Cercle V Calendar x Priscilla Scaff-Mariani

Priscilla Scaff-Mariani is executive pastry chef at Gabriel Kreuther in New York. She’s also the winner of the Cercle V  Challenge Jury Prize.

“This is the collective success of our great restaurant team. We work hard to treat our customers using excellent ingredients, and I’m proud of that!”

Quality over quantity! Principles are vital to Priscilla’s pastry-making, and the key one is respect. That means respect for colleagues, for the profession, for the ingredients, for the time spent co-creating as a team - but also for life outside the kitchen.

Chocolate and caramel flan. This dessert includes a cocoa bean feuilletine covered with a chocolate shortcrust pastry, all encasing a traditionally baked flan. The flan is decorated with a milk ice cream, with chocolate crumble scattered around the edges. Finally, a caramelized filo pastry sprinkled with cocoa powder completes the dessert. Valrhona’s iconic chocolates can be found within, including Guanaja 70%, Caraïbe 66% and Jivara 40%.

Priscilla chose Valrhona for its high-quality products and its chocolate’s reliable flavor. However, she was also drawn to its ethical commitment to people, the planet, cocoa beans, cocoa producers, and Valrhona’s entire ecosystem.