Canelé and Macchiato at Frisson Coffee

I had a picture framed last week at a place in Hell's Kitchen and last weekend found myself walking west on 47th Street.  Happily so, as I stumbled onto Frisson Espresso, a non-chain, high-quality, charmingly artsy coffee place tucked away midblock.

They made me a very pretty macchiato, and I had an even prettier canelé. As you may know or can see in the picture, they're small, specialized pastries, known for a caramelized outside and a bread-pudding or custard-like inside. They're from Bordeaux, and although they've been below my radar, apparently they're quite the hot pastry in NYC recently. At least, Serious Eats has covered 'em.

I think this was my first one ever. It was delicious, and interestingly it made me think of a dessert I grew up with. Cascaron are essentially Filipino donuts, deep-fried conglomerations of coconut, rice flour, and sugar.  Very unhealthy. Being coconut based, they taste nothing like canelé. And yet, the combination of textures, crisp giving way to toothsome, soft-but-chewy interior, was evokative.  

Thinking about desserts of my childhood reminds me that I should write something about malasadas at some point.

In the meantime, if you're in Hell's Kitchen, stop by Frisson.

Puff Pastry Class at ICE

On Saturday morning, my friend Rachel and I took a class at the Institute of Culinary Education, on "Fast Puff Pastry." I confess I suggested it kind of as a lark, because puff pastry is one of those things that's really better bought, frozen, rather than making it from scratch.  And it's not like I ever use the stuff, anyways.  And how fast can you really make it?

This was one of those great classes, because I went in with one mindset and I came out with quite another.  My eyes were opened!  Puff pastry is incredibly easy to make!  It's so fast!  And so versatile.  You can do anything with it.  I may never make bread again.

I didn't actually think to photograph the process of making it (dough!).  But if you saw how easy it was, well...some things are better left unkown.  To the left is my dough, after a well deserved rest in the fridge.

First, here's some farfalle (not the pasta, but rather spidery things that we did with cinnamon sugar):

A little rolling a little slicing a little chilling a little press-and-twist, some time in the oven and voila!

Rachel made a very nice tart shell, involving docking (with a docker!) the pastry (putting tons of holes in it), building little side walls, and pre-baking.

We went a little crazy with making things, frankly, but in the best possible way.  I'm totally inspired, and my next cocktail party will be laden with enough buttery, flaky canapes to kill a small hoofed animal.

A few more to leave you with:  Rachel's Apple Almond Tartlet, Paprika-Parmesan Palmiers, and Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Mille-Feuilles.

Kouign Amann Day in SF

I got together with a friend in San Francisco yesterday, who told me that it was "Kouign Amann Day" and we should go celebrate.  I said, "Is Queen Aman a transvestite, or the wife of a middle eastern potentate?"

Once he told me the spelling, I realized (thanks to Trader Joe's selling them frozen) that Kouign Amann are in fact a deliciously flaky pastry.  In my head they're sort of a cross between a coissant and a danish or cinnamon roll.  I'm sure Dominique Ansel wishes he'd invented them.

Anyway, who am I to deny Kouign Amann its day?  So we headed to b. patisserie to partake in the goodness. 

Like Shark Week, this is an artificial, made up holiday that I can wholeheartedly endorse and support.