Pastry Pédaleur, Food Producer of the Year at the 2023 Cheshire Life Food & Drink Awards, create classic bakes with a twist. Here, owner Steph, whose business is based at Chester Market, tells the story of how she followed her heart and her dream from Mumbai to Cheshire and shares two of her favourite recipes
Setting up shop inside Chester Market has been like a dream that gets better and better each year. I started off as a marketing and advertising professional in Mumbai, working in the media industry across News Corp and Vogue Magazine but I knew baking was my true calling so I gave up the day job and began supplying cafés and restaurants across the city.
After I married to Jason, the love of my life, we started our new life here in Chester, and once again I had to start from scratch.
Working at the Chester Grosvenor was my finishing school and helped me learn the best tricks of the trade. Then came the point where I had a nagging voice in my head telling me to start my own artisanal baking business. So I began baking from home once again and supplying cafés with my bakes and cruffins. It was around this time I auditioned for a spot inside old Chester Market. I used to frequent it a lot for the Caribbean jerk barbecues, Neapolitan pizzas and tacos. It was a foodie paradise and I just had to be there.
It felt great when I started from my unit there. Visitors were surprised to find kouign-amann and canelés – pastries that a lot of people told me were only to be found in bakeries in London.
We started Pastry Pédaleur as we realised there was a gap for artisanal, laminated pastry and gourmet desserts in Chester and the eclectic Chester Market was the perfect spot for this venture. I was captivated by the French art of pastry making and took my creations a step further by introducing a few lines inspired by my Indian heritage and found they had an appeal within the city.They gave something new to discover on the plate and palate and customers kept them coming back for more.
Being featured on Channel 4's programme Aldi's Next Big Thing, among the best small food producers was our next milestone. Television presenter Anita Rani commented that our pastries were next level and that she had never experienced anything like that before. Chris Bavin, the television food presenter and prolific cookbook author, had the highest praise for our apple turnovers, describing them as heavenly and possibly one of the greatest things he had eaten.
The business has been growing from strength to strength over the past year and we also had the French honorary consul visit our space and mention our offering has provided a significant contribution to the quality of life for the sizeable French community in Chester.
It feels surreal that I get to follow my passion and enterprise running Pastry Pédaleur inside the new market, bringing people so much joy with our bakes. All our customers have been so encouraging and supportive and they remain my number 1 inspiration every day.
We love creating new products to introduce them to flavours and unique taste combinations. As a pastry chef that's the best part of the job – being evangelical with our approach to creating and evolving with our craft.
Having been Chester's original cruffin creator we work really hard to launch products that stand out for their flavour profile. We want our customers' lives to be filled with wholesome, authentic experiences and we strive to translate that emotion into our bakes.
I have customers travelling from Warrington, Liverpool and Prestatyn for the canelés; postal orders going out for our apple turnovers to London and even the galette de rois made it safely to a customer in Cornwall.
Meeting the highest standard in taste and quality, our mission is quite simply to bake happiness and spread deliciousness.
For the next phase of growth, in our new bigger stand at the market we want to create celebration cakes. There is a clear gap for cakes driven by a seasonal approach. I love being dictated to by the bounty of nature and using seasonal produce to create layered cakes and desserts.
Another area for the business is creating dessert degustation menus. A lot of my customers say they have their mains and starters at other places but come my way for the pudding. We plan to start selling plated desserts and gourmet puddings from the new space.
And finally, making seasonal jams is another new exciting product line, which we will be serving up with our scones, and eventually as part of an afternoon cream tea experience.
There are exciting times ahead at Chester Market and I feel incredibly grateful to our community. They truly make us feel like a cherished institution and I will always work hard to be their sweetheart.
Quince, Rosewater, and Mascarpone Sponge Cake
The inspiration
I started baking in Chester in 2015. I was working at the Chester Grosvenor where I first discovered quince. The kitchen was prepping poached quinces for one of the desserts at The Brasserie. I was instantly captivated by its ethereal nature and became hooked.
Quinces pair beautifully with rose. This cake is inspired by seasonality and innovation – the two qualities I've built our business on
Indulge in the uniqueness of this flavour profile.
Sponge Cakes
450g butter
225g caster sugar
225g light brown sugar
450g self-raising flour
450g eggs
45ml whole milk
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
Method
In a kitchen-aid bowl, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter, caster sugar, and light brown sugar. In a separate bowl add the self-raising raising flour, baking powder and salt.
Keep the eggs ready to add to the kitchen-aid, then add in a third at a time until fully incorporated. Scrape the sides occasionally to ensure there is no excess butter.
Add the dry ingredients and milk, and mix until it is fully combined.
Divide the mixture into three cake tins, each should have 621g of batter, and bake at 160/140fan/gas 3 for 35-40 minutes. An inserted skewer should come out clean when poked at the centre of the cake.
Rosewater Soak
100ml water
100g caster sugar
10-15ml rosewater essence
Method
Add the water and sugar to a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the rosewater essence to taste to this hot mixture and allow to cool in fridge.
Roasted Quinces
2 whole quinces
150g golden caster sugar
60ml water
150ml fresh orange juice
Peel of 2 oranges
2 tsp dried edible rose petals
1 cinnamon quill
4-5 cardamom pods
Method
Peel the quinces into wedges by cutting them in half from the top and cutting each half into 3, and spread in a single layer in a deep roasting dish.
Sprinkle with the sugar and cover with water and orange juice.
Add the orange peel, cardamom seeds and pods, cinnamon sticks, and dried rose petals, making sure the quince is nicely coated in spices.
Cover tightly with foil and roast at 160/140fan/gas3 for 45- 55 minutes or until a deep pinky-orange colour and tender to the touch, leave longer if it is still firm.
Cool completely in the tin.
Mascarpone Mousse
Ingredients
300g cream cheese
80g egg yolks
100g caster sugar
6g powdered gelatine
18ml water
250ml double cream
Method
Measure out the cream cheese and double cream into small tubs.
Bloom the gelatine and water in a small container.
In a kitchen-aid bowl add the yolks and caster sugar and heat over a double boiler until it reaches 70°C then whip until 45°C.
Melt the gelatine in the microwave for 10 seconds and immediately add 1 tbsp of double cream and mix with a fork. Then whisk gelatine into yolks by hand.
Add half of the cream cheese and whip in kitchen-aid until smooth then repeat with other half.
Decant this mix into a bowl.
Whip double cream in the kitchen-aid bowl until stiff.
Add half of the yolk and cream cheese mixture and whisk by hand until smooth, repeat with other half.
Decant into a tub and rest in fridge until ready for assembly.
White Chocolate Buttercream
275g icing sugar
225g white chocolate
30ml milk
2.5g salt
Method
Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler then remove from heat and leave to cool for a minimum of 20-25 minutes.
Beat the butter on low speed until soft then add the icing sugar a little at a time until fully combined.
Pour the room-temperature white chocolate into the butter-sugar mixture on a low speed until fully combined. Add the salt too at this stage.
Slowly incorporate the milk until you achieve the desired spreadable consistency.
Leave covered until ready to assemble the cake.
Assembly
Approach the layering of the cake by stacking each sponge one layer at a time.
Drizzle rosewater soak on the sponge to get it ready for the mascarpone mousse layer.
Spread mascarpone mousse across the whole layer of the cake.
Cut and spread roasted quinces on top of the mousse. Using a micro-plane zester, zest an orange on top of the layer of roasted quinces.
Add another layer of sponge and repeat steps 1-4.
Add last layer of sponge and finish by drizzling rise water soak on top.
Finally, spread the white chocolate buttercream all over the cake and garnish with more piped buttercream, orange zest and rose petals.
Tipsy Pudding with Fig Murabba
The inspiration
Heston Blumenthal has been credited with modernising this dessert. It has its origin in Victorian times where it was served as an ornate cake.
I love having a boozy edge to my desserts and they invariably end up being our best sellers at the market. Perfect for the cold months ahead, this dessert has the right amount of rum and port plus the warming spices of nutmeg.
Fig murabba is essentially a fig jam or preserve, popular in Northern India where it is made with the Indian gooseberry and consumed as an immunity booster. I've tweaked the recipe to pair figs with star anise and fennel to create a spiced elevated contrast with the figs. It partners beautifully with the warm tipsy pudding and all the dark rum.
Brioche Dough
250g strong flour
183g eggs (whisked)
12g fresh yeast or 6g osmotolerant dry yeast
7g salt
35g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter (diced and at room temperature)
Extra
100g caster sugar for rolling the frozen doughballs before proving
Sweet Cream
40g dark brown sugar
40g caster sugar
30ml dessert wine (eg port/ marsala)
35ml dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
250ml double cream
90g unsalted butter
Boozy Rum Syrup
55ml water
100g sugar
Pinch of salt
75ml dark rum
Grated nutmeg to taste
Fig Murabba
400g figs
250g caster sugar
30mls lemon juice
2 star anise
1tbsp fennel seeds
6 cloves
Half a quill cinnamon
Method
Sweet Cream
Blend the dessert wine, rum, and both the sugars until smooth with a hand-held blender.
Stir this into the cream, add the vanilla extract and cover until ready to be used. This step to be done 30 minutes before being used to bake off the tipsy pudding.
Brioche Dough
In a kitchen-aid bowl mix the strong flour, yeast, beaten eggs, salt, and sugar using the hook attachment. Mix on slow for 4 minutes then on speed 3 (a bit faster) until the mix comes away from the bowl.
Lower the speed, then add the softened butter in small amounts making sure each piece is fully incorporated.
Once the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cling film, and leave in the fridge overnight.
The next day roll the dough on the counter straight from the fridge on a lightly floured surface to 2cm thickness.
Cut and weigh brioche dough to 15g portions. Shape each brioche dough portioned into tiny balls, store seam side down on a baking tray. Once all the dough gets used up, store the baking tray into the freezer to firm up for at least 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, take each brioche dough ball and roll in a pot of caster sugar and place in a ramekin – 5 dough balls per portion. Make sure they are placed very close to each other, snug in the ramekin.
Prove for 2.5-3 hours at 27°C (until the dough comes up to the top of the ramekin) then bake at 180/160fan/gas4 for 15 minutes. Separate each dough ball gently across all ramekins with a spatula and drizzle with about 30g of the sweet cream.
Bake for another 5 minutes, then drizzle another 15g of the sweet cream. Bake for a further 5 minutes, add another 15g of the cream then bake for a final 5 minutes (total time is 30 minutes).
Once ready, leave to rest on the countertop for 5 minutes. Poke several holes into the top of the baked brioche with a skewer to help the boozy syrup seep right in, then slowly and liberally pour 35-50 ml of the rum syrup (recipe below) all over the pudding depending on how tipsy you want to get.
Serve immediately with fig murabba (recipe below) on the top of the pudding.
Boozy Rum Syrup
In a saucepan set over medium-high heat, combine the butter, water, sugar and salt and cook, stirring, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the rum. Grate nutmeg over this to taste and give the syrup a good stir.
Set aside to cool. The syrup should be at room temperature when pouring over the baked brioche pudding.
Fig Murabba
Method
Wash the figs and chop into small pieces.
Transfer figs to a saucepan with the caster sugar and lemon juice, and let sit for an hour to macerate.
Add all of the spices and heat on a high heat until it thickens to a jam-like consistency. Keep stirring the base of the pot to avoid burning the base (20-25 minutes).
Once ready, keep aside to cool completely until ready to serve along with baked tipsy pudding.
