Some people mark the beginning of summer on June 22nd, others mark it's kickoff on July 4th, but I can't consider it summer yet until I've stuffed myself to the gills with a decadent meal at Barker Tavern in Scituate Harbor (Scituate, Ma) and have topped it sweetly off with their signature dessert; raspberry mille feuille. Luckily, I was able to check that off my to-do list last Sunday and man, am I happy it's finally summer.
Barker Tavern hosts a magnitude of amazing dishes from bisque to biscuits and seafood to steaks. However, what intrigues me and confuses me the most is the mystery of how exactly they make the super thin, crispy, buttery, light and airy wafer that acts as the key structural component in their raspberry mille feuille. The rest of the dessert, albeit delicious, is fairly simple: homemade whipped cream, raspberry puree and fresh raspberries...but the wafer...that is a nut that is not so easy to crack! And so, I accept the challenge to try and test, slave over an oven in the middle of summer, to unlock the secret mystery of this cookie wafer!
Honestly, if I find out how to make it, it may be the downfall of my social grace. I will make this all of the time and will no longer accept fall, spring or winter as valid seasons. In fact, I may have to move out west to avoid them all together. No one will rain on my nonstop summer, raspberry mille feuille parade!
Wish me luck. Progress reports to come.