Thoughts on a dream job

Friday, Oct 16th, 2015 Hello all! My name is Danielle, and I’ve been working in various pastry departments for the past three years. Over a year ago, through a stroke …

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The next chapter

Monday, Sep 28th, 2015 I’ve recently let go of my position in the pastry department at Blackbird and Avec. No easy decision, these two restaurants have been my home away …

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peanut buttery hypocrisy

Thursday, May 7th, 2015 I share recipes. All of them. It’s one of the deepest arteries of our pastry kitchen at Blackbird, pumping fiercely through our body of work. It …

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just stick it in your mouth

Saturday, Apr 25th, 2015 There are very few moments when I will sit down and eat dessert just for the sake of it. It seems counter intuitive, a pastry chef …

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Profiteroles

Tuesday, Dec 30th, 2014 I’m not sure I look up to anyone in this industry quite like Sherry Yard. When our paths crossed, I was at a point in my …

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Chocolate Mousse

Thursday, Dec 4th, 2014 I have a theory. It goes something like this. Chocolate goes with everything. Not in the cultish chocolate-is-better-than-fill-in-the-blank kind of way. I believe with the high …

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Mr. Darcy’s Crumpets

Friday, Nov 14th, 2014 I’d firmly say I’m the type of gal that doesn’t stray, but when it comes to cuisine I am often tempted to wander. Last September, a …

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culture club

Friday, Mar 28th, 2014 Spring has yet to spring here in Chicago. Temperatures still hover around freezing, and snow flurries obscured my vision as I walked home from work earlier …

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Craftsman and Cooks

Sunday, Mar 2nd, 2014 With the flow of younger cooks in and out of the restaurants I work at, I hear snippets of conversations here and there often describing dreams …

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Cracked Coconuts

Sunday, Jan 12th, 2014 We professional pastry chefs have at our fingertips access to something home cooks could never dream of. High quality fruit purees. They come to us frozen …

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Adventures In Setting Cream

Friday, Dec 27th, 2013 Crème Brulee. Pot du crème. Panna Cotta. Custard. Pudding. Pastry Cream. Yogurt. Crème Fraiche. A pastry professional spends a lifetime setting dairy. Every time we do this we …

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apples and restraint

Sunday, Nov 3rd, 2013 A long time ago, in a city far away, I worked at a restaurant named Lampreia. It is the first restaurant I list on my resume, …

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Input/Output

Thursday, Sep 19th, 2013 This morning I walked into my kitchen to another pastry chef working on my counter. She was rolling peeled medjool dates between two pieces of acetate. …

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The Old Story

On a characteristically grey British day in April of 2005, I was standing in a tin covered addition attached to the back of old British house in the village of …

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Meet Harry!

Saturday, Nov 21st, 2015 Harry Staging in Singapore We have a new writer joining the community here at The Pastry Department! Harry Flager has just returned stateside after staging in …

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Meet Ron!

I first started following the work of Ron Mendoza, long before I started following the work of Ron Mendoza. It’s confusing, I know. But about 3 years ago, I started …

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Hello My Name Is Ice Cream

March 28th, my first book was published, a cook book about ice cream, called Hello My Name Is Ice Cream; the Art and Science of the Scoop. You can find …

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Simple

Friday, Nov 18th, 2016 Recently I had the professional privilege of cooking with group of nationally celebrated chefs at a Friends of The James Beard Foundation dinner at The American …

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Setting the goal

Sunday, Feb 26th, 2017 The term “annual review” doesn’t garner the same excitement as “staff party.” While I had attended staff parties with regularity throughout my career, I had honestly …

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No News Is Good News

Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2017 Admittedly, it’s been a little quiet over here at The Pastry Department. A fact that can only mean one thing, we have been anything but quiet …

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Pumpkin Cheesecake puree 50g crème fraiche 4g cornstarch 240g pumpkin puree 5g cinnamon 2g nutmeg 1g clove 4g ginger 150g sugar 300g cream cheese room temperature 2g salt 2 eggs …

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Home Baking At Work

Wednesday, Aug 24th, 2016 I’ve recently taken a new pastry chef position at a collection of restaurants with the same name, The Publican. What was once just a beer hall …

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Cake Cake Cake

Wednesday, Aug 31st, 2016 I visited my friend Amanda Rockman recently in Austin, Texas. She’s taken up residency at The South Congress Hotel, where she fills pastry cases, dessert menus, …

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Blog

Friday, Dec 27th, 2013 by Dana Cree Adventures In Setting Cream Crème Brulee. Pot du crème. Panna Cotta. Custard. Pudding. Pastry Cream. Yogurt. Crème Fraiche. A pastry professional spends a lifetime setting …

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Compressed Green Almonds

Compressed green almonds 2              green almonds 15g            cardamom syrup Working directly next to the vacuum machine, shave the green almonds on the mandolin and immediately place them in a small …

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Harry Flager

Posted February 21st, 2017 by Harry Flager & filed under Uncategorized. If you want to start a lively debate, put a savory chef and a pastry chef in a room …

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Danielle Snow

Posted January 3rd, 2017 by Danielle Snow & filed under Uncategorized. Chapter Two: The Stage We all know the stereotype: an imposing, mustachioed man outfitted in a crisp white chef …

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Dana Cree

Posted May 11th, 2013 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. In a small nook in the back of the kitchen. On half a table shared with garde manger. Around …

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Dana Cree

Posted January 7th, 2014 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. A comment on twitter regarding the last post about posset doubted the recipe’s authenticity due to the inclusion of …

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Dana Cree

Posted May 31st, 2014 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. Our pastry work at Blackbird has remained exploratory in nature. We rarely use a recipe twice. Instead of relying …

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Dana Cree

Posted April 2nd, 2015 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. I’ve been receiving a lot of media attention lately. You see, I’ve been nominated for a James Beard award …

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Dana Cree

Posted October 6th, 2015 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. Partially reprinted with permission, this is my most recent piece over at Lucky Peach, How To Make Laminated Dough. …

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Dana Cree

Posted February 1st, 2016 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. I met Amanda Rockman over bowls of boiled chicken and rice, Hianese style, curled up on upholstered dining room …

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Pastry School- How to make Ganache

Tuesday, Mar 29th, 2016 My latest installation for Lucky Peach’s Pastry School is about ganache, the chocolatey backbone to so many pastry techniques. Read about the not-so-simple mixture of cream and …

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Uncategorized

Posted April 19th, 2017 by Dana Cree & filed under Uncategorized. March 28th, my first book was published, a cook book about ice cream, called Hello My Name Is Ice …

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From plate to cone

Friday, Jul 29th, 2016 Almost 3 years ago a friend asked me “if you were to open your own place, what would it be?” As a pastry chef, it was …

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Leigh Omilinsky

Posted March 27th, 2016 by Leigh Omilinsky & filed under Uncategorized. One of the most interesting parts of my job at Nico is the exploration of a different cultures’ food …

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Odds and Ends

Tuesday, Jul 5th, 2016 While the last few posts I’ve written have been singular in focus (palm sugar, mochi), this one is a grab bag of techniques. Not only did …

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Ron Mendoza

Posted July 29th, 2016 by Ron Mendoza & filed under Uncategorized. Almost 3 years ago a friend asked me “if you were to open your own place, what would it …

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Gubana

Sunday, Mar 27th, 2016 One of the most interesting parts of my job at Nico is the exploration of a different cultures’ food traditions. It’s Easter, so naturally there are …

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A Brief Introduction to Palm Sugar

Sunday, Feb 28th, 2016 What I’ll always remember about Singapore is the haze. Unbeknownst to me, my month of staging would directly coincide with the peak of Indonesia’s palm sugar …

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Discoveries in Thailand

Wednesday, Dec 23rd, 2015 This is the second installment in a series of posts I’m writing on my experience staging at a few restaurants in Southeast Asia. Last time, I …

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Trailing

Monday, Jul 20th, 2015 We are in the process of rehiring for two positions between Blackbird and Avec. Part of the interview process for a cooks position is a trail, …

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Trailing

Monday, Jul 20th, 2015 We are in the process of rehiring for two positions between Blackbird and Avec. Part of the interview process for a cooks position is a trail, …

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Creative Obligation

Thursday, May 28th, 2015 I’m doing something really mean to my staff this week. I’m taking away all their mingardise recipes. Not to test their memorization skills, or make their …

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