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2004-12-15
In a florescent-lighted, concrete-lined room off the snaking corridors of the kitchen at Spice Market, Pichet Ong, the pastry chef, was rooting through the exotic booty that makes up his pantry. He dug past the tamarind pods, jars of black sesame and sacks of dried rose petals, skipped over the cherimoyas, lemon grass stalks and kaffir lime leaves until he found what he was looking for: a crate of lemons, some containers of raspberries, and a little pouch of shredded coconut.
“People associate me with unusual ingredients, but to be honest my heart has always been with simple, classic flavors,” said the pastry chef whose repertory includes durian ice cream andlitchi crème brulée. Proving his point was the recipe of the day: lemon cream-filled lemon coconut cupcakes with raspberry compote.
“There’s nothing remotely Asian about this,” Mr. Ong said as he separated eggs with his hands. “It’s more about my background as a pastry chef than my ethnic background.”
Unlike most pastry chefs, who begin their training in the French-haute-cuisine tradition of dessert-making, Mr. Ong started with the likes of sticky buns, banana cream pie and brownies. “I never went to cooking school, so I don’t have that classic technique a la Pierre Hermé,” he said, tossing the quivering the egg yolk into another bowl. “I learned hands on, by working in restaurants and from my mother.”
His first restaurant job was interning at Chez Panisse with Alice Waters, which he did while he was a somewhat disillusioned architecture student at UC Berkeley. “I spent several months peeling carrots and washing salad greens. A lot of salad greens,” he said as the egg whites inflated in the mixer, “but even so I decided I preferred cooking to drafting.”
After working as an architect for two years, he decided to cook full time, and got a job at a pastry shop specializing in Americana.
“There’s where I really fell for American desserts. Although most people associate me with Asian flavors, which I also love, most of my desserts are based on classic American recipes.
“I really think of myself as an American pastry chef. I love it all, banana cream pie, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes. Especially cupcakes.”
He then zested the lemon directly over the yolks in a mixing bowl.
“I don’t know why so many people zest onto parchment paper. It absorbs some of the lemon oil and takes away from the flavor. It’s much better to zest over the other ingredients in the bowl.”
He returned to the subject of the day, cupcakes.
“People in New York, myself included, are kind of obsessed with cupcakes right now, ” Mr. Ong said, “all of the new bakeries have them, and they look so tempting. But most of them are bad, dry and too sweet, with that unappetizing sticky frosting on top. I wanted to make one that actually tasted good.”
To that end, he shifted the typical cupcake paradigm. Instead of the often dry-as-dust yellow cake, he uses an egg-white based batter that’s closer to a moist coconut chiffon.
In lieu of sugary icing, he fills the cakes with a tart, ethereal lemon cream. He adds raspberry compote because he likes its looks and the way the cupcakes absorb the juices.
By the time we were ready to make the compote, the whites and yolks had been folded together to make the batter, which was in the oven. The compote—berries, sugar and lemon zest—took all of 6 minutes to cook. The last component for the dish was the lemon filling, made from lemon curd and whipped cream.
“We probably should have made that first because it takes time to cool,” Mr. Ong said with a frown. Then he brightened. “But there’s a shortcut.”
After mixing the curd ingredients together in a double boiler, stirring until they thickened, he slid the hot, mayonnaise-like blob into a bowl placed over another bowl filled with water and ice. Then he handed me a spatula and an order: stir until the curd cooled. Meanwhile, he whipped the cream. By the time it was ready, the curd was cold. He folded them together and spooned the mixture into a pastry bag.
“This is my favorite part,” he said happily, first poking a knife, and then the pastry bag, into one of the cakes, which had deflated, soufflé-like, when it cooled. “Watch what happens now,” he said.
As he piped in the cream, the cake puffed up. He put it on a plate next to a dab of raspberry compote and surveyed the presentation.
Too plain. He raced back to the pantry and rustled through the spices and green herbs, hesitating momentarily at the kaffir lime leaves before swooping up the mint.
“Usually I’m not a big fan of mint sprigs on desserts, but in this case, it just seems to work. It’s very American,” he said, handing me a fork.
Lemon Coconut Cakes
Time: 45 minutes plus cooling
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup sugar, plus additional for the pans
3 egg whites
4 egg yolks
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Lemon cream (see recipe), for serving
Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
Raspberry Compote (see recipe), for serving
Mint sprigs, for serving
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a 12-cup muffin tin with the melted butter, then sprinkle the cups with sugar to coat. Place the muffin tin in the refrigerator.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until frothy. With the mixer running, very gradually beginning adding 1/4 cup of the sugar to the whites and continue to beat until they form stiff peaks.
3. In another mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, lemon zest, vanilla and salt with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat with the whisk attachment at medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
4. Using a rubber spatula, fold about a third of the egg whites into the yolks. Fold the remaining whites into the yolks.
5. Sift the flour over the batter and fold it in. Fold in the coconut. Divide the batter among the muffin tins.
6. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let cool in the pans (the cakes will sink a little as they cool).
7. To fill the cooled lemon coconut cakes, insert a paring knife into the bottom center of each cake and rotate it to form a hole that comes about three-fourths of the way up towards the top of the cake (don’t cut through the top of the cake). Insert the pastry tip into this hole and pipe in lemon cream until the bottom of the cake begins to swell slightly. Serve each cake sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, then garnished with a dollop of raspberry compote on the side and a mint sprig.
Yield: 12 cakes
Lemon Cream
Time: 30 minutes, plus cooling and 1 hour chilling
Juice of 3 lemons
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
1. In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, whisk together all the ingredients except the cream. Cook, whisking constantly, until thick, about 15 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Whip the heavy cream to medium-stiff peaks, then fold it into the cold lemon curd. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip for piping the cream into the cakes. Alternately, dollop the cream next to the cakes for serving.
Yield: about 3 1/2 cups
Raspberry Compote
Time: 15 minutes plus cooling
3 half-pint containers fresh raspberries
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional to taste
1-inch piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the raspberries, sugar and vanilla seeds. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the raspberries break down and the sugar dissolves, about 6 minutes. Taste the berries as they cook, adding more sugar if they are very tart. Cool the compote before serving.
Yield: about 2 cups