I hadn’t had crème brûlée for years when I came upon it on a restaurant menu last week. Interestingly, rather than serve the classic French dessert in a ramekin, the pastry chef opted for a rather inimitable presentation.
The crème brûlée custard was cut into cubes, arranged on a plate, and then caramelized. A variety of fruity sauces and shredded pieces of cake adorned the dish. The clever presentation inspired this blog post.
A couple of months back I went on a trip to California and discovered the magical banana cream pie at Coco’s Bakery. I’ve had fancier versions before (Tartine Bakery’s creation comes to mind), but Coco’s no-nonsense dessert reigns supreme.
In it, velvety custard and fresh bananas are stuffed into a buttery crust and topped with whipped cream and toasted walnuts. Delicious! I set out on a quest to duplicate Coco’s creation.
A few weeks ago, while browsing the websites of Paris’s top pâtisseries, I spotted Hugo et Victor’s Tarte Fraise (strawberry tart). The pastry’s strawberry-red shell complemented its meticulously arranged strawberry slices superbly—I was quite inspired by its colour.
This weekend, I had a chance to experiment with adding food colouring to tart dough. The results were impressive. The trick is to use a food colouring that does not lose its pigment when baked.
