By Laura Rancie
Welcome to our Meet the Pastry Chef Series where this week we interview three incredible pastry Chefs throughout Australia as we celebrate French National Day, le 14 Juillet.
Meet Pierrick Boyer, awarded 2017 Australian Pastry Chef of the Year, successful cafe owner, proud father and incredibly talented businessman who once made and hand-piped 3000 macarons to completely cover a Mini Cooper driving around the streets of Melbourne for a day.
Before opening his very own Rêverie Cafe and Dessert, currently in two locations, he was Head Pastry Chef for many years at the RACV Club Melbourne and Le Petit Gateau.
Read on for a glimpse into this Melbourne-based French pastry Chef's world.
Pierrick, what is your earliest memory of food?
My earliest memory of loving food would be Sunday brunch with my parents and grandparents.
I especially remember my loving grandmother’s cooking, because I did not like melon and porto. (Melon au Porto is a French Summer appetiser classic). Yes, children back then had this!
She made it specifically for me, but I loved her shrimp mayo in avocado and sautéed pomme de terre (potatoes) with garlic.
In your opinion, what makes great pastry?
What makes great pastry is a good recipe! Mixing ingredients at the proper temperature and a good lamination at a cold temperature.
Lamination in the pastry world is the process of folding and rolling butter into dough repeatedly to create perfect super-thin layers.
Once this is done, you need to prove it to wobbly perfection and bake in a good oven. I’m looking for a crispy, fluffy and light texture. The BEST!
Living in Australia for a long time now, what do you think is a classic recipe every Aussie should know in their home kitchen?
A good soup! Or, if you have a good blender, make your own nut butter. My trick at home is adding extra virgin olive oil and sea salt to my nut butter. It creates the perfect base for adding to sourdough toast topped with jam and banana.
Favourite flavour combo?
This would be hot sautéed potato with garlic and each bite was eaten with cold butter! I also love sourdough with butter and homemade chocolate nut butter.
What can you absolutely not live without in your kitchen?
I have a few favourite items in my kitchen, but the first to come to mind is my Opinel knives range, engraved with my name and the Reverie logo on it. I use them every day. We make all our pastries (pain au chocolat, croissants etc) from scratch, so a large spiral mixer, the retarder prover and my UNOX bake top oven are a must too! They are my can’t live withouts.
Could you share a recipe with us to bake at home?
Oui, bien sur! Please find my creation here - a cake named after our darling daughter, Charlotte Tiffany.
I hope you enjoy making it. It’s a special cake for us and for Rêverie Café and Dessert.
Reverie Cafe and Dessert is open every day at the following locations:
Prahran, 31 Izett Street.
Doncaster, Level 1 Westfield.
