Tropical.........................

Biscuit joconde decor layered with lilikoi citrus mousse, creme chantilly, and mango gelee'

Dome........................

My new adventure begins at the Honolulu Coffee Company as their new head pastry chef. Lots of work to be done, items need to be changed, design of the desserts need to be enhanced, and recipes need to be reworked. It never fails to surprise me when I work at different places how the basic, classic recipes, the foundations of what we know(or at least some of us), get totally side tracked. Several of which I have encountered recently include, the classic italian base buttercream with twice the amount of sugar, macarons sandwiched with flavored white chocolate ganache(gross! the shell is already sweet to begin with!), and the all time favorite here in Hawaii (where I have many times seen this done) anglaise made with straight heavy cream. I honestly hope that they are not teaching students in the culinary programs these things.

My work begins............

Serge Gens.........................

The first patisserie in Japan to offer course dessert menus. Located in Sakae, Nagoya on the main strip. You can find three to four course dessert menus as well as an assortment of petit gateaus, confiseur, and confectionery within their pastry showcase. Very elegant, classy, and chic. Just one of the many high end outlets that the main branch has throughout Nagoya. Nothing cutting edge in terms of plating. You really won't find any aspects of molecular gastronomy utilized in their service but the idea is a good one and a first for Japan.

http://sg-sakae.jp/1f/

ショコラヘーゼルナッツバー。。。。。。。。。。。。

Decided to make some gourmet candy bars. You won't find this at your local grocery store. Chocolate hazelnut candy bar-two layers of hazelnut dacquoise layered with milk chocolate feuilletine, praline ganache, and hazelnut croquant, and then coated with a generous layer of milk chocolate.

Curried Pecan Tart................

Here's something that I have done long time ago and have recently revisited. The combination of curry and pecans go suprisingly well together. For this, I have lightly tossed the pecans in simple syrup and lightly sprinkled curried powder over them, tossing them to coat well. Lay them out on a sheet pan lined with panliner, sprinkle with powdered sugar and toast in the oven. The flavors of the curry with develop and the smokiness of the pecans will come out with a nice balance of sweetness from the caramelization of the sugars. Fill your prepared pan with the toasted pecans and add your filling. The filling does not need to have curry powder in the mixture. The curry alone on the pecans should suffice.