People Magazine

Check us out in this weeks issue of People magazine!

We would love to hear your comments.

Candied Pecans

Spice up all your holiday tables with these easy and delicious candied pecans.

ingredients:

2 cups Pecan Halves

2 Tbs Brown Sugar

½ tsp Salt

optional :

•freshly ground pepper – 5 turns of the pepper mill

•1/8 tsp. Curry powder

directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the pecan halves on a cookie sheet lined with foil and spread them out in one layer. Toast the pecans for about 5 minutes, just to get them warm.

Place the brown sugar and salt and optional spices in a medium sized bowl and mix them well. Fill a small bowl with some warm water.

When the pecans are warm, take them out of the oven, and turn the oven down to 250 degrees. IMMEDIATELY place the warm pecans in the bowl with the seasonings. Dip your hand into the warm water and use your wet hand to toss the warm pecans with the seasoning. You are basically trying to melt the sugar with a little water so that the pecans are coated evenly with a flavorful syrup. If you need to add a little more water, you can dip your hand in the bowl of water and toss the pecans again. You do not want them to be soggy – just lightly and evenly coated.

Place the seasoned pecans back on the foil lined cookie tray and spread them in one layer. Put the cookie tray back in the oven at 250 degrees and let them cook for about 20 minutes.

Check the pecans by taking one out of the oven, letting it cool for about 5 minutes, and then tasting (no need to take the whole tray in and out of the oven a million times!). You want the pecans to have a little bit of crunch – not a sticky film. If the pecans are still sticky, keep baking them for another 10 minutes and continue to check them in this manner until you are satisfied.

Candied pecans will keep crisp for about a week if stored in a dry area – sealed Tupperware, etc. Not in the refrigerator.

Place the pecans decoratively on your finished pumpkin pie for a little added texture and flavor, or serve alone as a snack with champagne, etc.

Our Pop Up Shop at Anya Hindmarch

Last week was a GREAT week!

We are so busy gearing for the holidays, corporate parties, pre-ordered Thanksgiving pies. Our Culver City bakery is busy making artisan cookies, couture cookies and custom logo brownies for Kate Spade, Baby Phat, Lucky Magazine and so many more.

Along with all of our normal, day to day stirring and baking, last week we joined forces with the Anya Hindmarch store on Robertson Boulevard for a 4 day event, raising money and awareness for Coach Art. We had an opportunity to meet with many of the young children whom are involved with the organization.

We set up a mini bakery inside the store and met many wonderful and amazing people. We are planning on doing many more Pop-Up shops around town. It was truly a rewarding and special experience.

Some of the treats we made

Disco Ho-Ho's

Pumpkin Cheesecakes with the Anya Logo

Pudding Shooters

(chocolate, caramel, vanilla pudding)

Lots of celeb's showed up and LOVED our treats

The Saturday before the event, we invited a few of the kids from Coach Art to help bake and create for the event. They helped make chocolate baby cakes, pumpkin pies and even created sugar cookies, which they took home for their family to enjoy.

At the opening night event, the kids made bag puppets. All of the creations were fantastic.

Thanksgiving Pie Menu 2009

We, at platine, love the holidays. We especially love creating new recipes, using local, farm grown ingredients.

Let us bake your pies for your Thanksgiving Table.

platine + anya hindmarch + coach art

We are so excited about this upcoming event next week.

Anya Hindmarch is an amazing British designer whom has stores all over the world. Her store on fashionable Robertson Boulevard and Platine Bakery have teamed up to raise money and awareness for Coach Art. Coach Art's mission is to improve the quality of life for underprivileged children and adolescents with chronic and life-threatening illnesses by providing free, personal lessons in the arts and athletics.

Our New Sandwich Menu

A summer favorite. The tomatoes are still yummy so we have decided to keep this one on the menu

Tomato + Mozz

Pretzel Baguette with Heirloom Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Garden Basil, Balsamic & Fleur de Sel

$8.50

As the seasons change so does the fresh produce. With that said, we have created a new, delicious lunch menu at Platine Bakery.

Chicken Caesar Sandwich

Caesar Marinated Chicken Breast, Romaine Lettuce, Tomato, Caesar Dressing & Real Parmesan Cheese

$6.50

Turkey + Avocado

Turkey Breast with Provolone Cheese, Avocado, & Tomato on Pretzel Baguette

$7.50

High Protein Veggie Wrap

Edamame Hummus, Oven Dried Tomato, Cucumber & Avocado in a Low Carb Wrap

$6.50

** you can call ahead for curbside pick up**

**Sandwich platters also available**

Small Platter – serves 5 – 10 $35

Medium Platter – serves 8 -15 $60

Large Platter – serves 12- 25 $90

Custom platters upon request

Fall is Here!

Vanilla Quince Tartelette

little discs of house made graham crackers are topped with pretty little cubes of quince that has been slow cooked with Vanilla Bean and a touch of citrus, finished with a bit of soft meringue

We have created our new Fall menu. We have everything; Chocolate, Pumpkin, Pumpkin seed, Pecan and so much more.

Each week our menu will be changing. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Apple Tartin

a Platine twist on an traditional favorite, we caramelize apples and then top with our light vanilla cake

Pear Tartelette

rich little brown cakes with pears at the peak of their season

Pumpkin-Pecan Pielettes

the best of both worlds - pumpkin pie on the bottom and pecan pie on the top

Salt and Pepper Pound Cake

with quince marmalade and candied walnut

our vision of Sweets & Savories mixes again with a little slice of poundcake, accented with s & p - topped with quince marmalade and finished with a candied walnut for a little crunch

Pumpkinseed Mousse Cups

w/pumpkinseed brittle

rich silky mousse made with pumpkin seeds has a distinctive nutty flavor and a crunchy brittle with a hint of salt adds layers of taste and texture to this dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cups

our rich vanilla cheesecake is swirled with a spiced pumpkin. a perfect compliment to the graham cracker crust

Double Decker pot de creme

dig into a rich vanilla bean custard and a find a surprise Valrhona Chocolate layer on the bottom

More Couture Cookies

We have been having fun creating Couture Cookies for Julianne Moore's book signings. These cookies are almost too cute to eat!
Check out her book on Amazon

Couture Cookies for Lucky Magazine

How cute are these cookies!
We had a large order for couture cookies for Lucky Magazine. They celebrated some new Fall Fashion Looks by giving clients an edible version of some of the clothes.



We also created some individually wrapped logo brownies to give clients a sweet and memorable way to remember the brand.

A fun event!

We were lucky to be part of fun event with "Good Food" host Evan Kleiman and Loteria Grill.

Check out the article in the LA Times Blog:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2009/09/kcrw-fans-feast-at-loteria-grill.html

Lucky Magazine & 9 West team up for a good cause!

Here is a recap of a fabulous event that we were a part of.








It was a great event and so happy to be a part of it!!!!

New Baby Gift is well received :)

A FOP (friend of platine) just sent us this picture, and I couldn't resist it.



You see, she is celebrating the birth of her new baby brother (notice the 'it's a boy' cookie is half eaten!) platine style. The new mom sent us rave reviews of how the entire family enjoyed the Personalized Welcome Baby tin. We sent them one of the Baby Boy tins and even added the new baby's name and monogram to some of the cookies.
Here's a picture of some of the contents of the baby boy tin:

If you are looking for a great gift for new parents - definitely send them one of these tins, after all, there are only so many baby blankets that can fit in the linen closet, and platine cookies definitely taste better!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

The votes are in and although it was close, The Tarte aux Peches is the big winner.

Come into the bakery this week, Wednesday - Saturday to enjoy a fresh, french peach
tarte with a little bit of a Platine twist.

See you at the Bakery.

We are Counting your Votes

It has been a really exciting week here at Platine Bakery. We are gearing up to announce the winning recipe for our Julia Child contest.

Here is a quick reminder of what you all have been voting for:



Check back in with us on Monday as we announce the winner!

Platine on "Good Food on KCRW"

Yesterday, Harriet Ells from Good Food on KCRW, came into the bakery to see what we are cooking up for Julia Child's birthday. We chatted about how cooking has changed over the past 50 plus years, yet with that said, Julia's recipes still work today.

Enjoy the video and be on the look out for the winning recipe!

Eat Rich!

Check us out in L.A. Weekly!

Last week, we were featured in L.A. Weekly's on line blog. Check it out:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/baking/platine-bakery-jamie-cantor-cu/

Loving the new press

Check out this great write up:

http://www.eatsipchew.com/?p=1280#more-1280

Happy Birthday Julia Child!

With the upcoming opening of the movie, Julie and Julia, we have decided to honor her as one of the most inspirational icons of American cooking.

Julia Child's birthday is August 15th. We, here at platine cookies, want to celebrate her birthday. And we want you to all join in on the celebration. We have decided to have a contest. We have chosen a few of our favorite dessert recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and in doing so, are allowing our friends, clients and customers to vote via our blog, twitter and in person on which dessert we should featuring during the week of her birthday.

While we do not for a moment believe that we can improve upon a Julia Child recipe, we thought it would be fun to feature one of her recipes with our own platine twist. It will be up to the voters to decide which way to do so.

As we mentioned, Julia Child's birthday is August 15th. We are asking that all votes be in by Friday, August 7th. You can either leave a comment below to vote on one of your favorites or leave your comments on our facebook page (platinecookies) or via email: chef@platinecookies.com. Once we receive all your votes we will tally them and create the chosen recipe which will be featured in our bakery the week of August 10th. We will also have something special planned for the actual day of her birthday, Saturday, August 15th.

Please savor the list below and we look forward to your comments:

Tarte Aux Pêches
Peaches are at their best this time of year, so they need little embellishment. We’ll follow Julia’s recipe and bake them in a simple pastry crust with a few almonds for a little crunch.

Tarte au Citron et aux Amandes
Lemon and Almond Tart – Julia’s pastry crust is filled with a lemon scented almond cream (frangipane) and finished with candied lemon peel. We love this twist on a classic dessert!

Gâteau de Crêpes
layers of tiny crepes (the size is what will make it platine style!) are stacked with alternating layers of thinly sliced macerated strawberries. Julia’s recipe says to “avert your face, set liqueur aflame with a lighted match, and bring the blazing dessert to the table.” But she also says “Flame the crepes or not, as you wish,” we wish not!

Clafouti aux Mûres
Blackberry Clafouti – we have a blackberry vine growing in our backyard, so we couldn't’t resist this recipe for a different take on the traditional Clafouti (kind of like a sophisticated blackberry pancake).

Reine de Saba
literally the ‘Queen of Sheba’ – this classic French dessert is a chocolate cake with a slightly underdone center, chocolate Buttercream and a little almond for decoration.

Palmiers
we had to have some cookies in this contest! - palmiers are simple cookies, sometimes called elephant ears, make of puff pastry that has been baked with sugar to caramelize. Our twist – add a little orange zest and make the cookies bite sized.

Almond Biscotti
although this recipe isn’t from the Mastering the Art of French Cooking, it is from the Baking with Julia Cookbook, and we couldn’t have a contest without a few cookies. This is Jamie's favorite biscotti recipe (she has been making it since she got the book when she was in Culinary School – signed by Julia Child when she spoke at her school), it has great flavor and isn’t as dry as some other biscotti.

We are Open for Business

Visit us at our retail store:

10850 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232-3610
310.559.9933

Come in and Eat Rich!!