Revisit

On our day off this past Monday, we attended a food and restaurant industry expo to learn of any new trends or new products being introduced. So, essentially, it was a work day I guess. Now that we have been operating for a while, it is so much easier to navigate through the countless booths since I have a clearer idea of what we need. We came across some savory vendors and of course I'd always like to fantasize about serving a savory menu in addition to our desserts at Honeybee. "One step at a time," I'd always have to remind myself. Having a savory menu would open up an entirely different world of items to address: the dining ware, cutlery, table service? Would we even be considered a pâtisserie anymore? Perhaps a bistro! Well, wouldn't that be nice?

Afterwards, we had a dinner reservation at my old workplace. The old workplace that is now categorized as American rather than French with a new executive chef and pastry chef. The setting was the same as I last remembered it but the atmosphere was slightly different. The attire of the servers and runners had been revamped, now donned in a slick vest. The cooks and pastry cooks wore a trendy blue apron over their whites rather than the mundane yellowing white apron. The food itself was most noticeably different. The flavors of each savory dish were strong, sometimes overwhelming. It was delectable and necessary to consume slowly to enjoy it to the fullest extent. The desserts were a work of art. The plating was so intricate and beautiful. Of course I had to take photos to give credit to Diana, who did the plating on most of these.

It was really nice to be back again; to be treated like family despite so many unfamiliar faces who now work there. I'm so glad that my old colleague/friend had invited me to visit. The hospitality had been warm and friendly as usual. It was yet another memorable meal at The Modern. Hope to be back again sometime soon.

Being there gave me a nice surge of memories and a hint of desire to be back at a fine dining establishment. That dinner service rush with the tickets pouring in. Being swift, precise, and delicate with your movements. Having a pastry team family. Perhaps one day again. Honeybee ain't so bad either. If only there was a bigger pastry team instead of me being so lonesome on most days!

Anyhow, bed time again. À tout à l'heure.

Surviving Valentine's Day

And so I have experienced my first Valentine's at the shop. Friday wasn't so bad. Saturday was manageable. Sunday: the day that honors Saint Valentine himself. Cakes flew off the shelves much quicker than I had anticipated. It was such a bitterly cold weekend so it was surprising to see the number of people coming in! All in the name of love, I suppose. It was rather touching to think people were choosing our cakes to make up part of their celebration. Luckily, I had stayed up until 5am the night prior to decorate our Love with Coffee cakes! They were all gone before the end of the night. I surely hope many hearts were filled with happiness from these desserts. So the theme I've decided on for our specials was "time". I kept wondering, what's the best gift you can give to someone you love? Your time is the most valuable gift. 

The sugar cookie set, aka LOVE Cookies, took a good 3 full days worth of time just for the royal icing decoration alone. Needless to say, there was the dough making, rolling, chilling, cutting, and baking. The Saint Honoré took time in assembly by dipping each individual choux in hot caramel and adhering it to the base. On a side note, caramel is very prone to cooking your fingers if you aren't careful. Another little pastry knowledge: Saint Honoré is the patron saint for us bakers and pastry peeps. Why not honor the saint of pastries on a day of love, right? Blossom, a raspberry cheesecake, took time to slowly bake at low temperatures to ensure a creamy texture sans cracking. Love with Coffee, the most time consuming of all, needed time set aside for piping individual flowers to adorn each mini cake of 3 layers generously soaked with a coffee syrup. Each mini cake needed to be crumb coated, chilled, and frosted smoothly along the edges just like its adult versions. So did I stick to the theme successfully? Or was that too boring to read through? haha Well, regardless of the sleepless nights, I enjoyed every moment spent on these. It was nice to make something different from our usual menu and I hope the recipients felt the love put into each of them!

On a more personal level, my husband bought me a box of heart shaped doughnuts from one of my favorites, The Doughnut Plant. I'm not a flowers and diamonds kind of gal so food would be the best way to my heart. Extra points if it's sweet. 

Anyway, it's getting kinda late. It seems like this is the only free time that I have to blog a little. Another day to tackle tomorrow. I wish I had some hi-def photos to post up but I didn't even get the opportunity to do any proper photo shoots. So sad!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Is anyone sick of hearing Christmas tunes playing at every retail location and holiday booths yet? I've been playing it nonstop on Pandora. Trans-Siberian Orchestra will always be my favorite. Even my cat is in the holiday spirit because he's always perched underneath the Christmas tree. So the weatherman says it will be 70's on Christmas Day. This perhaps will be the warmest Christmas in my entire life. Despite the lack of snow, I hope that you all get to enjoy it beside your loved ones accompanied by some deliciously awesome food. I'll still be churning out desserts today and tomorrow for any last minute peeps (or people who just want a place to chill with friends). One more week of busting my chops in the kitchen and then I'll be hopping onto a plane that is headed to Curaçao! Super exciting stuff. This will be my first time stepping foot onto an island. Not only that, I will also get to visit my fellow Le Cordon Bleu alumni friend, Luigi, who operates his own pâtisserie over there. Can't wait to stuff my face with his desserts and everything else the island has to offer. Get to check out the beaches and its clear blue waters. Did I mention that I'm afraid of water and cannot swim? I bought a swimsuit just to fit in. 

Anyway, with the year coming to a close soon, I just wanted to get a blog entry in here. I remember 5 years ago during this time, my boyfriend came to visit me. It was his first time at Paris and he hated it because of how cold and icy it was! Definitely not an ideal time to travel there but if you'd like to avoid crowds of tourists, winter is the best time to go. Even though I barely had any heat in my studio apartment, I remember feeling very warm inside to have someone familiar to me be in the same room as I. Oh gosh, I was suffering major withdrawal when he left though! Especially with the oncoming months of lonely cloudy days. Talk about seasonal affective disorder. Luckily, this time around we'll be somewhere warm and not icy. He has been pretty dedicated to the shop on top of his regular 9-5 job. It's about time that he gets some rest in, even if it will just be for one week. Heck, my body and brain wants to rest too. To think we haven't even been opened for an entire year yet. Man, we're old.

Don't miss us too much. Maybe I'll have created some new items with a cleared state of mind while we're away for the new season. Until 2016 everyone. May you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year filled with love and happiness (and of course, desserts).

Ride or Die

Oh dang, it's been so long since February. A little over half a year. Here I am again, typing this up while feeling that cold air from outside. I'm also extremely tired due to these 12+hr shifts for the past couple of months. In case I failed to mention, we've officially opened! I don't think that actually needed any mentioning since a few publications had already announced it. I'm also half hoping that no one visits this page since it was linked in a public article online earlier. 

It was such an exciting process at the beginning. The brand spankin' new kitchen was ready for use. The test trials for the spring/summer menu. Banana Chocolate Crunch went through 3-4 revisions, which was worth it as it quickly became one of our best sellers. The cleaning itself wasn't that spectacular but I still felt pretty motivated while scrubbing. I was a nervous wreck during the opening month. Even my family and staff noticed. Now that we've been riding this out for nearly 4.5 months, I feel like a pro! I certainly wish that were the case. There's plenty to learn and like recipes, many ways to revise until optimum efficiency is obtained. Some days, I can barely keep up with the amount of production necessary. I do have a kitchen assistant who alleviates some of the work. So, essentially, I no longer have to endure work hours that fall into 4am but rather more so 12am! That's 4 extra hours to do other things, such as ordering, paying bills, and apparently updating my blog. Sleep is so overrated! 

But in all seriousness, this position has been such a killer on the mind and body. My knee has been aching and on occasion, I'd have to limp a little but I can't stop working. Have a splitting headache? Suck it up, pop a pill, and keep going. Lacking sleep accompanied by blurry vision? All these motions have been so repetitive so it should come naturally. Keep the arms and legs moving. When I feel like passing out, the words etched on a friend's kitchen wall at The Pines come to mind: Ride or Die. That's how I keep myself pushing through time and time again. Autumn has started and the menu needs to transition into the more seasonal ingredients. The mind is so occupied by a number of other priorities but it has to be done regardless. Multitasking is not a special ability. It's a standard... daily.

Sometimes, people question why I make the desserts so complex. If they were simpler, I'd have a much easier time in the kitchen. Time-wise, it sounds very appealing to me but the concept of taking the easy route does not. Perhaps this is due to being surrounded by all the snobbish fine dining influences I've had since I started this journey. No offense. I actually like that they are snobbish because it exudes confidence. I have all these flavors and textures that I love and what better way than to combine them all into one dessert? As long as they play together nicely. It's also how I was trained, anyhow. I'd also much rather spend the extra time and effort on hand making tart shells. I'll confess, I have ordered pre-made before. It only happened once and never again. It felt so weird and more importantly, the flavors just cannot match those made from scratch. 

A number of people find that the pricing of our desserts are a bit high especially when compared to the numerous Chinese bakeries surrounding us. To be honest, this was expected. Without considering the amount of time and effort put into each individual piece, it might appear slightly overpriced for a seemingly small sized pastry. When ingredients, techniques, and difficulty level are put into perspective, the price is in reality relatively cheap. I sometimes question why no one bats an eye when shaved ice desserts range from 7 to as high as 12 (patbingsoo, I'm looking at you) but at times I'd hear someone commenting how a piece of my dessert tastes good but not worth it for the price. Is it because shaved ice looks larger in a bowl? It's essentially water and xx-flavoring that has been frozen and shaved by a machine topped with fruits (sometimes canned?) and mochi pieces to give an example. Not to bash on shaved ice. I frequently order this dessert regardless of price just because it's refreshing and tasty. Just wanted to throw an example out there because I'm seriously confuzzled by consumer perceptions here.

On the other hand, the disgruntled commentary makes it extra comforting when there are people who recognize the work I do and appreciate it. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside to know that I've successfully made someone's day brighter (and stomach happier). At the end of the day, the key learning is: You cannot satisfy every single person. So, I apologize in advance to all those who do not agree with my concept of what a dessert is. If I could, I would cater to everyone's needs but sadly, I can't and I can only hope that people would understand.

That being said, now I want some shaved ice despite how cold it is tonight and how sleep-deprived I am currently. Hope you're all in bed dreaming happy and sweet thoughts. Until next time, y'alls.

Almost One Year and a Little History

So, in one week on February 11th, Honeybee Pâtisserie LLC will be 1 year old! Time really flew by. One year ago, I was so confident that the shop would have been opened by summer. Little did I know! 

The brainstorming really began in the fall of 2013. I was initially going to name it 5Thirty, which was based on a favorite album (05時30分) from my unhealthy childhood obsession with Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau. The story behind that name is it represents the time when most employees get off from work and get to relax. I had wanted the shop to be an oasis from the rush of NYC where people can kick back and enjoy some cakes. That's still the focus currently, in case anyone is wondering. The name was eventually scrapped because I was afraid of copyright infringement of some sort. How heartbreaking would it be to get sued by Andy Lau! My dear friend Pocky suggested naming it after my blog and after some thought, I did. In the following months, I met with a few contractors who enlightened me on the entire process regarding architects and engineers. "What? I need to have approved drawings for you to start work? I can't just tell you I want an oven here and a sink there?" Apparently, that's not how the DoB rolls.

I decided to quit my job and seriously do some research while looking into architects and engineers. It took some time before I found an architect whom I could afford and was somewhat on par with my aesthetic likes. He was officially hired in February along with the engineer. That was when I slapped down the $210 fee to form this company since I needed a registered business to file the drawings under. Then, I had the luxury to discover through lots of direct mail marketing that I was legally bound to publicize the LLC formation in two local newspapers for 6 consecutive weeks within 3 months or else face consequences. I scrambled to get those inserts in and I'm betting not a single person read my notice or even knew it existed. This obligation varies from state to state by the way.

Anyhow, fast forward to May and with just one revision, drawings were approved! I held onto those stamped documents so close to me with tears of joy in my eyes. It was back to the grind again with searching for a contractor. Gosh, those meetings were so utterly painful. They were like disappointing blind dates. Some of them were the type who gave the false pretense that we had a spark but they would never call back or worse, ignore my calls. It took nearly THREE months to finally find someone, who surprisingly lived just around the corner from me. No, I didn't find him by walking around my neighborhood but I did look up licensed contractors on the DoB site under the last name "Chan". I admit, not the best method but it was my last resort. Why "Chan"? That name is more common and yielded more results than "Ng" or any other Chinese name did. Also, I picked Chinese so that they can communicate with my mom if there were any circumstances that needed it (and indeed there were many). I did Google-search these companies as well for their portfolios and some background check so it wasn't entirely random. On a side note, I found out who did the renovation of Saint's Alp Teahouse at St. Mark's Place while I was doing this DoB searching. Too bad they never responded back to my inquiry.

It was at this point that I realized my original budgeting for construction was way off, hence, launching the Kickstarter campaign. Sorry folks, I really did try to find the most cost efficient crew to do the job but unfortunately, given that we're in NYC, there's no escape from exorbitant prices. I think everyone knows the rest of the story from thereon.

This brings us to today where I'm trying to get the gas meter set up but am getting denied because the gas company cannot find DoB's approval in their system. Why do you do this to me, DoB? Why did you miss your payments so often that the meter had to be removed, previous tenant? At least I was able to submit the application for the Food Establishment Permit. Let's see how DoHMH will treat me. Fingers crossed.

Anyhow, I hope that you enjoyed my little history of the 1.5 years into the making of Honeybee Pâtisserie. Did you know that business names are not allowed the use of any accent marks? Legally, we are just "Patisserie" so it does get a little confusing sometimes because the correct way of spelling it is with a circumflex over the "a". I don't think this matters to many people anyway, aside from proficient French speakers perhaps.

Sun is about to rise so I best head to bed. Oh yeah, I was grooving to the 5:30 album as I typed this up. hah. Have a great rest of the week y'alls.

Savoring Final Moments

What an arduous journey it has been so far since the last post. I'm proud to say that we're over 90% complete! The notorious display case that had caused a huge delay (and headache) in the completion of the counter setup finally arrived last week. Man, was that a workout just to shift it from outdoors to indoors. Then, I got sick shortly after when the final touches were being made. We could have reached 95% had I been at the shop instead of sitting at the doctor's office. Thank goodness for technology, messages were being relayed back and forth with the help of my brother and husband. The remaining percentage is just some minor installations (surveillance and POS system), setting up gas account, and passing inspections.

I was asked the other night if I was having fun. Initially, I had wanted to say scream "NO!" because I was mopey dopey over the delays. On the other hand, the question had also made me reflect on what was accomplished so far and despite the tribulations, it has actually been somewhat fun now that phase one is nearly over. There were moments I had really wanted to toss in the towel because there was always an influx of issues one after another. It seriously takes a huge amount of patience and organization. I guess the proper metaphor would be as though you are preparing mise en place for a busy night ahead for the first time at a new restaurant and working a station you had never before. There are so many things in your list to prep but you need to evaluate your time and how efficient you are so that you can have everything ready by the time service begins. Has to be of quality too. No half-assed stuff. Did that make sense? I know. I do that metaphor thing way too often. Anyway, things ended up working out and even though we weren't able to open in 2014, I'm still pretty darn happy that it hasn't come to a complete halt.

It has been partially trial and error. Not every decision made has been the best one but meh, do better next time. Sometimes there's success and sometimes there's mistakes but you try to turn it into something worthy. Okay, I realize that the word should be "failure" as opposed to "mistakes" but I don't believe in failure because I want to succeed. Who doesn't?! Just make sure you don't end up cutting into the building's structural beams because that might be something irrevocable. And yes, that was one of our early major issues. Wasn't my fault though! The plumber decided to take the matter into his own hands without the approval of anyone.

So, that's my update so far. Not sure how insightful this piece was but too late. You've already read it and I've taken up your time. Oh yeah, awning is supposedly scheduled for installation later this week. The whole neighborhood will soon see the store name. Honeybee will no longer be a secret that I have enjoyed keeping all these months.

The Truth Comes Out and Renovation of the Mind

Warning: I am going to share my true experience and it might sound more like a rant so please bare with me. Okay, so my original intention was to keep this pastry shop start-up progress as simple as possible without too many details because I admit that it sometimes get kinda boring to read. I was picturing that I could give off the impression that I've been extremely well composed all throughout and seriously know every single thing I'm doing but dammit, it's been real hard. That's the truth but surely it comes as no surprise to anyone unless you're a pro at this entrepreneurial game or you're just naturally gifted (hats off to all you business owners out there). It's been like running a marathon but you're no where close to the finish line but you have to keep running even though your legs feel like they're about to retire on you any moment. God, how I wish there was a car to just hitch a ride from. Then aside from forcing your legs to move against its own will, there's a crowd of people along the way each holding different signs but they're all essential for paving the path so you have to read each and address every one while you're running. No, you can't wait till next week to handle the issue. This is when I discovered that there really aren't enough hours in the day to complete the to-do list. Sometimes I get so absorbed that I don't realize which day of the week it is. Before I know it, we've been 2.5 months into renovation. Like what the what?!

I've come to realize that no amount of research can prepare you for becoming a business owner. It's helpful to be well versed in codes and regulations but when it really comes down to it, the best learning process is to just jump in. Hands on. Exactly like the kitchen. You can read all the recipes and procedures but you won't know how it looks until you whip out the mixer and start whisking. Learn to adapt to the climate changes. Not every day will be dry. Sometimes it'll be humid and that moisture is gonna mess with your macarons whether you like it or not. I'm still learning and trying to keep up with the pace of things but I tend to think that I've grown less naive and have gained a dose of realism. Sometimes things won't go the way you had planned and you'll have no other option but to revise the recipe. One way or another, it's about finding a method that works best for you.

So I hope this didn't sound as repulsive as I am imagining it did. It's been rather thrilling and I can really see every step being taken. This entire project is unfolding and I'm looking forward to see the outcome. Not only is the space being renovated on but who I am as a business owner as well. I'm learning about my capabilities and finding out where my limitations lay. Only one year has passed and this is just the beginning of a long adventure.

I'll try to be more diligent to my blog as Honeybee grows and hopefully can share some insight with the rest of you. If not, this could also serve as a record for me to look back on in the future and laugh at myself for being such a n00b. It's important to be able to admit faults and take things with a grain of salt. Criticism will always surround you and follow you wherever you go. Don't let it dissuade you though. There's a reason why you quit your steady day job. Never let the passion fade.

On that note, take a gander at my passion. What's a blog post without pictures, right?

Congratulations if you've made it this far. Thanks for taking the time to read my meanderings. I tried to be cohesive but it's late so gonna hit the sack now!

Nearly One Month In

It's been almost about a month since we've begun renovation on Honeybee's space. There's hardly any trace left of what was once a Malaysian restaurant. All stripped naked and rebuilt anew. It's a pretty interesting process. It made me wonder a little about why I hadn't chosen to be an architect instead. hah. Maybe something to consider in my next life!

This is going to be our new electrical panel. It's about 2/3 the size of my body! That's how you can tell that there will be some heavy duty machinery and lighting. Crazy amount of wiring going on.

On another note, our Kickstarter campaign ended successfully. It was a close call but we made it with the help of our many friends, family, and some new faces. I'm currently still waiting on a few backers to respond to the survey so that I can organize all the rewards and its timeline appropriately in my spread sheets. Always spread sheets for everything! I have also been working on my recipes and inventory list on Excel as well! Really comes in handy. Not only in media and sales planning.

What else is new? My sleeping schedule is officially screwed up. Oh wait, that's not really anything surprising. With the sudden cold autumn chill, I also got sick. Hurrah! One of these days, I'm just going to stay in bed all day long...

I wish I can say more but my mind is operating at 1%. If only I could be just like Lucy! (Not that I watched the movie or anything) The sun is coming up and I better head to bed. Catch some zzz's. Update you all next time!

Kickstarting Honeybee

It feels like a lot has happened these past few months, yet, it also feels like not much. It has been such a huge learning experience and an emotional roller-coaster. Lesson #1: Separate personal feelings from business. One good news is: our drawings have been approved by the Department of Buildings! What an experience that was. The concept kept evolving as we encountered issues with codes but finally we have something that looks pretty good and abides by the rules. I'm so excited to see it come to fruition before my eyes. Well, construction hasn't exactly begun yet but at least we have found the contractor to do the job.

During this waiting period, we have been honing our espresso brewing skills. We have been using different beans from local roasters to store branded Archer Farms to mass produced Starbucks. In the end, I found it best to support our local Brooklyn roasters. Sure, it might be a little pricier but we all benefit in the long run. We get good coffee and they get business. Mmm, the smell of coffee is so comforting. Not nearly as good as freshly baked butter cookies because we all know butter is the king of all delicious scents.

We also recently launched our Kickstarter campaign for our Honeybee Pâtisserie shop. I am so thankful to even have the opportunity to get support from 28 backers in just 3 days. It's really amazing how much you can learn from this project alone. 

Here is to aiming for a Christmas opening date. Just in time for my favorite holiday. Let's hope my next update will involve pictures of demolishing walls!

Year of the Horse Gallops Into a New Venture

Happy Lunar New Year! It's been a while since I last updated and with all the excitement going on, I figured I should start recording the process. In the initial stages, I am signed up for the New Business Acceleration Team (NBAT) offered by NYC. One step closer to finally achieving my dream of a dessert cafe. It's really crazy that I sometimes can't believe it's happening despite all the research I've done these past months. With businesses popping up everywhere, I was always under the false pretense that it must be an easy process. Boy, was I wrong. There's so many directions to go and so many priorities, it's difficult to weigh each one. If I ever start to break down, I'll vent here and maybe it'll help me get back up again.

In the meantime, today we made some crêpes. We were emulating the Japanese types that have a slight crunch compared to the French ones. Since it was New Year's, we used pieces of turnip cake (a traditional dish of the holiday) as the filling. This is surely not a traditional way of eating it!

Crêpe Batter

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Pinch of salt
3 eggs

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1¾ cup warmed milk

1. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and salt.

2. Beat eggs into flour mixture with a whisk until fully incorporated.

3. Add half of the milk and melted butter to flour and egg mixture until smooth. Add the rest in. (It will be very liquid but it makes it easier to spread in a pan or if you have a crêpe maker). Let it stand for about half an hour in the refrigerator to relax the gluten.

4. Pre-heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Take the pan off heat and pour a bit of batter in the center. Quickly swirl the pan around so the batter spreads evenly to the edges. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the underside is brown.

5. Lift the edges and flip the crêpe to cook for a few seconds more. Remove from heat. Then garnish as you wish.

These came out a little more buttery than I had wanted so next time I would either lower the quantity to half tablespoon butter or completely omit it. At least the edges were crispy! We also made another one with nutella, sliced strawberries, and bananas but I didn't take a photo of that. Anyhow, the possibilities are endless! I'll be off to assemble another one. Until next time.

Happy Holidays!

Been quite a busy bee lately. Once Halloween passed, Thanksgiving came and flew by. Unfortunately I was unable to prepare a dessert because I went on a road trip with Allen. (Also because I wanted to cook rather than bake this time around) It has been getting more and more busy at work due to the holidays. I feel extremely exhausted after my shift is over but at the same time, quite accomplished to have fed so many diners in one night! Only 2 more nights of work and Christmas will be here!

In celebration of the holidays, I made some peppermint bark. It was my first time so I was not exactly sure of the procedure. I tempered the chocolate as opposed to adding vegetable oil. Lesson learned: don't let the dark chocolate set completely before pouring the white chocolate on top. When I broke them into pieces afterwards, many of the white chocolate pieces separated from the dark chocolate. Luckily, most of them still stayed intact. Phew. Thank goodness I'm not giving these out as gifts. What embarrassment that would be! They're very tasty nevertheless. Just need a cup of Mexican hot chocolate next to it now. Mmmm. Happy Holidays everyone!

The New Dessert: "Poire belle Hélène" Trifle

It's been exactly 2 months since I have been working at the restaurant now and I've realized that the pace of things is a lot quicker than I had expected. Already one of the desserts, what used to be known as the  Stone Fruit Crumble has been transformed to a strudel which shortly changed its filling to apple (to be specific: Northern Spy currently but it changes over time to different local favorites). Has anyone ever tried an apple called Hidden Rose? Amazingly, me being the oddball with fruit allergies, was not allergic from eating a slice of it. When you cut it open, it's really beautiful inside; white weaved in with shades of pink, which gives off an impression of a rose. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have thought of a rose if I saw it without knowing its name.

*Image taken from Flickr

Over the past two weeks or so, the chefs have been developing a new dessert that was to replace my favorite, the Cremeux. After the experimentation and trials, from caramel sauce to chocolate sauce, the "Poire belle Hélène" Trifle was created. Vanilla mousse made with bourbon vanilla beans, a disc of caramel biscuit, Valrhona dark chocolate mousse, Pear William poached pear brunoise mixed in with a sweet gelée, warm chocolate sauce drizzled on, topped with a vanilla marshmallow square: all packed in a little glass jar. Oh and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. At first, I thought the alcohol was too overpowering but that could just be me since I'm prone to the Asian glow. After it became official on the menu, it turned out that there were diners who felt it was too strong as well. With an immediate revision of removing the additional alcohol from the gelée, the dessert has become a hit. I wish I could bring my dSLR into the kitchen but unfortunately, all I have are phone pictures that aren't so clear.

It's really enjoyable to see this entire process. Although every day the work is nearly the same, I'm loving the kitchen. I hope it stays with me for a good long time to come.

Sweet Stuffs and Memories

Since it's quite late, I'll keep this one short. As I had mentioned in the previous post, I had baked some macarons and brioches at home when I did not have work. Last night, I baked some Italian butter cookies (finally not a French pastry!) that I have adapted from Soap Mom's Kitchen. I would have followed the recipe as it was but since I only had 8oz (2 sticks) of butter, I had to readjust the entire recipe. I also just used 2 full eggs as opposed to the whatever ounce it should have been. Anyhow, in the end, I find it to be a pretty good attempt at imitating those sold in Italian bakeries! Ah, one bite and it just reminds me of how mom used to buy them by the pounds. She'd come home with that white box tied up with the red and white bakers twine. Nomnomnom. I think I'd like to keep these homemade from now on!

Here's the recipe for just the basic butter cookie:
8oz (227g) butter, softened
4oz (114g) sugar
2oz (57g) confectioner's sugar
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
12oz (341g) cake flour
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F (177°C). Beat butter in mixing bowl at medium speed with paddle attachment until soft (I heated my butter for a few seconds in the microwave to make the process easier). Cream granulated sugar into the butter until light. Add confectioner's sugar and continue to cream. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary throughout this entire procedure.
2. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Lower the speed and beat in the salt, flour, and vanilla extract. Mix until homogeneous.
4. Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill it with the cookie batter. Pipe 2 inch logs (or whatever shape you prefer) onto parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes. Turn tray and bake for another 7 minutes or until the edges are brown. Cool on rack.

For the Italian butter cookies: After the cookies have been cooled, spread your choice of preserves onto each cookie half and press them together. Melt semi-sweet chocolate (I used an entire Nestle's semi-sweet baking bar) into a bowl. Prepare another bowl with sprinkles. Dip sandwiched cookies into the melted chocolate first then roll them around in the sprinkles. Lay each cookie onto parchment paper for the chocolate to set. Resting these in the refrigerator can also quicken the process as well.

I hope it works out for whomever is going to try this recipe! I was fairly pleased with it. As was my family thankfully.

Work is wearing me out. Not to mention that I got another burn on my arm. Lovely. I definitely need to catch up on my sleep now. Have a good night all!

Belated Post on a Rainy Night

I am yet again very much procrastinating in updating this blog. July was national ice cream month so as I mentioned months ago, I made a Chai flavored ice cream. Didn't get to churn it properly since my container just wasn't cold enough so there were itty bitty pieces of ice in it. Sad news. Better luck next time. I'm not making that flavor again because no one in my household likes Chai apparently! The more popular item is the palmier so I made those again but this time with "European butter". I didn't spot much difference between using good ol American butter versus the European one. So it looks like I can be cheap and use the domestic butter.

Right now I am baking some brioche in the oven. It's too bad that I don't have any molds for them except for one loaf pan so there are 4 buns that look like Chinese roast pork buns. How deceiving! Pictures for these will probably be posted in 2 months at my blogging speed. I also made macarons 2 weeks ago for my company at ADM. It was a joint visit with my fellow pastry chef, Candy, who made Earl Grey cream puffs. Everyone at the office enjoyed them so we were happy! We have fulfilled our duty.

I have also started working at a restaurant last week and I'm already expected to do service solo this week. I better quicken up my pace or else I'll have some angry diners along with an angry chef. I should really be sleeping now or at least in half an hour.

On another note, I finally got to visit New World Mall at Flushing. Food court heaven! One of the dessert places was a replica of Honeymoon Dessert in Hong Kong. They used the same bowls and same menu but instead, it's called Manji Dessert. The Chinese name is still the same, however! I was disappointed to learn that there's actually no affiliation between the two but hey, bootleg is better than none at all. Here's what I ordered. Mango Pancake and Mango and Black Glutinous Rice in Vanilla Sauce (my favorite! but the mango could've been better).

Well, brioche is done. Time to clean up and hit the sack. Another closing shift coming up for the following 6 days. Dang.

Not 9:30AM but 3:30AM

It's been nearly 5 weeks since I've been back to New York and I'm definitely suffering withdrawal. Everything has become a "In Paris, blah blah blah. It's so different compared to here!" or "When I was in Paris, I did blah blah blah." I'm betting that most people around me are tired of hearing me whine about my short lived life in another country. It's too bad that I didn't even get a chance to blog here before I left! 

My boyfriend came to visit me and helped me clean up my mess on rue Dulac. I probably would have panicked more and broke down much earlier had he not been there with me to take my mind off things. Thanks boyfriend! 

So here I am sitting in the home I grew up in; typing this up at nearly 4AM. Quite obvious that I have plenty of time to spare and am in no rush for what normally people would be doing at this hour: sleeping and then waking up for work. Yes, currently still unemployed. This means more baking at home! I actually haven't kept up with my original idea of baking something once a week. I did bake twice and am in the process of making a Chai flavored ice cream. Here's a picture as proof.

I made two flavored eclairs with a crumble on top as opposed to fondant. Passion fruit flavored pastry cream and chocolate pastry cream with a hint of passion fruit (I do like the fruit indeed!). With the leftover egg whites from the pastry cream, I decided to make macarons with them. The shells were colored with Intense Red (the label was no joke; it was eye blinding-ly red) and flavored with lavender. I made a pistachio ganache filling but unfortunately it wasn't enough so I used the rest of the chocolate pastry cream. It was too sweet for my taste but some people liked it, which is all that matters!

I'll take a picture of the ice cream when (or if) it gets churned tomorrow. We're experiencing a heat wave for this week and our air-conditioner at home has decided to take multiple lunch breaks so it makes this into a pretty hot situation for ice cream making. Hoping for the best!

I'm getting a little lazy now so maybe I'll post up some other pictures for next time! I think I should also rename the blog as it's not really so etranger anymore.

la fin: supérieur pâtisserie!

Last Thursday marked the final class of Le Cordon Bleu, which was also known as my final exam in pulled sugar. I must not have been fully awake as I made a few clumsy mistakes which resulted in a blister that remains inflamed 3 days later. It's about the size of Jekyll's tumor that was on his face. It's hurting me so much that I can't imagine how much pain my baby hamster was in. Then again, blisters are nothing compared to tumors... Anyhow, I digress again.

Here's some photos that summarizes the classes focusing on tempering chocolate and working with sugar. These two areas of study took up the latter half of superior pastry.

If you were to ask me what I enjoyed most out of this experience in culinary school, I'd have to say pulled sugar was my favorite. Needless to say, working with 165°C (329°F) sugar was no easy feat at the beginning but as time went along, my hands began to grow accustomed to the constant heat. One of our chefs work with sugar bare handed. It was a jaw dropping moment when we first watched him do it but one can understand why he has what he calls "gants au naturelles" (natural gloves). He's been working with sugar for so long that his skin must have grown thicker. My hands have turned quite ugly after these lessons but it was well worth it. It's a pity that the 5 hours put into these pieces of display only gets thrown into the trash bin after being graded. I cringe at the sound of pieces shattering.

Graduation is happening later this week on June 3. My long time friend from Canada will be arriving to Paris in 2 days just in time to attend the ceremony. We'll take a side trip to Switzerland for a bit. Lausanne and Geneve: here we come! I'm still not giving Greece up. Occasionally I check on the flight fares but it's so ridiculously expensive! On another thought, it's even more expensive to fly from NY. Why can't money grow on trees? There's so many in the courtyard outside this building harboring so many insects instead! (One of which just flew across between me and the screen)

Unfortunately, I have withdrawn from the externship opportunity due to several reasons. I am extremely excited about sleeping in my own bed in Brooklyn again though. I miss everyone so much and look forward to meeting up with them to reconnect. Hopefully it won't take too long before I can get my hands on some flour and butter again in a professional kitchen.

Paris, it's been fun. Time surely does fly by.

Halfway Towards the End

Superior begun near end of March and we are already halfway complete with the course. Graduation is coming up next month! But let's not get ahead of ourselves since we haven't taken a single exam yet.

To summarize thus far, I find that there has been more flexibility with creative flair per individual instead of trying to recreate identical desserts as the chef's. The first few lessons continued with some more modern cakes but very fruity as usual. If not fruity, then chocolate-y and nutty. Then the following lessons focused on hot and cold restaurant desserts: from miniature desserts to plated desserts. I still have much to improve on in that area. I typically end up with so much awkward white space on the plate. Pictures below for visual explanation.

From hereon, the area of concentration shifts to everyone's favorite (or at least nearly everyone): chocolate! As I've complained numerous times previously when working with chocolate, I always get my uniform so dirtied no matter how careful I am. The plastic apron doesn't help defend me either. Meh.

So today was our first time tempering again since Intermediate. We made a hollow dark chocolate box with a picture frame and its holder. I had so much trouble finding the plastic film coating on that Leonardo bunny cartoon picture to rip off. I almost served my customers plastic because I was about to give up! With that aside, I really enjoy the process of tempering more than the assembly of chocolate pieces, especially in this heat! It's so fragile and everything is prone to melting. Hopefully, I'll have more confidence come exam time in May.

With that, I end my entry tonight with a picture of me being a glutton in the kitchen. Can't throw out good food, right?

Results of a Broken Laptop

So what happens when your primary source that connects you to the rest of the world breaks down? Answer: A prolonged break from updating your blog (even after you've fixed it and bought a new source). Because it's late now seeing as it's 5AM, I'll just recap the past 2 months with pictures and some minor wording while trying to keep it chronologically correct.

I took a side trip to Milano with two friends during our week long break from class. Coincidentally, fashion week had just begun there. The streets were more crowded and more was happening. The area where our hotel was situated on the other hand didn't seem most inviting but we made it through fine. I stepped foot into Switzerland for a few hours during this trip because we went to an outlet. I can still say that I've been to Switzerland now, right?

As for classes itself, I have completed Intermediate Pastry last month finishing off by making the Plaisir during the final exam. I had unknowingly spent too much time trying to practice piping the word "Opera" out with chocolate that I lost track of time. In the end, I had failed to remove the mold from the cake so I am positive that had crippled my final score. I'll know better to keep an eye on the clock for future practice.

March was a pretty busy month as my best buddy from college and my brother came to visit me. They made life in Paris that much better. With them, I was able to go on more side trips (can never get enough of them!). I went to Lille, France with Sally and hit up a few places in Italy with Andy. I think I remember the food more than anything else from those towns. Anyhow, pictures will tell the story better than my half-asleep state can right now.

I guess the photos are a bit jumbled as well but you get the idea. That brings us to today, where I am living by myself again and in Superior Pastry! Next destination: Mont Saint-Michel! I haven't bought tickets yet but I hope they aren't excruciatingly expensive.

I love weekends.

Au Chocolat and an Excursion to Lyon

And so we're in the month of February already! 2 more days until Chinese New Year. I should really clean up the apartment even though I'm not all that traditional about it but I can imagine my mom instructing me to do so if she were here. Tomorrow night is also the student dinner so I hope that I can get all my errands done prior to that! Not to mention I idiotically left my phone in my locker at school so I'll have to waste some time trekking there to pick it up.

Anyway, so the past lessons have all involved chocolate! I've washed my uniform 3 times already because it just can't get enough contact with that ingredient. First, we learned to make the Bavarois aux trois chocolats: 3 layers of [dark, milk, and white] chocolate bavarian cream over a lady finger sponge disc covered with a cocoa glaze. Melted white chocolate was used for decoration. The following 2 lessons after that were Chocolat au lait and Chocolat noir. Here was our first time finally to pop the battery into our thermometers and temper chocolate. Lastly (tonight), we made the Douceur Chocolat (Heavenly Chocolate). By that name, you must know it tastes pretty darn good! It's like eating Ferrero Rochers but in cake form. Its main ingredients basically consist of chocolate and hazelnut. It even has that crunch in the center! The downside about it is that there's no pretty way of cutting into it. I tried heating up my knife to slice through but it still came out a mess. Oh well, it will only end up in my stomach anyway!

Examples from Chef T and D's demonstration.

I actually shipped home a box of those chocolates since they're more practical to send than say mousse cakes? I hope they'll still be edible by the time it reaches my brother's office.

And not to forget, I went to Lyon two weekends ago with 2 classmates. We did a little sightseeing on our first day (there were Roman ruins! My favorite!) then spent the next day at the Sirha Exposition. The expo was HUGE. If I could've stayed a few hours longer, I definitely would have. There were so many different foods to taste from savory to sweet in addition to a wine section (which of course I did not have the courage to try). Luckily for me, there were other non-alcoholic beverages such as cinnamon orange hot chocolate among other flavors. All sorts of kitchen equipment, restaurant equipment, and furniture were placed on display. The grand Pastry World Cup was held on the day we went also. That was exciting. In the end, I found out on Facebook that Spain won. USA, you weren't too shabby. I rooted for you.

After that one little weekend excursion, I'm now tempted to go on more of these 1-2 day trips outside of Paris. Hopefully I can find people to join me. If not, I guess I can also go alone since I'll be returning home on the same day anyway!

By the way, this past week or so, the weather has decided to dip below 0°C. FREEEEZING... someone please buy me a better heater. Thanks.

Fickle Weather and Trip Planning

It's been a little more chilly these days around again while the previous week I had to open the windows because it had felt so warm. It's like a tug of war between winter and spring! Or something of the likes.

Anyhow, we had our Lessons 05 and 06 this week thus far. (Lesson 07 tomorrow but I'll post that next week). We learned to recreate typical restaurant dishes such as the Crème brûlée au caramel and layered cakes with buttercream and ganache. Oh yeah, we also learned ice cream for the first time. I totally missed where they took the bowl of freshly made (not frozen yet) ice cream but it went out the room and was brought back in later when it was needed. There is a freezer in the classroom... I don't know. Anyway, pictures below!

Why yes, we made a fancier style of macaron known as Macaron Anis-Framboise (which is a raspberry filled macaroon with anise flavored pastry cream) and my favorite cake, Opéra. I forgot which way the accent mark for the "e" went so I didn't pipe it on. Unfortunately, Chef caught it and commented about my lack of an accent proceeding to draw into my glaze with his palm pilot stylus. Hence, that mark you see there is obviously not piped on. Don't ask what that horrible design on the corner is. He was stopping everyone from continuing on so I randomly rushed to just fill up some surface area.. Meh.

Onto other things outside of school, I had my first fondue here in Paris with some classmates. We ordered two different pots of cheeses. It was so tasty dipping bread and potatoes into them! Extremely tummy satisfying but a few hours later, I was hungry again. hehe. One meal a day does that to you.

And now with regards to the trip planning, there's quite a bit going on! This weekend will be a mini trip to Lyon by train. There will be an exhibition focusing on trends in the food and catering industry. There are a few schoolmates who are also attending. (It is an event that our school is promoting and participating in.) While we are there, might as well check the city out, right? The month after, two friends and I will be flying down to Milano for a bit during our break between classes. Hope the weather will be good.

The Friday on the week that we return to Paris, Sally will be visiting! I'm pretty psyched about that! Shortly after, my brother will fly in and we'll be heading down to where else but Italy again. Florence and Venice are on the itinerary. I would have preferred Athens but I guess that will have to wait. The calendar is quickly getting filled up with events! On the other hand, my wallet is quickly emptying out. Traveling is a bad addiction.

Anyway, until next time!