Analyzing the Counter at Pichet Ong’s Bakery

The counter at Pichet Ong's bakery, Batch.Photos: Melissa Hom

Next door to his sleek restaurant P*ONG, pastry chef Pichet Ong has opened a small, sunlit bakery called Batch. The treats here — little cupcakes, chewy cookies, and cupped puddings — are far more familiar. But the tastes may not be, as Ong leaves out extra sugar, eggs, and gelatin to keep flavors pure and textures light. A refrigerated case displays coconut-calamansi layer cake, rhubarb-crème roulade, and Ovaltine pudding served over sliced bananas with a smattering of caramelized Rice Krispies. But the goodies on the counter have less descriptive name tags, so we asked the sociable chef to give a tour of his inventory. After the jump, a guide to the counter. —Alexandra Vallis

1. Red Island Vanilla Extract: Ong partnered with this start-up brand and carries its Madagascar-vanilla sugar and fleur de sel, which is “great on roasted carrots.”

2. Cupcakes (clockwise from left):
Lemon: Vanilla-bean cake filled with lemon curd. The vanilla buttercream frosting is spiked with lemon zest.
Carrot: Shredded Chantenay carrots imported from Canada create a more concentrated flavor. A whipped cream-cheese center flecked with lime zest peeks through the top of the cake, which has a brown-sugar glaze.
Vanilla: Vanilla-bean cake frosted with buttercream and topped with an edible flower.
Chocolate Dragon Devil's Food: The cake is filled with salted, oolong-tea-infused caramel crème. The chocolate ganache on topped with edible sparkles.
Banana: Spiced banana cake with a banana-crème center is topped with buttercream stracciatella made with crushed Valrhona chocolate.
Green Tea: Filled with blackberry crème, frosted with matcha buttercream, and topped with shredded coconut.

3. Vietnamese Coffee Cake: Made with chicory-laced Vietnamese coffee and glazed with condensed milk.

4. Foie Gras Dog Biscuits

5. Brownies: Spiced with Syrian Aleppo pepper.

6. Blondies: Madagascar-vanilla batter combined with smashed couverture chocolate. (Chips don’t melt as well.)

7. Flowers: Citrus shortbread cookies glazed with yuzu frosting. Pink Ribbon Cookies: Dehydrated fresh strawberries flavor and colored frosting; the shortbread cookies benefit the Walk for the Cure.

8. Pineapple Tarts: Nubs of caramelized fresh pineapple are wrapped in pie crust and poked with cloves to resemble baby clementines.

9. Cookies, from left: Walnut Melts, Ginger Molasses Cookies, Chocolate Mint.

10. Cookies, from left: Ginger-Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies, Crushed-Peanut Cookies, Chocolate-Chip Cookies (couverture chocolate replaces traditional chips).

11. Chocolate Kissed: These dark-chocolate-hazelnut cookie sandwiches are filled with hazelnut-flavored chocolate ganache.

12. Chocolate-Pecan Tarts