There it is at last!! If some of you don't know, I did my intership in Vienna, Austria in one of the oldest coffeehouses - Demel. It is 300 years old and it has still kept that authentic atmosphere. If you ever find yourself in Vienna, this is a must. Well, you can't really miss it eaither, because it's in the center of the city and their display windows are absolutely fascinating, you can see the stars I made last Christmas ;)

I was anticipating the day Demel would open a store in NYC and now it finally happened. Believe it or not, it is located in the Plaza Hotel, which you need to see if you're near Central Park, because that's absolutely fascinating. I was very surprised when I fould out that Demel was located there. So, Stacey and I made our way there and had the most amazing possible treat. Did I ever say that Demel has one of the best chocolate I have ever tried? And the hot chocolate is hard to beat by anyone else. With a slice of Dorrytorte? Oh yes. The cake was good, but I must admit that the one in Vienna is a lot better, which is understandable, because ingredients and everything else is different.





And of course, Sacher torte was there as well.



There arent' that many pastries like in Vienna, but the main products are there and their signature chocolates.
I really miss Demel, and my time there was one of the best experiences I ever had.

So what do you think of this?!



Instead of ice-cream during the warmer periods, this showcase has been replaced with a new line of cupcakes! Apple Pie has surprises each day, it's never boring in that cafe, that's for sure!
I am embarrased to say that I never really had a cupcake....It's because I am not a fan of frosting!! But these are quite fancy, so I might give it a try these days. I think I'll go for the Creme Fraiche one. Here are the varieties (they are all $2.95):

Chocolate
Chocolate cupcake soaked in Amaretto simple syrup. Topped with chocolate frosting and dragees.

Chocolate Mocha
Chocolate cupcake soaked in coffee simple syrup. Topped with coffee frosting and assorted puffed rice pebbles.

Creme Fraîche
Creme fraîche cupcake soaked in vanilla simple syrup. Topped with vanilla frosting, fondant flower, and candied yellow mimosa flowers.

Lemon
Lemon cupcake soaked in lemon simple syrup and filled with lemon curd. Topped with lemon frosting, candied lemon zest, and poppy seeds.

Pumpkin
Pumpkin cupcake soaked in spice simple syrup. Topped with spice frosting and mini fondant pumpkin.

Red Velvet
Red velvet cupcake soaked in vanilla simple syrup. Topped with cream cheese frosting and coconut.

I went to Apple Pie bakery cafe as usual, but today I noticed something interesting in the display case. I was like what did they do now?!?
When I read the sign ''Red Velvet Pillow cake'', I thought it was a real pillow with cake hidden somewhere inside of it or something, then as I looked closer, I realized THAT was the actual cake!
I have never seen anything like it before. Now that part comes when you ask yourselves, how do they do that?? WELL, I hate to say it, but it's quite simple if you're familiar with the baking and pastry principles. It is exactly as it says on the sign; there is a pillow-shaped mold that has been coated with chocolate so you get a top and a bottom shell. Then, you cut out your cake base and fill it with coconut filling, making sure it fits nicely in the shell. You take the other side of the shell and close it. Once that's done, take the red velvet spray (another special piece of equipment) and spray!
That's how I see it, but I will double check and let you know if there is something else to it. I have to see how the sugar diamonds were made, but I am 99% sure it's meringue...

Did I ever tell you how much I love Nutella? I think it's about time to tell you the story.





It's something I grew up with (apart from Chokolino) and I still believe it's one of the best things around. You might think that as a pastry chef I would get more sophisticated, but some things never change. Even though I tried some of the best Gianduja, Nougat or Praline (it's called differently in each country, it drives me crazy) I always come back to Nutella. The silky smooth hazelnut spread on a slice of bread, especially white bread, is unbeatable. I never have it without butter though (it tastes so much better, it doesn't stick to your teeth, just slides :)) , except when I have it with crepes, but that's another story...
I believe many of you share similar feelings towards this fantabulous invention!

I will try to show you how was baking and pastry seen in the 1930's, when attention to detail was very important. It was about the quality not mass production. I am always fascinated by these magnificent works that you don't see much these days. So here's an ancinet book that I got as a present from my dear family friends in California. Mr. Steve's father was a young man who came from Korčula, the Island in the south of Croatia where most of my family lives, and arrived alone to the States. He pursued his career as a baker and this book was his big reference. I am quite honored and fortunate to have a fotocopy of it and I believe my first attempt would be Stollen for this Christmas.




The book is written in English, Swedish, and German. It has a lot of Austro-Hungarian influence, but some American as well. The recipes itself are not that descriptive, it was intended for skilled pastry chefs. I will definitely need some assistance from my german chefs to make sure I got it right.



One thing I just found today is this historic proverb as an example of how to pipe (wow, they piped better then I write!!).