Exploring the Pastry-Bar Crossover

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by Michael Laiskonis
Culinary Director, Boiron Americas

Many years ago, while working in restaurants, I began to place a high value on the tight working relationship between the pastry kitchen and the bar. An open dialog with the beverage team helped me source that unique spirit I sought to compliment my pantry of ingredients. Consulting not only the sommelier, but also the bar team, paved the way for novel and unconventional pairings to accompany newly created desserts. And as modern mixology evolved to incorporate a decidedly ’culinary’ approach in crafting contemporary cocktails, I found the exchange of ideas, ingredients and techniques further strengthened the bond between bartender and pastry chef.

Often, the bar and kitchen tend to operate in relative isolation. At most, the beverage team relies on the culinary side (and usually, the pastry kitchen) to source ingredients – fruit mostly, whether in fresh form, juice or purée. Or perhaps the synergy is limited to bar snacks that end up on the pastry or garde manger department’s daily prep list. This began to change some 20 years ago, as flavor-forward modernist techniques and then-obscure ingredients emerged on both sides of the restaurant. Not long after chefs and pastry chefs started to explore interesting tastes and textures through components such as gels and foams, I noticed mixologists, too, utilizing these methods to construct their increasingly complex drink menus. Now instead of just raiding the pastry walk-in for limes and lemons, we started to shift the conversation toward borrowing our foam siphons, liquid nitrogen, and hydrocolloids.

I immediately embraced this exchange of ingredients and equipment. I also started to appreciate better the similarities between the art of building cocktails and the craft of assembling plated desserts. Both the pastry chef and the bartender seek to concentrate flavors to stand up among complex creations; for the pastry chef those flavors must be able to punch through fat and sugar, and the bartender often must balance the effect of diluting those flavors with ice and alcohol. Both carefully measure and convert their concoctions into thoughtful ratios, managing the delicate dance of the basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty (and sometimes, umami). I see even more parallels in both mixology and pastry as both adapt to shifting tastes. Just as pastry chefs continue to reduce sugar and more broadly accommodate allergies and dietary restrictions, bartenders are also expanding the low- and no-alcohol beverage space with inventive refinement on par with traditional high-octane cocktails.

As creativity behind the bar continues to accelerate, there are also insights the pastry team can now borrow in return. Well-established techniques mastered by mixologists might be less common – but useful – among pastry chefs. Simple clarification methods using agar or gelatin (and sometimes in conjunction with pectin enzymes) can produce crystal clear juices with cleaner flavors (see the following recipe for clarified strawberry purée and a featherweight film). Fat-washing flavorful ingredients into liquids can infuse intense flavors that are otherwise difficult to control. Employing the foam canister in less conventional ways, such as carbonation and pressure infused herbs and spices, can introduce nuance and nostalgia into components on the sweet side.

The crossover techniques and ideas shared between pastry chefs and bartenders can sow fertile ground for creative exchange that link complimentary experiences of our guests, from their first sip to the last sweet bite!

Clarified Strawberry Film

This pair of recipes combine to create a clean, clear strawberry juice to be utilized in a thin flexible gelled film that can be used to drape components of a plated dessert. The basic ratio of 0.2% agar can be applied to a number of fruit purées; thinner juices and purées do not require the use of pectin enzymes, but thicker purées do benefit from the pectinase in order to increase yields and remove traces of bitter compounds bound by the fruit solids.

Strawberry Clarification

• 1000 g Boiron Strawberry purée
• 2 g Agar                                                           
• 1.5 g Pectinase enzyme (optional)             

1. Scale 800g of purée and reserve. Whisk the agar into the remaining 200g of purée and then heat to a boil while stirring. Allow to gently simmer for one minute to fully hydrate the agar.
2. Whisk together the two measurements of purée and the pectinase, transfer into a shallow pan, and place over an ice water bath to set into a soft gel.
3. Using a whisk, gently break up and stir the gel into agar “curds.” Transfer the broken gel into a cheesecloth lined chinois and allow the clarified juice to drain.

Strawberry Film

• 2 sheets Gelatin                                             
• 20 g Water                                                      
• 1 g Agar                                                           
• Sucrose to taste
• 200 g Clarified strawberry juice  

1. Hydrate the gelatin in the water.
2. Combine agar with sucrose (as needed) and whisk into 100g of the clarified juice.
3. Gently heat to a boil while stirring. Allow to gently simmer for one minute to fully hydrate the agar.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in bloomed gelatin, followed by the remaining juice. Allow to cool slightly for a few moments and transfer to a flat plastic lined half sheet pan. Chill and allow to set before cutting into desired shapes.

Photos courtesy of Les vergers Boiron

(This article appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)