A Life in Baking, Pastry, and Libations.
Inspiration: It's white truffle season. Why not? Elements: butternut squash cake, green apple pearls, brown butter crumbs, cider agrodolce, fennel. Technique: The custard is a variation of Catalan cream. In addition to white truffles, the custard is infused with lemon zest, cinnamon, and vanilla. It is thickened with corn flour on the stovetop, set with... Continue Reading →
Inspiration: I wanted to do a dessert that reminded me of fall while avoiding the now-ubiquitous flavor of pumpkin pie spice. Elements: pumpkin cake, mascarpone-pear cream, poached pears, cranberry gel, brown butter gelato, honey sesame tuile Concept: I started with a pumpkin cake that is flavored with olive oil, lemon zest, and cinnamon. The flavor... Continue Reading →
Inspiration: I wanted to create a dessert for people who would normally finish their meal with a cheese course. Elements: Chevre cheesecake, hazelnut brittle, Concord grape sorbet, picholine olive-citrus cake, olive-oil emulsion, fresh figs, micro basil and apple-celery paper. Technique: After the cheesecake is baked, it is lightened with pate a bombe, whipped cream, and creme fraiche.... Continue Reading →
While I hope that new readers are enjoying my growing catalogue of musings, essays and pastry ramblings, I must apologize to loyal readers for the recent dearth of new posts. I started a new job last month and have been deluged with a firestorm of recipe testing and menu changes. The end result has been... Continue Reading →
Although ricotta is ridiculously easy to make, I've never made it at work because I can buy a high-quality cheese from most of my wholesalers. I've been thinking about an olive oil, ricotta, and honey dessert but it didn't seem very exciting to plop some plain old ricotta on the plate. So, I tried making... Continue Reading →
Sweet pastry dough is topped with lemon-infused mix of frangipane and pastry cream. Slices of eggplant and apples are layered on top of the cream and sprinkled with granulated sugar and vanilla powder. The third layer is also drizzled with olive oil to keep the fruits moist during baking. Bake in a slow oven for... Continue Reading →
Buttery. Salted. Caramel. 