Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop

278 Pages·2011·5.3 MB·English

by  Meg Ray

miette
recipes from san francisco’s most charming pastry shop
by Meg Ray with Leslie Jonath
photographs by Frankie Frankeny

Contents
introduction
cakes
Hot Milk Cake
Lemon Debutante Cake
Princess Cake
Coconut Mousse Cake
Strawberry Charlotte
Butter Cake
Bumblebee Cake
Double Chocolate Cake
Old-Fashioned Cake
Bittersweet Ganache Cake
Tomboy Cake
Chocolate Chiffon Cake
Bûche de Noël
Yellow Cupcakes
Cheesecake
afternoon cakes
Pumpkin-Walnut Cake
Carrot Cake
Lemon Tea Cake
Honey Tea Cake
Banana Bread With Nutty Streusel
Gingerbread
tarts
Pâte Sucrée Tart Shell
Chocolate Truffle Tart
Lime Meringue Tart
Lemon Tart
Pastry Cream And Fresh Fruit Tart
Banana Cream Tart
Pecan Tart
cookies, bars, and pastries
Chocolate Wafer Cookies
Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Walnut Shortbread Cookies
Chocolate Sablés
Gingersnaps
Parisian Macarons
Graham Crackers
Brownies
Crème Fraîche Scones
Éclairs
candies and creams
English Toffee
Fleur De Sel Caramels
Caramel Corn
Meringues
Miette Marshmallows
Chocolate Pots De Crème
Buttermilk Panna Cotta
miette essentials
Vanilla Buttercream
French Buttercream
Cream Cheese Frosting
Boiled Icing
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Mousse
Strawberry Mousse
Coconut Mousse
Lemon Curd
Pastry Cream
Ladyfingers
Simple Syrup
essential ingredients and essential tools
Essential Ingredients
Essential Tools
sources
index
about the author
copyright
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mostly, I would like to thank Christopher Ray, my husband of many
wonderful years—so many of them devoted to Miette. We spent countless late
hours and early mornings in the bakery, hauling things, fixing things, even
baking things, and then doing it all over again. And all while raising our
daughter Scout, growing his career as a designer and woodworker, and
embracing all the sweet struggles of a young family. Chris designed and built the
Ferry Building and Hayes Valley shops on a shoestring and tons of hard work.
These shops perfectly reflect his gentle character, craftsmanship, and ingenuity.
Infinite gratitude goes to Nancy Kajiyama, the force behind every product
at Miette and whose perfectionism is seen on the pages of this book. She tested
each recipe for accuracy and made sure the directions are clear and concise. In
the near-decade she has been with Miette, her palate is infallible and her patience
and kindness have managed the bakery gracefully through thick and thin (mostly
thin). She has been a friend, confidant, and, quite literally, my North Star.
Thank you to Caitlin Williams Freeman, whose contributions to Miette are
immeasurable. She started as an intern and was brought into the company as a
partner within the first year. Together, we ran the business through the exciting
early times, filled with recipe development, trips to Europe, and ridiculous
amounts of hard work. Her creativity and dedication shaped Miette into what it
is today. In writing this book, I recalled many happy memories: listening to the
Decemberists at 4:00 A.M., laughing in Amsterdam, and eating box after box of
pastries in hotel rooms and trains. Thank you!
From 4:00 A.M. onward and everyday, thank you to all the Miette bakers,
unrivaled in their skill and sense of beauty. Special thanks to Sabrina Belara,
whose immediate knack for pastry made her an overnight wonder child in the
bakery, for decorating most of the cakes photographed in this book. And thank
you to all the well-heeled and charming Shop Girls who know our customers as
friends and package each box with a perfect bow. And to all our customers who
invite us into their lives through their celebrations and all the other days that
require cake.
Thank you to Leslie Jonath for an enduring friendship cultivated during the
hours of writing this manuscript; for the asparagus and egg salads; for the pho.
To Frankie, whose beautiful photography has propelled Miette into so many
exciting places, especially this book. And to Bill LeBlond, Sarah Billingsley,
Sara Schneider, Doug Ogan, Ben Kasman, Peter Perez, David Hawk, and the rest
of Chronicle Books for making this such a beautiful book.
Thank you to Susan Acheson who corrected my French and gave us
“miette,” and for her lovely Web design work. And to Samuel Leshnick, for his
immaculate print and packaging design.
To Michele and Chris Meany, who procured Miette out of the farmers’
market for the Ferry Building and their authentic belief in all that they do. And
who, with the ironclad fortification of Kathleen Byrne, were there for me when I
needed to send in the cavalry. Thank you so much.
To Christina Besher, who shared so much knowledge, hard work, and
appreciation of handmade things; everyone at The Food Mill for generously
providing us with our first and forever favorite bakery; Peggy and Sue at
Cowgirl Creamery for giving me credit when we all knew better; Nigel at
Eatwell Farms for his fields of lavender; the guys at Prather Meat for providing
much-needed protein and sense of camaraderie; Vanessa Gates, whose
handwriting marks the vestige of time; Dexter and Lulu at CUESA for not
towing the delivery van; Jane and Zach at the Ferry Building for running the
show; the Berkeley Farmers’ Market for my first stall and the springboard for
everything after that; Alice Waters for her tap on the shoulder and all the doors it
opens; Rose Levy Beranbaum as a huge source of inspiration and the surreal
delight it was to finally meet her; to ALL the bakers, decorators, and Shop Girls
at Miette who are forever woven into the character and personality of Miette.
INTRODUCTION
As a young girl, I loved to read my mother’s cookbooks. My favorite was the
Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, the classic 1953 edition, outfitted as it was
in its cheerful, tailored gingham cover; and within, fabulous photos of
everything befitting a mid-century table. This comforting, simple, homey-but-
vibrant aesthetic became my ideal.
It was the 1970s and we moved from Palo Alto, California, to Whidbey
Island, near Seattle, Washington. Our house on the island sat among thousands
of acres of blackberries, leading to pies, cobblers, and crumbles. My mother
worked at a health food store, and brought home a variety of ingredients in bulk,
including whole-wheat flour and much-loathed carob chips. Although I was
inundated with whole grains, my heart lay in fancy pastries. I found my passion
in baking cakes and set out to make the ones I’d seen in my Better Homes and
Gardens Cookbook. I started at the beginning and baked everything in it.
Initially, I just wanted to frost my cakes and pipe buttercream decorations. I
saw baking as the necessary distance to cover before I could pick up the offset
spatula and pastry bag. But then I fell in love with the process of baking itself. I
began to study the techniques; I taught myself baking through endless trial and
error, which produced in turn endless little triumphs and big failures, and vice
versa. I made pound cakes, bundts, chiffons, and sponges. Each summer I would
enter my cakes in the local county fair. One year, my chocolate cake won the
blue ribbon.
I never considered a career in baking. I studied art and design, and
somehow wound up working in technology. Baking maintained its allure, and
remained the focus of my travels—especially in Paris, where I discovered not
only a world of exquisite pastries, but also a charming culture of packaging and
presentation. For the French, presentation is as important as the pastry itself and
each pastry is entitled to its own special box, wrapped in delicate papers and tied
with string. Without realizing it, I was gathering the knowledge to open my own
bakery.
the first shop
I started Miette in 2001, during the months leading to the dot-com bust. When I
made the transition, I had little idea what I was getting myself into, but I did
have a succinct vision: I wanted to create the cakes I had loved as a child and the
pastries I had discovered in my travels. Miette is the French word for “crumb,”
which is also a baker’s term for describing the texture of a cake—and in scale, it
was perfectly fitted to the size of my first shop, a pastel-pink tent at the Berkeley
Farmers’ Market. For two years, I was easily spotted under the only pastel-pink
tent ever to be pitched at the market.
I arranged the tables of the Miette stall with flowers and vintage cake
stands, attempting to re-create the splendors of a patisserie amidst the chaotic
hustle and bustle of an unpredictable seasonal market. At first, I sold only layer
cakes in standard pink bakery boxes. Eventually the product line grew to include
pound cakes, cookies, and bars, meticulously wrapped in cellophane and pink
paper bags printed with what had quickly become our emblem: a pink rose.
From the beginning, Miette’s aesthetic was classic and streamlined, feminine but
not too girlish, decidedly American but also European, infused with a dreamy,