♥ M & F Wedding ♥

Last month our good friend Michelle had Bonbini! and I make a Macaron Tower & Mini Cupcakes for her sister and brother-in-law's wedding shower.  We were lucky enough to be enlisted once again to make sweets for the wedding favors.  The yellow Passion Fruit Macarons were made slightly larger this time, about 2" in diameter and were literally the sweet ending of the night.

♥ All the best to M&F as the start their new beginning together! ♥

Banoffee.

In a previous post, I shared this picture of Banoffe Pie from Co. in NYC.  It was the perfect marriage of bananas, coffee, graham crackers and hazelnuts - in other words, I absolutely loved it!

After making a coffee flavored pastry cream this weekend for another project, I noticed that I had some very ripe bananas sitting on my counter.  Immediately, Banoffee Pie was triggered in my mind.  I didn't really have enough of anything to make an entire pie, so instead I made a few parfaits layered with smashed bananas, coffee creme legere (pastry cream lightened with whip cream) and graham cracker crust crumble.  Alas, I didn't have hazelnuts at home, but if I did, I think they would have been amazing caramelized!  Nonetheless, this was delicious and simple.  I only intended to try one bite, but I just couldn't stop!  I honestly can't wait to make this again with some planning, however, it could be quite dangerous to have around the house!

Italian Inspiration

I've been feeling quite inspired by Italian flavors lately as they've been showing up left and right in my macarons.  I must admit that for a time I had my fill of these flavors after working 4 years in an Italian restaurant.  But as it seems, my subconscious may be trying to tell me something - I miss these classic flavors!  They make me feel nostalgic of a different time in my life.

Macaron Flavors: Pistachio, Chocolate Olive Oil and Strawberry & White Balsamic

Pasta Party!

Lately, I've been helping out at work forming Veal Sweetbread Ravioli.  Oddly enough, while most people find repetitive tasks annoying and tedious, I find it rather therapeutic.  I love making these perfect little mounds of deliciousness.  Then again, I don't do it very often - only about an hour a week.  Obviously I would be telling a different story if pasta-making consumed an 8-hour work day.  

As you may have picked up in the previous paragraph, I've only been helping in the "forming" process.  The Executive Sous Chef Kei makes the dough and filling.  I love the yellow hue of the dough from the egg yolks - it gives the pasta an authentic and homemade look.  The filling is a mixture of chopped fried veal sweetbread, ricotta and parsley.  Because the sweetbread is fried first, the ravioli has an unexpected yet incredibly tasty "toasty" flavor.  After these components are made, we set up an assembly line of sorts and complete the forming process.  With a few tricks that I picked up on at my previous job in a restaurant serving Italian cuisine, I must say that we've become pretty fast at this!

Each order gets 3 ravioli and each batch yields about 50 servings.  They freeze really well on a flat sheet pan and can be cooked directly from the freezer or defrosted from the refrigerator.

Here's Chef de Cuisine Daniel Corey's finished product...

photo by Donna Davis

Veal Sweetbread Ravioli
Crispy Sweetbread // Summer Truffle
Duck Jus // Truffle Emulsion

Teamwork at its best!

Simplicity.

Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas
Sometimes the simple and familiar classics are just what you're craving...

The twist...
I made chocolate covered bananas with a glaze made of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and a splash of olive oil to keep the chocolate from getting too hard in the freezer.  I then sprinkled them with chopped plantain chips and maldon salt, just to add that little something special of course!  The plantain chips add texture and stay crunchy in the freezer and the salt cuts the richness of the chocolate while bringing out the natural flavors of the banana and plantain.

*Winner* Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream Book

Congratulations to Jenna, the winner of pastrypixel's first giveaway!  Thanks to all my readers and to everyone who entered.  Keep checking back because I'm currently trying to develop other giveaways.

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