A Life in Baking, Pastry, and Libations.
Theme: Paying homage to ancient Italian ingredients. Inspiration: I’d love to wax poetic about being inspired by La Cucina Italia for this dessert but the truth is more mundane: I had been logging the same case of farro flour in my inventory for two months and I got tired of looking at it. Farro is a staple grain... Continue Reading →
Aside from some Jell-O shots and a brief hospital stay (both unrelated incidents), I haven't eaten Jell-O in my adult years. Still, when I think of Jell-O, I think of my formative years as a budding pastry chef and Jell-O was one of the few desserts that I was allowed to make without much supervision.... Continue Reading →
A fun idea for serving dessert. This would have been helpful during my years in catering industry: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4595682?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Components: bread pudding, brown butter caramel, lemon-thyme gelato, apple terrine, vanilla crème fraiche, sbrisolona Concept: An innovative approach to a classically rustic dessert. Approach: It’s difficult to heat bread pudding in an oven without drying it out. Placing a sauce in the center of the bread pudding makes it easier to heat the pudding quickly... Continue Reading →
Elements: chocolate mousse, chestnut dacquoise, sautéed chestnuts, bitter chocolate sauce, cocoa nib crumble, chestnut-honey gelato, micro-marigold blossoms. Concept: Chocolate and chestnuts are a classic European dessert pairing, particularly in Italy. In America, chestnuts are best known as a stuffing sidekick on the Thanksgiving dinner table. How could I best introduce Americans to it? Pair it... Continue Reading →
Elements: Whipped ricotta panna cotta, almond (frangipane) cake, pear pate de fruit, poached pears, pear-white balsamic sorbet, honey foam, fennel Concept: The flavor of a ripe pear is so delicate and fleeting that I have trouble using it as a frontal flavor in desserts as the slightest tinge of heat seems to dull the floral... Continue Reading →
Buttery. Salted. Caramel. 