I was just checking out this (sort of but not that old) picture of the pastry station at ‘Gusto,’ in a basement off Greenwich Ave in NYC. For about a year this was my corner of the universe!
When I moved to Los Angeles I went to see executive, superstar pastry chef Sherry Yard because friends in New York told me she was really cool (and she is) and might have a job for me. Sherry probably doesn’t remember this, but she told me something that was only part joke and made a huge impression on me:
“being in desserts is all chocolate sauce.”
Chocolate Sauce
5 L. water, .5 L. heavy cream, ½ k. sugar, 250 g. cocoa powder, 1 bay leaf, half a split vanilla bean, pinch of salt
Combine on stove top, heat gently to reduce and thicken sauce. Stir often to prevent scalding on the bottom.
Sherry Yard’s Vanilla Sauce (from her book, the secrets of baking)
1 c. milk, 1 c. cream, 1/2 vanilla bean, 4 yolks, 1/3c. sugar
The Vanilla sauce, meanwhile, at Spago (which I tasted A LOT during the exactly 1 night I cooked there) was the most amazing vanilla sauce I’ve ever tasted. The secret was definitely in the millionteen used vanilla beans that were being steeped in the milk, which Sherry tells you to do in her book!
