Cereal In pursuit of food and travel

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I really love cookbooks but recently I tried to explore a little bit more in the magazine world.

A few weeks ago I found Cereal in a bookstore in Soho, it caught my attention because it is visually striking but I really got me excited when I realized that it was about food and travel.

Cereal is a quaterly magazine in which they expose products, destinations, and interesting people always revolving around with food and travel. It´s based, designed and published in Bristol but, they have contributors in Scandinavia, the U.S. and Europe.

This is a copy of the second volume which has four main chapters: Berlin, Salt and Pepper, Seoul and Pembrokeshire (Wales).

Each chapter consists of several articles showcasing specific ingredients or places, for example in the case of Berlin they have an article on the Jewish Museum and another one on their currywurst.

Without a doubt my favorite chapter in this volume is Salt and Pepper, a subject not only almost forgotten but also basic and super interesting.

The image below is an excerpt from a photo essay on what they call the age old ritual of prolonging the life of food with salt.

I will admit that I love this magazine but I had a hard time buy it, I´m paying for a magazine I like to get the most out of it, and this one has only one recipe. But that one recipe is for Black Pepper Ice Cream and curiously it brings me good memories.

About eight years ago I took my first formal class pastry class and one day the chef gave us somo Black Pepper ice cream he had left over. The truth I was not very exited but I could not refuse the opportunity to try a new ice cream flavor, even if I can´t remember the taste I still remember the feeling, I was truly amazed. I´ve been wanting to make this type of ice cream since that moment, and finally it seems that I will finally be able to do it.

 

 

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Mast Brothers

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I promised in my Chocolates in NY post to make a Mast Brothers one, here it is.

Three years ago I came across this video on the Cool Hunting website.  Although I saw it three times in a row I completely fell in love with the concept, the brothers and their beards in the first ten seconds. Shortly after my friend Rachel brought me one of their chocolates from NY, and I immediately became a huge fan. They taste so much better than they look, and that really is something. each chocolate bar is hand wrapped with wrapping paper specially designed for these chocolates by themselves or friends. Each flavor has a different wrapping, the first one I tried was the Sea Salt bar, it was wrapped in a white paper with red and blue anchors, it is still one of my favorites.

 


Three years and a few chocolates after I finally went to the store, the impossible happened: I liked everything even more. For starters it´s the same place where they produce their chocolates and the magic happens, is also the only place where they sell the Limited Reserve collection and finally the have special 2 pounds chef tablets. You can not ask for anything else.

 

 

Mast Brothers sells only handmade dark chocolate bars. Each bar has a blend made of different cocoa beans from places like Venezuela, Ecuador and Madagascar. Some bars also have extra ingredients such as sea salt, almonds or truffle.


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Pastry I

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After two months I finished the first out of three levels of my pastry program I’m doing. Here are some pictures of the thousands of pies, cakes, breads and more things that did. Surprisingly the thing I really liked making were the ones I never had noticed before, loved making bread and baking choux. I can see a post about that in the future, a post with better photos and recipes.


I admit it wasn´t until yesterday that I decided that this material was worth sharing, hope you like.

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Bake the book series

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If you follow this blog you probably already noticed that I am a huge Milk Bar fan. I like everything: the concept, the products, its history and their book. Like a real fan, I decided to take my obsession to the next level and take a class. These classes take place in the Williamsburg production kitchen, where they make everything for all the different shops and Momofuku restaurants.

 

 

I took one of the many classes from the Bake the book series, each class is a different chapter from the book. These classes are thaught by my hero of the moment: Christina Tosi, chef and owner of this bakery. My favorite part was meeting her. If I could have one wish it would be to be like her when I grow up.

I learned how to make Crack Pie, their famous Cereal Milk and we had demos for both Cereal Milk Panna Cotta and ice cream.

 

         

 

What impressed me the most was seen how they created a whole new original concept, accessible to all audiences, and being able to say that I was there to see it, even if it was just for an afternoon.

 

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Challah French Toast

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Remember my breakfast in San Francisco? I still I can´t get over it, so I decided to make my own Challah French Toast. It all started a few days ago, during the Viennoiserie chapter in school when I realized I was going to bake, among other breads, Challah Bread. I know that I just talked about not being able post a lot of baking cause I have no room in my apartment but I think this is worth it. Still, here´s a photo of my building so you get what I´m talking about.

 


 

The difference between this French Toast and the one I had in San Francisco is that I put oranges instead of strawberries. I put the orange zest in the milk mixture, combined the juice with syrup and used supremes to decorate a bit. You can also use brioche instead of challah.
 
Ingredients:
- 8 slices of challah bread 1 inch thick
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- zest of one orange
- juice of an orange
- maple syrop
* You can use cinnamon with the milk, I didn´t used any cause I don´t like cinnamon in my breakfast.
 
Direction:
- Mix the eggs, milk and orange zest.
- Soak the bread slices in the mixture, I like to do this two at a time.
- Put the slices in a pan with a some butter for 2 or 3 minutes each side
Syrup
- Heat equal parts orange juice and maple syrup, pour over bread.
 

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Chocolate en NY

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Desde que llegue a NY estuve buscando ideas para continuar con mi blog adaptándolo a mi nueva vida. Tenía que encontrar una nueva manera de producir material diferente, aunque estoy cocinando muchísimo en la escuela no tengo las herramientas en mi casa para hacer o subir nuevas recetas.

La idea es aprovechar lo más posible el lado dulce de NY y hacer una nueva serie de ingredientes en sus diferentes presentaciones en esta ciudad. Escogí el chocolate para mi primer capitulo ya que pascua estaba a punto de llegar. Visité tres diferentes chocolaterías, cada una con diferentes estilos y productos.

 

Ever since I´ve been in NY i´ve been looking for ideas to continue with blog with this new lifestyle. I had to find a new way to produce different material to post, but even if I’m cooking a lot at school I do not have the tools at home to post new recipes.

The idea was to make the most out of the sweet side of NY and create a new series showcasting ingredients in the different presentations that you can find in this city. I chose chocolate for my first chapter because Easter was about to come and I thaugh it would be a good time to visit chocolate stores. I visited three different chocolate stores, each with different styles and products.

 

 Primero fui a una de las varias tiendas Jacques Torres Chocolate en NY, es una chocolatería completamente artesanal que usa productos naturales con un acercamiento bastante tradicional. Como fui justo antes de pascua todos sus productos eran huevos, conejos o gallinas.

First I went to one of  several Jacques Torres Chocolate stores in NY, they make handmade chocolate  using only natural products with a fairly traditional approach. Since it was Easter time all its products were eggs, rabbits or chickens, and the store had a childish feel to it.

Después visité Marie Belle , además de ser una tienda de chocolates es también un salón de té. Esta chocolatería hacen productos, clasificados por ellos mismos, de lujo. Se puede decir que sus productos son mucho más detallados y definitivamente destinados para un publico adulto.

The second place I went to was Marie Belle, this is a luxury chocolate store and a tea salon. As Jacques Torres they also make artisanal chocolates but much more detailed and delicate.

 

 

 

La ultima tienda que visite fue Mast Brothers Chocolates en Williamburg, pero tiene un lugar especial en mi corazón y es por eso que le voy a dar su propio post. Lo subiré pronto.

The last store I visited was Mast Brothers Chocolates in Williamsburg, but it has a special place in my heart and I am giving it it´s own post. Don´t worry it will be up soon.


 


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Macaron Day

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This passed March 20 Macaron Day was held in NYC and obviously I joined the celebration. It began four years ago when Francois Payard decided that, like Maison Pierre Hermé in Paris, his pastry shops would celebrate Macaron day and give free Macarons to every visitor. Since then some other shops have joined this celebration.

So I decided to take a little tour of some of the best French pastry shops in NYC.

 

 

I first visited the bakery that started it all, Francois Payard Bakery. I tried three different flavors, cassis, passion fruit and my favorite for the day raspberry lychee.

 

 

Then I went to Dominique Ansel bakery, this French chef is considered one of the best pastry chef in the U.S.He is known for being the pastry chef at the  three Michelin star restaurant Daniel. With one location in Soho this shop is considered one of the best in the country. Just as the rest of their products the macarons have a traditional french style, I tried the caramel and the hibiscus one.

Finally I went to Ladurée, where I had the Marie Antoinette and pistachio one, I once again confirmed that their macarons are one of  my favorite things in life.

 

This boutique amazes me, I say it´s a boutique because it´s not a bakery they only sell macarons, they are baked in France and flown to NYC. Everything is truly amazing, their different type of flavors, their boxes and their bags. This visit was definitely the best ending to my Macaron Day celebration.

 

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Masala Chai in NY

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 For the next six months I will be in New York studying pastry arts and sharing an apartment with one of my classmates, she is from Mumbai and her name is Mitali. The moment I met Mitali I knew she was an excellent cook and I had so much to learn in terms of spices. It was obvious I had to do something with her for Azúcar Pastel. Walking by Dual Speciality Store it became clear that we had to make masala chai. Dual Speciality Store is a super cool Indian spice shop in the East Village, their charming cashier Hashim sold me everything we needed for our drink.

 


 

Ingredients for 2 cups:
- 4 cardamom seeds toasted
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- A small piece of ginger
- 2 darjeeling tea bags
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
-1 / 2 cup whole milk
- 1 cup water

 

 
Directions:
- Put the spices and tea in the water and bring it to a boil.
- Let it boil for 2 minutes,remove from heat and add sugar.
- Strain the tea and add milk, drink it while it´s hot.
 

 

Tradicionalmente se bebe este té en pequeños vasos de vidrio, los llaman cutting chai glasses porque les cabe la mitad de té que a una taza normal. Se acostumbra tomar poca cantidad de té varias veces en un mismo día.
 
Traditionally this tea is drunk in small glasses called cutting chai glasses, these glasses hold only half a cup of chai. It is common to drink a small amounts several times a day.
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1 year

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Here at Azucar Pastel there´s no Valentine´s celebration cause it’s our birthday. Last week we celebrated a year of recipes, gifs, books and a few collaborations. I decided it would be a good idea to celebrate with some NY treats, since it´s here where the second year of Azúcar Pastel will take place. I was lucky Rachel and Mara joined me on this celebration, they´ve supported this project from day one.

 

The celebration began in Grand Central Station with chocolate covered strawberries from Financier, I admit this is a bit romantic for a birthday but I could not pass up the opportunity. Financier is a NY based group of bakeries named after the French pastry because not only sell French style desserts but also they give  a financier with coffee purchase.

 

The second stop was the amazing Milk Bar, where I ate the delicious B’day cake truffles, I think it doesn´t get better than this for a first birthday party. Milk Bar is for me one of the best and most original bakeries today, I became a fan the first time I saw the book and now after tasting their creations I’m a bigger fan.

Finally I went to Sugar Sweet Sunshine a local cupcakes shop. It’s a small bakery with a homey feel and delicious cupcakes with a similar style of the famous Magnolia cupcakes, the owners used to work there before opening their own business. I chose this place because for me the sweet side of NY are the cupcakes, here was the first time I ate one and was also where my fascination began. Cupcakes have been a big part of my short story as a baker and that´s the reason why I made a wish by blowing the candle of a Yummy Lemon cupcake.

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Fruit Punch

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A couple of days ago I moved to Manhattan and few hours after my arrival I was greeted with a winter storm. Do not worry, nothing happened, I had an ace up my sleeve, fruit punch.

 

The perfect remedy against low temperatures, and boredom, is a good fruit punch. I recommend this one there´s no easier recipe.

Ingredients:
- 6 cups cranberry juice
- 2 cups of rum
- 2 sliced tangerines
- 6 cloves
* You can add water

Directions:
- In a saucepan, heat the juice with the tangerine and cloves.
- Boil for a few minutes, remove from heat and add the rum.
- Serve hot.

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