First Croquembouche

One might wonder how a pastry chef of so many years can go an entire career thus far without ever making a croquembouche (outside of school, of course).  As my wilting arms struggled to delicately maneuver the 38" tall tower of cream puffs to an off-site wedding venue, I completely understood why.  Because it's a pain in the a**!!  From the time consuming task of dipping each puff, to the next time consuming task of filling them, to the eye-crossing business of dipping & glueing them into place, to the hair-pulling anxiety of making sure the thing gets to where it's supposed to be in one piece.... honestly, no thank you.  Not only is it stressful and tedious, it's a burden on the body too; think sore back, neck kinks, and the "no way around it" burnt fingertips.

Funnily enough, as soon as the tower was put into place and ready for the party, all that previous angst just melted away.  And that's what true satisfaction can do... it makes everything worth it.

My version veers from the ultra classic in that it doesn't sit on a sugary nougatine pedestal, but instead on and around a foam base and cone plastered with the bakery's logo.  I felt this would drastically limit any possibility of collapse during transport, as well as afford us a little branding opportunity.

The amber baubles of caramel choux were set into 

demi-sphere silicone molds after dipping, which gave them their bon bon-like sheen.  This technique also keeps the shape of each puff more uniform and round.

If you've never made one, or it's just been a really long time since, go for it.  Just do a few push ups and arm curls first.

Mother's Day Macarons

May means Mother's Day in the world of baking and gifting.  And Mother's Day gifting often means flowers.  And wouldn't it be fun to give mom flowers she can eat?

Macarons can take on any shape you like, but the problem is trying to match them.  We made a simple, five-petal daisy template on Word to help us keep every flower uniform.  Notice in the photo below that the piped "petals" have a tiny gap between them.  This allows them to spread slightly when rapping the tray and settling the batter.  They spread just enough to ever so slightly kiss each other at the sides.  When baked, it's nice to see a little definition between each petal (see photo above).

For each recipe, we tinted a fifth of the batter a bright yellow for the centers.  It's fun to know that simple little tricks can create something fun, clever and whimsical.

5-Hour Wedding Cake

I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person at work.  Making lists, checking schedules and calendars, spreadsheets, emails, etc. (btw, this in no way filters into my personal life; I'm a mess at home).

What a surprise to me, then, when our events manager asked me, "How's that wedding cake for tomorrow coming along?". "Uh,

what

wedding cake?"  Her face drops.  I die a little inside.  I check the wall of the week's events, and there it is in plain sight.  Wedding cake for 70 people.  I assure the poor soul the cake will be awesome!  Luckily, the party requested a vanilla-vanilla cake with berries..easy.

It's already 9pm, and my normal list is far from being done.  The party doesn't start till 5:30pm tomorrow, so I decide to take a chance and trust that my few years of pastry experience can make a nice wedding cake in half a day.

Next day, I have four sheet trays of chiffon in the oven by 11:30am.  A silky vanilla buttercream is done in a flash, and my sous prepped a batch of créme legére for the filling the night before.  And before you ask, no, we do not have wedding cake mise en place stored in the freezer for emergencies like this.  I have to slow down to complete the tedious task of measuring and cutting strips of acetate out of full sheets to fit our ring molds.  On to unmolding the sheet cakes and stamping out three circles for each of the four tiers.  Layering, soaking, and filling ensues, with the delicious addition of Harry's Berries (epic) strawberries embedded in the créme legére.  A quick freeze sets everything into place before removing the rings and acetate.  The "cake turntable-buttercream smoothing thing" takes the most time and focus, especially with four separate cakes, and especially if I want all the tiers to be the same 3 1/4" height... and especially if you're rusty at it like me.  Another quick freeze before assembling, using our bar straws as support stilts for each ascending tier.  It's 4 pm and the cake is built..whew!!  Now for the business of making it look wedding-worthy.  A little more buttercream to seal any seams and gaps, and some simple piping to make it look elegantly finished.

Technical cake ability aside, the success of this endeavor came down to luck and equipment.  Lucky that the couple chose a cake flavor that required all readily available ingredients.  Lucky that their impeccable taste in flowers allowed me to garnish the cake with gorgeous color and shape.  I would've been severely set back without our trusty blast-chiller.  And our stock of ring molds and gadgets kept the process running smoothly.  And I feel most lucky that I have a team to help me out and/or stay out of my way when I need them to.

When it came time to cut the cake, I stole half a slice, to taste of course!!  The freshness and integrity of the ingredients were so apparent, the taste so delicious, that it almost convinced me to make EVERY wedding cake this way.

Easter 2014

A post on chocolate eggs and bunnies a week after Easter?  Perhaps it's a testament to how busy we were during the holiday.  Or maybe the fact that sitting at a computer for more than 45 minutes gets me nodding.  Instagrammification might also be the culprit.

But anyway... Here it is!  Our 2014 Easter Collection!

The obligatory chocolate bunny definitely came into play this season.  Dark, milk and pink lapins were cast by the dozens and dressed up in bow ties in the bakery's colors.  Some bunnies hopped solo in their own sealed bags, cushioned with shredded paper.  We fashioned a "bunny run" out of a vintage wood tray and moss.

Others got to nest in green paper berry baskets filled with marsmallow eggs and malt balls.

And others just went rogue...

Our 10" tall eggs made quite an impression with fans, intrigued to know what surprise would lie inside.

Non-chocolate items included fun egg shaped petits beurres dotted with homemade jam and zagged with a little royal icing.

Also on offer, though less popular, happened to be my favorite: fruitcake!  Not just for Christmas, guys. Easter fruitcake really is a thing and it's delicious and NOT dry.  We loaded ours with Armagnac-soaked fruit and chunks of marzipan that caramelized and almost turned date-like in baking.

Overall, I'm happy with what we put out for our first Easter.  There is always room for improvement and now, we have about 10 months to start preparing for next year!  I am determined to make creme eggs in 2015!!

Crème Brulée Éclairs

Our latest addition to the éclair line-up at the bakery is this über yummy Chai Tea Crème Brulée. 

Bite through the candy-crunch shell of amber caramel, and you'll be rewarded with a frangrant and silky cremeux center.

This was another collaborative project with one of my cooks who came up with the crème brulée idea. Chai tea is one of my favorite flavor "profiles" because it can be so complex yet warm and homey feeling at the same time.  The filling gets much of its creaminess from a fair amount of Dulcey, a caramelized white chocolate product of Valrhona, which also enhances the flavor of the tea.

Chai Tea Cremeux

Fills about 50 5-inch éclairs

500 g  heavy cream

550 g. whole milk

40 g. loose chai tea (we use Harney & Sons brand)

200 g. egg yolks

100 g. sugar

550 g. Dulcey chocolate, melted

6 g. gelatin leaves

Scald cream and milk and whisk in tea.  Turn off the heat, cover, and allow to steep 5 minutes.  Pour this liquid into the yolks and sugar that have been previously blanched.  Return to a clean pot and cook slowly, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it reaches 85C.  Strain this anglaise over the chocolate and bloomed gelatin.  Buzz everything together with a hand blender and chill over ice with a sheet of plastic on the surface.  It is best to hold the cremeux overnight in the fridge before using.