What goes into making a six-layer entremet? Sugar Fixe Patisserie’s head pastry chef gives a window into the process of making this rich tasting and visually appealing French pastry.
Sugar Fixe Patisserie has been in business in downtown Oak Park since 2011. The pastry shop, 119 N. Marion St., offers a range of familiar and unique pastry items, all proudly made from scratch.
Rachel Rogak, the head pastry chef, started working at the patisserie as a pastry cook three years ago. Now, she is head chef and maintains Sugar Fixe Patisserie’s high-quality attitude towards bakery and pastry foods.
“What I always loved about this place is that it’s not just a bakery, it’s a patisserie. It has some more of those interesting, higher-end kinds of items where you’re putting different interesting flavors and textures together … that’s something I think that we do differently,” said Rogak.
The “opera entremet” is a six layered coffee-flavored pastry that is created by layering buttercream and chocolate between thin layers of sponge cake. It is one of the many pastries they make that require time and patience, said Rogak.
The process, usually done over three days, starts with baking three thin layers of almond sponge cake and soaking them in coffee. The roughly half-inch layers of cake need to be refrigerated overnight so they maintain a structure.
On the second day, the layering begins. Two layers of coffee buttercream and a single layer of chocolate ganache are spread between the thin sponge cakes, building the pastry up layer by layer. Throughout the entire process, Rogak said paying close attention to keeping things flat is a necessity. Afterwards, the pan spends another night in the fridge to solidify.
On the third day, the final touches to the top and final surface are finished. The final chocolate glaze is spread and heated with a blowtorch to create a near-perfect flat surface. Then, the pastries are scored and cut to shape. A small chocolate emblem is carefully placed in the icing, finishing off the French dessert pastry.
Problem solving in the kitchen and bringing different flavors to the plates of Oak Park patrons is what makes her job enjoyable, said Rogak.
“We try to do interesting things with food. I mean, why not? There’s so much that you can do. Might as well try to put things together and expose people to different flavor combinations and things. That’s what makes this field so fun,” said Rogak.