Time to bake: Home recipes that wow from some of L.A.'s best pastry chefs

Time to bake: Home recipes that wow from some of L.A.’s best pastry chefs

1/5

Cooks County pastry chef Roxana Jullapat’s autumn fool is creamy pumpkin mascarpone filling layered with graham cracker crumbs. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

2/5

Karen Hatfield of Hatfield’s and Sycamore Kitchen makes a rich, rustic-but-elegant brown butter torte with hazelnuts and dark chocolate. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

3/5

Gjelina Take Away pastry chef Nicole Rucker’s apple pie is dried apples with cardamom-spiced custard in a graham cracker crumb crust. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

4/5

A maple pecan tart from Genevieve Gergis, pastry chef at Bestia, has creme fraiche in the filling and crust. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

5/5

Campfire scones by Semi Sweet Bakery’s Sharlena Fong are topped with marshmallows and drizzled with chocolate. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

By Betty Hallock

Sept. 21, 2013 9:30 AM PT

It’s suddenly here -- baking season. When you reach for the rolling pins and cake pans, tart molds and baking sheets. Instead of turning the A/C to 70, you’re heating the oven to 375.

To kick off autumn and the coming holidays, five of L.A.’s best pastry chefs gave us recipes for some of their favorite desserts. They’re helping us ease into the season, with easy recipes that require 10 ingredients or fewer.

Looking for an elegant cake with complex flavor that’s not fussy but still a show-stopper? It’s Hatfield’s and Sycamore Kitchen co-owner Karen Hatfield’s hazelnut brown butter torte with bittersweet chocolate.

Something special to take to a brunch party? Campfire scones from Semi Sweet Bakery’s Sharlena Fong are topped with toasty marshmallows and drizzled with chocolate.

Gjelina Take Away pastry chef Nicole Rucker’s apple custard crumb pie is so easy you might not make apple pie any other way again. She uses dried apples, which don’t have to be peeled, cored or cut, and a graham cracker crust, with an easy-to-whip-up custard spiced intriguingly with cardamom.

Don’t be fooled -- Cooks County pastry chef Roxana Jullapat’s autumn fool looks fancy, but takes less time to make than watching another episode of “Breaking Bad.”

And the maple pecan tart with creme fraiche crust is a keeper too, one you should take note of for Thanksgiving, which is only a couple months away (gasp).

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