email this pageYard discovered the power of pastry when, working as a secretary, she started making cookies for bureaucrats to get paperwork signed faster. But it was when she commandeered the buffet for her parents’ 25th wedding anniversary that her cooking skills first drew attention and she started catering on her own. She plunged into culinary studies at New York City Technical College, then wound up as pastry chef at Campton Place in San Francisco. After a year, Puck lured her to Spago. “I thought it was a joke, so I hung up on him,” she says. “Three times.”
Yard has a particular knack for preserving intensity of flavor while keeping desserts light and healthful, something that she finds more of a priority than ever. A few of her tricks include using “tons of egg whites,” adding natural fruit juices for sweetness and flavor, and cutting carbs by using cornstarch instead of flour as a binding agent.
Her practical, straight-talking approach yielded two well-received cookbooks, The Secrets of Baking, published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003, and its follow-up, Desserts by the Yard (2007). Her creations have a definite “heaven on earth” quality about them, never sacrificing satiation for sophistication.
Banana Chocolate Chip Souffle
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A perfect use for leftover brown bananas. Try it with warm caramel sauce.
Ingredients
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup, plus 1 teaspoon, granulated sugar, divided
1/2 pound ripe bananas (about 3), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dark rum
8 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Powdered sugar (optional)
2. Add bananas and cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in rum. (Take care: rum is flammable.) Return to low heat and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Remove from heat. Spoon into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until cool.
4. Preheat oven to 375F.
5. Lightly butter four 8-ounce ramekins and sprinkle each with 1/4 teaspoon sugar. Place egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup granulated sugar; beat until medium-stiff peaks form.
6. Pour chilled banana mixture into a large bowl. Add chocolate chips. Fold in egg whites. Spoon into baking dishes, piling mixture above the rims. Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar if using. Serves 4.
Recipes adapted from The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts by Sherry Yard. © 2003. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. (Relish the Healthy Table, "Yard Shtick," December 2008.)
Tangerine Granita
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Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
4 cups fresh tangerine juice
2 tablespoons grated tangerine rind
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
2. Freeze 1 hour; remove from freezer and stir or scrape with a fork to create ice crystals; repeat 3 times. Serves 8.
Recipe adapted from The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts by Sherry Yard. © 2003. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. (Relish the Healthy Table, "Yard Shtick, December 2008).
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