Brandon Dehan in 5 pastries

at L'Oustau de Baumanière (5 toques), nestled in the heart of Les Baux-de-Provence, pastry-making is reinvented under the expert hands of Brandon Dehan. With creativity and precision, the pastry chef creates desserts that combine technique and instinct, lightness and intensity. Today, he unveils five of his most emblematic creations, reflecting his singular universe of daring and elegance.

His proudest creation: the millefeuille

If he had to choose just one, it would undoubtedly be the millefeuille. An emblematic dessert at L'Oustau de Baumanière, Brandon Dehan has taken it to its apogee, pushing the limits of texture and balance. The day owner Jean-André Charial tasted it, his reaction was unmistakable:"Why didn't we think of this before?" It was a winning move for the pastry chef, whose creation is as technical as it is enchanting. "My secret is to bake the puff pastry in a waffle iron, for a result that's both crisp and airy," reveals Brandon Dehan. The chef adds a light vanilla cream, a salted butter caramel, and a pistachio florentine for a crunchy touch. "Every bite is identical, every cut perfect, without ever crashing," he assures. "To demonstrate this, the waiter himself slices the first bite in front of the customer. The knife glides with precision, releasing a unique crispness, almost sonorous, like a footstep on snow." An experience as much visual as gustatory, where magic works at every moment.

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Her guilty pleasure creation: vanilla and hazelnut praline marshmallow

Behind every delicacy lies a childhood memory, and for Brandon Dehan, it's the marshmallow bear that awakens his Proust's madeleine. "As soon as I had the opportunity to set up a chocolate factory, I promised myself I'd come up with my own version, even more addictive", he laughs. The vanilla marshmallow rests on a crunchy bed of hazelnut praline, before being coated in a fine milk chocolate. Between melting, crunchy and regressive sweetness, each mouthful recalls the carefree days of early gourmandies. The only problem? "When they're in production, I'm not allowed in... Otherwise, I might eat half of them", he confesses.

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His creation linked to a memory: la tête dans les nuages de Picardie (head in the clouds of Picardy)

Some desserts tell a story, this one evokes a landscape. "La tête dans les nuages de Picardie" is a plunge into Brandon Dehan's memories. "It's a nod to my native region, where rain is part of the scenery". Visually, the dessert resembles a cloud, airy and imposing, yet disconcertingly light. Beneath this ethereal creation lies a composition as subtle as it is daring: meringue with pear juice, crispy gavottes, buckwheat ice cream, hazelnut praline, and even pickled button mushrooms. All wrapped in a vanilla mousse, sprinkled with freshly grated hazelnuts and a fine mushroom powder. "To complete the illusion, I drew an umbrella and drops on the plate, as an echo of the capricious skies of Picardy", explains the pastry chef.

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Customers' most popular creation: celery

While the millefeuille remains a firm favorite, another dessert made a bold impression: the celery dessert. "I designed it for the vegetable menu. It has often surprised - and won over - those who thought they didn't like this product", he enthuses. Far from memories of overly pronounced celery, Brandon Dehan has turned it into a delicate, comforting dessert. It starts with a base of celery root semolina, finely chopped and bound with a reduction of celery juice, with no added sugar. Next comes a celery-ranch and lemon sorbet, adding a touch of freshness, before being sublimated by fine, crisp gavottes. In the dining room, an unctuous celery root cream is added at the last moment, enveloping the whole with an almost regressive sweetness. "It's a dessert that overturns expectations and proves that a vegetable can be transformed into a pure sweet pleasure", assures the pastry chef.

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His latest creation: C'est pas de la tarte

Daring to use onions for dessert? A risky gamble, but one brilliantly taken up by Brandon Dehan with "C'est pas de la tarte". "Also designed for the vegetable menu, this dessert plays on surprise by revealing its main ingredient only at the last moment, to avoid any preconceived ideas," asserts Brandon Dehan. It all begins with a revisited tart base, topped with a brioche perdue in two textures: both golden and reassuring. At the heart, an ultra-gourmand vanilla crème pâtissière, awakened by dried lemon supremes for pep. But the real boldness lies in the caramelized onion ice cream and its onion juice reduction, adding unexpected depth. To sublimate the whole, a vanilla-caramel siphon, a touch of black lemon powder and a few onion chips complete the balance. "This dessert was a gamble. Glenn [Viel] was skeptical at first, before admitting it was pretty clever," laughs Brandon Dehan.