baking spirits bright
PRIMA BATTERINA
Q&A WITH JOANNA EURAQUE, OWNER AND EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF OF THE BATTERINA What was the first thing you ever baked? Brownies. My grandmother taught me how to bake when I was very young. She always baked the most delicious brownies. I treasured those moments with her. Later I started baking with my mom — I still bake with my mom. Brownies led to cupcakes, which led to cakes, which led to cheesecakes, which are my specialty. Watching my grandmother and my mother bake taught me so many lessons about baking. Later I went Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge. I earned an associate’s degree in culinary arts with a focus on advanced baking and pastry. That was in 2016. I’ve heard people say cooking is an art, and baking is a science. With cooking you can improvise, but with baking, you need to follow the recipe or things won’t turn out perfectly. If one thing is off, your entire recipe is gone. And a bad recipe makes your taste buds mad, and we definitely don’t want that! That’s certainly true with cheesecakes. Cheesecake is so temperamental. It can develop ugly cracks on the surface or might sink a bit in the middle if you overmix it; it can fall, like a souffle, if you don’t let it rest long enough. It can develop ugly cracks on the surface or might sink a bit in the middle when you overbeat it. You have to be very careful in the kitchen when you are baking cheesecake. If you don’t blink, or breathe, you should be good to go! Your cheesecake is one of the best I’ve ever tasted, especially the cookie butter. The crumb is so moist. If there is one cheesecake that I am most known for, it’s cookie butter. I use Lotus Biscoff cookies, which are spicy shortbread cookies that have a bit of a caramel flavor. I do maybe six flavor offerings a week, and cookie butter is always one. That is the one that my customers just can’t get enough
of. There’s usually a seasonal flavor, like local strawberries during strawberry season, as well as a chocolate flavor because I absolutely love chocolate! How did you come up with the name The Batterina? I’m a retired dancer. It’s a combination of my two loves: ballet and baking. One day I was in class, while we were in the middle of making a recipe it just hit me — “The Batterina.” I had to hurry and write it down so I wouldn’t forget it. And that’s how The Batterina was born. How can people buy your cheesecake? I’m at the Rouses Pop Up at Tchoup every Saturday at the Rouses Market on Tchoupitoulas in New Orleans, and I pop up at other Rouses Markets, too. Follow me on Instagram @the_batterina to see where and when. Most of my business is through Instagram. Your mom is at every Pop Up. Mama Jo — everyone calls her Mama Jo — helps me bake and sell and handle pick-ups. She’s my wing woman. I honestly couldn’t do it without her. She’s the reason I’m as organized as I am. If I was alone, I’m sure I’d forget everything at home.
INSTAGRAM the_batterina Photo by Channing Candies
and the Nestle Toll House cookie recipe, have stood the test of time for a reason. Finally, since this is the baking issue, let’s settle something once and for all. Is cheesecake a cake? It’s not what typically constitutes a cake. It’s more like a custard or a souffle, even a tart! Or, like some people say, a pie. I guess if we’re willing to call Boston Cream pie a pie when it’s sponge cake, I say we’re even.
I know you don’t share your recipes, but is there another recipe you would recommend to our readers? Believe it or not, the one on the back of the Philadelphia Cream Cheese brick. It’s a classic. Recipes like that one, W W W. R O U S E S . C O M
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