Shop with a Chef: Cocolico’s Wendy Boys

Who wouldn’t want to do this for a living?” says Wendy Boys, renowned pastry chef, chocolatier, and owner of local chocolate company Cocolico. Since moving here from Alberta in 2002 for a stint at catering company The Lazy Gourmet, Boys has worked as a pastry chef for Lumière and Cactus Club, and developed her own line of confections (her mouth watering vanilla salt caramels made our list of things to taste before you die in 2008). Her passion for dessert has also taken her to Valrhona, France, on full scholarship to take classes at the prestigious L’École du Grand Chocolat. Over the years she has baked with thousands of eggs, which are a key ingredient in her favourite treats, like walnut brownies and chocolate soufflés.

How To Buy

Boys always pops the carton open to check that each egg is clean and intact. To ensure she’s getting a fresh supply she shops at farmers market where the eggs were likely laid that very day, or at stores that have a constant rotation of product. She likes the beautiful marigold colour of the yolks in free-range omega-3 brands. “I assume that happy chickens running around in the grass make for happy eggs.”

The Perfect Meringue

Boys has a neat trick for cracking eggs: she gently hits one against another to break the shell apart. “I’m usually separating up to 100 eggs at a time—this is the most efficient way and the tidiest.” The key to a beautiful meringue is a scrupulously clean bowl; a single smear of grease could affect the final product. It’s also essential that the egg whites and sugar are at room temperature; the meringue will come up more voluminous this way. “I whip the egg whites on medium speed until they are foamy and then I start adding the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon. That way there’s still enough water for the sugar to dissolve, and the meringue will come out really thick and glossy.”

Try it at home!

Watch a video of Pastry Chef Wendy Boys making the perfect dark chocolate soufflé