Parisian Macarons

In the spring of 2002, Meg, Caitlin and Daniele (the first Miette baker), took a pastry reconnaissance to Paris. Uninitiated to the macaron at that time, the first bite left them with no question that they had to make a Miette macaron - a version without food coloring that used only freshly ground organic almonds. Back home, Daniele kicked-off the project, but left soon after to pursue a career in education administration. Caitlin picked it up and persevered through many frustrating iterations and limited published information. It seemed that no one wanted to reveal the secret behind the macaron: the dense foot, the perfectly formed dome, and the chewy yet melting interior. It took about a year to perfect the overall recipe, but some flavors proved more difficult and time-consuming than others. The pistachio would form an unusual half-moon shape while baking. The hazelnut would form a thick, fragile crust and hollow interior. Creative thinking and unorthodox methods have remedied the problems and now the macaron is the hands-down best selling product in the shop. There are year-round flavors and others cycle in with the seasons, like grapefruit in the winter, raspberry in the summer. In keeping with tradition, no secrets will be revealed. One hint: wear ear protection!

back to top

Chocolate Sables

During that trip to Paris, the girls discovered the genius of Pierre Herme. They initially thought his products would be too avant-garde and masculine for their taste, but were amazed at the trueness of his flavors and perfection in execution. His books (beautifully written by Dorie Greenspan) quickly became the official text of the bakery and the origin of many products, such as the Chocolate Sable. Clearly, this cookie is all about chocolate and they were excited to use Scharffen Berger 70% in the recipe. The initial testing was delicious, but they hit snags in scaling up the quantities for the shop. The dough was getting overworked and the cookie was losing its namesake sandy characteristic. The solution was to finish the last stage of mixing while pushing the dough into sheet pans and scoring it when it was cold. The dough was barely touched and the cookie was crumbly with wonderful pockets of pure chocolate. On a more recent trip to Paris, Meg and Caitlin revisited Pierre Herme for the Sable but, it turns out, they missed the flavor of the Scharffen Berger chocolate.

back to top

Brownies

No bakery has spent the amount of time on such a common product as Miette has on their brownie. First, they had to define exactly what they liked in a brownie: Caitlin likes the edges a little chewy and good for dipping in milk, while Meg likes a decadent center, but not fudgy. Neither likes how common and sloppy a brownie looks when cooked in a large sheet and then cut with a knife, so the solution was to cook the brownies in individual pans giving each a little bit of both worlds: chewy on the outside and tender on the inside. Finding the perfect texture became a hands-on lesson about ingredients and mixing technique. After finding the perfect proportions of butter, chocolate, and flour, the amount of baking powder was adjusted, not for leavening but for texture. Too much and the brownie was cakey; too little and it was heavy. Giving the brownie its shiny crust came from incorporating the eggs very slowly, adding the dry ingredients and mixing the batter on high speed until shiny. Finally, they had produced a version with a slightly chewy crust that instantly yielded to a perfectly tender center.

back to top

Boiled Icing

Miette's boiled icing was first made for a Lady Baltimore cake - a traditional American cake that is topped with a maraschino cherry. The cake wasn't very popular because, even in Berkeley, customers were skeptical about dates, raisins and nuts as filling. The cake wasn't a hit, but Caitlin and Meg knew the frosting had potential; they had been looking for an old fashioned-tasting frosting to pair with their bittersweet chocolate cupcake. The initial recipe for 7-minute icing required 7 minutes of hand-held mixing over a bain-marie. With only a stand mixer in the kitchen, another way had to be found. Trial and error and (again) unorthodox thinking has transformed 7-minute icing into the most beautiful, marshmallowy frosting that could now be known as 37-minute icing - which now adorns the appropriately named Old Fashioned cupcake.

back to top

Tomboy, Debutante and Princess Cakes

The Princess cake is an exquisitely traditional cake from Scandinavia which couldn't be made for the Farmers' Market because it required refrigeration. Using the Princess as inspiration, they created sibling cakes that didn't require refrigeration - the Debutante and the Tomboy. With its unfrosted sides and fresh, clear-cut style, the Tomboy, in comparison to the Princess, could be nothing other than a Tomboy. Our frosted lemon layer cake, with its exquisitely piped borders, was somewhere in the middle: a Debutante. Now all three cakes can be found together in the Miette case.

back to top