Pastry Chefs Turn Trends into Treats
Peek in on a pastry chef in a professional kitchen, and it’s like watching a scientist in a lab. As dessert recipes are developed, ingredients are precisely weighed out on scales, rather than measured by volume. Measurements can be flexible when cooking, but baking is a science, and even an extra ounce of an ingredient can cause a recipe to fail.
Once the tweaking is over and a dessert is added to the menu, its preparation becomes routine, even with the most elaborate recipe. Fortunately experimentation is part of the job for chefs, who have the freedom to innovate as seasons and diners’ preferences change. Yet, if baking is a science, what does innovation and experimentation look like for a pastry chef? As flavors evolve, ingredients may change, but techniques remain consistent, as does the need for precise weights and measurements. Where do pastry chefs get their inspiration to create dishes that will entice customers into ordering dessert?
Rebecca Reed, head Pastry Chef at the Black Sheep Restaurant Group, acknowledges that while culinary trends play a role, her muse also comes from interaction with chefs cooking on the line. “I’m inspired by what the chefs are featuring. I learn from them and I’ll riff off what they do, like using fermented ingredients,” says Reed. While fermentation has been a way of preserving foods for centuries, it has become popular on menus in the past several years.
“Utilizing a fermented ingredient is a trendy way to utilize produce and preserve the flavors through a season,” Reed says. “I was inspired by seeing [former Black Sheep Executive Chef ] Waylon’s book from Noma Restaurant on fermentation.” Currently Reed is making pineapple vinegar for the restaurant’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake. “I’m using the vinegar in a maple gastrique to balance the sweetness of the cake.” The dessert is served with cinnamon sugar pork rinds and bacon, Reed’s nod to savory ingredients, adding a sweet and salty component.
One way pastry chefs (and the rest of us) keep up with food trends is through social media. “Instagram definitely influences the way my food is presented,” Reed says. “I love the artistry that I get to put into the presentation of my desserts, so it is exciting for me to see them tagged on social media.” The unique presentation of Bellwether’s Carrot Cake is designed for ‘grammable moments. “The cake has a shiny orange glaze and looks like a carrot growing out of the ground. I love to watch people smile when they see it and break out their phone for a picture,” says Reed.
Sometimes what’s old is new again in the culinary world. Pastry Chef Nils Rowland, Chef-Owner of Crème de la Cocoa, has seen a resurgence of favorite childhood sweets. “Our customers look for comfort food, what they were familiar with growing up,” says Rowland. “It’s funny but our top seller is Oatmeal Cream Pie, a cookie sandwich like those Little Debbie snacks people ate as a kid.”
Rowland’s shop in St. Augustine offers a variety of cakes, chocolates, cookies and individual desserts. “Right now, anything small and portable that can be eaten while socializing or on the go is popular.” As for flavor combinations, Rowland has discovered that "the simpler the better" is on trend, like the Florida Native, which features a Key lime pie filling topped with a layer of pound cake, some strawberry purée and a bit of orange white chocolate mousse. “This dessert sounds elaborate, but it is basically citrus and strawberries, and that’s always popular,” says Rowland.
Inspiration for Rowland often comes when he is busy with non-cooking activities. “I get a lot of my ideas while I am driving,” he says. He also believes the way he operates his bakery allows for creativity in the kitchen. “I have a great team here, and I consider this a Chefs’ Lab,” Rowland says. “It’s a place for us to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other to come up with new flavor combinations and presentations.”
Dietary restrictions have had an impact on dessert trends too, and pastry chefs are playing with dishes that accommodate that shift in customer demand. “I think I have been a little ahead of the curve in offering gluten-free dessert options,” says Christina Longo, Pastry Chef at Taverna, an Italian restaurant in the San Marco neighborhood. “This wasn't always intentional, but many Italian desserts, like panna cotta, budino and gelato, don't rely on any flours in their creation. The Chocolate Pavé, a flourless cake topped with orange mascarpone and candied pistachios, is a crowd favorite. Now I always factor dietary sensitivities into my menu planning.”
Diners’ interest in eating seasonal produce has also had an impact on dessert creations, and local pastry chefs are eager to embrace this trend. “I’ve been working with Mike Stowers of Saturiwa Trading Co. to bring in some great seasonal and local produce as it’s available,” Longo says. “This winter, the Florida strawberries he brought us were amazing! We preserved some in a house made jam to serve with brunch pastries, and the rest were turned into an intensely red and fruity sorbetto, another gluten-free offering.”
While baking requires precision and exactitude of ingredients, there is still an opportunity for pastry chefs to experiment in the kitchen and create anew on a daily basis. Whether it reflects the latest flavor trends or an innovative twist to a familiar favorite, dessert is a science that when mastered becomes an art form.
