The Maillard reaction! It’s what makes foods like seared steak, toasted bread, roasted coffee, and caramelized onions smell and taste amazing. It’s a chemical reaction between amino acids (proteins) and sugars that happens when food is heated, creating that deep golden-brown color and complex, savory flavors. Think of it as the science behind delicious browning — the reason why your favorite bite of the cherry pie is the the gooey bit that leaks out and gets a little bit charred. Without the Maillard reaction, foods would taste flat and lack rich, roasted depth.

Growing up part time in the Dominican Republic, we didn’t have an indoor kitchen until I was about 15, so instead we cooked sobre leña, or over wood. So the smell and taste of char always makes me think of spending time with my grandmother and my family, eating delicious coconut rice.

Of course it goes far beyond the DR, though, the Maillard reaction shows up everywhere, in smoked caramel ice cream and burnt honey to charred fruit tarts. We’re going to break down the Maillard reaction, talk about how to use that magical science to make your baked goods taste better, and add a few more recipes to your rotation.

• How the Maillard reaction mimics umami

• How pastry chefs and cooks use it/what foods/examples

• How to use the Maillard Reaction in your cooking

• Steal This Recipe for: Plantain Baguettes, Plantain Butter, Toasted Tahini Cake (From Bodega Bakes), Brown Butter Cacio e Pepe

PLUS— Let’s meet at Cherry Bombe Jubilee

I’m speaking on the panel “Meet The Moment: The Power of Food & Storytelling in Creating Change” with @zaynab_issa, @natashapickowicz, and @audiophilegirl, moderated by the one and only @klancycooks.

Plus, there will be a bombe signing for Bodega Bakes during Snack Break! I’ll bring a fresh sharpie 🥰💗

Get your Jubilee tickets now at cherrybombe.com. See you there! 🌸

Plantain Baguette dough:

• 2 ¾ cups + 3 ½ teaspoons (400 g) high gluten bread flour

• 1 ¼ cups (280 g) warm water

• 1 cup (200 g) (deep fried) sweet plantains - cooled and chopped into chunks

• ½ teaspoon (2 g) instant dry yeast

• 1 tablespoon caramelized sugar

• 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt

• 1 ½ tablespoons (20 g) cold water

Plantain Butter:

• 4 sticks (1 lbs) unsalted butter softened

• ½ cups (100 g) (deep fried) sweet plantains (mashed)

• 1-2 tablespoons flakey sea salt

Plantain Baguette instructions:
In a large bowl, combine your flour and slightly above room temp water (96ºf) and mix until it’s completely incorporated and there are no dry spots visible to the human eye. Let your dough sit for 4-5 minutes to allow some of the gluten strands to relax. Once your dough is less stressed, mix in your sweet plantain chunks until evenly dispersed. Allow your dough to autolyse for 15-20 minutes.

While your dough is autolysing—In a small saucepan caramelize your sugar until a deep caramel color forms, 365º f, immediately remove from the heat source and carefully deglaze with your remaining water (the tablespoon of water) mixing to allow the water to turn the sugar into a syrup—allow this “syrup” to come down to room temp before using.

After the dough has rested for 20 minutes and “autolysed”, add your yeast and caramel water. Using your hand, knead the dough until your sugar water and your yeast are fully incorporated. Don’t rush this process, we want the dough to “suck up” the yeast and extra moisture.

Finally, add your salt and mix until combined and evenly spread. If you need assistance with incorporating your salt, lightly wet your hand and mix until all salt blends with the dough.

Now were going to prepare our dough to be transferred into an airtight container (a cambro works perfectly here, but if you’re at home a large bowl is perfect too.)

Cover your dough with a towel and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Once rested, we are going to fold our dough twice in one hour. With wet hands grab your dough and let the dough almost ooze out and drop into your container. repeat this action 3 more times before allowing your dough to rest for another 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes have passed, now with wet hands i want you to stretch and fold your dough onto itself. that means, grab a corner and pull gently without ripping the dough and fold it onto itself. almost like folding sheets or folding a sheet of paper into an envelope.
once you’ve made a dough baby flip it so its seem side down and place in your fridge covered with an airtight lid or plastic wrap. Let it rest overnight - a full 24 hours.

Good morning sunshine, its almost plantain baguette time.

After a 24 hour slow fermentation, preheat your oven

• 475º f on low fan (with a convection oven)

  or

• 500º f (with a conventional oven- this is an oven without a fan.. don’t worry I get confused too, this it the oven thats in almost all home kitchens.)

Remove your dough from the fridge and portion your mini baguettes into 10-12 portions. I like to use my handy dandy digital kitchen scale to weigh the total weight of my dough then divide the total weight by 10 or 12 to get the portion sizes for my minis. Alternatively you can make 2 or 3 long baguettes. Just make sure you ball and round your portions with a little bit of flour as you portion the dough. Let your pre-shaped dough rest for about 15-20 minutes. (You’ll know when you can start shaping once the dough isn’t tight and your indentation doesn’t spring back up.)

To shape your baguettes using a very light dusting of flour, take your pre-shaped balls of dough and lightly flatten them into a oblong oval. Working from the farthest side from you gently fold the dough one third of the way then another third until you reach the end. Then lightly with your finger press on the seam until it fuses with itself. (If you’re working on bigger baguettes, repeat this same process but use the palm of your hand do tightly close the seam.)

Allow this 2nd pre-shape to rest for another 10 minutes.

Now we are going to shape the baguette into the iconic tapered ends.

Applying slightly more pressure at the ends of the dough rock your hand back and forth until your baguettes taper at the end.

Using an oven safe baguette mold or aluminum foil shaped to be like a baguette pan (with a sheet tray under neath, lightly dust the bottom of your “mold” with flour and place the shaped baguettes carefully seam side down onto your mold.

Immediately score your plantain baguettes with a sharp razor, lame or knife then allow the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes in the pan.

Before placing your baguettes to be baked add ice to the bottom of your oven to create steam and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes oven your oven door to allow the steam to exit the oven. Be very careful, steam is very hot!
Rotate and cook for another 13 minutes or until your baguettes turn a beautiful deep caramel color.

Allow the buns to cool slightly before digging in.

Plantain Butter instructions:
This is short and sweet, you just read a novel to make these plantain baguettes, let us all brain-rot together in peace.

In a stand mixer, add your softened butter, salt and your mashed plantains and beat with a paddle attachment until light and airy.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge, allowing your butter to come back to room temperature approx. 30 mins before using or serving.

• 8 oz (227 g) spaghetti (half a box)

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons browned butter

• 1 ½ teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper

• 1 ¼ cups (100 g) finely grated Pecorino Romano

• ¾ cup (180 ml) reserved pasta water

• Salt, to taste

To make this recipe, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add your pasta and cook until just shy of al dente (about 1-2 minutes under package instructions).

Before draining, reserve at least ½ cup of pasta water.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown your 3 tbsp of butter until medium or just over golden brown in color.

Take your browned butter off the heat and melt 2 tablespoons of slightly cold fresh butter into the brown butter— swirl to combine.

Bring the heat back up to low and add the freshly cracked black pepper, letting it toast in the butter for about 30 seconds to bloom its flavor.

Add the drained pasta to the skillet and stir to coat. This is where the magic happens, add about ¼ cup of reserved pasta water and toss/stir vigorously—this helps emulsify the sauce and release some of of the starch from the pasta.

Remove the skillet from the heat and gradually add the Pecorino Romano while stirring the pasta continuously. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, until it reaches a silky, glossy consistency.

Taste and adjust with more salt or pepper if needed. Serve immediately, with extra Pecorino and black pepper on top.

• Vegetable oil cooking spray

• ¼ cup (70 g) tahini

• 1¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup (240 mL) olive oil

• ½ cup (120 mL) avocado oil

• 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup (40 g) sesame seeds

• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper

• 1¼ cups (300 mL) whole milk

MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a two 6-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.

In a small nonstick pan, cook the tahini over medium-low heat, stirring frequently with a heat-resistant spatula, until the moisture of the tahini evaporates and it turns a golden brown color, 5 to 7 minutes.

Scrape the tahini into a small bowl and let cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using one of the alternate methods on page 25), beat the granulated sugar and eggs on medium speed until fluffy and pale, about 8 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the olive oil and avocado oil in a thin stream. Mix until glossy and combined. Add the tahini and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, half the sesame seeds, the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pepper. Add half the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl with the wet ingredients and pulse the mixer on and off, almost like you're trying to jump-start a car, so the flour gets gradually incorporated without flying all over your kitchen.

When the dry ingredients are mostly combined, mix on low to incorporate them fully, about 3 minutes.

Gradually pour in the milk and mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes more.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cake is springy to the touch

and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly in the pan, then flip the cake onto a parchment-lined work surface and let cool completely.

The case for making Burnt a new flavor category

Let’s reframe burnt beyond bitter. Toasted, smoked, charred flavors, when balanced, go well beyond bitterness. The Maillard reaction creates savory, nutty, and roasted profiles that are more aligned with the richness of umami.

Umami — the savory flavor that’s part of the five basic tastes alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter — comes from the glutamates found in foods like tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese. The Maillard reaction replicates a similar complexity, though, by breaking down proteins and sugars to create savory depth, just like umami-rich foods. Foods with deep Maillard notes, like seared steaks, toasted bread, roasted coffee, or charred vegetables evoke the same savory depth as umami-forward ingredients.

How to use the Maillard reaction to add flavor and depth to your cooking and baking

A few ideas to bring Maillard-savory notes into your kitchen:

• Use burnt sugar to intensify flavor in desserts like flan and soufflé.

• Char the meringue you’re turning into an Italian or Swiss buttercream.

• Toast tahini in pastries, which adds a savory nuttiness to sweets. (As seen from my cookbook Bodega Bakes.)

• Incorporate toasted elements to your bakes, like a toasted cake crumb (or bits) coated in chocolate, intentionally over-baking your breads and other baked goods (I’m looking at you artisanal bakeries!)

• Use brown butter in more than just your sweets — on pan-seared or grilled steaks, on poached fruits and veggies, or maybe even cook some fish en papillote with that delish plantain butter I just taught you how to make.

• Burning/toasting/roasting your spices to intensify or deepen the flavor.

It’s all about the temperature: The Maillard reaction typically kicks in around 285°F to 330°F (140°C to 165°C)—

If you’re unsure of how to incorporate the wonders of the Millard reaction. Try starting with your oven.

There will be visual cues and your nose will let you know what’s up when the aroma fills the air.

You’re probably wondering— Isn’t the Millard reaction just caramelization? Naur, people often confuse the two. Caramelization is sugar only; Maillard is sugar + protein. As expensive as they are, that means eggs, the proteins in your flour and even the milk solids in your butter.
But more than that the magic happens when the amino acids aka the building blocks of proteins and sugar get funky with it to create new compounds to highlight new flavors combinations aka the heavenly concoction that makes your pizza and flan SO. DAMN. GOOD.

Thanks again for reading and for being a paid subscriber. You’re now the only humans on Earth who know how to make my favorite recipe in the world: plantain baguettes. I’ll talk to you in a few weeks—and remember, if the world feels like it’s on fire, that’s because it is. But at least now you know how to turn that burn into something delicious.

Xoxo,
Paola