Dallas Food - Pastry Tasting at DoughMonkey

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Pastry Tasting at DoughMonkey
Posted on Monday, February 07 @ 08:23:17 PST
Topic: Froufrou

Every January there’s talk about the best restaurant openings of the preceding year. But such discussions often neglect specialty shops that liven up the local food scene. And Rhonda Ruckman’s pastries at DoughMonkey, in Snider Plaza, should not be neglected. A small group of food-lovers recently gathered on a Saturday morning to sample the wares and chat with the talented Ms. Ruckman. On to the food...

DoughMonkey is located on the interior of Snider Plaza, just around the corner from Bubba’s. It’s easily recognizable by the all-glass storefront and clever demi-monkey logo.

The glass storefront extends in front of the kitchen, allowing passers-by to watch the action from the sidewalk (from which this photo was taken).

As we arrived, we were each given a cup of hot chocolate--Valrhona (70%) melted into whole milk, sweetened with a touch of Demerara sugar, and topped with a house-made marshmallow glazed with Tasmanian honey. Since hot chocolate isn’t a regular menu item, the treat was as unexpected as it was delicious. The chocolate was dark, rich, and silky smooth. The underlying sweetness from the Demerara and honey was more complex and well-rounded than one expects from even the best hot chocolates. We had yet to select a pastry, but were already off to an excellent start.

After we’d selected an array of pastries to sample, Ms. Ruckman came out to visit and answer questions. Among our group were three individuals with bakery experience, which resulted in some shop talk. Since my bakery experience is limited to “consumption,” I zoned out through some of that. But, in broad strokes, DoughMonkey is firmly committed to quality. They use only the best ingredients--high milk-fat butter, premium chocolates (primarily Valrhona, but sometimes Cluizel, Scharffen-Berger, and others), quality sugars, et al. And the craftsmanship in each of the desserts is admirable. Pictured above, next to the brownie, is a PB&J cookie. It’s almost too thick to be called a cookie. But that thickness allows it to (a) remain moist in the middle and (b) accept a filling of sweet strawberry jelly piped in through the top. Clever and delicious.

I deferred to the others in the selection of pastries to sample, with one exception. When I saw that no one had added a cupcake to the list, I intervened. I know, I know. It’s just a cupcake. When there are so many eye-catching, elaborate presentations, it’s natural to overlook the humble cupcake. But, having sampled DoughMonkey’s cupcakes on many prior occasions, I knew that it was a sleeper dessert--a surprisingly rich mini-cake that’s so buttery you have to wash your fingers after handling it. Everyone enjoyed and was pleasantly surprised by the raspberry-filled chocolate cupcake, topped with ganache and a raspberry buttercream.

The lemon pyramid is one of DoughMonkey’s more impressive presentations. For anyone who loves the acidic zing of lemon, it’s a must try. The pyramid has a génoise base and crisp, sprayed-on, cocoa butter exterior, filled with a lemon mousse, concealing a core of lip-curling lemon curd. Beautiful, tasty, and intense.

As another unexpected treat, Ms. Ruckman prepared sauces to plate with some of the desserts we sampled. This Valentine’s-friendly linzertorte sat in a pool of Tahitian vanilla bean crème anglaise. The tart had a thick, buttery crust, rounded out with ground almonds and lemon zest, and was filled with an excellent raspberry jelly.

The good peaches and light crust would be enough to make this a nice tart. What set it apart, though, was the peaches’ finish. Many bakeries glaze their fruit tarts with a gloopy jelly, giving them a supernatural sheen. DoughMonkey, however, caramelizes the tops of the peaches, punching up the flavor and offering a pleasing textural contrast. The tart was plated with the vanilla crème anglaise and a delectable caramel sauce. (Now if we can just persuade her to do ice cream!)

This tart, plated with a dark chocolate sauce, featured a chocolate crust filled with a layer each of chocolate and pistachio pot-au-crème, topped with a mound of toasted, chopped pistachios. When they started making these some months ago, I brought one home, along with an éclair, which happened to be my wife’s favorite pastry from the shop. She asked to try a bite of my chocolate-pistachio tart, after which she politely informed me we were swapping. (That’s okay. DoughMonkey’s éclairs are wonderful.) Impressions from our little group were similarly favorable on this visit.

This was perhaps the biggest hit with the tasters. Coconut mousse, decorated with toasted coconut, rested on a génoise base and surrounded a core of banana/passion fruit cream. The light mousse dissolved almost instantly in the mouth, distributing the clear, well-matched flavors. Another beautiful, delicious dessert.

Rhonda Ruckman and the fabulous DoughMonkey crew made this a memorable event for all who came. Great pastries and hospitality. May they continue to get the recognition, praise, and patronage they deserve.