Killed by Dessert: San Francisco

Some of the country’s best pastry chefs from the east and west coasts have come together to raise money for Share Our Strength through a series of “Killed by Dessert” events. The founders Lincoln Carson, Bill Corbett, Brooks Headley, Michael Laiskonis, Francisco Migoya & Christina Tosi held events in New York and Texas before making their way to the Bay Area.

Last weekend I attended the Killed by Dessert bake sale. Not only did the founding chefs come with sweets, they reached out to local pastry chefs from State Bird Provisions, Aziza and Coi to contribute as well. The amount of talent in the room was overwhelming and I wanted to try everything or close to it. I ended up with a selection of 10 items, a mix of sweet, savory and bread-y. While there was quite a bit more, I limited myself despite the conditioning from endless tasting in pastry school.

And I did not want to look like this guy in the poster.

The bake sale was held at the new San Francisco Cooking School which I’ve heard many great things about but had yet to visit. I love their bright orange crab logo. Along with professional courses, the school has recreational one-day classes, some even taught by the chefs that make up their Board of Advisors. I kid you not, recently I had a dream that I signed up for a class with b.patisserie’s Belinda Leong. Hint hint.

A window lined with crack pie packaging (Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar, NY). Fun fact: It was Mother’s Day weekend so Christina brought her mother with her to the event. She was so happy to be there. It was really sweet.

Rows of two times twisted vanilla brioche (Lincoln Carson, Mina Group, SF). There were two options: sweet which had vanilla, bourbon and cardamom or savory with bacon, sage and smoked pepper. I chose savory for some balance to the overall sugar consumption for the day.

Pretzel croissants and a take on the s’more (Bill Corbett, Absinthe Group, SF). I was intrigued by the porcini marshmallow meringue so I opted to go sweet here.

Having grown up in the South Bay I was particularly excited to see the area represented by none other than Stephanie Prida of Manresa in Los Gatos. To pair with a salted butter brioche, she made a chocolate hazelnut spread with chopped hazelnuts on top. The little jar will serve as a reminder that Manresa is still on my bucket list of restaurants to try.

Chocoyaki (Nicole Krasinski, State Bird Provisions, SF). Wrapped in Japanese comic strip paper, the buckwheat pastry had a chocolate gianduja and walnut filling. It came with little container of roasted strawberry sauce.

Back home where I could enjoy and savor everything, this is the quartet of yeast/bread items (clockwise left to right): kouign amann (Belinda Leong, b.patisserie, SF) salted butter brioche (Stephanie Prida, Manresa, Bay Area) passion fruit brioche (Greg Mendel, Neighbor Bakehouse, SF) twisted vanilla brioche (Lincoln Carson, Mina Group, SF)

My favorite of the four and of my whole pastry round up was the passion fruit brioche from Neighbor Bakehouse. The brioche itself was buttery and fluffy with passion fruit curd oozing as I bit into it. Bonus points for the generous filling. Perfection.

The kouign amann from b.patisserie had a red fruit filling. There was also plain which I’ve had. I liked the fruit but to really appreciate the butteryness of the pastry itself I prefer the plain. I also like the sticky sweet center.

Another highlight was the savory breakfast tart, which makes two favorites from Greg Mendel of Neighbor Bakehouse. The croissant base was topped with a colorful mixture of peas, mushrooms, Parmesan and vadouvan cream. I’m still thinking about my passion fruit brioche so he is now definitely on my radar of local pastry chefs to follow. Time for me to make a trip to one of his pop-ups in the Dogpatch!

I also had a mini veggie burger from Del Posto in New York which was hearty and satisfying in the mix of sweets. The veggie patty itself had quinoa, potato and chick pea and I really liked all the textures.

Trio of desserts: crack pie (Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar), olive oil financier with bergamot cream (Michael Laiskonis, Institute of Culinary Education in New York), porcini marshmallow meringue with roasted white chocolate ganache and oatmeal crust (Bill Corbett, Absinthe Group)

I’ve had many Momofuku cookies but had yet to try the crack pie till now and boy have I been missing out. It is so simple - a sweet buttery filling with an oat crust - but I could not stop eating it.

Also with an oat base, Bill Corbett’s version of the s’more that intrigued me when I heard porcini mushroom meringue. The Absinthe team explained that the porcini mushrooms were dried, ground into a powder and folded into the marshmallow mixture to give it a maple flavor. They were right. The marshmallow had a nice sweetness that was more earthy rather than in-your-face sweet. In contrast, the white chocolate ganache was very sweet, but worked with the oat crust.

In the middle of the trio was the olive oil financier with the bergamot cream. I thought it was a lemon curd, which was close but after a quick wiki check, it actually is not as sour as lemon. I wish there was more of the cream in proportion to the financier but I always like a lot of filling.

Lastly, the chocoyaki from State Bird Provisions. With each individually wrapped pastry was a little instruction card with the restaurant logo stamped on the back. We were directed to warm the chocoyaki and pair it with with the roasted strawberries. It was a good combination and I liked the sesame crust.

The bake sale and a dinner held the day after raised a combined $20,000 for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to help fight childhood hunger. I’m really glad I was able to participate and hope there will be more events in the future to contribute to!

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