Mauricio Yáñez, Executive Sous Chef, The Little Club
During the off-season at The Little Club in Delray Beach, Fla., Executive Sous Chef Mauricio Yáñez is working to improve his pastry skills.
“Pastry is not my strong point,” Yanez says. “Now that things are slowing down, I have more time to experiment with desserts and sweets. I love cooking and challenges, so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and work on desserts. I aim to keep improving and try more elaborate recipes.”
First up is his take on a classic Bananas Foster, featuring a banana bread base with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, topped with meringue and a caramel garnish.
“I love scrolling through social media and following great chefs from the U.S. and around the world. I’m always checking out their creations to spot popular trends and adapt them to the club,” Yanez says. “Recently, I saw a few ideas, combined them, and created this dessert. We added a few elements, and it turned out great.”
When working on a new dish, Yanez spends time searching for and comparing different recipes for each element.
“Once I have all the recipes adapted to my needs,” he says, “we start working on it. For desserts, I like to prepare well in advance. This way, if something doesn’t turn out as expected, I have plenty of time to fix it.
And while this recipe went smoothly, Yanez notes that’s not always the case, especially with pastry.
“The fun part about cooking is that we can always start over,” he adds. “We learn from every mistake. If we don’t make mistakes, we don’t learn and improve.”
