A Life in Baking, Pastry, and Libations.
I don’t see the appeal of the “Raindrop Cake”. Pretty presentation aside, the dessert tastes like barely sweetened spring water. It is pleasantly refreshing, but I take umbrage with calling it a ‘cake’. (And that $8 price tag.) When I reminisce about the best cake I ever ate, a tepid watery blob that jiggles... Continue Reading →
New Flours, New Flavors I’m bored with baking, baking with wheat flour that is. Last year, I stumbled upon a case of faro and chestnut flours in my work kitchen and played around with pound cakes, muffins, and sponge cakes. As wheat flour has formed with basis of baking traditions in the United States, it... Continue Reading →
Apparently the pastel, sandwiched macaron that we've come to love is a recent innovation. The Basque macaron, a denser chewier single cookie version, claims to be the true, original macaron and predates the macaron parisien, popularized by Laduree, by three centuries. Even if this is mythology, it's interesting to have another style of macaron besides... Continue Reading →
As much as I enjoy experimenting with unusual ingredients and pastry techniques during my off-time, I can think of no better way to end a meal than with a fruit dessert. I keep at least one fruit dessert on my menu year-round because I love how it refreshes and revives the weariest of palates. Northeast... Continue Reading →
Apples are one of the most widely cultivated fruits in the world and a staple of the dessert menu that transcends culture and time: apple sharlotka from Russia, apple strudel from Vienna, Alsatian apple tart and tarte tatin from France, and apple pie from America. The beauty of apples is, unlike most fruit, an apple... Continue Reading →
Cloyingly sweet and nondescript, honey was just another ingredient for desserts and ice creams. At least, this was true until I finally got around to opening the jar of lavender honey that I bought in France a few years earlier. I was flummoxed. The honey, a light tinge of beige, was thick, creamy and... Continue Reading →
Buttery. Salted. Caramel. 