2024 LNY Collection: Year of Dragon
2024, the Year of the Dragon, symbolizes power, nobility, honor, luck, and success. With the previous year of the Rabbit focusing on longevity, peace, and prosperity, it’s now time to embrace the power and that brings us the success we have been working towards. Families tenderly anticipate the time-honored traditions and celebrations that symbolize renewal, prosperity, and of course the most important: the cherished bonds of family connections. In 2024, we’re in for a rare and special treat, which is the Year of the Wood Dragon. As it only occurs once every sixty years, there’s a much more special and deeper dimension of tradition to it!
Each Lunar New Year collection draws inspiration from and ties in elements from customs and the animal representing the year. Dragons are related to success, intelligence and honor in Eastern cultures, while wood dragons in particular are full of energy and dreams of changing the world.
The first element we want to highlight is the Year of Dragon Special. We wanted to really embody the fierce, powerful and noble characteristics of the Dragon, so we decided on our first ever medley of persimmon purée paired with greek yogurt. Persimmons are known to bring good luck and symbolize longevity which made it one of the perfect focal points for our Lunar New Year collection. We locally sourced 200+ pounds of organic Hachiya persimmons; with its elongated oval shape similar to that of an acorn, the skin becomes more translucent as the fruit ripens. It takes about 1-2 months to fully ripen in room temperature and are in season late fall through winter. Once ripened to perfection, persimmon is crafted with sweetened red bean and greek yogurt glaze, topped with dried persimmon, greek yogurt panna cotta and sesame brittle.
Initially we had decided on the sugar confection Dragon’s Beard Candy, also known as Chinese cotton candy, which dates back several centuries. It was once only served for royalty due to it being so special. With its wispy strands that resemble dragon whiskers, we attempted an intricate challenge. With an impressive 16,384 strands stretched and spun by hand, it is a sweet and slightly chewy delicacy with a texture that melts in your mouth. Unfortunately, as this candy is very susceptible to humidity and melts at such a rapid speed, we swapped it out for a toasty sesame brittle to complement the persimmon greek yogurt flavor profile. In typical Bun Appétit fashion, we put our modern twist on a traditional fusion of Asian traditions.
Golden Fortune, a staple in our LNY Collections, features the familiar coconut anglaise and kumquat glaze, but evolved the fortune cookie into a sweet white bean passion fruit jelly confection. We experimented with tanghulu and mandarin jelly, but the passion fruit was the winner. The white bean base filling takes the shape of a mandarin, which represents good fortune, apt for its name, Golden Fortune.
The staples Hong Bao and Double Happiness make a return, with Double Happiness now adorned with delicate rose buds and freeze dried raspberries and gold leaf. We strive for each bite to be a testament to the artistry and symbolism that defines this auspicious celebration, weaving our carefully crafted pieces to wish you prosperity and harmony in your lives!
Celebrate the Year of Dragon in style with our LNY Collection and indulge in the delicacies of prosperity:
Lunar Dragon
24 hr raised brioche filled with persimmon pulp, sweetened red bean, greek yogurt glazed, topped with dried persimmon, greek yogurt panna cotta, sesame brittle and gold leaf.
Golden Fortune
24 hr raised brioche filled with coconut anglaise, kumquat glazed, topped with passion fruit infused sweet bean jelly and gold dust.
Hong Bao
24 hr raised brioche filled with dark chocolate anglaise, raspberry glazed, topped with Belgian chocolate coin and gold leaf.
Double Happiness
24 hr raised brioche, filled with delicate lychee mascarpone cream, ruby chocolate glazed, topped with rose buds, freeze dried raspberries and gold leaf.
