back to work!

I do not bake much in the summer. My work slows down to a crawl. While we usually have 10 events or more a day, in the summer months we are lucky to have four a week. Everyone in the kitchen slows down in the heat, doing only what is necessary, lingering in the walk-ins. We do each other's jobs while our co-workers are on vacation, enjoying the variety in task. But today it officially felt like fall! The sky was still dark as I headed to the train. The day began in a fog. I arrived in the kitchen later than I had planned, after a sleepless night taking care of my sick elderly dog. It was a full day, with cheese cakes that had to be cut and plated for fifty in time for lunch, flats of strawberries to be cut and macerated, along with finishing all items for the first day of our new menu. I worked through my break, just finishing in time for the lunch parties to begin, when the Executive Chef told me the bad news-he had forgotten to tell me that a cake was needed for 30 people for tomorrow, at 730 a.m. Who eats cake for breakfast? And me with a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, not able to stay late. So I feverishly began to measure out the ingredients of a genoise in between directing the waitstaff to their platters of cookies and spooning strawberries onto cheesecake.

Then the call from the front desk came. the Health Inspector had just arrived.

Now, I work in the cleanest and most up to code kitchen that I ever have-the imitation lavender scent of fabuloso floor cleaner being a smell I will always connect to the club- but the word health inspector will get the adrenaline flowing in any chef. The kitchen staff scrambled, looking for hats, like a scene from a Julia Roberts movie. I could hear the notes of brown eyed girl in my head. we freshened plastic buckets of sanitizer, wrapped everything we could get our hands on in plastic and waited. the inspection went well, but we lost a breathless hour of work while we watched him go from station to station, computer in hand.
I managed to get the genoise in the oven and baked before I had to fly out the door, leaving instructions for the night crew on where to leave the cooled cakes for me and how to plate and garnish the new desserts. As I wrestled out of my chef whites I had the flash of what was happening-the busy season has begun!
I am excited about my new menu, and it inspired a new direction for this blog. every month I will share the recipes and techniques I use for my menu at work. I have three desserts that change, along with a seasonal sorbet, and a tiny cookie that we use as a mignardise. I will write about a dessert item each week, ending with the sorbet and cookie. I hope you enjoy it!

September's Menu

Honey Mousse with Fig cream, caramelized figs and an orange honey lace fan
Roasted Peach Turnovers with Ginger Ice Cream and a Chunky Blackberry Compote
Chocolate Hazelnut Torte with Kahlua Fudge Sauce and a Hazelnut Linzer Cookie
Fresh concord grape Sorbet

read this book right away!

I just got a copy out of the library-have I mentioned how wonderful the Boston public library is? they have everything, and I can have all my books delivered to my local branch down the street. amazing. I always preview cook books at the library before I buy them-this way I can test a few recipes, see if I like how they are presented, before making the commitment.
anyway, Hello, Cupcake, written by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson has made it onto my purchase list. it is a beautiful, creative book that shows you step by step with Alan Richardson's gorgeous photographs how to construct the coolest, cutest cupcakes I have ever seen. Horses with wafer cookie necks! penguins with chocolate cookie wings! how to make a whole pack of different breed dogs! i cant wait for any excuse to try my hand at these delightful cupcakes. I added a link to their website, which gets updated with more ideas. fun fun fun!

Mango Mousse

This is a cheery, light confection that is a great do-ahead dessert for when you are having company come over. I reach for this mousse when the season is changing, and I am tired of the winter fruits, but the first local berries have not arrived. I love mango for it's fresh, unusual flavor and its beautiful color. Although I love the smooth texture of mousse on its own, it is equally delicious with bits of diced fresh mango folded in at the end. and it will look speckle-y! we are lucky to live in a section of Boston (Jamaica Plain) that is rich with Latin markets, and close to Brookline, where there are many Indian markets. Both of these shops are a great place to buy inexpensive ripe mangoes. For the quickest dessert in the land, slice super fresh mango and sprinkle it with fresh lime juice-delicious!

many baking friends have expressed a little fear around making a mousse-I think anything that involves a lot of folding makes a green baker a little nervous-but mousses are very simple to put together and fast! I like to think of the process as making 3 bases that will be put together-the egg base, the cream base and the gelatin flavor base. Once these three steps are prepared, a few quick folds and you are done! what could be simpler?

mango mousse

1 cup mango puree
1 envelope powdered gelatin or 4 sheets
1 1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
4 egg whites
1 cup heavy cream
diced mango (optional)

First step-measure out all the ingredients. I have not discussed the idea of mise en place yet-french for everything in it's place. It is a very good idea to have all your ingredients measured and ready before beginning the process of baking anything. this includes having your baking pans greased and lined! But it is imperative when making a mousse-timing and temperature is everything when mousse making, or making anything that is gelatin based.
so, once everything has been measured out, put a small pot of water on to boil. place the fruit puree, 1 cup of the sugar, and a pinch of salt into a small heat proof bowl, and put it on top of the boiling water to warm it up and to dissolve the sugar. you want it to feel hot to the touch.

while this is warming up, dissolve the gelatin in cold water. while powdered gelatin works fine, I want to take this opportunity to sign the praises of sheet gelatin. sheet gelatin, usually an import product from France, is gelatin that is pressed into thin clear sheets. it is easier to use that powdered, a much purer product made from superior protein sources and has a much cleaner taste. I became a convert last winter while making homemade marshmallows last winter for a drinking chocolate dessert. while the marshmallows made from powdered gelatin looked fine, they had a noticeable odd flavor-almost gamey. I tried the same recipe using sheet gelatin, and they came out lighter, fluffier, and with no noticeable taste at all! I will never go back! If you use sheet gelatin, you do not need to measure the cold water. once the gelatin is dissolved, you will be able to take it out of the water with your hands, squeezing out the excess water. I hope you get a chance to try it!

o.k. so back to the mousse. once the gelatin has softened, remove the fruit puree mixture from the stream bath and place the gelatin in another heat proof bowl, and dissolve that over the steam.
Once it is completely dissolved, stir it into the fruit, and place it in a large bowl, to let it cool down a bit.


In yet another clean bowl (yes another bowl) or in the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tarter until they are a soft peak. Something to keep in mind about egg whites is that they are easier to separate when they are cold, but beat much stiffer and more quickly with out becoming grainy when they are at room temperature-or even warm! so if you forgot to take the eggs out, once you have separated them, you could warm them by whisking them in a bowl over that handy pot of boiling water you have. Just keep them moving or they will begin to cook. They only need to be warm to the touch to whip up nicely. once they have reached this stage, begin to slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until the whites are stiff. put aside.

now, in ANOTHER bowl (I hope you have a lot of bowls) beat the heavy cream until it reaches a soft peak. you are now almost ready to fold!.

whisk the fruit/gelatin mixture until it cools down a bit. it is important that it does not get too cool, or the gelatin will begin to set up. when it is warmish, whisk in about 1/4 of the whipped whites. this lightens the fruit mixture and makes it easier to fold everything together without deflating the rest of the whites. Now plop the rest of the whites on top, and gently fold the two together. the trick to folding is to make a smooth motion with your rubber spatula, down the middle to the bottom of the bowl, then over to the top. with your other hand, move the bowl a quarter turn, then fold again. when the whites are almost completely Incorporated, do the same process with the whipped cream. fold in fruit if you feel like it. Now you are done! Pour the mousse into glasses-martini glasses are fun, or wine glasses-anything that will show off your hard work. let it set up the the fridge for at least 4 hours, or over night. I like to serve this mousse with a salad of fresh mango and lime zest, garnished with a slice of dried mango.

A word about egg safety-you may have noticed that this egg uses raw egg whites. Although I have never encountered it, salmonella is a serious food born bacteria that can seriously harm (or kill!) someone with a compromised immune system-that's your friends who are young, elderly, or anyone with a compromised immune system. Please do not feed them raw eggs! and for those of you who are just plain nervous about raw eggs in general, you can find cartons of pasteurized egg whites in the dairy section of most markets. I do find that pasteurized eggs do not perform as well as fresh ones, but peace of mind is worth a mousse that is perhaps a touch less light.

The work of Roland Mesnier

Roland Mesnier was the White House pastry chef for almost 25 years. Recently retired, he has published three books, two cookbooks- Dessert University and Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes, and a memoir, All the Presidents' Pastries.

The memoir chronicles Chef Mesnier's childhood in the small town of Bonney, his rise from an apprentice to working for chefs in some of the finest hotels in the world, including the Savoy in London, to his position as White House Executive Pastry Chef. My favorite part of the book is the early chapters detailing Chef Mesnier's early days as a baker's apprentice. They offer a wonderful window into a world that, at least in the U.S., is almost extinct. As an apprentice, the budding young chefs would spend a year washing pots and mopping the floors of the kitchen before they were allowed to even crack an egg. The apprentice would live with the family they worked for, sharing meals. Early hours, long days and very little wages marked the introduction to the pastry world. Only the most diligent, committed and hard working would be allowed to continue on with their education. It is no wonder the French revere their bakers-they have earned every fold in their white toque!

Of course, the heart of the book is the years Mesnier spent in the White House. In the 25 years Mesnier spent as Executive Pastry Chef, he worked under the Carter, Reagan, Clinton and both Bush administrations. Having to learn the taste and style of each family as the administrations changed hands, Mesnier offers a fascinating glimpse into the stressful life of cooking for the first families, but always with a professional hand. I have to admit that I felt I it was a little TOO professional. He admits that Nancy Reagan was difficult to please and that with the Clintons it was like having two Presidents in the White House (double the work!) since Hillary would be giving her own lunches and dinners as the same time as Bill. But I was left longing for juicier tid-bits. He must have had to sign a hefty non-disclosure form to work so closely with the first families.

The impression Mesnier did leave me with was how incredibly stressful the the job was-on call 24 hours a day, always on display, your work always judged-you were only as good as last night's souffle! and so much was hanging on impressing visiting dignitaries, and being sure not to offend them.

What surprised me most was the desserts that were served in the White House. Instead of plated desserts, Chef Mesnier would make display pieces for the tables, showcasing his sugar work, which he is a master of. There were a lot of sugar sculptures that would be punctuated with molded sorbet, the actual edible part of dessert. I found myself hungry for more talk about the food-its preparation, the tricks of the trade, the complex flavors. After the third big dinner, I did not want to hear any more about sorbet!

So to get down to some solid food talk, I highly recommend Mesnier's Dessert University, a fabulous collection of White House recipes that includes excellent instructions on technique. I have not made anything from this book that I did not love. He even includes a chapter on basic sugar work, ambitious for the home baker. This book is peppered with White House stories as well, and somehow feels more intimate. But the reason to buy this book is for the recipes, well tested with clear instruction, innovative ideas as well as the classics-try the basic crepes-this is a must have for any one who loves to bake.

I just got my hands on a copy of Chef's new cookbook-Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes. I have not had a chance to bake anything from it yet, but it follows in Mesnier's Dessert University tradition of combining great technique, fascinating white house stories, delicious sounding confections and gorgeous photography. I will report back when i have had a chance to delve in!

happy memorial day!

Nothing says summer like strawberry shortcake-so to kick off the unofficial beginning of summer, here is my version-slightly sweet, tender biscuits smothered in whipped cream and macerated strawberries.

Strawberry Shortcake

for the fruit

1-2 pints of strawberry
sugar to cover them
zest of one orange

for the cream

1 pint heavy cream
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the biscuits

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream

pre heat your oven to 375 F

rinse the berries in water, remove the tops, and slice them. add the orange zest (and maybe a splash of grand marnier if you have a bottle laying around) and sprinkle the top with sugar. mix with you hands and let sit out at room temp while your biscuits are baking.

time to make the biscuits!

in a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. I use part cake flour for tenderness. if you do not have any, go ahead and use all purpose flour.
cut in the butter by using quick pulse motion-if you just run the processor at this stage, you risk the chance of the heat of the machine warming up the butter and making a doughy mess. besides, it is too easy to over process the dough. be gentle! pulse! it is ready when the mixture looks like coarse corn meal and is a pale yellow color.
I always stop with all the mechanics at this point and dump everything in a big bowl. I like to add the cream by hand, so I can keep a hand in the dough. like when making pie dough, weather, water content in the flour & butter etc. can effect the dough-you do not want to add too much cream or the dough will be difficult to work with-a sticky mess that will cling to your hands!
drizzle half of the cream over the flour mixture. fluff the mix with your hand, and add some more. when the dough comes together you are done. if you need a little more cream, this is o.k. too. you are looking for a dough that stays clumped together, but is not too sticky. I give the dough about 4-5 folds while still in the bowl.
lightly flour a large cutting board. you can lightly flour the table, but I like just being able to pop the cutting board in the sink and not having to clean up such a big mess. plus, if you wash it in a dish washing machine, you can guarantee that the surface you're rolling the dough out onto is sterile. I flour the surface, then roll my rolling pin over it so it gets coated in flour, but not too much. pat down the dough with your hands as much as you can, then use the pin until the dough is about 1/2 inch thick. I use a rectangular cutter to avoid having tons of scraps and having to re-roll them, making a tougher biscuit. Place the biscuits on a parchment covered cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
in a small bowl, whisk together an egg & some milk or heavy cream until the egg is well mixed in. brush the tops of the biscuits with this, then sprinkle the top with sugar if you like-I like the crunch of coarse sanding sugar, but it is not necessary. bake, spinning the pan 180 degrees every 10 minutes to ensure even baking, until the biscuits are golden brown and feel firm-ish to the touch. a cool trick is that an almost baked biscuit will feel heavy-a baked one will feel lighter. same with scones. try it out, it is a great test for done-ness.
while the biscuits are cooling, whip up the cream until it reaches stiff peaks. I use a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this, but it is not too difficult to do by hand. if you are using a machine, avoid the temptation to use speed 10-I usually let my cream beat up slowly-it gives it more time to add more air, and it allows you to make sure you do not mistakenly end up making butter.
I think shortcakes are best when all the layers have time to meld together, so if I am serving them to guests I like to assemble them about an hour ahead of time, and let them sit in the fridge. Pull the out about 15 minutes before serving so they are at room temperature.
Happy Summer!

Blueberry muffins (or any flavor you like!)

I wear many baking hats at the club, making desserts for the dining room and private functions; I bake bread from time to time, make biscuits or a cracker for the savory menus, and I make a ton of breakfast pastry. Out of all the things I make, I think the thing I receive the most compliments on are my blueberry muffins. And the truth is, I love to make muffins. Simple, highlighting the seasons brightest flavors, a fresh muffin is a delight.

Muffins are tiny quick breads, a mixture of flour, leavening, fat and eggs. Most muffin recipes call for vegetable oil as the fat, and I think this is a big mistake. For a tender crumb and the best flavor, the fat has to be butter. Here is how I do it!

Blueberry muffins

1 3/4 cups unbleached white flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 orange and one lemon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 ounces of butter, cold and cut into bits
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup light cream
2 cups of fresh blueberries.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F, and spray a muffin pan with veggie oil spray, and line the tins with muffin cups if you have them-if not, make sure you spray really well.

next I measure out all the dry ingredients into one bowl, including the zest. add the butter. using a food processor with the steel blade, or using a stand mixture with the paddle attachment cut in the butter, until the mixture turns a pale yellow and looks like coarse corn meal. I think it is easiest to use a food processor, but a stand mixer works just as well-just make sure you do not over mix.

In a large bowl whisk together the vanilla egg & cream. plop the butter/flour mixture on top, add the berries, and gently fold it all together. If you are gentle enough, the berries should not break apart. it is o.k. of you see little chunks of butter here and there, but not too many. You know you are finished folding when you do not see any bits of dry flour. as soon as this is true, stop! you do not want to develop the gluten. treat it as if it were pie dough-be nice!

fill the muffin cups all the way up for a good looking, big domed pastry. I always sprinkle the top with sanding sugar-the coarse big chunky sugar that looks like crystals-for a sweet crunch, but they are fine without. Place the pan in the middle of your oven, and give the pan a 180 degree turn every 10 minutes for even baking, until they are done-in about 30 minutes. Use a toothpick or cake tester in one of the middle muffins to check for done-ness. The top will spring back when you give it a poke as well.

if you did not have paper liners, after 10 minutes of cooling, lift the muffins up and let them finish cooling on their sides, still in the pan. this will keep them from sticking, and will keep the bottom from getting steamed.

this recipe is a great one to play with-use any fruit you like. really juicy fruits like peaches should be tossed in a little flour so they will not leak too much liquid, altering the proportions. hard fruit like apples should be sauteed first until they have a little give. take away the orange zest, triple the lemon zest and add poppy seeds. when you are feeling tropical, try mango with lime zest-yum! the other day I took the zest out, whisked instant espresso powder into the cream/eggs and added banana chunks and chocolate chips-these were the chef's favorite. but do not forget the humble blueberry-the classic muffin.

maple rice pudding

When the days are getting longer, and you can feel the warmth of the sun despite the chilly air, its maple sugar time. we had the good fortune to visit the Brookwood farm at the Blue Hills reservation in Milton during maple season this march to learn more about syrup making.
Maple sap begins to run when the temperature is above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. The sap runs from the roots to the branches. An average maple tree will give you about 15-20 gallons of sap. It takes 35-50 gallons on maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. The sap has to be boiled down as soon as possible after it is collected. The sap will go bad, losing its sugar, very quickly when it is above freezing. I love fresh maple sap. I remember visiting a sugar house in the woods of vermont years ago, and being given a dixie cup of fresh sap to drink. It has a wonderful green taste, fresh, like drinking new growth. Nothing like its finished product.



The sap is then put on to boil. At the sugar house the sap is boiled in a huge wood fired boiler. At home a large stock pot will do, but make sure it is deep so the syrup will not boil over. It takes anywhere from 2-6 hours for the sap to turn into syrup. The golden amber grade a syrup if made from sap at the beginning of the run. The dark, thick rich grade b syrup (that I live for) is the made from the sap at the end. I always use grade b when baking with maple syrup-it stands up and shouts MAPLE, instead of just sweet.



Maple syrup, and its further reduced friend maple sugar can be substituted almost any recipe. When I was a Pastry Chef at a macrobiotic restaurant, I used maple syrup as a sweetener almost exclusively. Try replacing 1/2 of the corn syrup in a pecan pie with maple syrup, or instead of molasses in a ginger cookie.



March is always a tough month to get through in New England, the light looks like spring but the air feels like winter. In Boston street corners are marked by ancient crusty snow banks that refuse to melt, and the whole world looks dreary. I am always depressed this time of year in the kitchen, dreaming of peaches and cherries and local strawberries, itching for the season to bring me something fresh. And then maple sugar time arrives! I never thought about it this way, but maple syrup is our first crop of the year! One of my favorite maple treats to make is maple rice pudding. Creamy, comforting, warm-it is a simple homey treat for a chilly day. There could not be an easier dessert to make-and here is how to do it!

Maple Rice Pudding

1 quart whole milk
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 vanilla bean
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt

In a large sauce pan, place the milk, the UNCOOKED rice, maple syrup and salt. Give it a good stir. With a paring knife, slice the vanilla bean in half, and scrape the seeds out and into the pan. Put the whole pod in there as well. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Stir the pudding every 5 minutes or so, or the rice will stick to the bottom and burn. Cook until the rice is tender and to your liking-about 1 hour. Do not panic if it takes longer (or shorter!) Just go with how you feel about the texture of the rice. I personally like it to be very soft, so sometimes I cook the pudding for 1 1/2 hours. When the rice is close add in the heavy cream and cook for about 5 more minutes. Take out the vanilla bean (careful of your finger tips, it will be hot!) and spoon the pudding into heat proof bowls. I like to serve this pudding hot, but it can be chilled and eaten cold as well. It will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you like it cold, whip a cup of heavy cream with 2 TB maple syrup to dollop on the top.

almond macaroons

when I first arrived at my job as pastry chef at the club, I was told I could do anything I wanted with the dining room menu, as long as I kept on the apple crumb pie and the almond macaroons. neither came as a surprise to me-one of the things I love about the club is the traditional new england food we serve among the fancier fare-scrod with mashed potatoes, the apple pie, fish balls on fridays. but what did surprise me was how many plates of macaroons I would sell, and how often I would be making them!

macaroons are some of the oldest known cookies. they date back to the late 18th century. They were created in an Italian monestary. The name macaroon comes from the Italian word for paste-maccarone. The recipe was carried into the world by a pair of Carmelite nuns, who baked and sold the cookies while in hiding during the French revolutionary war, to pay for their housing. they were known as the "macaroon sisters".

macaroons were very popular in the United States during the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was a macaroon lover, and they were served in the White House. Jefferson's own recipe for macaroons, found in "Thomas Jefferson's Cookbook" gives instruction on how to make almond paste, by pouring boiling water over the nuts to remove the skins and to soften the meat. the almonds were then pounded with a mortar and pestle.

luckily for us in the 21st century, with store bought almond paste, macaroons are quick and easy to make (and require very little muscle). macaroons are in fact, only a combination of three ingredients-almond paste, sugar and egg whites. here are the proportions:

8 oz. almond paste (make sure it is not marzipan, which has more sugar and it not used for baking)
4 oz. sugar
1 egg white

Pre heat your oven to 325 F. temperature is key here-macaroons are a slow baking cookie. If your oven runs hot, you may want to try 300. or invest in a oven thermometer-its worth it!

Begin by breaking up the almond paste into walnut size chunks, and place the sugar on top, in the bowl of a stand mixer. I always make macaroons in a a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment. you could use a food processor, using the blade and a "pulse" motion. if you are machine-less, use you fingers, and work the ingredients like you were cutting butter into flour for a pie crust. On low speed, mix the paste and sugar together, until the paste breaks apart, and the mixture looks like coarse sand, like on a beach in Maine. I can always tell that this step is finished by the sound of it-it begins to sound like one of those rice filled maracas that they let me play in elementary school band. time to add the egg white-as is-no fancy whipping, the white is there to hold everything together and give the cookie that wonderful chewy texture.
let it mix until it forms a ball or two-there is no gluten here to worry about developing, but you can over beat the almond paste, which will make the cookies greasy.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat pan liner. I always use a pan liner for baking cookies. it makes the world a better place to live in, with less stress and time wasted cleaning. But I cannot emphasize this step enough when it comes to macaroons-they will stick to your non lined pan. scoop the cookies with a smallish ice cream scoop, and place about 2 inches apart. they do spread a tiny bit, and I like to give them space so the air can circulate and dry the outside out. I usually put a slivered almond on top of each cookie. Place the cookie sheet in the center of the oven, and bake for about 20-30 minutes, until the cookies are a light golden brown. color is really the only way to tell if the cookies are done. they change texture completely as they are cooling, the outside forming a crisp outer shell to the sweet chewy center. which brings me to the 2nd most important step in macaroon baking-do not try to remove the cookies until at least a half an hour passes by. if you try to remove them while they are still warm, the bottom of the cookies will stick to the parchment, pulling their insides out, and you will be left with only a warm hollow shell.

I serve almond macaroons dusted with confectioners sugar and topped with fresh berries at the club, but they are wonderful as is with a cup of tea. hope you enjoy them!