Wednesday, June 24, 2009

buttercream

OK so many of you know I am vegan and so is Martin Lane (my 10 year old)... Vegan-ism has come to me basically since ML's birth... For in the time previous to her arrival I was the working Pastry chef for Ruppert's Restaurant–this occupation would preclude a hard vegan practice, in that I tasted cheeses and made many desserts with amazing cream from local farms and butter from France... This all brings me to a recent dilemma non-dilemma I had when faced with the request for the name of a baker who could make an awesome chocolate cake with white butter-cream icing... the dilemma non-dilemma was the hesitation of do I make something I know I make as good as anybody even though I would not eat this thing (tasting would not be a problem John is not Vegan)... My natural course of action is to convince the client of the truth: That any dessert I can make non-vegan I can make vegan just as good if not better... but alas, I knew in this instance that vegan was not an option... so my hesitation is personal just as is my choice of being vegan, that is to say that I do not feel the need to proselytize or force anyone into eating something they are not comfortable with as I expect the same respect from others... Ultimately I do have some ground level principles and if I am going to use butter and cream and eggs they are going to be produced using the best practices possible in order to contribute to the health of my client and to the eco-systems in which we participate... I am looking forward to cracking those farm fresh eggs with their bright yellow yolks, whipping butter with natural sugar and finding a source for raw milk.

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