professional baking class - Pate a Choux

time to get fancy! pate à choux is a pastry dough used to make profiteroles, eclairs, and other fun and pretty things. it's made with only butter, water, flour and eggs. it rises because of all the steam! that's why these things hollow out, and then you fill them with delicious pastry cream.

my partner and i made chocolate mousse filled profiteroles, and then we built them into a croquembouche. i took it home with me but since it was warm outside it fell apart. but i ate most of the profiteroles anyway. heh. also notice the pretty swans that another group made!

professional baking class - soufflé

our soufflé class was a lot of fun. i had never made soufflé, or even attempted it, because it always seemed so scary. they're so delicate, they're notorious for falling after removing from the oven, the slightest breeze can crush these babies.

however, after making what seemed like a dozen different types, it's really not all that hard. you should try it. you will easily impress your guests/yourself.

included flavors: coffee, almond, blackberry, goat cheese and chocolate

chocolate chip cookies

professional baking class - vanilla sauce

in this class we used a main "vanilla sauce" recipe to create ice cream, creme brulee, creme caramel, and pot de creme. it's really fun to see how one basic recipe can be changed to result in so many different things.

professional baking class - cakes 2

for our second cake class, we did butter based cakes. this included cheesecake (not my favorite but they turned out pretty good nonetheless), pound cake, and checkerboard cake. i love love love pound cake, so i was excited that we got to try three different versions: the master pound cake, the perfect pound cake, and the great pound cake (i think that's what it's called). they were all tasty, fyi. for the cheesecakes, we did a test to see what happens if you bake it without a water bath. my partner and i were in charge of the sacrificial cheesecake, so ours cracked down the middle. it still tasted good, though!

professional baking class - cakes 1

for our first cakes class, we made egg based cakes. so using a sponge cake recipe, we made a jelly roll, tiramisu, and a chocolate version which was rolled into a bouche de noel. this was a really fun class, but i think i was suffering from sugar overload all weekend long.

professional baking class - quick breads and cookies

so here are some pictures from my first two baking classes at the epicurean school of culinary arts. our first class was quick breads. we made scones, biscuits and muffins. pictures below are my currant scones, buttermilk biscuits and blueberry muffins.

our second class was about cookies. each group made two different batches of cookies, so you can imagine just how many cookies we had at the end of class. my partner and i were in charge of making thumbprint cookies and double chocolate cookies. other groups made chocolate chip cookies, gingersnaps, biscotti and mexican wedding cakes.

the best part of class is the critique/sample time. we all try some of everyone else's work, and our chef tells us about what we're eating, that way we can learn to determine if something is overbaked, undermixed, too salty/sweet, etc etc.

next classes - cakes!

vegan bake sale

today i donated some vegan goodies to the vegan bake sale that was raising money for haiti disaster relief. it was a really good cause and there was so much food! thanks to everyone's baking and volunteer work, they raised over $2,000 for doctors without borders. which is really really awesome.

i decided to do something different for the bake sale, something i hadn't done before. i've always wanted to try to make vegan cannoli, so i saw this as a good opportunity. but just to be safe i also planned on the always tasty fluffernutter cupcakes.

so i ordered some cannoli forms online, and found a basic recipe for vegan cannoli. it was pretty easy to make these, just super time consuming. first i made the cream and let it chill for a day so it could really firm up. then i had to make the dough for the shell. once i rolled out the dough and wrapped it around the cannoli forms, i had to deep fry. now i don't have a deep fryer (it might be a good idea to get one if i plan on making these again) so i had to heat some oil in a deep pot. i highly suggest using a deep fryer. the mess i created on my stove top, the oil i have to dispose of, and the smell of hot oil for days in my house are all good reasons you should use a deep fryer (outside) for this. but i made it work. so if i can do it then so can you. a few dough rolled forms came un-rolled during frying, so i just ate them. i ended up with 18 cannoli shells, though, so i think it worked out. the next day i melted some chocolate and spread it inside all the shells, then stuck them in the fridge to harden. then i filled with the cream. a little dusting of powdered sugar before packaging, and voila! yummy vegan cannoli!











if you haven't already, do something to help those in haiti. donate money, clothing, food, anything you can. they need our help.

chocolate ice cream cake

my coworker's birthday was last week and i promised him i would make something. he wasn't around for when i distributed my christmas goodies, which is why i promised i would make him something yummy. i asked him what he wanted and he said 'something you haven't made yet.' so i suggested ice cream cake. he was excited.

i did some research online to find the best method. a lot of recipes said to just use ice cream sandwiches, but that is lazy to the max. then i found a few that said to bake cake, then freeze ice cream in the cake pans and layer it all together. now that's what i'm talking about.

first i baked the cake. the recipe i used made enough batter for 3 cake layers. that would mean i needed two ice cream layers. i was creating a 5 layer cake - holy moly.


once my cake pans were available again, i could put the ice cream in. had to make sure to cover the pans with foil so i could easily get the ice cream out once it was frozen.


i let everything sit in the freezer over night and assembled the next evening. i took everything out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and started layering.


then i threw that back in the freezer for about an hour or two, just to firm up. i read in a recipe online that cool whip is a good icing for ice cream cake, since it freezes so well. and it turned out really nice, i have to admit. it was a perfect icing for the cake - it wasn't too heavy and it was a nice compliment to the heavy cake and ice cream.



the cake was a big hit with the birthday boy and everyone else at work. i think everyone is expecting an ice cream cake for their birthday now. i wouldn't mind being the designated work baker, as long as they put a little something in my paycheck to pay for all this stuff! maybe one day..