Pierre Hermé has long been considered “the” top pastry chef in the world. His beautiful boutiques located throughout the world, many books, TV appearances, and legendary stints heading Paris’s top pâtisseries have made him a pastry icon. I had the pleasure of translating his gorgeous and aspirational book Hermé Macaron: The Ultimate Recipes from the Master Pâtissier into English.
These are his chocolate sablés with a delicately sandy texture on the outside (sablé means sandy in French) and moist, buttery interior with deep chocolate flavor from Dutch-process cocoa. They aren’t too sweet, therefore highlighting chocolate rather than sweetness. I’ve made them for years, tweaking their approach a little at a time to fully understand how to best handle the thick dough. They bake up super fast (about 10 minutes) and stay moist and buttery for days. Pierre makes them in the shape of a “W” as homage to the Wittamer pastry shop in Vienna, but you can pipe them into any shape you want. For Christmas, I pipe them into wreaths and use a little corn syrup to glue pink peppercorns (the “holly berries”) and small pieces of pistachios (the “leaves”) on them for traditional color.
Makes 10 to 12 cookies, depending on size and shape
10 2/3 Tbsp (150 g) Unsalted butter, very soft
1 large (30 g) Egg white, room temperature
1 1/4 cups (156 g) All-purpose flour
3 Tbsp (18 g) Unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process, well sifted
1/2 cup (60 g) Confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
1 large pinch Sea salt
Set the butter out at room temperature 1 to 2 hours ahead of making the cookies. For the recipe to be easily managed, the butter must be a very soft and spreadable consistency, appearing shiny on the surface, but not melted. Set the egg white out, covered, to come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and position a rack near the center. Lightly grease a baking sheet using a little oil or cooking spray. Place a flat piece of parchment paper on top and press it to adhere it to the pan. Alternatively, line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. Place the baking sheet on a dampened kitchen towel to secure it while piping the cookies.
Fit a tall pastry bag (such as an 18-inch) with a medium-size open-star pastry tube (The Ateco #825 is the perfect size) and set aside.
Lightly beat the egg white using a fork until slightly foamy.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder. In a separate medium mixing bowl, beat the butter, preferably with a flat whisk, until very creamy. Using the whisk, stir in the confectioners’ sugar and salt, then thoroughly stir in the egg white. The mixture will look somewhat separated at this point, which is okay; it will come together when the dry ingredients are added.
Add one-third of the flour-cocoa mixture into the butter mixture and partially incorporate it using the flat whisk. Add the second one-third of the flour-cocoa mixture and partially incorporate it. Add the final one-third and incorporate it just until the flour disappears. Do not overwork the dough.
Spoon the dough into the piping bag. Because the dough is thick, work in batches, if necessary, refilling the pastry bag as needed. Keeping the tip of the pastry tube about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) off the baking sheet, pipe the dough into squiggles resembling a “w” (see photo above; it’s essentially a compact squiggle of five continuous short lines), each about 2 inches (5 cm) long and 1¼ inches (3 cm) wide, spaced 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Be careful not to pipe the cookies too wide, as they do puff and spread a little.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes, or just until they lose their shine in the center. Immediately transfer the cookies off the hot pan and onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely. Lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Store in an airtight container. They are fragile when handled.
Chef Zach’s Notes:
This dough is very thick. It can be difficult to pipe if the butter is not very soft, which can be more difficult to achieve in a cold kitchen. I recommend a canvas pastry bag rather than a disposable pastry bag because the canvas ones are stronger (or combine two disposable pastry bags). If the dough is too difficult to pipe, start with only half the amount in the pastry bag, then use your hands to help warm the dough inside the bag. As you pipe, the warmth of your hands will work in your favor to help soften the dough more.
Do not be too discouraged if you can’t get the “w” shape in the same shape as Pierre at first. It takes some practice, and the dough must be soft.
An oversized pastry bag can help you contain a pastry bag’s contents better since you’ll be able to wrap the top excess around your finger to keep the top tightly sealed.
The flat whisk is ideal for this mixture, as a normal whisk will trap the dough inside the wires.
You can use a natural cocoa powder here rather than the Dutch-process, but changing cocoa powder in a recipe can change the color, flavor, and texture, so this requires a little trial and error to know which one you’ll prefer. Dutch-process cocoa (i.e., cacao treated with an alkali), is mild and deeper in chocolate flavor and lends a dark chocolate color. This is the cocoa powder Pierre uses for this recipe.