Bread Together

Yes, this post is about bread; but it's also, and more importantly, about the wonderful pastry chef community that I have so luckily dropped into.  Gone are the days of secret recipes and guarded ideas.  I know I for one could not be as creative were it not for the unselfish brainstorming I've had with other chefs, and I hope vice versa.

We don't like to waste at the restaurant, especially waste our own bread which we lovingly shape and bake everyday.  One Saturday, we produced WAY more bread than we needed, so come the following Monday I was a little stumped as to how to use all of it up in a more creative fashion than the standard bread pudding.  In these situations, I've lately been turning to the Twittersphere, picking the brains of some very talented chefs & foodies.  The response was so prolific, I almost wondered if all my leftover bread would even be enough to try all the suggestions that were coming to me.  More than a couple chefs responded with a genius notion to grind the stale bread into a "flour" and use it as per a normal flour.  Now this idea was more useful than any recipe that could have been given to me, opening up an infinite number of possibilities and usages, allowing me to adapt this "flour" to anything containing real flour.

My first attempt to utilize this new flour is shown above.  A bread macaron shell, sandwiching a filling of salted peanut butter and a honey banana jam.  The Elvis Macaron, as it were.

Other suggestions widely varied, but so many of them were helpful and inspiring:

• Panzanella (Bread Salad)
• French Toast / Bread Ice Cream
• Charlotte Russe
• Summer Pudding / Trifle
• Toast Panna Cotta / Mousse / Flan
• Toast Oil
• Buttery Bread Crumb Coated Cheesecake
• Bread Pound Cake

Thank you to everyone who chimed in: @bttrlovehardwrk, @shunafish, @SwtProvocateur, @PhilipSpeer, @sugar_fairy, @Joe_theBaker, @gaipan, @solarfish30
And to those who followed the stream silently, I hope these ideas inspired you too.

Green Tea Trifle

I've been having fun with desserts in a glass lately.  The latest version is a light and fruity green tea trifle.  We start with a layer of chiffon sponge at the base, modestly soaked in vanilla syrup.  A layer of sweetened azuki beans lies between the sponge and an ever so light matcha green tea mousse.  A disk of matcha marbled white chocolate adds a layer of texture, and fresh pomelo lends its bitter & bright juiciness. 

I'm not sure if the concept of sweet beans has really reached the masses of the western dessert world, but

I grew up enjoying different incarnations of the stuff; like gooey rice flour pancakes stuffed with red or yellow bean paste, mini tapioca suspended in a warm red bean soup, or whole beans atop a "halo halo", the Phillipino take on a snow cone sundae.  I believe applying this ingredient in a more accessible form, like trifle, creates a gateway for our guests to try something new without feeling like they are taking too great a risk.  So far, the response has been positive!

Nice Buns

To quote a Madonna lyric, "I'm not religious, but I feel so moved...", pretty much sums up my urge to make my first batch of hot cross buns since pastry school (i.e. a very long time ago).  With Easter approaching, shops have been lining their windows and shelves with all things buns, bunnies, eggs, and chocolate.  Admittedly, I don't celebrate Easter as a religious holiday.  Much like Christmas, I see it as a vehicle to bestow sweet goodies onto the kitchen crew, as well as bring something nice home to the hub.

Seeking a little help and advice through my ever so reliable Twitter universe, I was led to quite a few different recipes, all of which sounded delicious.  I finally settled on one given to me by @SwtProvocateur, and I'm glad I did.  Original hot cross bun recipes call for currants, but I subbed dried cranberries and apricots instead. 

Granted, they could've benefited from another half hour of rising, but I honestly was so eager to taste one, I just put them in the oven anyway.  A brushing of syrup while still hot gives them an enticing shine.  A single bite of these buns will punch you in the mouth with yeasty, zesty flavor, with cognac soaked fruit to linger long after chewing.  Even the embedded cross is tasty, and lends a beautiful crunchy contrast to the soft, chewy bun.

Thanks to @TheFirstCourse, @stirthepots and @studiokitchen for additional help and support!

C'mon Spring!

Although this winter has been the mildest I've experienced in my six New York years, spring cannot come soon enough for me.  And I cannot wait to put this dish on the menu!  This neon blast of color comes in the form of a spritely rhubarb consomme surrounding a snowy island of greek yogurt granite and petits pois ice cream.  This is a flavor combo I've been thinking about for a while, and was never really sure if it would work.  Now I think, "why wouldn't it?".  Peas and rhubarb both thrive in the same season, and their inherent flavor characteristics should quite complement each other.  Rhubarb's natural sharpness cuts beautifully through the pea's starchy creaminess.  The tangy yogurt and crystallized mint rounds bring balance and texture. 

My only concern now is how people will respond to it.  Would the average diner really feel comfortable ordering a dessert with peas in it?  And if they did order it, would their palates "get it"?  There's only one way to find out.

Quick Danish

The restaurant is situated inside a luxury condominium building, and is therefore contracted to provide breakfast to the residents.  Some pastry chefs may see this obligation as a burden and will try to outsource their baked goods.  I see it as an opportunity to get creative and to teach my cooks & externs a new skill they wouldn't necessarily learn in a restaurant environment; but my team is small and I don't often have a lot of time to dedicate to breakfast. 

Enter: the quick danish.  The dough is easily made in the Robot Coupe (similar to a rich pie dough, but yeasted), and we make small enough batches to roll by hand.  Each time we make it, we try to play with different shapes and fillings.  For this round, we whipped up some spicy sweet date butter using an excess of dates from an old winter dish.  It was then spread on a sheet of dough and sprinkled with dried apricots.  We rolled it, sliced it, proofed it, and baked it, and finished the tray with a little apricot glaze and a drizzle of icing.  A quick danish doesn't go through the rigorous lamination process of the classic version so won't expand as much, but the finished product is still flaky, with a crisp bite and moist, tender interior.

Other variations have included a windowed strip with raspberry-ricotta filling, chocolate pinwheels and pear & almond swirly-cup-things.