{"id":31756,"date":"2025-11-07T12:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/31756\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T12:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:09:10","slug":"inside-pastry-chef-caroline-schiffs-brooklyn-museum-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/31756\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Pastry Chef Caroline Schiff’s Brooklyn Museum Takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Caroline<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of The Brooklyn Museum.<\/p>\n

I associate the pastry chef Caroline Schiff<\/a> with two things I find exceptionally glamorous: baked Alaska and long, gravity-defying hair. A stylish woman who whips up even more stylish desserts, Schiff\u2019s talent in both food and life lies in her ability to make the nostalgic appear fresh.<\/p>\n

I first came across her work when she was the Executive Pastry Chef at Brooklyn\u2019s Gage & Tollner. She has since pivoted to her next concept, a chic and Schiffian twist on old-timey diner classics. I recently drove to Palm Springs just to try her latest creations, approachable but elevated, just like Schiff.\u00a0This month, she\u2019s hosting a pop-up dinner series at the Brooklyn Museum<\/a>, where the menu includes doughnuts, deviled eggs, and Schiff\u2019s trademark coconut sheet cake, another of her characteristically tall and scrumptious creations). Since I am stuck in Los Angeles, we hopped on a Zoom last month so Schiff could walk me through her process.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

ELIZABETH TEETS: Walk me through this cake. I\u2019m so excited.<\/p>\n

CAROLINE SCHIFF: Well, welcome to my kitchen. I live in Brooklyn in a giant pantry.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Your house is beautiful. What are you getting ready for?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: So I\u2019m doing this really cool pop-up takeover at the Brooklyn Museum. They have amazing programming and they have a restaurant space that rotates through different chefs and restaurants, so I\u2019m doing a takeover with them in November. One of the things that we\u2019re going to serve is big fat slices of coconut sheet cake, which is one of my signature desserts.<\/p>\n

TEETS: I love big fat sheet cake slices.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Yeah, sheet cakes cut so nicely. You get these perfect squares. They\u2019re really easy to serve, and it\u2019s reminiscent of childhood-like cakes and snacking cakes. I love the casualness of it. On a practical level, you get a really nice yield out of it so I can get 24 portions out of a big sheet cake. So that\u2019s going to be one of the sweet things that I have. So I\u2019m going to make it.<\/p>\n

TEETS: I\u2019m excited. Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: We\u2019ll do the batter, but then I\u2019ll talk you through what would happen after all that, because it\u2019s got to bake and cool and all of those things. So this is going to be a two-layer sheet cake and then I\u2019m going to do a meringue filling and frosting on the outside. Then it\u2019ll get covered in coconut. So the cake itself is pretty straightforward. It\u2019s an oil-based cake. The reason why I like oil-based cakes is because they stay really, really moist. So I\u2019ll either do an oil-based cake or if I\u2019m using butter, I\u2019ll basically work in a portion of oil and they become really light and fluffy and it\u2019s a really nice texture that it yields. I\u2019m using a neutral oil for this, let me not spill this on my floor.<\/p>\n

TEETS: I love that you\u2019re leaning forward like I\u2019m there.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Please don\u2019t pour this on the floor, Caroline. [Laughs] So then I\u2019m going to add a little vanilla. This is my favorite. It\u2019s called Nielsen-Massey. I\u2019m at the point in baking where I\u2019m just going to eyeball it. It\u2019s about a teaspoon. Whatever.<\/p>\n

TEETS: You know what you\u2019re doing. I\u2019m not worried.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: I hope so. If I\u2019m making a huge batch, I\u2019ll use a mixer in a professional kitchen. But since I\u2019m making this one at home, it\u2019s not going to be huge and I can scale recipes up and down. So this is the home baking measurements. You don\u2019t need a mixer, you\u2019re just dumping it in the bowl, whisking it up, and that\u2019s it. So I\u2019ve got the oil and the eggs, getting them all together, broken up, and then I\u2019m adding a decent amount of granulated sugar.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Gorgeous.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: And it\u2019s a lot of sugar.<\/p>\n

TEETS: How much?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: I do everything in grams, so this is about 450 grams, which is a bit over two cups. I really like whisking. You have to really whisk the thick inside of this because it\u2019s going to incorporate a lot of air and it\u2019s going to ensure that the oil doesn\u2019t separate out of the cake and make it greasy. You know what I mean? So I\u2019m really going to whisk this quite thick this way, and it\u2019s getting this nice, pale yellow color and this ribbony texture. What I don\u2019t want is oil separating out and pooling out. That\u2019ll make for a really nasty, greasy taste.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TEETS: Yeah. Nobody wants that.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: There we go. Okay, so now I\u2019m going to add the flour, the salt, and the leavening. So we have baking powder, a tiny bit of baking soda, and this is cake flour. Without getting too crazy scientific, there\u2019s different kinds of flour, and they have different percentages of gluten. Gluten is a protein, and gluten is what makes, among other things, baked goods have a specific texture, so say a very chewy baguette or in this case, a very light, soft, supple cake. Cake flour has the lowest percentage of gluten of all the flours, all purposes in the middle. Bread flour is up here, it\u2019s like 14%. But usually, in terms of classic home baking, I\u2019m working with either bread flour when I make focaccia, all-purpose flour if I\u2019m doing brownies, then a really light, beautiful cake\u2013cake flour. That\u2019s the very quick overview.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Oh, you just made so much of my childhood make sense. I grew up in a celiac house.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Do you eat gluten now?<\/p>\n

TEETS: Yeah, I\u2019m not allergic. My mom is.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Okay. I mean, there\u2019s tons of great gluten-free flours, but it\u2019s really a textural thing. So I\u2019ve got that incorporated. Then I\u2019m going to add coconut milk. Sorry, I have a tiny little bit of lint in there. [Laughs] Don\u2019t prep that. So this is one-and-a-half cups basically, and I\u2019m going to add it little by little and incorporate it. This makes the cake really delicate between the cake flour and the moisture content. This is a very light cake, which is what you want with a coconut cake. In the meringue, it\u2019s like a whole cloud situation. It\u2019s very light, it\u2019s very fluffy. So it\u2019s a very loose batter.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Oh, the coconut milk now seems obvious to me, but if you would\u2019ve asked me \u201cWhat kind of milk is she going to use,\u201d I definitely would\u2019ve been like, \u201cCow\u2019s milk.\u201d<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: I mean you could, but for this cake, we want some coconut flavor that\u2019s going to go beyond just the shredded coconut. I add a little bit of shredded coconut to the batter as well as covering the cake with it. I\u2019m going to add a cup, give or take. And I\u2019m going to stir that in and that\u2019ll get some texture and some more of that coconutty flavor that we\u2019re striving for. So I have two sheet pans. They are lined with parchment paper, and I\u2019m going to divide the batter evenly between the two. Again, I eyeball it. I\u2019ve done this many times.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Well, it is your signature cake.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: I get a ton of family gatherings and stuff. Everybody\u2019s like, \u201cOh, are you bringing the coconut cake?\u201d<\/p>\n

TEETS: How did this become your signature cake?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: I love coconut, all the forms. I always have. I don\u2019t know, maybe a decade ago I just started fussing with it and making my own recipe, and then it just became one of my things. So I\u2019m going to come around here and put it in the oven. I don\u2019t have a fancy oven at home at all. It is a very basic, not new oven, but it works great. I\u2019m going to set a timer for 15 minutes. It\u2019s at 325 degrees. I\u2019m going to do 15 minutes, and then I\u2019ll go back and I\u2019ll rotate it so it gets an even bake. So it\u2019ll be in there for a total of 25 to 30 minutes, and it won\u2019t have too much color on it. It\u2019s going to be pretty pale.And that\u2019s it for the cakes and once they fully cool, I make a meringue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TEETS: Amazing.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Super simple. It\u2019s a Swiss meringue which you make by whipping the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler first. Not only are you incorporating the sugar and dissolving it, but you\u2019re also cooking the egg whites. So that makes some people feel more comfortable about eating meringue, but also it\u2019s really good for buttercream. So once you have that Swiss meringue whipped and fluffy, you can start basically feeding it butter as it\u2019s mixing and you get the most silky, smooth, very stable. It won\u2019t melt as easily as an American buttercream. Tomorrow I\u2019m going to the Brooklyn Museum to check stuff out and I\u2019m going to bring this cake over. I\u2019m going to assemble it there and be in the kitchen and I will make an Italian meringue. I\u2019m going to use that basically as the frosting for the cake in the middle layer all around, very generous and then cover it with all the coconut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TEETS: Oh, gorgeous. Is this cake going to be on the menu at your restaurant when it opens?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Yes. It\u2019s all about how I love classic desserts. Not necessarily something that\u2019s going to be a kitschy throwback, but just things that are either nostalgic for people. The kind of desserts that I want people to feel like, \u201cOh, I could eat that three times a week. I love it that much.\u201d And going back to, \u201cHow did this become a signature cake,\u201d I just love coconut and I\u2019ve always loved coconut desserts and coconut popsicles growing up. That\u2019s still, to this day, my favorite popsicle. So that\u2019s where I grab inspiration from and build menus. Things should have just a very cozy familiarity to them.<\/p>\n

TEETS: That sounds ideal because I think there\u2019s so many desserts I only want to eat twice a year.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: That\u2019s amazing, also. Obviously as a chef and as a diner, it\u2019s so exciting to try these new things, but then I come home at the end of the day and what I really want is a chocolate chip cookie. So my freezer is full of cookie dough.<\/p>\n

TEETS: What\u2019s the status on the restaurant?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Still working on financing. I\u2019m writing a book right now, so I\u2019m in the editing process of that and on some deadlines, but it\u2019s really super important to me. I\u2019ve been in this industry since 2008, and I\u2019ve learned the things that really make a restaurant run smoothly and make it sustainable financially for the staff and for the diners. It\u2019s really important for me to take my time. I don\u2019t want to open in a way where I feel like I don\u2019t have all of these elements in place yet, but we\u2019ll get there down the line. In the meantime, I\u2019m getting this book done, which I\u2019m very excited about.<\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/a><\/p>\n

TEETS: Exciting. I want to ask about the book, but for people that love you who don\u2019t live in New York, it is nice because you\u2019ve been doing pop-ups everywhere. You did a pop-up in Palm Springs, and then I missed the one in L.A.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Well, hopefully more to come. I\u2019m going to Texas this weekend for an event, which will be great. Then I\u2019m doing Hawaii Food & Wine in October, and I love being able to travel and do events. It\u2019s always exciting to cook and bake in a new place, and you meet people and you get to engage with a different community of chefs and people who follow you. Hopefully more West Coast stuff. I love going out there. The produce in LA is just like to die for, so it\u2019s like a pastry chef\u2019s dream out there. Also, I hope with the book, that\u2019s a way to share what I do and let people buy desserts if they don\u2019t live nearby or can\u2019t make a pop-up. I love sharing a recipe.<\/p>\n

TEETS: What is this book about?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: So it\u2019s called Daily Dessert, and it\u2019s really about the ritual of enjoying something sweet in any circumstance. The idea that sweets don\u2019t have to be for special occasions and you don\u2019t need some reason to treat yourself. It\u2019s really about normalizing dessert all the time.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Something normalized.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: The book ranges, but making it so that anybody can make this after dinner treat on a whim, pantry items, no fancy equipment. No special skills or advanced pastry knowledge needed. And that\u2019s really important to me in terms of how I think about how dessert is so special to me and I love restaurants and I love the act of dining out. But sometimes the most special sweets are the ones that you just make for yourself and have on a Tuesday night because you want one.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Yeah, totally. I think especially living in L.A., it\u2019s like an anti-dessert culture.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: I\u2019m so over it.<\/p>\n

TEETS: In Portland, I worked at an office that had three o\u2019clock chocolate time every day.<\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/a><\/p>\n

SCHIFF: See, that\u2019s what I mean. It\u2019s like it\u2019s just a moment to either disconnect from what your day is that you need or a moment to connect with somebody else that\u2019s not about work that\u2019s like, \u201cOh, we\u2019re taking 15 minutes to just eat some chocolate and chit-chat, and then we\u2019ll go back to what we have to be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

TEETS: That\u2019s exactly what it was. Except it was usually 45 [Laughs].<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Even better.<\/p>\n

TEETS: What would you say is more signature about you? Your coconut cake or your hair?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Oh my god. It\u2019s my hair.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Yeah.<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: People recognize me for it, it\u2019s definitely my true signature.<\/p>\n

TEETS: Well, they say someone who\u2019s an icon can be recognized just by their silhouette, and you could be recognized with your hair by your silhouette. So, that\u2019s great. Did we do everything about the cake?<\/p>\n

SCHIFF: Yes. The timer\u2019s going to go off. I\u2019m going to rotate them, but that\u2019s the cake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TEETS: That\u2019s great.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/a><\/p>\n

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