MIETTE
Two San Francisco Bakers Make Their Way to Candyland

By Liesel Davis

I admit it. I am a starry-eyed fan that would happily travel from one shining sea to the next for the delicious baked goods at Miette Organic Pâtisserie. I have obsessed over their macaroons and longed for just another one of their deliciously moist cupcakes. I have even scraped the remaining crumbs from one of their bags of dainty shortbread cookies just to get one last morsel. And because I live near the Atlantic Ocean, instead of the Pacific, each time I visit their shop in San Francisco’s Ferry Building, I find myself stocking up as if the end were indeed really near. So, of course, I was intrigued (and delighted!) to hear that this wonder-twin baking duo, starring Megan Ray and Caitlin Williams, was up to a new project.

images©2007 frankenyimages.com

Open since January 2007 on Octavia Boulevard in Hayes Valley, Miette Confiserie is an all-out charmingly sweet candy store. At once fresh and new yet reminiscent of days gone by, the rows of glass jars filled with brightly colored jelly beans, cellophane-wrapped cylinders of pastel-tinted taffy, mouth-puckering fruity sours, and a wide assortment of licorices—from salty Dutch anise to red berry-flavored bits—let you know you have arrived at some kind of sweet tooth heaven. Filled with a finely edited selection of artisanal candies and chocolates produced around the world, as well as just around the corner, their little shop spills over with original bites and tastes. And although they offer a small selection of well-remembered candies from yesteryear, that is not their focus. Keeping in stride with the bakery, Miette's candies are made, as much as possible, with natural and organic ingredients. If you are lucky enough to show up on a day it is being spun, their house-made cotton candy, flavored with rose geranium leaves from their friend Nigel Walker of Eatwell Farm, is nothing like that artificially colored and flavored cloud you may remember eating at amusement parks. The shop itself is reminiscent of a very cheery apothecary, but one where the cure for what ails you makes for a much more pleasant prescription.

Neither Meg nor Caitlin are formally trained in pastry, but both have figured out what great bakers do best: creating pastries through uncharted exploration. They love what they do, and they have a genuine passion for not only the food itself but its connection to the community around them. These virtues shine through in their baked goods and candies. Their French macaroons stand out as an excellent example. After visiting France in 2002 to gather more inspiration for their burgeoning business, Caitlin took on the task of creating the bakery's own macaroon recipe. Wanting something with more interior heft and less exterior fragility than the traditional French version and wanting to use locally produced ingredients without artificial coloring, Caitlin turned to fellow purveyors at the farmers’ market where Miette sold their cakes and cookies. She started by grinding whole almonds instead of using almond flour and then she tirelessly cracked eggs, whipped, and baked for months until she knew she’d gotten it right. The end result: a denser and chewier bite with more texture. They then worked out an assortment of flavors that reflected the seasonality of the produce in the area, like grapefruit, raspberry, and rose geranium. These themes are amplified in their candy shop, where they have not only drawn on local purveyors for ingredients, but used the talent of friends. The nougat is made by Sarah Cox, pastry chef at Robuchon. The salted caramels are crafted by Kate Amitin, a friend who was a special education teacher until her caramels took off at Miette. Now she is looking for her own candy-making space to increase the production for her growing business. Kate has drawn on her past as a teacher, hiring many of her old students through a work-training program to help with production, as each candy is cut and wrapped by hand. This chain-reaction way of doing business has spread good in ways well beyond the joys of something sweet, nurturing many of the best things in the community as well.

A very limited selection of the shop’s offerings can be purchased online, but it is well worth the price of a plane ticket to visit the posy-wallpapered confiserie in person. You will want to sort through their selection yourself—and even throw in a bag of lavender shortbread or a spice cupcake with lemon frosting or two. And unless you can pack away cardamom-studded white chocolate bars, basil and Persian lime-laced dark chocolate bars, and watermelon slices, along with dark-chocolate-doused wafer-thin toffee and a bag or two of licorice buttons all in one day (and these are just the tip of this iceberg), one visit is not enough. However, I know what I am wishing for: that maybe they will get that bicoastal urge, too, and hear New York calling. Then, this lucky girl can feast on Miette sweets every day.

MIETTE CHOCOLATE COVERED TOFFEE

Liesel Davis is food writer and recipe editor living in New York City.