Honey is as Good As Its Gets for Pastry Chef David Guas
David Guas has a natural soft spot for honey. His fondness for the golden liquid dates back to his childhood in southern Louisiana, when a neighbor would bring a giant mason jar of honey collected from backyard hives over to his father’s hunting camp, and young David would be given the comb to chew: nature’s candy!
Fast forward to the present day, where Guas has become the new owner and partner of his southern style bakery in Arlington, Virginia--Bayou Bakery , Coffee Bar & Eatery--which uses more honey on a daily basis than most of us will in a year. His childhood interest in honey was renewed several years ago as the solution to a professional chemistry problem: he was investigating inverted sugars to use in his frozen desserts; that is, sugars that wouldn’t crystallize in the freezing process. Naturally treated raw honeys are one such product. In his research, he collected all the books he could find on the subject as well as a pantry-full of jars of local honey varieties from farm stands and markets. On his regular leisurely motorcycle rides through the countryside of Northern Virginia, he says, “my third eye is always on the lookout for a new honey source.”
Honeys take on the subtle flavor of the primary blossom on which the bees have been feeding, and exhibit a broad seasonal and geographical range. Around here, says Guas, you’ll find honeys that exude a faint scent of lavender, chestnut, thistle, lotus flower, and, of course, clover. His personal favorite? “I am a lover of seasonal honeys – whatever has just been produced has a natural attachment to the natural growing season of our local environment, just as in-season produce and fruits taste their best and make the most sense to our palates when they are harvested.”
Guas designed his desserts and chooses his honey to support the local apiaries he has formed relationships with over the years. Over the years his menus honored honeyed items ranging from his light and flavorful Apricot Sorbet to a Lemon Doberge Cake with Honey Poached Kumquats to a Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Bread Pudding with Banana-Honey Ice Cream and a Praline Caramel and Local Honey Crème Brûlée with Apricot Jam and Lavender Cookies.
At home in McLean, too, Guas works honey into his everyday cooking for his wife and two sons, aged 5 and 7 “Honey’s natural viscosity makes it a great glaze for things like cooked carrots and bananas,” says Guas, “and I use it in a number of savory dishes, too: it’s perfect for toning down the bite of high-acidic foods like tomato sauces, and just a dab in pizza dough feeds the yeast, creates a touch of sweetness, and gives the cooked dough a nice caramel color.” In sweet things, too, honey is a shoe-in in the Guas household. “I heat some nice local honey with melted butter for our pancakes instead of syrup – the boys love it.” And who wouldn’t? Take a tip from the professional pastry chef in our midst: it’s a honey of an ingredient.