to make pasta by hand.

Oh....I remember the OG vanilla bean incident,, you have come so far. The student is becoming the master... I have that cookbook,, in my house, it's a door stop. Absolute POS and I collect cookbooks!! My hats off to you for continuing to try!!!

You've successfully discouraged me from buying this book, LOL!