Macarons, the classic meringue-based
Parisian sandwich cookies, are as popular as ever today, with pastry chefs
coming up with innovative flavors and ways of showcasing them on their menus.
Pastry Chef Francois Payard of FPB (Francois Payard Bakery) in Soho, for
example, is making fabulous ice cream sandwiches for the summer. The
combination of crispy meringue shells and rich, creamy ice cream is
irresistible, and they are a hot seller at the bakery. They’re available in
flavors such as pistachio, raspberry, strawberry cheesecake and mango. But it’s
another creative use of macarons at Payard that really got my attention: an
over-the-top, colorful wedding cake made from multi-hued macarons. The cake was
designed by Garry Larduinat, a wonderfully talented pastry chef at Payard, who
combined a white cake with rows of artfully arranged macarons. Pastillage
ribbons, lillies and gumpaste roses accent the cake and I can’t imagine a more
awe-inspiring and beautiful wedding cake for the modern bride. www.fpbnyc.com
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Blueberry Almond Parfait
Fresh berry parfaits are the ideal summer
dessert because they are so light and refreshing, but what I love most about
them is how they combine various textures and flavors in every spoonful. A
simple formula for a classic summer parfaits starts with a layer of cake
topped
with berries and then sandwiched with a cream of some sort. For this Blueberry
Almond Parfait, I made a simple almond frangipane cake, which is very moist, slightly
dense and pairs beautifully with fresh berries. I chose blueberries for my
fruit,
cooking one-third of them briefly with a little sugar and then folding
in the remaining third with a little lemon juice, which gives them a slightly
saucy consistency. For my cream layer, I kept thing simple by whipping up some
cream with mascarpone cheese and sugar.
Though it slipped my mind today, I
usually serve this parfait with a biscotti or almond cookie or some sort,
though you could also top it off with some lightly toasted almond slices for a
bit of crunch.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Strawberries and Cream Vacherin
Here’s a great summer dessert that’s
really easy to put together, yet makes a dramatic presentation at a spring or summer
dinner party. The jewel in this dessert is a homemade strawberry sorbet, made
with local berries (don’t even bother making it with those over-sized cottony
supermarket numbers; a good fruit sorbet is all about the quality of the
ingredients). It comes together quickly in a blender
and has the fresh, tart
taste of summer days, when berries are at their peak. After a few hours of
chilling in the fridge, it’s run through an ice cream machine where it turns
into one of the best
sorbets you’ll ever taste. And when matched up with some
store-bought vanilla ice cream and crunchy meringue rounds, this dessert is a
memorable combination, refreshing, but just rich enough to satisfy any dessert
lover’s after-dinner cravings. It’s like an adult creamsicle, flavored with
strawberry instead of orange.