Crossing the doorstep of the little café in Valley Hayes it is possible to feel, as if we moved back in the time for several dozen years. Benches upholstered with the plush, tables designed with ornamented cast-ironed legs, a linoleum floor and a rounded off counter. On the counter, under bells made out of glass there are multi-storey cakes. Behind it there is Michelle bustling about. She is a master of the confectionery industry and fascinated with retro style. She created a place which moves us back in the 20th century, as according to the name located on the signboard. She brought the idea for the business from United States. Expedition to Europe, with route outlined by Rick Rodgersa in the book titled “Kaffeehaus”, in whichhe described desserts and cakes of the cafés in Vienna, Prague and Budapest, turned out to be the travel of for her life. – I didn’t plan the vital revolution, I was simply looking for confectionery inspirations. But during this few weeks journey at some point I thought that nothing was standing in the way so that I open my own cafe in San Francisco. After all I can run my own business, instead of working for somebody-says Michelle.
Crispy cakes with the caraway
Ingredients:
130 g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
225 g very soft butter
225 g butter for melting
1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of the caraway grains
500 g flour
sugar for sprinkling cookies
On the dry frying pan we roast the caraway.
Butter for melting we transfer into the pan, we add the caraway and we are heat it up on the small fire until the butter melts down. After chilling we pour it to the big bowl, we add the sugar, the salt. We whip it with the frother all the way until we receive the smooth consistency. We add soft butter and we precisely mix it up. We add the flour and we quickly knead the dough. We form it into rollers with the diameter of 3-4 cm, we wrapp it up in foil and we put it away to the refrigerator for about an hour. Within this time we heat the oven to 150 Celsius degrees. We spread out the baking tin with parchment. We cut the cooled cake into 5 mm thick slices, we put them on metal sheets, we sprinkle them with granulated sugar and we bake them until they will become brown on its edges.
Facebook.com/20thCenturyCafe
20th Century Cafe, 198 Gough Street, San Francisco
text: Małgosia Minta, photos: Jarda Brych
SWEET RETRO
