chocolate hazelnut sponge cake

This recipe was created by Elizabeth Faulkner for the October issue of Bon Appetit. I didn't finish it with the decorations because I was mainly curious about the techniques she used in the components. The cake was a traditional sponge cake which called for whole eggs and yolks beaten until light and fluffy, egg whites with granulated sugar and corn syrup beaten until frothy and cocoa powder and all purpose flour folded in at the end. I didn't like the cake that much. It wasn't a bad recipe, I just don't like sponge cakes. I hate cakes that need to be soaked with something like simple syrup (or as this recipe called for, straight up brandy) in order to make them moist.
The two layers of filling, a hazelnut ganache and a hazelnut mousse, were incredibly delicious. The ganache had no chocolate in it, which I found curious. Hazelnut butter, hazelnuts toasted and ground into a paste, replaced the chocolate and I loved the result. It was savory and rich and I want to try it as a bon bon filling as soon as possible. The mousse was terrific as well. I was thrilled that it didn't call for any gelatin in the mousse because I HATE gelatin in mousse. It ruins the texture for me.
What amazed me the most was how important it was to let the cake hang out in the fridge for a few days before eating it. I tried slivers of the cake the day I made it and each of the following two days. For me, it tasted best on the second day. The flavors came together and the mousse had time to soak into the cake and make it more soft and moist.

Charlotte Patisserie

I can't believe it's been almost 2 years now since I graduated from the French Culinary Industry. After graduation, only a few of my classmates went on to work in the culinary industry and no one yet has opened their own store front. That is until two weeks ago. Mike Lechowicz is the first person from my pastry class to open his own place. He named his French-inspired pastry and coffee shop Charlotte Patisserie because "Charlotte" sounds French but also means "apple pie" in Polish. Cute. His shop is on bustling Manhattan Avenue just steps away from McCarren Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Everything in the display case looked so delicious---cakes, tarts, macarons, danish, scones, croissants. Best of all, he brews Counter Culture beans in a shining La Marzocco espresso maker.


The shop's interior was lovely, all exposed brick and dark woods with stainless steal accents. Mike did the build-out himself and installed all the plumbing. He said the building used to be an All-State Insurance office, though he did such an amazing job with the space that you can't even tell.

He also has access to a spacious backyard area where he plans to have outdoor seating along with wine and savory offerings in the near future.


So if you're in the Greenpoint area, definitely drop by and enjoy a cappuccino and a buttery almond croissant. Mike gets up at 4 a.m. every day to bake them fresh and I guarantee you'll love them.

it's freezing out so I made ice cream

tarte tatin ice cream
rich vanilla bean ice cream base
+
salted caramel sauce
+
crunchy puff pastry nuggets
+
brown sugar-glazed apples
=

frozen heaven

let's play ball

chocolate cake with vanilla bean buttercream
This was a birthday cake for the two-year-old son of a terrific friend and sous chef, Roger. Roger is an amazing pastry chef and an incredible chocolatier. You can check out his cakes and candies on his Playroom Dessert Company facebook page.

Roger contacted me this week and asked if I had time to make his son's birthday cake. The only specifications he gave me were that it should be 12" round, have chocolate cake and vanilla buttercream and have a sports ball theme. I wanted to do something colorful and dimensional because what kid wouldn't love that? I knew I got it right when I delivered the cake. Roger's son Danny saw it, smiled, and immediately tried to grab the baseball right of the top. Mission accomplished.

I would also like to take this time to say how much I appreciate having a great partner like Anthony. Anthony had to work this weekend so I did the majority of this cake solo. GEEZ. I'd forgotten how much longer it takes when you do everything yourself. Especially rolling out fondant, which he is always nice enough to do for me when we work together.

mac practice

macarons with salted caramel filling
I'm a little out of practice with macs since I've been in a cubicle for the past five weeks, so I decided to break out the piping bag this weekend. I've shown the stages above: piped, baked, filled and, of course, eaten.

I want to make these again so that next time I can hide a tiny nugget of green apple pâte de fruit (fruit jelly coated in sugar---like those fruit slices you can buy in candy stores) in the middle of the filling. It will taste like a caramel apple then!

I had a life-changingly good macaron this weekend at Francois Payard Bakery in Soho. The outer shell was delicately crispy and the inside velvety soft. GO GET ONE NOW. I recommend pistachio, or if you're feeling Halloweenish, pumpkin.


fudge ripple
And you know I can't go a weekend without making ice cream. I kept it simple today. Vanilla ice cream with ripples of thick, fudgetastic chocolate. I liked it so much, I shot it on a bright pink background. Très jolie.

picture time

vanilla cake with nutella buttercream
This darling ladybug-on-a-leaf cake was for a first birthday party. I snapped pictures as the cake came together so I could do a play-by-play for you.

So let's get started.


We built the ladybug's body using 3 ten inch cake layers, 2 six inch cake layers and lots of Nutella buttercream. After the cake chilled, I carved it into a round mound that Anthony thinly crumb-coated.


Next, we covered the body in fondant and airbrushed it red. While the body dried, Anthony formed the head out of Krispies and we covered it in black fondant.

We've found that it's nearly impossible to get a true black by coloring or airbrushing white fondant. We just keep a small tub of black fondant on hand instead.


The rest was simple. We assembled the body and head on top of cake boards I had cut into a leaf shape and tricked our little lady out with antennae, spots and lots of sugar flower daisies.

Anthony liked the daisies.

And I liked the cake scraps.

short and sweet. and frozen.

tres leches ice cream
Creamy coconut ice cream. Crispy coconut and vanilla bean meringues. Squares of buttery cake soaked in coconut milk.

Chris's favorite cake also makes a stellar ice cream.