I keep watching these Korean baking videos, and even though I am not Korean nor do I understand the language, I can still figure out what the ingredients they use are and what techniques were because yes, it really can be that simple. I wanted to do a dessert that just embraced the orange-chocolate combination,…
Tag: pastry
Miso butterscotch tarte tatin-financier
This was a hodgepodge of different French desserts, tied together with Japanese miso and Chinese ginger. Honestly, the inspiration came about from having a shit-ton of apples and pears in my fridge that I needed to get rid of, so I got creative with how I wanted to do that. I remember seeing a Korean…
Cookies and cream tres leches cake
The inspiration for this dessert actually came from Housekeeping Appreciation Week. Since our team was only 22 people, it was actually a doable task to make something for them. I wanted to make something amazing for the housekeeping team that works hard to make sure that our guests don’t realize that our hotels rooms have…
Ube Buko Pie
The idea for this dessert came about because I wanted to create something similar to a Chess Pie, a Southern pie that is baked with a buttermilk custard, but I did not want to do something too predictable. So I looked into different kinds of pies that were similar to Chess Pie, and came across…
Jump Up, Super Star!: a galaxy cake
I really just was inspired to make this dessert from when I was watching an episode of Sugar Rush on Netflix, which is this reality baking competition aka the things I used to learn how to cook from. Two somewhat snooty and bitchy, but funny contestants prepared this galaxy cake, where it was white on…
Let it grow: mint-chocolate succulent cake
I’ve seen a ton of succulent cakes on the Internet lately, and I wanted to give it a whack myself. However, my policy on buttercream, which seems to be the thing that everyone is making them out of, is a huge no-no. If I am given that much butter, that much sugar, and that much…
Meyer lemon Mimosa cake
When I was doing research on Lady M (I need to better understand my enemy to spite them) I came across a cake that was called a Mimosa cake. It was this cake covered in cubes, and it was vanilla flavored. Now, I was expecting champagne and oranges, so I was really disappointed at first….
Banana cream pie mille feuille
This was directly inspired by Lady M, which is why it’s called a mille feuille at all. In my opinion, it’s just a fancy banana cream pie that happens to use puff pastry. For the layers, I have a crust of homemade puff pastry, Chantilly cream, vanilla genoise, fresh bananas, and arlettes, which are caramelized…
S’mores Cupcakes
These have been a classic favorite of mine since I started baking and learned how to make Italian meringue. Graham cracker crust, chocolate cake, and Italian meringue, torched in the broiler of your oven, super simple, super fun. For this rendition, I doctored up my meringue a little by introducing gelatin into the simple syrup,…
Strawberry-rhubarb tart
With rhubarb and strawberries being in season, it just made sense to try making a strawberry tart. It’s been a tradition that every summer, I try to perfect this tart using different methods. This summer, I decided to use an elderflower pate sucre, strawberry-rhubarb confiture, cornmeal frangipane, and cream cheese chantilly with elderflower glazed berries….
Naked German chocolate cake
I just love chocolate cake. And this chocolate cake, no exceptions. I layered devil’s food cake with salted caramel-pecan milk bavarian, coconut-chocolate cremeux, and coconut-pecan macarons to make for a fun, delicious, and semi-interactive eating experience. For the pecan milk 1/2 cup pecans 1 cup water Bring pecans and water to a simmer for 15…
Strawberry checkerboard shortcake
I… am actually surprised I have not shared this recipe yet. It’s a really fun one, because it’s got strawberry and vanilla chiffon cakes inside of the cake, surrounded by homemade ladyfingers, a mirror glaze, and topped with glazed berries and edible pearls. I really just wanted to make a dessert that is fun to…
Apple-bee pollen cheesecake
When I made this cake originally, I made the mistake of using yogurt. Why is yogurt a mistake? Because it will leech out a ton of water (almost an endless supply of it to be frank) and make whatever is unfortunately underneath it a soggy mess. So while the original recipe calls for using yogurt…
Oeuf Wiedersehen: a plated concept
I was inspired by the Harmonicblend song, Auf Wiedersehen, which is German for “goodbye”, when it was coming up with this concept. I wanted to do a pun off of that, using oeuf, the French word for egg, and that’s when I decided that I needed to do a snow egg, or a poached meringue….
Rewind: a lemon-blackberry entremet
After watching the new season of Cardcaptor Sakura, I could not help but get addicted to the ending theme, Rewind. I wanted to incorporate the sun and moon and clock motifs into this dessert, so I opted for elderflower, lemon, and black currant as the main flavor profiles, as they best compliment one another, but…
Corn cookie and strawberry cheesecake sandwiches
These little cookie sandwiches were something I whipped up because every Friday at work, we always have these meetings for associates under the age of 30, and I like to bring something just to make the meetings a little more fun. I… was actually surprised by how well received these were! I knew that the flavor…
It’s my life: a plated dessert concept
The name for the dessert was inspired by the Koda Kumi song of the same name. The dessert itself came from me wanting to do something unique, indigenous to almost every American’s life, and most importantly, to show that I don’t give any fucks about what others think about my cooking/baking style. I live my…
L’eclipse: the blue cheesecake
While I was sick with bronchitis, all I could think about was what I would bake the moment I stopped coughing my throat out. I thought back to my old cupcake-making days from high school, where I remembered one of the very first desserts that I have ever thought of: a blue velvet cupcake with…
Italian Lemon Meringue Doughnut Creams
I just wanted to create a new flavor combination using some of my favorite ingredients. That’s how this concept came about. I love lemon and olive oil together, and herbs just perfume that. Olive oil desserts are so underrated, but I adore the rich, rustic quality that they have. For this doughnut cream, I prepared…
Russian Honey-Bunny Cake
The Russian honey cake, called Medovik in Russian, is very similar to the American icebox cake. It is layers of wafers or cookies sandwiching layers of cream. In the case of Medovik, you use honey-infused cookie dough, made by caramelizing honey, whipping that into eggs and butter, and slowly adding in the flour, little by…
Freddy's Harajuku 