Dessert A la Carte - Toshi Yoroizuka

Working for William Curley I helped to set up the first Dessert bar that opened here in London. William and Suzue got the inspiration to bring this to London from Tokyo based Patissier Toshi Yoroizuka.

His shop in Tokyo midtown features a beautiful long Black marble bar with the chefs in front of you creating the desserts, very much like William's own in the belgravia branch. I arrived at 12.30, this shop had no queue... I went inside and admired the patisserie and then enquired about the dessert bar. I had to book a seat and come back at 2.00 not to bad. I spent the time taking a short walk to Roponggi nearby to the chocolaterie Chocolat de H.

Here I indulged in a delicious tea and chocolate entremet and treated my self to some of the beautiful chocolates.

Back at the dessert bar it was a hard choice to decide what dessert to have, I couldn't possibly have two as I had just eaten a patisserie and chocolate in the previous shop I decided on a lovely french classic Apple Tatin. They gave a beautiful savory pre dessert of wild mushroom soup, It was a delicious silky smooth and creamy chilled soup.

 

Then came the main course!

Unlike a traditional Tatin where the apples and puff pastry are cooked together here it was cooked separately. The puff was lovely and tall and crispy, on top of the puff was a small layer of creme patissier and then on top was the caramelised apples. They added extra sugar onto the top of the cooked apples and then blow torched like a creme brulle, I loved this part as there was a lovely crunch through the caramel to the lovely apples below. The Tatin was accompanied with cinnamon ice cream and apple wafers! It was truly delicious!

Even though I was truly stuffed full of chocolate and sweets, I couldn't resist buying a pastry on the way out!

This was a lovely fig and chocolate tart....

Sarah

Another queue for cake!

After a lovely walk through Uneo park I arrived at Inamura Shozo I noticed a small queue outside the shop... not unusual for a Saturday at patisserie shops. what I didn't notice was the other queue 5m away to join the queue just in front of the shop! I joined the first queue and waited patiently until it was my turn after an hour or so I was ushered unto the shop by a lovely door man!

 

The chefs in the background making more cakes for all the waiting customers!

I gazed at the cakes taking far to long considering the queue to choose. I always find choosing the hard part, if  I could I would have just a bite if them all to taste the flavour combinations! Carefully I selected two, strangely I didn't take a chocolate one I had two light creamy ones, unfortunately I didn't have a spoon so after my wait I now had to make it back to the hotel to get a bite of my cakes.  

 

 This was a delicious Passionfruit roll cake, it worked really well because the passionfruit cut through the creamy chantilly

Secondly my favourite one of the two was a Fromage Blanc dome with redfruit compote

So many different ideas are running through my head, seeing all these wonderful cakes, working in the Le Pommier kitchen and tasting all the delcious combinations!

Sarah

Next stop... Hidemi Sugino

Even before stepping foot in Tokyo I had been told by numerous people that this place was a must do! I visited Hidemi Sugino twice, once I visited about 5pm and there was only 4 varieties left, then the second time I arrived at 10.30, half an hour before the shop opened and waited in the growing queue to get my hands on some more of these yummy cakes. ( see the queue photo!!!)

There is a policy of no photographs here, so the photos of the cakes I tried are from the book that I decided to buy to remember what I had. I have included the photos of the cakes I ate, these are taken from the book, also there is a sneaky picture of the showcase I got off the web that someone must have taken! LOL

Mango, Framboise - This had a delicious coconut sponge around the outside with a mango mousse raspberry compote and raspberry mousse running through the center. 

Pomme d'Eve - Jaconde sponge at the bottom topped with a caramel and cinnamon mousse, then topped with chocolate sponge, green apple mousse and caramelised apple. 

Merveille - Biscuit jaconde, biscuit a la cuillere with a peach mousse, and a blackberry mousse and redcurrant jam. 

Larme - Biscuit aux noix, mousse aux marrons and crème mousseline aux marrons.

This one was my favorite, I think its because I am having a chestnut addiction here in Tokyo which is great as it is a heavily used flavour in baked cakes and pastries... Including the wonderful Mont Blancs!

Sarah

Cake Culture - Tokyo the modern Capital of Patisserie

Before heading out to Tokyo to visit all the delicious patisserie shops, my kind friend MJ Kim gave me this book. Sweet sweets selection, it is a Japanese guide book for the best patisseries in Tokyo. MJ used it when she visited a couple of years back and gave it to me this summer just before she headed back to Korea for good. This little book has been amazing... Just looking at the photos gets me excited.. The strange thing I found before heading out here was that this book at 3 times as many shops featured than that of my Paris guide, could this be true that there is a new capital of Pastry!? After 2 weeks I definately think so!

While working at Le Pommier one of the chefs suggested that I visit Isetan department store's food hall on my way home as it was also in Shinjuku where I am staying. When I navigated my way through the streets and down to the basement area a maze of divine goodies in glass display cabinets awaited me!

The area for cakes, breads, pastries and chocolates took up nearly as mich space as for the savory foods. (This is the case with all the department stores I have visited here now) In Isetan alone there is Pierre Herme, Jean Paul Hevin, Sadaharu Aoki etc and these are the brands I know from Paris on top of over 20 Tokyo based companies, one in particular that was is my cake guide book was Henri Carpentier, and how could I resist this tempting hall of goodness, so I indulged in a Chestnut tart.

It had crisp puff pastry topped with a chocolate frangipane and then a baked chestnut cream, studded with cooked and confir chestnuts, it was delicious if not a bit heavier than I was hoping... Later on in the week we headed over to the ginza store where we could sit in the salon du tea and eat the pastries. This time we had a sesame tart and a red fruit entremet. 

The red fruit entremet had a base of jaconde sponge, topped with raspberry confiture, with a red fruit mousse and a vanilla mousse. The plate was really lovely presented with the sauce when you eat in!

This was my favorite, tart noire it was called and as i do not speak japanese I assumed a chocolate tart noire. Indeed not.. it was a beautiful black sesame tart. Chocolate sweet pastry with frangipane and caramelise banana topped with a black sesame cremeux.

Thats it for now but this is just the beginning....

Sarah

Le Pommier - Patisserie stage

Tokyo...

Here I am doing my stage with French chef Frederic Madeleine, Frederic has been working in Tokyo for 12 years and his wife is Japanese. His team are all Japanese so after I met him at the cake show he wished me good luck with my first morning in the kitchen as he was not coming in until later.

 I was slightly apprehensive when I arrived at his kitchen the next morning! I needn't have been worried it was fine I worked with Hiromi who worked in France for one year so we spoke French. All the other lovely chefs spoke a little English, The ingredients for the recipes are all written in French so it was not as big a problem as I thought it might be.

 

I have spent two initial days here at Le Pommier patisserie and I will return for 1 full week at the end of my stay here in Tokyo. After work on the Friday I went with Frederic to visit his second shop which in in Azabu-juban. Here I had tea and tried the new pumpkin crème brulle... delicious.

Also I experienced my first earthquake... I thought Frederic had kicked the table!

I have visited over 8 pastry shops not including the huge department stores... lots to write about!

Sarah

Tokyo - Japan Cake show

After finalising my trip to Tokyo and with only 1 week to go until take off, I managed to arrange my stage with Frederic Madelaine at Le Pommier in Tokyo. Two days before I left, Frederic e-mailed me to let me know about the Japan Cake show that was happening on the day I landed!
So with a plan and the motivation to get through my jetlag, I ventured to the metro and off to the cake show!

The show consisted of two floors of entries of chocolate centrepieces, petit fours, patisserie, sugar pieces, cake decoration, themed display pieces and much more. The third floor was equipment for patisserie making, wrapping, ingredients etc. Also there was a live competition of sugar going on called Top Patissier! In front of an audience the chefs have 5 hours to make a sugar centre piece.

First I spent my time looking at the patisserie entries as this was my main reason for coming to Japan.

This is one of the Sugar centre piece displays

Luckily enough it was not all just looking at the delicious cakes and offerings!! Down in the restaurant area they were serving a selection of 30 cakes from members of the Tokyo confectionery association! I made my way down there for one or two!

The cake on the left was a delicious black forest gateaux, and the cake on the right was a hazelnut and orange entremet.

After feasting on cakes I went back to watch the live sugar centre piece competition. Here are the finished pieces... Impressive for 5 hours work!

Sarah

Return of the Patissier!

I would firstly like to apologise for not updating my blog after I returned home! I got a little bit lost back into work and more recently the Association of Pastry Chefs - Dessert of the Year Competition, I kept putting the blog on the backburner. Then 2 months flashes extremely fast before my eyes and here I am again... away on my travels, this time I am in Tokyo!

Before I begin my Tokyo blogs I have a few more delicious treats to finish up from Paris!

Here is my dessert from the competition where I finished 3rd!

Sarah

Pierre Herme, Sadaharu Aoki

11 July 2011
I have already travelled to many of the famous Patisserie shops here is Paris, Fauchon and Laduree to name just a couple.... I did not et any from these just yet but here are two cakes I did get!

Also I obviously went to Pierre Herme, I last visited 3 years ago and it was not quite as famous as now. I remember sitting on a bench a little away from the shop with William, Suzue, Lucie and Vicki and sharing the cakes around and gaining inspiration from every one!

I chose this one after lengthy diliberation, this is the "Desire" a sable pastry base with a Lemon mousse, lemon molleaux sponge, strawberry and banana compote and dusted with pistachio crumb.

I also ventured to Sadaharu Aoki -where I also purchased a chocolate slice it was delicious... The last time I visited here he only made dome shaped patisserie and slices like the chocolate one seen below,this time he also had a few tarts, millefeuille and Japanease favorite roll cake!

Almond daquois sponge topped with a feuilltine wafer and then a layer of caramel, chocolate mousse, chocolate molleaux sponge, more chocolate mousse and a mini macaroon. I also purchased two of his macaroons, yuzu - it was divine and wasabi which was nice but it lacked another flavour cutting through it.

Today the journey continues I am starting on some of the smaller named patisserie shops!

Sarah

Paris... 3 weeks

5th July 2011

Time keeps spinning away from me....

I finished in lovely Strasbourg last week.. here is me with Theirry as I was dashing off to catch the train...

I then travelled down to Aurilliac in the Auvergne, where I enjoyed a quick relaxing break before continuing on my Patisserie Tour de France.




On Monday afternoon I arrived in Paris.... I am here on work experiance at Arnaud Larher... He has two shops in montmarre district in Paris.

Today I worked in the "Four" section (four is oven in french so the bakery section)

In the morning I assisted with the finishing of the Patisserie for the shop making a raspberry macaroon with vanilla whipped ganache and apple tarte fine. After the service preparations began for rose and pistachio macaroons and lastly hundreds of kilos of puff pastry!

So here begins another stage and another huge amount of knowledge...

I have a map of Paris in front of me and all the addresses of Patisserie and chocolate shops I should visit.... Pen...

Sarah

Time is Flying by...

Its the last week I am spending at Thierry's Kitchen.... The time has gone really quickly and I am sad to be leaving soon!

I have seen many interesting and delicious cakes, biscuits, chocolates and even savory items here. This is the largest of the places that I am doing work experiance. The shop was extremely busy yesterday for fathers day, Thierry had to rush down to the shop at 10.30 to make more cakes, each time he finished one it sold straight away! The French really have a culture for patisserie and gateaux for dessert on special days like fathers day but also during the week and especially weekends.

Obviously like England you can buy patisserie and gateaux in the supermarket, but alot of French people appreciate the hand crafted cakes and travel especially to buy from proper Patissier's, like they go to buy the bread from the Boulanger. Its a shame that in England bakers shops have died out from pressure of the supermarkets that supply everything that the consumer needs!

On Saturday I took a trip away from Strasbourg to look at the sights of neighbouring town Colmar... Incidently Theirry also has a shop here, it is stunning housed in a traditional Patisserie from years ago and still retains its beautiful original features.

Every weekend there is a tart of the week, this week was sweet pastry with pistachio creme patissiere, strawberries, rocket and vanilla olive oil. I was eager to try this combination. It was divine the light peppery taste of the rocket really complimented the strawberries and pistachios.                               luckily I remembered to take a picture of this one... During the week I had "Picudo", Apricot bavoroise with apricot compote and an olive oil sponge... Definitely I am consuming to many cakes, but I guess this is the idea of my trip.

In just a few short weeks I have already gained some new ideas and learnt some new techniques and skills. Looking forward to what is in store in Paris and Annecy.

Sarah

In the interests of research... Unfortunately not the waistline!

OMG... I canot believe a week has gone by so quickly...

I continue to work on the Patisserie section and also observe the rest of the kitchen....

Red Fruit Tart - I thought this would be a heathly dessert on Tuesday! Hazelnut and cinnamon sweet pastry with Frangipane and delicious fresh red fruits in season!

Yesterday I assisted to make "Tom Cot" - Layers of Pistachio Jaconde with an apricot mousse and fresh redcurrants!
Passionfruit tart - Sweet Pastry base with passionfruit curd a twist on the classic.

I have been working my way through the many products that Theirry Mulhaupt creates, just like William he strives to make as many things as a patissier can and I know I will not come close to tasting them all...

Luckily I have all these stairs to climb each day to my 5th floor apartment... Hopefully it will go someway to burning off the Cakes!!!!

First few days at Theirry Mulhaupt

At Thierry Mulhaupt the day begins at 5am... I get up at 4am to get ready, then wait on the corner of Place de Hagenau for a lift up to the Laboartoire (Kitchen). On my first two days I worked on the Patisserie and Petit four section, I made tartlet au Citron Vert (lime tarts) and then Pear financiers. There are 3 sections at Theirry Mulhaupt; Tourier - This consists of the venoisserie,pain au chocolat, croissants. Pastry shortcrust for quiches, puff pastry and sweet pastry for tartlets. The Chocolate section makes, Pate du fruit, indivual chocolates and chocolate bars. Lastly the entremet section which makes all of the patisserie lemon tarts, Black forest and eclairs to name just a few.

Everyday in the morning the chefs prepare the patisserie for the day, Theirry has two shops in Strasbourg, one is a chocolatierie and the other a patisserie shop. The Van delivers the cakes and chocolates at around 7 am in the morning and then brings back any leftover croissants from the day before that the chefs enjoy for breakfast; usually with some of the hand made jam. I had mine with the cherry jam and was delighted that the two hours of pitting thousands of cherries was well worth it!! Tres bon!!

Today is a Bank holiday here in France and I have spent the time soaking up the sun and sights of Strasbourg, I have tried to post some photos but there seems to be a problem! Hopefully I can get it sorted for next time - until then... Bonne journee!

Sarah

The Journey Begins

The day has finally arrived and my epic journey has commenced. Leaving all my family friends and collegues has been hard as I will miss them all immensely! My journey began from Gloucester waved off by Damien (my partner) and I was a little teary eyed. I have mixed emotions today...Missing home but also excitedness for what lies ahead!
Luckily the 4 trains I have taken to arrive in Strasbourg have all connected successfully! The 10 hour journey has had me with french book in hand and headphones on hoping to improve my basic french on the way! Although the beautiful setting sun on the French country side is somewhat distracting!

Tomorrow I become aquainted with Strasbourg!

Bonne nuit!
Sarah

Introduction....

It has been a very long year getting to this stage...5 days from departure.

I have written many letter to chefs in France and i am very lucky to have been accepted to 3 of the top establishments in France.

Theirry Mulhaupt will be the first leg of my trip. I will be leaving from London towards Paris then onward to Strasbourg with the TGV. I will spend 4 weeks here with Theirry and his team. Theirry has two shops in Strasbourg - One patisserie shop and a chocolate shop! http://www.mulhaupt.fr/fr/mulhaupt-patisserie-3.html

Next I will spend three weeks in the Wonderful city of Paris - Here I can shop around many patisserie shops for ideas but I will spend most of my time at Arnaud Larher MOF. Like Thierry, Arnaud has two shops - a Patisserie shop and a Macaroon shop! http://www.arnaud-larher.com/ 

My last port of call is in beautiful Annecy based next to a lake in the south of France, working with Phillipe Rigollott MOF. His pastry shop only recently opened but he is a well renowned Pastry chef, having worked at Masion Pic for many years.

(MOF are the top pastry chefs in France -They have to compete to earn the priviledge to be called Meilleur Ouvrier de France, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meilleur_Ouvrier_de_France)

Sarah