Spot Dessert Bar's heart shaped macrons

Valentine’s day is around the corner so if you’re feeling the crush of billions of marketing dollars telling you that you must get something red or heart-related for your partner–here are some suggestions.

Sweets you can order or pick up:

Spot Dessert Bar is featuring chocolate covered cake lollipops ($2.50), red velvet cupcakes ($2.75) and heart-shaped macarons in red velvet and raspberry rose ($2.25).

Junior's heart shaped cheesecake

Junior’s is offering (what else?) a heart shaped cheesecake that’s covered with chocolate ganache and decorated with red pinstripes.  $34.95 if you order online.

Vegan Divas heart shaped tin of chocolate chip cookies

Vegan Divas vegan bakery is offering a heart-shaped red tin of vegan chocolate chip cookies ($35 on Opensky)  endorsed by Alicia Silverstone.  She says: “This makes a pretty groovy gift for your favorite animal-lover. After all, Valentine’s Day is all about Love”

"spankers" chocolate lollipops from Jacques Torres

Jacques Torres is selling chocolate heart-shaped lollipps called “Spankers” ($14) that say “Love” on one side and “Spank me” on the other.  They are also selling cool red (think Rolling Stones) chocolate lips ($15).  Where would Mr. Chocolate get the idea for such a lollipop? Check out this interview to find out.

Payard's heart-shaped box of macarons

Payard is selling a beautiful heart shaped box of macarons ($48) and champagne Pop Rock” truffles ($55).  Schmancy!  Take that Laduree!

For a sit down meal:

Kyotofu is offering a three-course dessert prix fixe  ($30) that includes pink sparkling sake gelee, sweetheart red velvet cake, Valrhona dark chocolate mousse and also includes sake and champagne pairings!

The Kyotofu chocolate cupcake

Spot Dessert Bar’s website has their full menu.  Spot is located at 13 St Mark’s Place.

Junior’s website is here.  Junior’s has locations in Brooklyn, Grand Central and Times Square

Vegan Divas Valentine’s Day collection can be ordered at Opensky online.  Vegan Divas website is here.

Jacques Torres has has five locations in the city and his website is here.

Payard has two different locations in New York City.  His website for ordering is here.

Kyotofu is located at 705 9th Ave (48 and 49th St).  Their website is here.

For simple, chocolate-centric Valentine’s Day ideas check out Kathy Chan’s recommended warm chocolate desserts on SeriousEats NY.

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The inside of the liquid dark chocolate caramel tart

**Update**  Dominique Ansel Bakery has just added a ton of new pastries and other items.  Two of my favorites are the liquid chocolate caramel tart and the salted pistachio religieuse.

The liquid chocolate caramel tart is the perfect size pastry.  It’s super small but very complex for a pastry from a case (ie. not made to order).  The outside of the tart reminds me of one of my favorite Ansel desserts from when he was at Daniel–the warm guanaja chocolate coulant. Inside the tart shell is a layer of chocolate ganache above a soft caramel core.  These layers sit atop a rectangle of chocolate cake soaked in expresso (to enhance the chocolate flavor).  All the layers, including the slightly crisp and salty shell, go together really nicely–this may be my new favorite chocolate offering from DAB–even ahead of the Mini-me!

Liquid dark chocolate caramel tart

One of Ansel's signature desserts from Daniel: Warm guanaja chocolate coulant

The salted pistachio religieuse is the kind of showy pastry one expects to find in Paris.  It’s not often you see them in New York, if at all.  Thankfully, Mr. Ansel and his team are determined to bring as many of the less-common-in-the-US, French pastries as possible to his New York shop.

Shortly after opening, he garnered some serious buzz (and fans) by offering his take on the kouing aman.  Now he’s introducing us to the religieuse.  Luckily, it’s as tasty as it is beautiful.

Salted pistachio religieuse with two kinds of filling

The labor-intensive religieuse has two different fillings inside the puff pastry: the top contains whipped white chocolate pistachio ganache and the bottom, a pistachio mousseline.  The mousseline, while more custardy than the whipped ganache, is not sweet at all which makes for a great contrast. The puff pastry is very flaky and fresh tasting.  Given the amount of work that went into this little creation, $5.00 seems like a steal.

The religieuse on the cover of Susan Hochbaum's "PastryParis"

Michael Laiskonis' religieuse from Le Bernardin (made to order)

Here are two other religieuse pastries, one on the cover of Susan Hochbaum’s PastryParis and the other from Le Bernardin–the latter was a made-to-order plated dessert.  More updates on DAB coming soon!

Dominique Ansel Bakery is located on 189 Spring Street (Sullivan).  Their website is here.

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Hot madeleines--made to order

La Bergamote's almond croissant: approved by my father

Last week I took my father to lunch for his 78th birthday.  He said he wanted to go to one of the places along his daily walking route.  That led us to La Bergamote in Chelsea.  He’s been raving about their almond croissants for the last  year or so.  Like his son, my father takes his pastry very seriously.  The last time I visited my parents’ apartment in Chelsea I saw a white paper bag on top of the fridge with oil spots all over it.  When I took it down to investigate, my father lowered the newspaper he was reading and said “that’s my almond croissant from La Bergamote–you can eat anything else in the house–but not that–sorry!’

Ceci Cela: One of the NYC standard for croissants, almond croissants and Pain Au Chocolat

I told my dad that I had recommended some croissants on DessertBuzz and suggested that he help me with an update to the review.  He seemed mildly interested but I wasn’t sure if he was ready to give up his routine on the off chance that he might find a better almond croissant somewhere else.  Could I get him to at least try Cesi Cela?

Some have said that beyond their delicious, slightly burnt crust, La Bergamote’s almond croissants are soggy.  I disagree with this view. The two that I tried over the last three weeks were not soggy or wet in any way.  They were some of the flattest high-end croissants I have seen in NYC–so if a flat croissant is going to upset you, you should avoid these.  However, they also seem to have a metric ton of almond flavor–especially the roasted, slivered almonds on the outside.

A note about La Bergamote’s savory options:  In addition to the pastry items I had a really excellent tuna nicoise salad.  It was fresh and had a plentiful amount of tuna.

La Bergamote is located at 177 9th Ave (20th St.)  They also have a location at 515 West 52nd.  Their website is here.

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I have found that New Yorkers are particular about their hot chocolate.  Usually, they fall in one of two camps:

1) The hot-chocolate-as-dessert camp.  These people believe that no hot chocolate is too thick or too sludge-like.  They’re happy if a plastic spoon can be stood on end, supported only by the pudding-like contents.  They view hot chooclate as a meal.

2) The hot-chocolate-is-a-drink-like-coffee camp.  These people are no less fussy about quality, percent cacao, etc. but they believe that you should be able to drink hot chocolate easily in any situation where you would drink coffee or tea.  If they get a cup of hot chocolate and notice that it spills easily they are happy. 

To make things easy, Dessert Buzz is rolling out a 10-point scale to rate the density or thickness of the different hot chocolates.  A ranking of “one” means the hot chocolate is drinkable and fluid.  A rating of “ten” means it’s basically melted chocolate or melted chocolate with some heavy cream or half-and-half–you get the idea.

Don't miss the hot chocolate festival at City Bakery in February

City Bakery Notes: Very, very thick.  A solid 9 on the MCD scale.  Interesting and innovative flavors.  Annual hosts of the Hot Chocolate Festival.  Every day in February 2012 they will feature a different hot chocolate flavor such as fresh ginger, banana peel and “What would Faulkner drink”.

City Bakery’s website is here.  Main location is 3 West 18th Street.

Dessert Truck Works Notes: Valrhona chocolate.  Very thick, not quite as thick as City Bakery but at least an 7-8 on the MCD scale.  A long-time DessertBuzz favorite.

Dessert Truck Works is located at 6 Clinton Street.  Their website is here.

Donatella Valrhona hot chocolate with Nutella

Donatella Notes: Really more of a restaurant but I’m including them because they have such a great pastry chef in Andrea Jarosh and also superb pizza.  Not a thick hot chocolate–easy to drink (a 5 on the scale).  Also made with Valrhona chocolate.  Because they are a restaurant they can add a shot of alcohol.

Donatella is located at 184 8th Aveneue.  Donatella’s website is here.

Francois Chocolate Bar Notes:  Old school thick!  Made with milk and heavy cream or half and half in an Ugolini machine.  An 8 on the MOD scale.  Grab a famous Payard almond chocolate

Francois Chocolate Bar is located in the Plaza hotel food hall at 1 West 59th Street (Francois Payard Bakery at 116 West Houston St. also has this hot chocolate).

The Francois Payard website is here.

Jacques Torres hot chocolate

Jacques Torres Notes: Plenty of locations around the city, a number of different size and flavor options and a great value at $3.59 for the small or $4.36  for the large.  An 8-9 on the MCD scale.  Available in classic, wicked w/chilies, peanut butter and mocha.  Jacques Torres has five locations in the city.

The Jacques Torres website is here.

L.A. Burdick Notes: Our favorite easy-to-drink dark hot chocolate, a very pleasant shop in Flatiron where you can sit down and enjoy your drink.  A 3 on the MCD scale.

L.A. Burdick is located on 5 East 20th Street.  L.A. Burdick’s website is here.

Hot chocolate from Peels: Photo courtesy of Chef Shuna Lydon

Peels Notes: very thick, comes with a delicious honey-vanilla marshmallow.  They are in the 9 range on the MCD scale.  Try a slice of their “monkey bread” too.

Peels is located on 325 Bowery.  Their website is here and their bakery “special order” form is here.

La Maison du Chocolat Notes: Available in two grades–milk and dark chocolate (we agree with Kathy YL Chan of Serious Eats NY –go with the dark), nice shop to drink in (Rock Center).  A 6-7 on the MCD scale.

La Maison du Chocolat is located at 30 Rockefeller Center (49th Street).  Their website is here.

Wafels and Dinges "Choclotron"

Wafels and Dinges Notes: (See their website and Twitter feed for locations) Very thick Belgian chocolate, half-and-half base, uses similar machine to the Ugolini at Francois Chocolate Bar.  An 8-9 on the MCD scale.   Add a Liege waffle while you are at it. Tip: Check the Wafels and Dinges Twitter feed daily to learn the question for a free topping.

Wafels and Dinges’ website and schedule is here.

Other recommended NYC hot chocolate: Grom, Via Quadronno and Tarallucci E Vino.  Follow DessertBuzz on Twitter.

Baked stuffed apple with almonds and cranberries cider caramel ice cream and cider reduction

Guest post by DessertBuzz contributor Doctore:

Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending another remarkable lunch with Niko from DessertBuzz.  This was the third in an incredible string of dessert tastings over the past three weeks that included Johnny Iuzinni’s fifteen-course blockbuster at Jean Georges and Michael Laskonis’ refined art-like desserts at Le Bernadin.  Now, we were in the creative hands of executive chef Galen Zamarra, chef de cuisine David Sturgeon and the rapidly rising star, pastry chef Catrine Oscarson at Mas La Grillade.

Short rib burger with grilled onion on house-made English muffin

The savory food at Grillade is wonderful.  All the food consisted of simple preparations with balance and rewarding flavors. The calamari stuffed with bay leaf was, perhaps, my favorite example of squid ever.  And the burger–on top of a superb homemade English muffin–was incredible.  It was also the first indication of the care that goes into the pastry at La Grillade.

The muffin was perfect for this burger–I’m so glad they chose it over the inexplicably-hyped brioche bun, which is slightly sweet and far too soft to stand up to a burger in any way–not to mention–it gets soggy from the juice of the burger.  The muffin was slightly charred, thin and really held its crunch.  It was a perfect compliment to the burger, bringing whole grain texture to the beef and leaving a great earthy-ness to the whole dish.  I wondered, would Ms. Oscarson’s desserts be this thoughtful?

Note: I didn't try the sardines but Niko raved about them

Each of the five desserts we ate at La Grillade had a few things in common including fresh ingredients–no fruit purees, everything is sourced at the greenmarket and the cheeses contain no gums or preservatives.  Each dish was a variation on a taste  theme , anchored by a fundamental flavor and then nuanced in many directions by different ingredients.

The baked stuffed apple with its top still on

Take the baked stuffed apple.  I have never enjoyed a baked apple before.  Typically, they are mushy and show little flavor other than the spices added to them.  I usually veer as far away as possible (even at Lucas Carton in Paris the baked apple was not to my taste!)  This baked apple, however, was expertly cooked and thought out. It was both firm and delicate at the same time.  It tasted like apple, but was perfectly seasoned.

The filling of  almonds, cranberries, etc. was an extension of all the colors of the apple.  The filling and the spices together expanded on, and reinforced the taste of apple.  In keeping with the theme of the dish, it was served with cider caramel ice cream with a cider reduction.  It was a really a fantastic dessert without any ‘fireworks’ or overwhelming flavors, a completely distinctive dish.

Maple cheesecake brûlée with walnut crumble pear sorbet, date and fig compote

The maple cheesecake brûlée with walnut crumble, pear sorbet and date and fig compote followed the same philosophy as the baked apple.  The anchor was a wonderful concentration of earthy flavors that come from maple, fig and date.  These flavors paired with cheesecake  highlighted the tart and sweet brûlée and pear.  The flavors felt related and changed with each bite. The textures in this dessert were its strongest suit.

Detail of the red currant gelee cube

The walnut crumble had a particularly satisfying crunch.  It was crumbly enough to resemble a cheesecake crust but didn’t compete with the cheesecake.  Instead, it contrasted perfectly with the smooth texture of the cheesecake.  Similarly, the compote also contrasted nicely with the cheesecake but did not overwhelm its velvety texture.  At this point in the meal I exclaimed to Niko, “these desserts do not follow the paradigm of many chefs to refine, refine, refine until there is some similarity to the desserts we expect.  These desserts are bold.  They stand on their own without over-refinement.”

Grilled pear and organic pecan upside-down cake, local honey ice cream and huckleberry compote

The grilled pear and organic pecan upside-down cake with local honey ice cream and huckleberry compote continued to show off the talent of the chef.  The texture of the cake was moist and crumbly and contained soft, velvety grilled pears which, surprisingly, didn’t make the cake soggy.  The huckleberry compote on top also, somehow, did not affect the inherent texture of the tart so much as provide an additional texture to enjoy.  The whole grains, present in the tart itself–added a nuttiness throughout that went very well with the pairs.

The grilled pumpkin-chocolate tart with toasted marshmallow, white chocolate sorbet and candied pumpkin seeds had the most striking and beautiful presentation of the group.  As with the other desserts, there was a theme of flavors but this time with some contrast – the bitterness of dark chocolate and the earthiness of the pumpkin was tempered by the marshmallow (which had been hand-blow-torched).  Pumpkin seeds were added to for texture.

Peanut butter chocolate ganache over whole wheat sablée, red currant sorbet and honey crème fraîche

The peanut butter chocolate ganache over whole wheat sablee, red current sorbet and honey creme fraiche was a departure from the other desserts: the flavors acted in contrast as much as in concert with each other.  Where the other desserts were like tonal paintings, this was like pop-art.  The extreme tartness of the fresh red current (delicious, but may make you pucker!) sorbet brought into focus the deep flavors of the peanut butter and chocolate and made them stand out.  The honey creme fraiche acted to buffer these tastes and provide some balance.

We both felt that Mas Grillade offered unique and carefully thought out food that left us satisfied in a way that was missing from recent trips to more expensive restaurants.   A lunch composed of the grilled squid appetizer, short rib burger with grilled onions and the creme brulee cheese cake  is a ridiculously good deal for $28.

Mas (La Grillade) recently received a rave and two stars and a full paragraph of praise for the desserts from the New York Times. Mas (La Grillade) is located at 28 7th Avenue South (Leroy) Their website is here.  Dessertbuzz has also reviewed La Grillade’s sister restaurant, Mas (Farmhouse).  Follow DessertBuzz on Twitter.

Everyone has to go sometime, you might as well be killed by dessert. Francisco Migoya's eclair

On Monday night DessertBuzz attended “Killed by Dessert”.  Six of the country’s top pastry chefs came together to create and serve their “favorite things” in a special meal to benefit Share Our Strength.  The evening was a unqualified success.  There was something really special about the contrast of the casual dining environment of an industrial kitchen and the fastidiousness of top-level chefs and their teams working as if they were feeding the president.

Bill Corbett, Executive Pastry Chef of The Absinthe Group explained the thinking behind the concept.

Killed by Dessert is the result of a conversation on Twitter between Lincoln Carson, Michael Laiskonis, Francisco Migoya and myself. We were discussing Lincoln’s top 5 favorite things (that he tweeted) at the time and thought about how we should write menus like that (of our favorite things). At the same time I was discussing a possible event idea with Brooks Headley and Christina Tosi because I was planning a trip to the east coast. The conversations kind of morphed into the idea of an event together and Killed by Dessert was born. We wanted to do an event that was exciting for us and totally our concept, so we pooled our respective resources and figured out how we could make it happen. It’s at Milk Bar’s kitchen because Christina has the luxury of a lot of space and was generous enough to host the event. Everyone has chipped in and used connections and skills to pull this thing together. It’s a true collaboration of chefs who just want to do something together, have a good time and share it with some people who enjoy dessert.

Michael Laiskonis, former Executive Pastry Chef of Le Bernardin has published the Killed by Dessert “manifesto” the public declaration of principles and intention that guided the event on his personal blog here.

I would describe the atmosphere among the attendees, who all paid $125 for the event, as “giddy”.   The crowd was a mix of journalists–mostly wearing their civilian hats; foodies–some, who drove in from as far away as Washington D.C.; and more than a few professional chefs.

The setting was very social–it’s only  natural to bond with your neighbors over a five-hour, 13 course meal with wine pairings. But even before saying a word to my table-mates I knew for certain we all had one thing in common–we all wanted to be Killed by dessert.

The courses: Passed Canapes (click on images to view larger size)

In addition to the twelve sweet courses there were seven savory courses–six offered at the beginning of the evening as passed canapés.  Later, another savory dish was offered as an “intermezzo” between the first and seconds sets of plated desserts.

Oasis at Three O’Clock in the Morning”

Falafel, Pine Nut Hummus, Flat Bread

Bill Corbett

“Brupper”

English Muffin, Black Pepper Butter, Caramelized Onions, Soft Poached Egg, Pea Shoots

Christina Tosi

“Wish That I Had Been Born Into It”

Latkes, Smoked Salmon, Caviar and Rose Champagne

Lincoln Carson

“Time”

Dashi-Braised Short Rib, Bone Marrow

Michael Laiskonis

Mole Negro de Oaxaca

Duck and Corn Tortillas

Francisco Migoya

The main courses: 12 dessert plates with a savory intermezzo course in

“Just Plain Vanilla”

Supported by Mandarin, Buddha’s Hand, Coriander

Lincoln Carson

Delamotte Rose Champagne

Butterscotch Semifreddo, Tony Style

Brooks Headley

Delamotte Rose Champagne

“Words”

Tarte Tropezienne a la Façon Thorne

Michael Laiskonis

Delamotte Rose Champagne

Napoleon Trimmings

Caramelized Puff Pastry Shards, Just-Made Mousseline Cream

Francisco Migoya

Rosa Regale, Brachetto

“Cornflake Cookie Dough Should Make Up 91% of Everyone’s Daily Intake, Not Just Mine”

Fresh Cookie Dough, Cookie Puree, Warm Cookie, Cereal milk

Christina Tosi

Domaine Weinbach, Gewürztraminer, Cuvee Theo 2009

“My Family’s Lack of a Culinary Legacy” aka“The Only Thing My Mom Ever Taught Me How to Make”

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Bill Corbett

Kracher Beerenauslese, 2008

“I was Too Picky of a Kid to Ever Understand PB&J”

Crock Pot Cake, Warm Pickled Strawberry Jam, Peanut Butter Halvah, Sweet Cream

Christina Tosi

Kracher Beerenauslese, 2008

INTERMEZZO

Spagetti with Piennolo Del Vesuvio tomatoes

(no they didn’t run out of bowls–everyone was served in a take out container)

Brooks Headley

“Peaks and Valleys”

Milk Chocolate, Tarragon, Hazelnut

Bill Corbett

Warre’s Otima 10 Year Tawny Port

Melanzane E Cioccolato, Tableside

Brooks Headley

Warre’s Otima 10 Year Tawny Port

Coffee Éclair

Francisco Migoya

Knob Creek Bourbon and Coffee Ice Cube

“The Beginning of the End, aka The Old Fashioned”

Orange, Toffee, Smoked Vanilla, Praline, Bourbon

Lincoln Carson

Knob Creek Bourbon and Coffee Ice Cube

“Ritual”

Caramel Coffee Parfait

Michael Laiskonis

Lamill Coffee

Anyone who doubts that these chefs were indeed trying to kill us needs to look no further than the goody bag.  After 19 thoughtful and involved courses of food with wine pairings you could forgive the organizers for not providing a goody bag.  I am certain that not even the most hard-core dessert lover (say someone who runs a dessert blog) was thinking about a few macarons or chocolates to seal the evening.  But this group of chefs, abiding by this line in the Manifesto “We are pastry chefs.  It is up to us to leave a pleasant last impression” wouldn’t think of stiffing guests of a special take-away.  My guess is they feel it’s the customer’s right to leave with something when dining at this level.

Goody Bag:

Chocolate-rum cannele, Palet d’Or

Goat cheese and acacia honey macaron, Butternut squash butter macaron, Candied ginger-gold apple and caramelized white chocolate confection

Lamill Coffee

Not pictured: Pecan praline chocolate bar, Black currant jelly

Bill Corbett, Executive Pastry Chef of The Absinthe Group

Brooks Headley, Executive Pastry Chef of Del Posto Restaurant

Christina Tosi, Pastry Chef/Owner of Momofuku Milk Bar

Francisco Migoya, Associate Professor of The Culinary Institute of America

Lincoln Carson, Corporate Pastry Chef of The Mina Group

Michael Laiskonis, former Executive Pastry Chef of Le Bernardin

Net proceeds from the dinner will benefit Share Our Strength.

Follow DessertBuzz on Twitter here. Michael Laiskonis’s last desserts from Le Bernardin were recently featured on Dessertbuzz.  Francisco Migoya has been featured on DessertBuzz many times-go here to read more.

The beautiful black sesame panna cotta, sour cherry sphere, mandarin sorbet

2011 has to go down as one of the most exciting and tumultuous years ever for the top end of the New York pastry chef world.  On the exciting side: Bravo’s Top Chef : Just Desserts franchise finished its second season with NYC’s own Johnny Iuzzini as the head judge and a bevy of New York based pastry chefs as guest judges and hosts.  Alex Stupak, another of NYC’s elite pastry chefs, finally got the praise he deserved for his restaurant Empellon, proving once again that pastry chefs can make the switch into savory (or management) and blazing a trail for future pastry chefs to follow.

"Peanut" flourless chocolate cake malted milk crunch salted peanut brittle, milk chocolate, whipped cream

On the tumultuous side: of the five restaurants with three Michelin and  four New York Times stars, three of them–Daniel, Le Bernardin and Jean Georges–saw their long-time executive pastry chefs depart.  Daniel’s Dominque Ansel had the decency to leave at the end of the summer while there wasn’t a lot of other NYC dessert news.  But Johnny Iuzzini and Michael Laiskonis each left on the last day of 2011!  I shouldn’t complain too much, these events resulted in two of the greatest weeks in DessertBuzz history, starting with a marathon tasting of last 15 desserts on the menu at Jean Georges, followed by a tasting of 6 of Michael Laiskonis’s desserts from Le Bernardin (two days before his final service).  Read about the Jean George tasting here.  Now, on to the Le Bernardin tasting…

Religieuse choux pastry detail

Consider Michael Laiskonis’ desserts.  To compare them to sculpture is so blatantly obvious that it’s almost a cop-out.  I imagine a precocious young child, unaffected by what people think, dining at Le Bernardin for the first time with his parents  saying “daddy the desserts look like the sculptures from the art museum!”  That’s what I keep coming back to, so that’s what I’m going with–Lasikonis’ desserts are like small plated works of art–imagined and created in advance and built to order.

Petit fours from Le Bernardin (March, 2011)

The first dessert to arrive was the Yuzu parfait which was completely new to me.  While photographing the plate I was reminded how fragile all the components were.  A dollop of foam applied with too much force or not aimed at just the right spot, or even a server over-tilting the plate, would ruin the composition and force the chef to start over.  It’s quite an achievement that a dessert as beautiful and delicate as this it can be plated in identical fashion over and over again.

Yuzu parfait with crispy sesame rice, ginger, green tea ice cream

The Yuza had a surprisingly pronounced citrus flavor especially compared to the yuzu-flavored ice cream common to many Japanese restaurants in New York. It went  nicely with the green tea ice cream.  I love these two flavors, and their similar, smooth textures made them even more well suited to share the same plate.  The green tea ice cream sits on a perfect square of green tea sponge and the sesame rice crisps add texture and crunch.  The white dollops are non-dairy citrus meringue–no egg whites (!)–just yuzu, water and sugar, whipped with soy protein.

Another view of the black sesame panna cotta from the sphere side view

I recently posted some photos of the Black sesame panna cotta on Facebook and joked that Laiskonis actually used a custom laser device in the kitchen to align all the elements so perfectly.  Nobody asked me if I was kidding.

Jokes aside, one of the pleasures (and challenges) of eating this dessert was deciding where and how to start.  Do I just pierce the ultra-delicate (and let’s face it, ultra-cool looking) sour cherry sphere and then try to combine it with some panna cotta, sorbet and cake?  Or, do I simply cut a perfect segment of panna cotta like a snowboarder slicing into virgin untracked powder and taste it on it’s own?   I opted for small taste of panna cotta followed by a pirceing of the sphere and then a quick, but not rushed, consumption of the rest of the elements.

The Mandarin sorbet from the black sesame panna cotta

The black sesame panna cotta has two of the coolest and most artful components I have seen on a plate in a long time: the black sesame panna cotta cube with its half-milimeter thick black top and a sour cherry sphere.  Despite it’s good looks the panna cotta doesn’t give up anything in the flavor department–as it tastes like sesame and has a perfect creamy texture.  The tanginess of the citrus from the Mandarin sorbet makes the other two parts come alive.  The “unifying sauce element” of the dessert is a mandarin coulis, bound with pectin, “to mirror the mandarin sorbet”  said Laiskonis.

Black sesame panna cotta, sour cherry sphere, mandarin sorbet

I asked Laiskonis whether the the thin, dark black sesame layer on the cube was there for flavor or for aesthetics: “It was actually the result of a happy accident: We blend a Japanese black sesame paste into a relatively standard panna cotta base (cream, milk, sugar). It’s then deposited into a silicon mold, then frozen, then unmolded and tempered. Popped out of the mold, it’s inverted–the ‘bottom’ becomes the ‘top’. We noticed this rich black sediment of sesame paste had settled to the bottom of the mold and immediately thought it looked so cool! We could have easily blended it further to make it more homogenous and thus more uniform, but something about the gun metal grey/dark black contrast takes the presentation to a higher level”

Even the mini-macarons are perfect

My dining companion Doctore, who has accompanied me on these missions before, proclaimed our third course, the Religieuse (elderflower ‘creme mousseline’, crunchy choux, pear coulis, black current powder) to be the best, non-chocolate, pastry he has ever had with the possible exception of Pierre Herme’s croissant isphan.  In order to explain how good this 4-star choux pastry was, I have to talk about Macarons for a momment.

Religieuse - Elderflower 'creme mousseline', crunchy choux, pear coulis, black currant tpowder

I’ve always found it odd that despite how many great pastry chefs we have in New York–many who are from France or who trained at Pierre Herme–the macarons flown in everyday from La Duree in Paris are still vastly superior to all but a few NYC-made macarons.  The point is, there’s some reason, as yet unknown, that elevates Parisian macarons above those from New York.

Back to the religieuse.  I have tried all kinds of delicious choux pastry, a few in NYC restaurants, some from bakeries that specialize in choux pastry as well as a religieuse or two from Paris and none were in the class of this delicious pastry.   The delicate flavors of the pear coulis and the black current powder  were subtle but could easily be detected and appreciated.  However, to me, the texture profile was what made this dessert fantastic.  It was crunchy on the outside and when you bit into it, it simply melted in your mouth until it disappeared like few other pastries I have had.

"Peanut" flourless chocolate cake malted milk crunch salted peanut brittle, milk chocolate, whipped cream

“Peanut”  is a crowd-pleasing chocolate and peanut dessert that would make Frank Lloyd Wright proud.  It features peanuts and chocolate in a number of different forms including a very thin “plaquette” of milk chocolate and a layer of flour-less dark chocolate cake.  There was also some great tasting malted milk crunch and a salted peanut brittle layer to take advantage of humankind’s innate love of the salty and sweet.  Whipped cream and a matching scoop of malted rum milk chocolate ice cream finish off the dessert.

Whipped cream and peanuts view

Pizza bloggers call this an "upskirt" shot.

The last two desserts have been on the menu at Le Bernardin for some time.  As I have said before, “the egg” is really the epitome of a successful salty-sweet dessert.  In addition, you won’t find two more satisfying teaspoons of dessert anywhere.  Go here to read why I think Laiskonis was actually sick of creating and serving the egg at LB.

The "egg" from Le Bernardin by Michael Laiskonis

The chocolate tart with wine reduction sauce and sweet potato sorbet has it roots in the common “molten chocolate cakes” you see everywhere, but those roots are buried pretty deep in the lineage as the sweet potato sorbet and caramelized wine sauce will be unique to any eater and both are really enjoyable flavors.

One of things I love about fancy-pants restaurants is that in order to make sure guests leave feeling utterly impressed, they always  send out a fixed number of post-meal sweet plates–no matter how many desserts you have already eaten.  I wonder if a waiter has ever come out and said “you guys can’t seriously be thinking about eating more sweets after all that can you!?”

Madeleines served piping hot

We were served a basket of piping hot madeleines and financiers (the only way to enjoy them) and the mini-macarons, (dulce de leche-passion fruit, vanilla and almond) had the same attention to detail as the plated desserts.  There were also chocolates–even after lunch.

two very nice looking pistachio Financiers

March, 2011: Michael Laiskonis in a rare non-working moment in the kitchen

What does the Chef have planned going forward?  Laiskonis wasn’t willing to share anything concrete but  mentioned a possible book about pastry from the perspective of the pastry chef in the kitchen, doing some consulting and the desire to share his knowledge through some kind of teaching role.  Next Monday, January 16th, he will be one of 6 acclaimed pastry chefs in attendance at “Killed By Dessert“, a charity event to raise money for Share our Strength–the event is sold out.

Coverage of our previous tasting of Michael’s desserts at Le Bernardin from March 2011 is here.  Follow DessertBuzz on Twitter.  Micheal Laiskonis’s blog is here.  Le Bernadin is located on 155 West 51 Street.  Their website is here.

After lunch chocolates