You joined Bo&Mie in October 2018. Can you tell us about the concept behind the bakery?
Bo&Mie has a "homemade" feel. Our work has a natural and simple focus, but using premium quality ingredients and while remaining affordable. Our prices range from around €4.50 to €5.50, which is not excessive. Our goal is to enable everyone to taste exceptional products. We work on traditional products, bringing our own little personal touches.
Is this a way of bringing a new twist to the classics while retaining their authenticity?
It’s exactly that. We preserve the authenticity of the ingredients with this little touch that each pastry chef brings. I really like to use flowers with fruit—for example, for my lemon pie, I work on different textures and flavours that combine with the acidity of the main ingredient. It is important to keep the main ingredient as the focus and to play with textures, colours, shapes—everything that characterizes a dessert.
My speciality is to put my two cents into each pastry.
What is your speciality at Bo&Mie?
My speciality is to put my two cents into each pastry. The cakes you taste are the ones that I like to make and to eat. I started to work on these mixtures of fruits and flowers in London, learning to work on these aromas, these essences, and I have since developed this at this cake shop. One of my signature pastries is the Paris-Brest—and it’s the store’s signature dessert. The way I make it different is with the ganache. Usually, the cream in a Paris-Brest is crème pâtissière with praline and butter. But I make it with a ganache so that no ingredients hide the praline flavour, because this is the key ingredient in this cake. In my recipe, you really taste the intensity of the praline: there is homemade praline under the ganache, and it is decorated with raw hazelnuts, hazelnut skins and some roasted hazelnuts. I play on textures and tastes, using hazelnut in different forms.
What is your secret for a successful dessert?
I try to reveal the intensity of each key ingredient of the dessert through different textures. I like to vary the ingredients between them, to make associations, but the main ingredient should always be the focus. For example, I used to make a fig tart in which there was a compote with fresh figs, roasted figs and just a little violet to accompany and enhance the taste of the fruit. I also do a peanut religieuse, in which I put a little Ricard in the caramel: it’s an enhancer that will add flavour to the dessert, and it works very well. It is this herbal side with a spicey or floral aroma which energizes the main ingredient, without covering the dessert’s principal flavour.