bake - November/December 2024 - 13

back every weekend just to try what's new.
" We have a great team here at the Workshop, both
front- and back-of the house, " Ansel shares. " As a bakery
that's open pretty early each morning, all of our croissants
are baked daily and this is also our main production
kitchen for both here and the Soho location, so we have
different shifts of chefs that rotate here pretty much 24
hours a day. It's a pretty well-oiled machine, and it all
comes down to timing. "
The morning lamination team mixes and shapes all the
doughs, then they're rolling all the croissants, cutting
Cronut dough, etc. In the afternoon, there are daytime
production cooks that are making the ganaches, jams,
tart shells, etc.
There's an afternoon-evening finishing team that is
finishing the pastries or doing the chocolate work so
that the final touches are ready to go onto each pastry
overnight or during the next morning in time for opening.
There's an overnight team that's proofing and baking all
the viennoiserie that the lamination team made during the
daytime, so that they come out of the oven just before the
bakery opens its doors. And there are deliveries between
the Workshop and the Bakery in Soho twice a day, so
that they can make sure everything is baked fresh daily.
Ansel shares that his favorite ingredients to work with
are always French butter and French flour, which is what
they use for all its croissants.
" If you have good quality ingredients as your foundation,
it really makes a difference in the end result. It's
also quite seasonal too - we try using different fresh
fruits during the summertime, I always love the farmers
market strawberries or fresh peaches. Sometimes we'll do
" It's a pretty well-oiled machine,
and it all comes down to timing "
Dominique Ansel, the award-winning
pastry chef and owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery
a special with a rare fruit, like fraise de bois wild strawberries
that get overnighted to us from Malaga, Spain. "
Holiday specials
The award-winning pastry chef explains that with
Thanksgiving coming up, they always bring back pies:
Salted Caramel Apple, our Extra Silky Pumpkin Pie, and
a Bourbon Pecan Pie with a vanilla sablé crust.
" I always tell the team, Thanksgiving is like our Super
Bowl. We plan and prepare well ahead of time, and
together, we make several thousand pies that all get
served, sliced, picked up, shipped, etc. within a very
short window of just a few days each November. But if
we put our heads down, pace ourselves, maintain that
quality, and work hard together, we can get through
it, " Ansel shares.
Then the bakery heads directly into Christmas, which
is a crazy time.
" We'll make bûche de noël, and my favorite holiday
thing we do each year is our Christmas Morning Cereal.
It's got caramelized milk chocolate-covered crispy puffed
rice, smoked cinnamon mini meringues, and whole caramelized
hazelnuts. We started out years ago making
just a few dozen boxes, and these days, we sell out of
6,000 or 7,000 boxes within a few minutes online. It's
amazing. Now it's become a tradition for so many of our
guests (I love waking up on Christmas
and seeing people having their
cereal together). "
Somewhere in there, they
also make their Galette
des Rois, the traditional
French kings cake with
the crown and fëve.
" By the first week of
January, we get a brief
moment to breathe. "
Ansel marvels at the
process of what they
are able to accomplish. " I
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