CAKENOMICS - May 2018 - 6

Make
them
pop!

10-12 percent of flour in your
formula by sifting in cocoa.
Cocoas will produce different
flavors and aromas.
Another great idea for summer
is the chimney cake. Chimney
cakes are made by wrapping sweet
yeast dough around a cone-shaped baking spit, rolling it in
sugar, and cooking it in an oven while basting with butter or
oil. This caramelizes it, creating a warm churro-like shell. It's
crispy on the outside but soft and sweet like a donut inside.
Several bakeries across the country specialize in this sweet
treat, including House of Chimney Cakes in Anaheim, California. Owner Szandra Szabó grew up in Hungary, making her
name as a fashion model and entrepreneur.
However, Szabó sought a different career and moved to the
United States to bring some of the foods of her homeland to
Californians.
"When I was little I baked chimney cakes with my grandmother," says Szabó. That family tradition has made its way
to The Golden State and is satisfying both California residents and its visitors. House of Chimney Cakes is located just
minutes from Disneyland, making it an exciting destination for
sweets lovers.
They pair perfectly with soft serve, which comes in flavors
like vanilla bean and Dutch chocolate. The final touch on
these chimney cakes is that they are topped with ingredients
such as Oreo cookie crumbs, graham crackers, caramel popcorn, cheesecake bites and fruit.
Meyer points out that her Dallas shop, Bisous Bisous
Pâtisserie, is a "big fan of Valrhona chocolate in the shop and
we're always excited to try a new line or product of theirs. My

continued obsession is with their Caramelia 34%; we use it
in ganaches, fillings and custards, but it really is incredibly
versatile."
Innovation really becomes a necessity to staying passionate,
she admits. "None of us know all the answers, so I seek out
opportunities to learn new things, experiment, and look at
things we do from a new perspective. Sometimes we can sell
the results, sometimes we can't, but we always learn from the
experience."
There are thousands of retail bakeries in metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth, home to 7.5 million residents. So how does one
small shop stand out amid such a giant crowd? Bisous Bisous
Pâtisserie rose from being a simple farmer's market stand to a
thriving, profitable business in less than four years. The popular
food site Eater.com ranks Bisous Bisous Pâtisserie as the No. 1
pastry shop in Dallas, and Meyer couldn't be prouder.
"I'm always on the lookout for inspiration. It's important
to keep your mind fresh to new ideas and trends. I find my
interactions with other women small business owners to be
immensely inspiring and rewarding. Seeing new perspectives
and learning from other businesses' best practices makes me
excited to innovate and improve."
Nothing to her shop's success has been simple. A former project manager at Ernst & Young, one of the world's largest accounting and financial services firms, Meyer made a series of calculated risks to realize a longtime dream of owning a patisserie.
After living in Paris, she came back to Texas where she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu's program in Austin. "I knew that to do
the type of pastry I wanted to accomplish - at the level I wanted
to work - I needed further education. I wasn't interested in
starting a business as a home baker, but to really learn from
trained and experienced chefs and really learn the industry."

Cake pops continue
to delight customers.
Make sure you have
a good ratio of cake.

©Nataliia Pyzhova - stock.adobe.com

2018

THE SUMMER ISSUE

http://www.Eater.com

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