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Demos

Model Bakery English Muffins

Gracing the front cover of the Model Bakery cookbook are the Napa bakery’s famous English muffins. I’ve made muffins before but they look authentically like store-bought ones versus these golden puffy pillows that sell out every morning at the downtown St Helena shop.

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When I tasted my first Model Bakery muffin it was unlike anything I’ve ever had – this is how it’s supposed to taste? – I thought. The muffin had been in the freezer for about a week and I placed in a toaster oven to re-crisp. It was so flaky, crisp and buttery. Thank goodness for the book, because I had to have them, at any time I wanted. Lucky for me, shortly after my experiment I got to meet the owners of the bakery so I could see firsthand how the muffins were made and get some tips in the process. So here we go, my muffin adventure!

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Making Macarons with Aran Goyoaga

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Aran Goyoaga surrounded by trays of macarons in the Williams-Sonoma demonstration kitchen

Aran Goyoaga, food photographer and stylist shares her life in food on her award-winning blog, Cannelle et Vanille. Not only is the blog a visually stunning food diary, it also provides recipe inspiration for eating gluten-free, something Aran has had to adjust to since discovering her intolerance in 2009. In the fall of 2012, she released her first cookbook, Small Plates & Sweet Treats which contains gluten-free recipes organized by season.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Aran when she made a stop at Williams-Sonoma Union Square in San Francisco to sign her book and demonstrate how to make macarons. It is such a finicky pastry to get right so I am always interested in seeing people’s variations on the technique. I’ve jotted down some great tips from Aran and I have to say her macarons tasted delicieux.

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Bacon Doughnuts with Lori Baker

I was thrilled to host Pastry Chef Lori Baker for a demonstration at Williams-Sonoma Union Square this past weekend. She and her husband, Jeff Banker own a restaurant in Pacific Heights, aptly named Baker & Banker. While Jeff manages the savory menu, New American cuisine with an emphasis on seasonal and local ingredients, Lori handles the dessert menu and the pastries for their bakery located next door.

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Baking for an Amy Atlas Dessert Table

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Cherry pie fun! About a month before Amy Atlas was scheduled to visit Williams-Sonoma, I came up with a plan for putting her dessert table together. Part of the preparation involved a bit of baking. These cherry pies were included and I decided to test out a pie pan a few weeks prior to get the hang of using it. The pies were so adorable I had to have a little styling fun and as a result, a mini photo shoot.

In this post I’ll share with you more behind-the-scenes prep and tips for successful baking. I’ve also included a cookie recipe at the end that I like using.

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Milk Bar Goodness in San Francisco

With creative concoctions such as crack pie, cereal milk and compost cookies, (just noticing my unintentional alliteration) pastry chef, Christina Tosi has developed quite a following at Momofuku Milk Bar in New York.  With the release of her new cookbook, Christina embarked on a nationwide book tour and brought her east coast treats to the Bay Area.

Her stop at Williams-Sonoma Union Square, San Francisco included a demo and samples of her famous cookies.  No thanks to city rush hour traffic, I only caught the last bit of her demo, but the cookies did make up for it.  FYI, I did not eat all of these on my own.  I spread the love for Milk Bar to a few friends 🙂  Here are my notes on each one.

Taste Test:

Compost Cookie– chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crumbs, pretzels, potato chips, coffee grounds and oats.  Sounds like something you’d make when you have too many expired things in your pantry, but every one of these ingredients are essential to the incredible flavor of the cookie.  The most immediate flavors I tasted were the graham/brown sugar and coffee.  It was comforting.  My favorite cookie of the bunch.

Corn Cookie– like a sugar cookie but with the sweetness from corn. It is easily recognizable but in no way overpowering.  It makes for a very interesting cookie.

Chocolate-Chocolate Cookie– so intensely chocolatey, the name needs to repeat the word twice.  It is actually not too sweet.  There is much more focus on the cocoa.  Must be eaten with a cold glass of milk.

Cornflake, Chocolate Chip, Marshmallow Cookie– this one reminds me of a rice krispie treat. Christina first bakes a sugared cornflake mixture that gets  folded into the cookie dough.  Its gives a crispy, chewy texture like in a krispy treat.

Blueberry & Cream Cookie– had a bit of cookie overload so I didn’t get one, but I did get it from the actual Momofuku Bakery in NY.  Its like a blueberry muffin in cookie form.  A bit too sweet for me.

 

Christina Tosi’s tips for great cookies:

  • 10 minute creaming process!  I have never heard of creaming that long but if that’s what it takes to create her delicious cookies I won’t argue.
  • Refrigerate for 1 hour before baking so the butter in the cookies can firm up again after the creaming process.  The cookies will then bake before spreading.  From experience, unless you like a sheet pan of one cookie, this is an important step.
  • Pat down cookies slightly before putting in the oven.  This will help the cookies have an even spread.

 

If you can’t make it to NY, luckily Momofuku cookies can ship!

Momofuku Milk Bar 
251 e 13th st
new york, ny 10003
Order online