From St. Barths to St. Honore

What can I say? It’s an untraditional lent.

Good thing it’s not my Christianity that’s being assessed these days. But in all fairness this experience is based upon indulgence and emersion so the thought of giving up sweets, sugar, or alcohol while in the thick of culinary school seems frankly counterproductive. I assure you that there are no brownie points for abstinence around here.

In fact the French have an saying “Faites le beurre” which serves the same idiomatic purpose as the English saying “bring home the bacon,”



but is literally translated: “make or bring the butter.” I bet that I bring home enough butter these days to feed the entire block, so thank goodness my husband’s doing his job as the breadwinner.

And in an effort to provide the moral foundation for our family, as any proper French wife apparently should, I give you a bit of Christian culinary history behind this devilishly delicious dessert.



The Gateau St Honore was created in France and named in honor of Saint Honore, the patron saint of pastry chefs and all bakers. In the 7th Century, St Honore was the Bishop of Amien, a cathedral whose impressive height and stature is recognized round the world. So I find it wonderful that we top this cake with a whimsical spun sugar tower.



I like to think we are honoring the beauty of our Saint’s beautiful contribution to history and culture.



A St Honore Cake is composed of a puff pastry base, with pate a choux ring that lifts up the 11 profiterole cream puffs that top the cake.



The center of the cake as well as each cream puff is filled with Cream Diplomat, a pastry cream based filling that gives a wonderful hit of Grand Marnier flavor to each bite. The Crème Diplomat is then piped across the cake using, appropriately, the St Honore piping nozzle.



The 11 profiterole puffs (meant to honor the 11 true apostles, excluding Judas) are secured with caramelized sugar and toped with roasted almonds. But the real show stopping element in this glorious gateau is clearly the spun sugar nest that carries crystalized violets high above the pastry base.



This cake is a beautiful ode to the sparkling brilliance of spring- I can almost hear the birds chirping with approval at the sight of this sugary shell.

It makes wonder whether the chicken, the egg, or the cake came first….

Disclaimer: do not leave by open window


Darcy Jones

APPLE OF MY EYEsore

Today marked our first foray in the pastry kitchen. During our inaugural lesson, I bore witness to the single most impressive fruit salad ever made. This delicious delicate dessert sings with the flavors of fresh vanilla and citrus and sounds of warm anise, cinnamon, and clove. It’s simply seductive syrup is used to infuse and preserve the fruits maximizing freshness and flavor, and let’s just say ‘fogettaboutit’- this is a natural sugar high.

Sadly, all highs must be followed by lows: after a 3 hour-long demonstration on the art of decorative fruit cuts (colloquially entitled ‘Fruits on Crack’) I was inspired to create a citrus sanctuary in my own kitchen. And from a substantial covey of Granny Smith apples here what I bagged:



I would say my V-cut creature looks more like Bird of FrIgHt than Bird in Flight.



In case you are wondering, it is supposed to be a swan...an apple a day, this way, won’t keep the doctor away.

Feeling rather demoralized at my lagging knife skills, I decided to flee the world of fruit and food for a breath of fresh air.
Although I met with no swans on my jog, I managed to enter Hyde Park just as a fresh snow coated the city commons. The flakes were so big and breathtaking that I had to stop and admire: I couldn’t help from imagining a celestial chef with his chinoise, smiling as he sieved the clouds to dust the square bellow in sugar.



This was truly a foodie’s fairytale.


Darcy Jones