Pastry chef Paola Velez has had a star-studded career, from sous chef for chocolatier Jacques Torres to executive pastry chef at Kiss & Kin in Washington, D.C., where she was named Pastry Chef of the Year in 2020 by Esquire magazine and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, and was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Her highly anticipated cookbook, Bodega Bakes It is scheduled to be published in October 2024. Velez was named F&W Best New Chef in 2021 and has continued to contribute recipes ever since.
We’ve compiled recipes for Velez’s most popular desserts, from a scrumptious citrus pie to platanos foster, with substitutions and upgrades for more flavor and a more impressive presentation. Plus, most recipes include pastry videos from Paola to help you perfect your techniques, from tempering chocolate to decorating macarons.
Baba au Rum Punch
Vélez created a grown-up version of this cake by layering her housemade brioche with the flavors of dark rum and fresh fruit, using nearly a cup of the finest dark rum between a cinnamon-infused rum-soaked and strawberry-peach rum punch coulis.
Maria Cookies Icebox Cake
Velez transforms the classic after-school childhood treat into an icebox cake filled with sweet spiced cream and topped with delicious dulce de leche. She decorates the pre-made cake with edible flowers and fresh strawberries.
Hummingbird Cream Puffs
Beres is a tropical treat made with naturally sweet banana whipped cream, coconut and pineapple stuffed into choux pastry and topped with a buttery cookie.
Lemon Smack Pie with Ritz Cracker Crust
When it’s hot, Vélez uses this crumble dough to create a no-bake pie. The star of this pie is a sweet-and-tart lemon curd with fresh lemon juice and the floral, tangy spice, sumac. It’s topped with tropical fruits like kiwi quarters, pineapple wedges, Cape gooseberries, papaya slices, sliced strawberries, and raspberries for a visual treat.
Chocolate party cake with dark chocolate ganache and homemade sprinkles
Make your own sprinkles from scratch the day before with this fun, crowd-pleasing recipe from Beres. Ganache makes this rich chocolate cake frosting silky smooth.
Banana Pudding Lettuce
Velez transforms nostalgic banana pudding into a festive frozen treat using all the classic ingredients — nutty browned butter, banana pieces, pudding and crushed vanilla wafers — and garnishing it with white chocolate sauce and chocolate sprinkles.
Strawberry Ekmek Kataifi
Ekmek kataifi is a Greek dessert made of flaky strips of phyllo dough soaked in syrup and traditionally topped with custard. At Veles, they replace the custard with a bright strawberry pudding and topped with honey-flavored whipped cream, achieving a perfect balance of crispiness and creaminess.
Cornbread Tres Leches Cake
Vélez uses heavy cream, half-and-half, and whole milk instead of the traditional evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk to make her super-sweet tres leches. Cornmeal in the cake batter adds a nutty flavor and subtle crunch, and tangy labneh adds extra richness.
Tropical Mendian
Velez shares a simple method for tempering chocolate in the microwave, which makes for an easy make-ahead treat: Pipe chocolate circles on top with a colorful mix of tropical fruits, toasted nuts, and seeds, then chill in the fridge.
Olive oil cake with buttercream frosting and tart candied orange
Velez creates an olive oil cake with earthy buckwheat flour and candied orange, then garnishes it with flowers for a stunning citrus dessert.
Old-fashioned doughnut croquembouche
As a centerpiece for her croquembouche, which is drizzled with hot caramel, Vélez serves up homemade cinnamon doughnuts instead of cream puffs.
Tamarind Jelly Candy
Vélez creates a vibrant pâté de fruits using tamarind pulp, fresh lime juice and liquid pectin, coating the jiggly boiled jelly with a fruity, tart-flavored sugar.
American Buttercream
This recipe from Velez allows you to make a rich, creamy, sweet, buttery frosting in just 10 minutes, with or without a mixer.
Platanos Foster
Velez will be creating a classic flambé dessert, “Bananas Foster,” using Caribbean ingredients like caramel sauce, warm spices, coconut water, and plantains instead of bananas.
Fun and stylish macarons
Velez fills her macarons with homemade dark chocolate ganache or store-bought holiday jam, apple butter, or stiff caramel sauce, then paints them with edible glittery luster powder in a variety of colors, which can be made ahead of time and frozen for any festive occasion.
Black and Ruby Cookies
Velez’s charming take on New York’s iconic black and white cookie uses rye flour for a savory, nutty flavor, buttermilk instead of whole milk for a soft, well-risen cookie, and is piped with dark chocolate ganache on one side and pink, fruity ruby chocolate on the other. Velez adds gold leaf to the finished cookie for a fun metallic shine.
Italian Buttercream
A professional pastry chef creates a thick, glossy meringue with egg whites and sugar syrup, then gradually adds softened butter, beating until it becomes a light, fluffy frosting. He shares techniques to make the meringue light and fluffy, and adds a touch of brightness with citric acid to balance the richness of the frosting.
Chocolate ganache sandwich cookies
Instead of the usual rich cream, Velez fills her flaky, buttery cookies with a rich, fluffy milk chocolate ganache softened with chocolate and butter, then decorates them with melted dark chocolate.
