Baba & Douceur Féminine

It’s sunny days like this that I feel like I may be able to fall in love with Paris. That, and it’s morning class today, which means I get perfect lighting for my pastry projects since I get to go home mid-afternoon. Today we finished our baba au rhum and did our own rendition of douceur féminine, one of the cakes that the 2014 world champion of patisserie glacée, Yazid Ichemrahen, introduced to us two weeks prior in a master class. Baba has never been my favorite pastry, simply because it’s more bread-like than any other cake and the ones outside always tastes like I’ve just downed 3 shots of hard liquor in a cake.

But our version of the syrup was more gentle- made with clementine juice, a touch of cinnamon, vanilla, and just a hint of star anise (I’ve found that the French are extremely fond of star anise for some reason). With a cup of warm tea, it’s the perfect afternoon snack.

Since the staff at the economa missed the order that we placed (our chef was a bit annoyed at that), we made a hazelnut crumble as a substitute to the raspberries that were supposed to line our cake. Our chef also taught us how to make paper thin caramel crisps as decorations, and I think our version ended up being more elegant, where the focus is on the citron and the hazelnut flavors.