100% Vanilla, Île Flottante… Angelo Musa’s 5 Most Memorable Creations
Angelo Musa, who has been the pastry chef at the Plaza Athénée for ten years, reveals the creations that have marked his career and shaped his signature style over the years.
For the past ten years, Angelo Musa has been at the Plaza Athénée, where he continues to develop a style of pastry-making that is precise, creative, and deeply rooted in French classics. More than three decades after starting out in the profession, Angelo Musa has lost none of his enthusiasm. “I’ve been making pastries for 36 years, and I’m still having a blast, ” he smiles. This energy is reflected in creations designed to bring together textures, flavors, and memories, all while paying homage to France’s pastry heritage. From his signature desserts to his Christmas creations—including an “île flottante” that has become a must-try at the Relais Plaza—the pastry chef looks back on five creations that tell the story of his career.
100% Vanilla: A Signature That Stands the Test of Time
When Angelo Musa arrived at the Plaza Athénée, he brought with him several creations he wanted to present to Alain Ducasse. Among them was a cake centered around a single flavor: vanilla. The pastry chef had conceived it before his arrival at the hotel, but the dessert immediately won over the executive chef, who asked him to refine it. For the past ten years, the 100% Vanilla has been a staple at the Galerie du Plaza Athénée, regardless of the season. Just three centimeters thick, Angelo Musa plays with four different textures. At the base, a thin, crispy layer of dried fruit precedes a particularly fragrant biscuit made with unrefined sugars, vanilla, and roasted dried fruit. Next comes a denser cream, followed by a light, airy texture, similar to mousse. The idea is simple: to explore a single flavor by working with its full aromatic palette and mouthfeel. The concept has even become a true playground for his teams, who adapt it to other ingredients with variations featuring 100% hazelnut, pistachio, or apricot. “This dessert embodies a philosophy taken to the extreme—one that has become a signature, ” says the chef.
Christmas by the Fire: The Freedom of a Yule Log
For Christmas 2017, Angelo Musa created a Yule log that was anything but ordinary. Named “Christmas by the Fire, ” it resembles a log standing upright. The idea was born at an altitude of several thousand meters, while the chef was on a plane preparing for a head of state’s birthday celebration. Together with two of his colleagues, he began to envision this creation, which would take several months to complete—each Yule log , for him, is an opportunity to think outside the box. “The Yule log is a chance to let loose creatively. It’s always a time to challenge ourselves, to give free rein to our imagination, ” he emphasizes. Between research, testing, refining the molds, and designing the box, it generally takes four to five months to bring the project to fruition. This time, the focus is on cacao: a cream infused with cacao nibs, an almond-hazelnut crisp, a milk chocolate cream, and an exotic banana-ginger jelly. The challenge, then, is to find the right balance between these bold flavors to preserve the dessert’s lightness.
The Relais Plaza’s Île flottante: a classic with a modern twist
At the Relais Plaza ( 2 toques), one of the best-sellers since the restaurant’s reopening five years ago has been the île flottante. A familiar, almost universal dessert, which Angelo Musa has chosen to reinterpret without losing what makes it unique. The crème anglaise remains at the center of the plate, topped with a generous layer of whipped egg whites. Very fluffy and light, it contrasts with the caramel and the caramelized dried fruits, which add crunch and intensity. This creation is part of a project the chef has been pursuing since 2008, focusing on the great classics of French pastry. The goal is not to radically transform them, but to view them in a new light, preserving their heritage while experimenting with techniques and textures. Here, the Île Flottante is conceived as a dessert to share—for one to three people—to emphasize its convivial spirit. And despite his years of experience, Angelo Musa still has a sweet tooth: “When they’re preparing this dessert in the lab, I sometimes have a glass of crème anglaise. I always want to taste everything, ” he smiles.
L’Ambassadeur: Rediscovering the Flavors of Heritage
At La Grande Table at the Plaza Athénée (3 toques), Angelo Musa has also been involved in a project exploring another facet of French pastry: its history. The dessert “L’Ambassadeur” is part of a broader exploration of France’s culinary heritage, with the goal of recapturing the spirit of traditional recipes while adapting them to modern tastes. To achieve this, the teams delve into historical texts, notably those by Antonin Carême and Auguste Escoffier, and seek the foundations for new creations in recipes dating back more than two centuries. It’s a true research effort even before they begin baking. L’Ambassadeur thus draws on certain elements of a traditional dessert: a kirsch-flavored cream enhanced with candied fruit, encased in a sponge cake. An almond biscuit rounds out the creation, while contemporary techniques allow for a lighter texture and greater finesse. The whole creation is covered with green marzipan. It’s Angelo Musa’s way of creating a dialogue between two eras: the golden age of French pastry and today’s lighter-style pastries, which remain deeply rooted in tradition.
Jams: A Personal Adventure Born of Love at First Sight
The fifth creation isn’t a dessert served at the Plaza Athénée, but an entrepreneurial venture that began almost by chance. Before the health crisis, Angelo Musa took part in an internship focused on jams at a friend’s bakery. There, he discovered a world that immediately captivated him. “It was love at first sight during that workshop, ” he recalls. Back home, he began experimenting, bought equipment, and started developing his own recipes. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and his professional work came to a halt, he decided to turn this passion into a full-fledged business. He converted his garage into a lab, invested in a commercial space, and launched his own brand.
Five years later, the jams are sold on his website and at a few retailers, alongside his work at the Plaza Athénée. The chef works exclusively with fresh fruit and strives to preserve its aromatic character: mirabelle plum with vanilla and mirabelle plum brandy, fig and white peach, pear and kiwi, strawberry with Timut pepper, and Vosges blueberry. The “Estival” line, meanwhile, combines passion fruit, mango, pineapple, and apricot.
