When I first moved out here, I was terrified of what the elevation can do to baked desserts and pastries that would normally come out perfect at sea-level. In fact, I even avoided baking because I felt so restricted. My original belief was that nothing would turn out well.

One day I had to make several recipes from pastry chef Francois Payard’s cookbook, Chocolate Epiphany, to assist him with a culinary demonstration he would be leading. Everything turned out…fine. I felt liberated. I began to read more about high altitude baking and started to experiment with my own recipes.

I realized that as a pastry chef, I had to embrace my situation as a test of my skill and to overcome the challenge with successful baked creations. I’ve been tweaking recipes ever since, with the firm belief that just because we live at 9,000 feet above sea level, pancakes can still be fluffy, cakes can still be moist and delicate, and great dessert is alive and well!

There seems to be a lack of high altitude recipes available on the Internet, and I want other people to be able to experience the thrills and enjoyment of baking, rather than dread it, like I once had. I will begin regularly posting recipes on my site that I’ve had success with here in Vail, Colorado.

Check back soon!

Since early June, the Restaurant Kelly Liken kitchen crew shops at the Vail Farmer’s Market every Sunday and then creates an entirely new menu just for that evening, showcasing all of the beautiful produce we were able to purchase that day.

Sometimes it can be a little challenging to create a new dish in a matter of hours, but it’s a great creative outlet and a chance to try out new ideas. I always try to retain the integrity of whatever fruit or vegetable I’m baking with so that it’s fresh-picked flavor still stands out.

I am always so impressed by the savory items the rest of the staff creates for the menu. Their dishes inspire me to elevate my desserts to match their level.

Living in Rocky Mountain high country certainly alters the availability and growing season of produce. Back in Indiana, rhubarb was only available in early Spring. Out here, we’ve seen it at the market through July. Currently, peaches, nectarines, plums, and other stone fruits from Palisade have been abundant and gorgeous.  When you have beautiful ingredients to begin with, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to make a great-tasting dish!

Here are some of this summer’s recent Sunday Harvest Menu desserts:

Chocolate-Almond Brown Butter Cake (Financiers) with Wine-Soaked Cherries and Soured Whipped Cream

Sable Breton Tartlets with Rhubarb Curd, Vanilla Mousseline, and Strawberry-Rhubarb Salad

Lavender Cream Shortcakes with Peaches, Honey Cream, Peach Syrup, and Lavender flowers.

Chocolate Dacquoise filled with Macerated-Strawberries, and topped with disks of bruleed Chocolate Chiboust

Cinnamon-Sugar Cake Doughnuts, Blackberry Dipping Sauce, and mini Peach Milkshake Shooter

Zucchini Cakes with Sweetened Cream Cheese and Caramelized Walnuts

Yellow Butter Cake, Grilled Peaches marinated in white wine and brandy, and Mascarpone Cream

Mini Peach Fried Pies, Peach Caramel reduction, and Butter-Pecan Ice Cream

Peach Tiramisu- Ladyfinger circles, Vanilla-Scented Mascarpone-Ricotta Cream, Amaretto Soaking Syrup, Spiced Peach Puree, Fresh Peaches, and Whipped Cream layered in canning jars with Nasturtium blossoms

Warm Peach Crumble Tartlets, Almond Streusel, Peach Coulis, and Cinnamon-Infused Ice Cream

I am very excited about this opportunity, as Restaurant Kelly Liken places a strong emphasis on seasonal, local, and organic cuisine.

Once I am able to get some more consistent Internet service, I will be sure to keep everyone updated. Stay posted!

Pumpkin pie and sugar pumpkins  have a “smooth, sweet flesh that is much less pulpy and stringy” according to Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen.  This makes them the choice for bakers and chefs when they want to use real pumpkin instead of canned pumpkin puree.

Long before people were thinking about Fall flavors, especially pumpkin, I was intrigued by a danish variation I had seen using pumpkin butter and cream cheese filling. So, when the time finally came around for pumpkin to step into the spotlight, I decided to try my hand at making pumpkin butter.

Let me warn you however, that like apple butter, pumpkin butter takes a few hours start to finish because the pumpkin needs to completely break down. The best part is the incredible smell that will fill the kitchen. While I used my pumpkin butter as a danish filling, it can certainly be used in other Autumn and holiday desserts.

Another flavor to capture this season is pear. They are in season right now and taste their best. When we have too many to eat, I like to poach them and store them in the refrigerator for later usage. Sugar syrups, wine, fresh herbs, whole spices, vanilla beans, and citrus peel can be included in the poaching and create a great variety of flavors. Poaching works best on fruit that is slightly underripe.

Finally, on the note of preservation, I’d like to share a tip from one of my chefs, the brilliant En-Ming Hsu. Chef Hsu gave us this formula for cleaning herbs and extending their shelf life. A few weeks ago after a big frost warning, I did this with a bunch of herbs from our garden and they are still fresh in my refrigerator. The bleach water kills any organisms on the herbs.

Preserving Fresh Herbs:

• Fill two large clean, sterilized containers (hotel pan size) with water.
• Put 1/2 teaspoon household bleach in one container, and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar in the other.
• Soak your herbs in the bleach water for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the bleach water and soak the herbs in the vinegar water for 20 minutes.
• Remove herbs from vinegar water and drain briefly.
• Wrap the herbs in paper towels, then put inside of plastic bags and store in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Butter (The Culinary Institute of America)

• 3 lbs pumpkin(s) (Sugar or Pumpkin Pie variety)
• 1 lb granulated sugar
• 1/2 lb unsalted butter
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• pinch ground cloves

Cut the pumpkin(s) into quarters and scoop out the seeds. Place the quartered pumpkins cut side up on a sheet pan. Bake at 325 F until the flesh in tender, about 25 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin with a paring knife. Place the pumpkin flesh in a large pot with the sugar, butter, vanilla bean seeds and pod, and cloves. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the volume has reduced by half, about 2 hours. The pumpkin will completely break down and turn into a smooth paste. Remove the vanilla bean pod.

Cool the pumpkin butter over an ice water bath and reserve in an airtight container under refrigeration. Makes about 15 fl ounces.

Basic Poached Pears (The Culinary Institute of America)

• 75 fl ounces water
• 15 ounces sugar
• juice of 7 lemons
• 12 pears

Combine water, sugar, and lemon juice in a pot large enough to hold 12 pears. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Boil 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium.

Trim the bottom of each pear to make it flat, core out the bottom with a melon baller or paring knife, and peel off the skin. Leave the stem attached. Once a pear is prepped, submerge it immediately in ice water acidified with lemon juice to prevent discoloring.

Once all of the pears are prepped, place them into the poaching liquid and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes. Make sure the pears are completely submerged by placing a parchment circle on top of the pears. Once the pears have become slightly tender, remove the pot from the heat and let the pears sit in the poaching liquid until tender, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Cool pears to room temperature. Reserve, covered, under refrigeration. Makes 12 poached pears.

I’m moving to Colorado, which is an adventure in itself. My life will become significantly busier, but I’m determined to keep posting. Every time I’ve lived in a new place, I discover wonderful inspiration for desserts and pastry.

At the moment, this move isn’t permanent, but I’m excited for this new opportunity to get more experience in learning and in life. There is still time for a few holiday orders, but only before December, for those interested.You can email me with questions (contact info is up at the top right of the page).

I’ve also been brainstorming some ideas for making the most of Fall’s flavors. This includes using  apple butter, pumpkin butter, poached pairs, etc. We’ll see how that comes along, depending on the oven status (At the moment it’s broken).

In other news, we’ve managed to acquire a chocolate temperer. Tempered chocolate is necessary for proper chocolate candy making in that it stabilizes the fat crystals in the cocoa butter. This creates a quick-setting, shiny, hard chocolate that has a much longer shelf life. Chocolate can be tempered without a machine, but it’s easier to hand dip and cast large quantities of chocolate candies with the help of one.

I’d like to play around with it and make some chocolate candies for holiday gifts this year. I’m hoping to get started on that soon and will be sure to post any exciting recipes.

Speaking of our broken oven, these pumpkin-hazelnut doughnuts were created after seeing the recipe on Aran’s blog, Cannelle et Vanille (It’s a beautiful blog, be sure to check it out!). It was a chilly weekend morning and one glance at Aran’s pumpkin doughnut picture told me there was no turning back.

What made them particularly appealing was the need for a stove, not an oven. I could make them! Because they are a cake doughnut, there is no yeast, and they come together very quickly. Enjoy them while taking in the colors outside for a true taste of Autumn.

Here is the link to Aran’s recipe for Pumpkin-Hazelnut Doughnuts at her blog Cannelle et Vanille.

Last night we had a glimmer of hope. The lower oven started responding to the dials when we did an experimental run. My dad asked if there was anything I wanted to bake.

“Brownies!” my mom yelled, “Hurry!”

We all held our breath waiting for the oven to go out, but it stayed on, miraculously. It must have known how badly we needed something that was baked, rich, and chocolately.

Brownies are a classic that everyone can make. You don’t need any fancy equipment and they are quick and easy. Navigating the infinite recipes from cookbooks and the Internet can get overwhelming and is not always reliable. Trust me, there is nothing more disappointing than a bad brownie!

There are a few things to look for in a brownie recipe to know whether or not it’ll be a keeper. A keeper brownie is one that is the perfect height- not too thin nor too thick, fudgy, moist, slightly chewy, and huge on chocolate taste.

Here are the qualities of a keeper brownie recipe:

1. Lots of eggs

2. Lots of butter

3. Real chocolate, with or without additional cocoa powder

Simple, but true. Eggs may get bad press from time to time, but they are an invaluable baking ingredient. Eggs contain lecithin, an emulsifier, which evenly distributes fat particles throughout the batter. This creates a very tender finished product.  Eggs also add lots of moisture.

Butter is more obvious, it adds flavor, richness, moisture, and texture to baked goods. When melted, it produces a cakier texture.

Using chocolate in a brownie recipe simply makes them more gooey (and certainly increases the chocolate taste!). A good-quality cocoa powder adds an intense chocolate flavor to baked goods, but if you’re going for something that is more dense and fudgelike, use real chocolate.

Below are two of my favorite brownie recipes. The first is a thicker brownie and the epitome of a “keeper brownie”. Instant espresso powder adds a further note of complexity to the chocolate flavor. It’s the brownie photographed for this post, since that’s what was on hand at the time. You will not be disappointed.

The second recipe is so rich the brownie itself  melts in your mouth- and so fudgy that it’s almost creamy in texture.

One last rule of thumb: Check your brownies 10 minutes before they are supposed to be done. Sometimes they will be done early. Brownies can go from being perfect to overbaked very quickly!

The Baked Brownie (Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 11 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate (60 to 70% cacao)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

In medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth.

Turn off heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature-not too hot.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Don’t overbeat the batter.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until just a bit of flour mixture is visable.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.

Let the brownies cool completely before cutting for easiest handling.

Brownies (The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 9 inch baking pan.

Melt butter and chocolate in a medium metal bowl over a saucepan filled with 2 inches of simmering water. Sitr until chocolate has melted completely.

Add the sugar and eggs to the choolate mixture, whisk about 1 minute until the mixture is glossy and smooth. Stir in the flour, salt, and vanilla. Do not overmix.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the brownies are just firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack. These are very dense so they cut best when completely cool.

Fortunately, apples can last a long time when they are stored in a cool place.

I recommend using apples fairly soon after they have been picked for recipes where they won’t be cooked. This way they will be at their optimal crispness. When apples are stored for a long time, their peel will begin to toughen and the flesh will get softer. They are still perfect for baking though.

This year I lugged home a huge bag of Spigold apples. They are a cross between Northen Spy and Golden Delicious apples, and they have worked beautifully for apple desserts.

I made two different types of French apple tarts with my Spigolds. The first was an Apple Nougat Tart, where a sweet dough shell is filled with caramelized apples and topped with a sugared egg white and sliced almond mixture. The topping transforms in the oven to a slightly chewy crust that adds the perfect touch of sweetness and nuttiness to the apples. It’s truly delicious.

The second was a Baked Apple Tart using an almond frangipane filling. Pate a foncer dough, which is very crisp and buttery, is filled with the almond cream and then topped with fanned apple slices. As it bakes, the almond filling puffs up into the apples and whole thing is enticingly fragrant. Eating this tart reminds me of eating a luscious coffee cake.

Every year we pick apples we also make applesauce. My mom has a food mill that we use to run the cooked apple pieces through, then the applesauce is lightly sweetened with sugar and spiced with some fresh cinnamon.While we were engaging in this process I also made some caramel apples for my brother, who is a huge fan.

But now to the Apple Spice Cupcakes. The cupcakes are tender, slightly spicy, and the perfect compliment to the grated apple pieces that are dotted throughout. I made a salted caramel sauce which I used to flavor basic Italian buttercream and also drizzled over the finished cupcakes.

Happy Fall!

Apple Spice Cupcakes (The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather)

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons light molasses
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tart baking apples, peeled and shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula then beat in the molasses. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground spices to blend.

Add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately to the batter, starting and ending with the flour mixture. After each addition, beat on low speed just to combine the ingredients. Stir in the shredded apples, vanilla, and ginger.

Spoon the batter 2/3 full into the muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes until the cupcakes spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Sauce (The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard)

• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, warmed to 100 degrees F
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the water, 1 cup sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over high heat, being careful not to get any of the mixture on the side of the pot.  Once the mixture boils, stop stirring from this point on. The caramel will be very bubbly and be careful, because it is very hot.

Meanwhile, heat a saucepan of water and place a whisk in it.

Insert a candy thermometer into the caramel pot. When the temperature reaches 300 degrees F, lower the heat to medium, which will slow the cooking. Continue to cook to 350 degrees F.

When the caramel reaches 350 degrees F, remove the pan from the heat. It should be golden brown. Let it rest for 1 minute, or until the bubbles have subsided. Add the warm cream to the caramel. It will bubble up vigorously so be careful.

Quickly whisk the creme fraiche, 1 tablespoon sugar, lemon juice, and salt into the caramel. Cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container for up to a month. When cold, it has the consistency of peanut butter.

Personally, I think this sauce tastes better if it has had a day to rest in the refrigerator.

Why do we like corn in the first place? Because it’s sweet! This ice cream perfectly captures the irresistible flavor of fresh sweet corn. This nod to late summer flavor is further enhanced with a tart, fruity blackberry sauce.

If there’s one thing we grow well in Indiana, it’s corn, and right now people are offering up plenty of it, freshly picked. When a family friend delivered a big box of summer produce to us, I felt the need to get creative.

While I’d certainly pick a double dip waffle cone of espresso chip ice cream over sweet corn ice cream, this is great for a tasting menu (Word of advice: if preparing this for a tasting menu halve the recipe). Paired with the blackberry sauce I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the flavors abundant with summer’s conclusion.

Once you have your fresh sweet corn, the cobs and kernels are steeped in cream to infuse their natural sweetness into the mixture. If you’re a bit wary about the corn flavor, I suggest only steeping for 2-3 hours. Afterwards, the cobs and kernels are strained from the mixture, so your ice cream will be smooth. Don’t worry, there aren’t going to be frozen chunks of corn in here or anything. Just flavor.

The blackberry sauce is made by cooking the blackberries until they become soft, pureeing them with some lemon juice in a blender, and then straining out the seeds. That’s it.

So do as I did, and next time you find yourself with some fresh sweet corn lying around and a basket of berries in fridge, it’s time to make ice cream!

Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Sauce (New Flavors for Dessert by Williams-Sonoma)

• 4 ears fresh sweet corn
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more as needed
• 2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 pints blackberries
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Using a chef’s knife, cut the kernels off the cobs. Add the kernels and cobs to a large pot along with the half-and-half and cream.

Add the 2/3 cup sugar and the salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 3 hours or up to overnight (if steeping for longer than 3 hours, refrigerate the mixture).

Strain the corn mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Using your hands, wring out the cobs and press on the kernels with a spoon to extract as much liqud as possible; discard the cobs and kernels.

Measure the liquid; you should have about 3 cups. If not, add more cream as needed. Cover and refrigerate the corn-infused mixture for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours. Basically you want it to be nicely chilled.

In a nonreactive saucepan, bring the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 2 pints of the blackberries and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries break down, about 8 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and add the lemon juice. Puree the berry mixture, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Freeze the chilled corn-infused mixture in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. If desired, pack it into an airtight container and freeze until very firm.

To serve, scoop the ice cream into bowls, drizzle with the blackberry sauce, top with a few of the remaining berries, and serve right away.

Yield: 1 quart ice cream, 6 servings

I was going to make a sable tart dough and fill it with lime curd when I came across this recipe for Key Lime Cocoa Tartlets. The key lime filling is simplified by using a can of sweetened condensed milk, making it a quick recipe, but the chocolate crust is what sets this tartlet apart from others. Key lime and chocolate? Delicious!

It’s a very soft dough, but it survives the pressing and prodding of fingertips into the little tart pans beautifully. The shells remained tender and delicate. After pressing them into their molds I let the dough rest in the refrigerator to relax the glutens. This also prevents the shells from shrinking too much while they bake.

Another note on the chocolate tartlet dough- use the best quality cocoa you can get. I like to bake with high fat cocoa powders, anywhere in the range of 22-24% cocoa fat. You can find good cocoa powders online, such as sites like www.kingarthurflour.com and www.pastrychef.com. They really lend a richness and an intense chocolate flavor to recipes. The first time I used a higher fat cocoa powder I was amazed at its likeness to brownie batter when simply whisked with water.

If you’re feeling a bit betrayed by the fact that cocoa powder can have a high fat content, just consider this:

1. A dessert made with pure, high quality ingredients is going to be very rich in flavor and taste.

2. It is much easier to satisfy cravings with a small sliver of an intensely decadent, delicious dessert rather than a huge slice of a sub-par one that still leaves you lingering for something else.

3. With high quality you always win!

I also loved the combination of key lime and chocolate in these tartlets. It’s easy to fall into the chocolate-orange trap. Citrus flavors are fun and diverse: tangerine, grapefruit, blood orange, Meyer lemon, kumquat…the list goes on.

Top the tartlets any way you wish. I used creme chantilly, a sweetened whipped cream. The actual recipe calls for creme fraiche.

Key Lime-Cocoa Tartlets (New Flavors for Dessert by Williams-Sonoma)

Cocoa Tartlet Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in a bowl. In a food processor, combine the butter and sugar and process until blended. Add the flour mixture and process until almost combined, about 8 seconds.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and process until the dough comes together. Transfer to a work surface dusted with cocoa and knead 2 or 3 times to bring the dough together; it will be very soft.

Press into a disk, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let the gluten relax. The dough can be chilled or at room temperature when pressing into the tart pans.

Pat the dough into a 6-inch by 9-inch rectangle and cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut each half crosswise into thirds; you should have six 3-inch squares. Place each square in a 3-inch tartlet pan, then dip your fingertips in cocoa powder and press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pans.

Press off any excess dough from around the edges, and use any scraps to fill holes or cracks. Chill the tartlets for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place tartlet shells on a baking sheet and bake until set, about 10 minutes. Let the shells cool on a wire rack.

Key Lime Filling:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons white rum
• 8-10 key limes

Whisk together all but 3 tablespoons of the sweetened condensed milk (save the 3 tablespoons for another use), the whole egg, egg yolks, and rum. Finely grate the zest from 3 of the limes, the squeeze 1/3 cup lime juice.

Whisk the zest and juice into the condensed milk mixture. Ladle the filling into the tartlet shells, dividing it evenly, and bake until just set, about 15 minutes. Let cool at room temperature on the baking sheet on a wire rack, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, spread with creme fraiche or whipped cream.

Yield: Six 3-inch tartlets

These are one of those thin, chewy, types of cookies. You can bake them a little longer if you want more of a crispy cookie but the brown sugar in them is still going to lend a bit of “chew”. Regardless, they are quite delicious. The ginger is not too overpowering, and neither is the lemon. Just a little something more than a sugar cookie, and a pleasant surprise at that.

The recipe comes from The Summer Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin. I checked it out from the library and I think I’ve exceeded my renewal limit, so unfortunately it’s going to have to go back soon. I sure have gotten a lot of usage out of it. The recipes are fresh and inspiring, most of them the same kinds of things I would want to make people I cared about deeply. They would certainly leave the meal feeling well-fed and nourished.

The sand dollar design is a little time consuming, I know, but it’s also pretty fun. Just take the tip of a paring knife and move it back and forth to create little slits in the cookies, while they are still warm. They also look nice with some coarse sugar sprinkled on top.

On a related side note- I am posting this post-vacation and yes, we did find sand dollars while out in the ocean. I don’t think they were as lovely as these!

Lemon Ginger Sand Dollar Cookies (The Summer Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons minced candied ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light in color. Add the egg, sour cream, lemon and vanilla extracts, and lemon zest and beat until light and fluffy.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and ground ginger. Add the butter mixture along with the candied ginger, and mix until blended thoroughly.

With floured or moistened fingers, drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Shape the cookies into balls and flatten them down slightly with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies are set and lightly colored. For a more chewy cookie, reduce the baking time by about 3 minutes. If you wish, carve sand dollar-like slits into the cookies with the tip of a knife before they cool. Cool on a wire rack. These will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Yield: About 2 dozen

Asheville is a food lover’s paradise, with its numerous locally owned restaurants and artisan shops. Many of these places use organically and locally grown ingredients as well. It’s a very green city. While I could spend an entire day (actually, who am I kidding…DAYS) tasting food and indulging in the whole experience of eating there, my brothers would rather hike, which I can understand.

The most perfect compromise of adventure and indulgence was met, however, on one particular hike we took. We had the thrilling experience of coming across an entire valley of wild blueberry bushes. I have read about wild blueberries but I have never had the luxury of tasting them.

Wild blueberries are generally smaller than conventional blueberries and have a delicate, sweet taste. Tasting wild and heirloom fruits and vegetables is exciting to me because they are in an honest, unaltered form. They haven’t been modified for shipping purposes or size. Often times I’ve bitten into a blueberry from the supermarket only to find it has no taste at all.

So back to the berries. Cam and I started picking a few and trying them. We were hooked instantly, as these little suckers are extremely addicting. Who knew you could snack on fruit like this!? We continued our hike but every so often if we came across a bush that was loaded with ripe berries we’d engage in a feast, much to the patience of Kyle.

Now, I ate all of mine as I picked them (that tells you a lot right there). Cam saved some for later and they ended up coming home with us. I didn’t have enough to make a pie with, but I did for a fantastic berry crisp.

I like my fruit desserts to be all about the fruit. Of course the crust and the crumble topping and whatnot are delicious, but in my mind a fruit dessert was made to showcase the fruit, so let it shine. This berry crisp fits the bill perfectly. The topping reminds me of crumbled oatmeal cookie dough that stays soft and chewy on top of the fruit and is sublime with the sweet-tart flavor of the berries.

We ate it so fast I didn’t have a chance to snatch a photo, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Enjoy!

Peak-of-Summer Berry Crisp (Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen)

For the crisp topping:

• 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into dice

For the berries:

• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• 2 cups fresh blueberries, picked over for stems
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (if berries are very sweet you may want to use less sugar)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For garnish:

• Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To make the crisp topping, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the diced butter to the dry ingredients and blend with a pastry blender or your fingertips until crumbly. Set aside.

In another bowl, gently toss the berries with the sugar and flour. Pour the berries into a 9-inch pie pan or baking dish. Cover the berries with the crisp topping. You may have some topping leftover, which can be frozen for another use! Set on a baking sheet (in case any juices bubble over) and place in the oven until the topping is golden brown and the juices are bubbling, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Spoon generous portions of the warm crisp into wide shallow bowls and top with scoops of ice cream or whipped cream.

Yield: 5 to 6 servings

I chose to make russians (or pistachio stacks, as I like to refer to them), paris brests, chocolate eclairs, and chocolate financiers with candied ginger and cacao nibs. For the russians I made a dacquoise of both almond and hazelnut flours, and then piped the batter into little circles. They were spongy and soft inside, with a slightly crisp exterior. Pistachio mousseline was sandwiched between two of the dacquoise circles to create a close cousin to a French macaron (commonly spelled and pronounced macaroon in the U.S.) . The pistachio mousseline was pastry cream, buttercream, and nut paste. My only regret was making the mousseline the day before, and so the buttercream in it curdled from being refrigerated. In my effort to redistribute the fat globules the mousseline lost some of its structure, so the sandwiches didn’t sit up quite as high. These were probably one of the favorites of the four.

I also knocked out a batch of pate a choux dough. It always fills the kitchen with a very comforting smell as its made, like butter, flour, and eggs cooking, I love it. Pate a choux is the most remarkable dough, as it bakes it forms a hard shell and the insides become hollow, perfect for filling, since the crunch is a beautiful contrast to the filling.

Paris brests are “wheels” of pate a choux filled with a hazelnut mousseline. The pate a choux was sprinkled with sliced almonds before baking, and afterwards, dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Some of the pate a choux was piped into little eclairs, which I filled with a bittersweet chocolate pastry cream and dipped in a chocolate icing. The eclairs are easily a one-bite treat, and the chocolate explosion in your mouth is glorious!

Lastly, I made chocolate financiers. Ground almonds add an incredible amount of moisture to these. I added candied ginger and cacao nibs to the financiers, which added an element of spice and chocolately crunch.

It was a fun working on all of the different petit fours and I look forward to the next opportunity. Petit fours are meant to be one or two bites and they are perfect tastes of bliss.

I’ve also been experimenting with quick bread recipes that don’t use oil. If I come across any delicious breakthroughs I’ll post it.

Summer is the most bountiful time of year for stone fruits. We had a lot sitting around, so I made a lemon rice pudding with roasted peaches and plums. To roast fruit, top with a small cube of butter and brown sugar, and bake in a 400 degree F oven until golden brown and a pool of juice sits underneath each fruit.

Tonight I was in another petit four mood and cut out circles from a chocolate apricot torte I made today. Two thin layers of a rich chocolate cake (tasted similar to a brownie, but less dense) surrounded a chocolate truffle ganache and apricot filling. Then the whole thing was covered in another chocolate ganache. Intense!

Best eating my friends,

Megan

Subjects Covered:

-Baking theory, history, and science

-Food service sanitation

-Breads and breakfast pastries

-Petit fours (miniature pastries)

-European-style cakes and tarts

-Ice creams and sorbets

-Plated desserts

-Wedding and specialty cakes

-Chocolate and sugar candies

-Chocolate and sugar decorations/showpieces

Photo (Below): Gumpaste flower spray on top of  three-tiered fondant cake

Class Schedule:

In my class of 18, we spent at least six hours a day together, in the kitchen. I wanted a school where more time was spent in the kitchen, rather than in a classroom.  A typical day would go as followed:

-Chef demonstration of the products being made that day

-Scaling of ingredients

-Student preparation of products

-Additional chef demonstration of finishing touches/techniques

-Cleaning of kitchen at the conclusion of class

Highlights:

We were able to taste everything we made, and usually we had products to take home. You can imagine that this worked out really well for a girl who lived alone with her cat. Ha!

Stages:

The chef instructors also encouraged us to do lots of stages. A stage is when you make an arrangement with the pastry chef of a restaurant, hotel, bakery, catering company, wedding cake shop, chocolate shop, etc., to go in and work one shift. For free. While they may get some free labor, you are also getting experience in different pastry venues. You usually pick up a couple of new tricks while you’re there, too. And don’t forget about connections!

Focus:

One last note is that I chose to attend a school that focused primarily on French baking and pastry arts, so we didn’t cover American-style layer cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, etc. We did, however, learn the techniques that would enable us to create them with success.

Photo (Below): Hazelnut chocolate cake

Photograph (below): Sablees

Photograph (below): Assorted chocolate candies

But I wanted to learn more. I wanted to understand why failures in the kitchen happen and how to prevent them. I also wanted to know how to make those fancy, gorgeous plated desserts seen at fine dining restaurants, and how to make caramel without overcooking it (Mine always got way too hard).

Oh, and how to make authentic French croissants that create a zillion little flakes when bitten into.

There were a dozen reasons like these. Sure, I could read cookbooks and baking tips, or watch online how-to videos. What I really wanted though, was a formal education, where I could learn directly under a master in the art itself.

Photograph (Below): A plate of freshly baked French croissants

My stint in pastry school was a great decision for me. I’m sure there are others who may argue with that statement. But you take out of it what you put into it. Whether it’s due to the current economy, or simply a choice to change careers, there are a lot more people interested in pursuing a job in the pastry profession.

For some, this means attending a culinary school with a baking and pastry arts program. Culinary school is not cheap! This can make enrolling in a program a tough decision.

I’ve decided to dedicate a special section of my blog to my posts on my culinary school experience. I also have a few tips to offer:

1. Make sure that you really take the time to observe and ask questions during your school visit. You shouldn’t feel pressured to attend by the prestige of a school if you don’t like the school. You will learn the most in a setting that you find satisfying.

2. This may be obvious, but pay attention to the chef instructors when visiting a school. They should enjoy teaching.

3. Do your research on your chef instructors. Sometimes it is their own personal stories or tips that serve you the most. Their past resumes are also crucial because you want the person teaching you to be a true expert in his or her craft. Otherwise what are you paying for?

4. Understand the pastry field. It is so much more than just baking cakes and pies. Pastry is an art form and requires a tremendous deal of patience, stamina, and a positive attitude.

5. Don’t commit yourself to culinary school unless you can fully commit to it.

Good luck!

Photograph (Below): Chocolate rose on chocolate showpiece

I had an order for one of my personal favorites, red velvet cupcakes. For those of you unfamiliar with red velvet, it is a buttermilk cake, tinted red, with a hint of cocoa. The buttermilk helps make the cake really moist and soft. It satisfies those chocolate-sweet cravings without being too much.

Traditionally, it’s paired with cream cheese frosting, which I find extremely delicious, but I’ve also seen variations in either a white chocolate or chocolate frosting. I made a light milk chocolate buttercream for my cupcakes and was really pleased with the result.

I also punched out some fondant circles (aka wafers, a la Martha Stewart) and stamped them with the letter “D”, to celebrate the birthday girl monogram-style. Of course to do this required clean, unused stamps and a trip to Michael’s Crafts revealed quite the upgrade in stampery…they make clear stamps now that allow you to create your very own stamps in endless combinations! Quite the find and definitely something to consider for future personalized projects.

A few days later I was making miniature-size cupcakes from a yellow cake batter enhanced with ground ginger. This time I topped them with a bittersweet chocolate buttercream and sprinkles, of course, since they were cupcakes and they were indeed created for a birthday celebration, so it was only fitting. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting seems to be an American birthday classic.  I was very impressed with the chocolate buttercream experimentations this week, they tasted even better than I had predicted!

Of course, once the cupcake production ceased I had time to do other things, like pay a visit to one of the farmer’s markets on Wednesday. I keep returning to buy organic blueberries, which happened to be just right last week: large, firm, and sweet.

We had some ricotta cheese leftover in the fridge so I channeled Tyler Florence and plopped a few spoonfuls in the food processor along with some lemon zest and powdered sugar, just to sweeten it up a bit. The blueberries were sugared and slowly simmered in a pot with some strawberries, raspberries, and fresh lemon juice until soft and compote-like, about 12 minutes.

A few spoonfuls of the berries over the lemon ricotta mixture with a chocolate wafer (leftover from ice cream sandwich-making) and you have yourself the quintessential summer dessert: light, fruity, fresh.

I finished off my weekend with herbal tea and freshly baked croissants (pain au chocolat for my mom), because I have missed them eating them in pastry school.

This week I am looking forward to creating an assortment of petit fours for my mom’s book club. More to come on this later!

My fears were put to rest this morning in yoga class:

“We will begin with our three-part breath”, my instructor calmly said, “On your exhale, open your mouth to let out an ahhhh”.

I should have been relaxing, taking my mind off of job prospects and adult life. Yet I found myself merely going through the motions. Do you know why?

I was thinking about the ice cream sandwiches I am going to make today, which revealed to me that I am not a cat freak, but an obvious pastry freak!

For real.

These sandwiches have an intense chocolate flavor and the right amount of crunch to be the perfect counterpart to lusciously creamy ice cream. They’re a little time-consuming, especially if you decide to poke those ‘authentic’ ice cream sandwich cookie holes in each cookie, but pulling out a plate of these from the freezer to surprise guests makes quite an impression.

Here they are, from me to you. The obsession of my morning. Homemade ice cream sandwiches. You’re probably going to want to make them again! I ended up making vanilla ice cream to sandwich between my cookies, as a nod to the classic, but you can use any flavor you choose.

Ice Cream Sandwiches from Eating Outdoors by Country Living

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 quarts ice cream, slightly softened

Sift flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. With an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat the butter and confectioner’s sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat until blended.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, beating until a firm dough forms. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle about 4 by 3 inches. Wrap in plastic and chill for 20 minutes.

Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with plastic wrap and spread the ice cream evenly in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refreeze.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Roll one rectangle of dough to form a 1/4 inch thick 9 x 11 inch rectangle. Cut the dough into six 2.5 x 5 inch rectangles. Repeat with the remaining dough to form a total of 12 cookies.

Using the blunt end of a wooden skewer, poke holes into the cookies (5 rows with 3 holes in each row). Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the pan 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Assemble the sandwiches: Place half of the cookies face down on a clean work surface. Remove the ice cream from the baking pan and unwrap it. Using a sharp knife, cut 2.5 x 5 inch rectangles to fill the sandwiches with. Place on each of the cookies and top with the remaining halves. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until set- about 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 servings. You can pretty much make whatever sizes and shapes you want, so adjust to your liking!

Once you get off of your tractor trailer, you are directed to a row and it’s all yours! When we were younger, my brother Kyle and I would leave with berry stained faces and hands. I’m assuming we most likely ate more than we picked. Have you ever eaten a juicy strawberry, warm from the sun? Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

This is another example of why locally grown, in season produce always tastes the best. Try a hard, hollow, white strawberry from the grocery store and compare it with one of these. I could be the prune lady in the tv commercials, but with strawberries. But alas, that is not my battle at the moment. I have strawberries that need to be put to culinary use.

First up, Strawberry Cream Puffs with Rose Cream (recipe follows at bottom). I piped pate a choux dough into balls slightly larger than a quarter – these should be dainty – and after baking and cooling, cut the top 1/3 of the puff off. Pate a choux is a remarkable type of pastry. As it bakes, it creates a sturdy shell, while leaving the inside moist and hollow, perfect for filling. I filled the bottom of the puff with thinly sliced fresh strawberries, piped rose cream on top, and topped with a few strips of lemon zest. Beautiful.

Remember that if you ever make a filled pate a choux product, it needs to be filled shortly before serving otherwise it will get soggy.

Seeking inspiration from some succulent Greek yogurt, I was inspired to make a second dessert, Lemon Financiers with Macerated Strawberry Salad and Greek yogurt. Financiers are moist delicious little cakes made from almond flour. The almonds bring a great deal of moisture to the financier. The strawberries are sweet, so I wanted the financier to have a bit of tartness to it, hence the lemon. And what says summer better than lemon?

While my financiers were baking, I sliced strawberries and tossed them with muscavado sugar (similar to a dark brown sugar), a little lemon juice, and fresh basil and mint. If you let them sit for a bit, the sugars will dissolve with the strawberry juices and create the most lovely little sauce. You can do this with most fruits. I mixed a smidge of vanilla paste with Greek yogurt since I am obsessed with the look of vanilla seeds. The Greek yogurt is creamy, rich, and tart, much needed to contrast with the sweet lemon cake and juicy berries.

Our last subjects are Berry Tartlets with Lemon Cream. Thin, crunchy shortbread crust, rich tangy lemon cream, and berry topping. Freshly sliced strawberries and blueberries were mixed with some of my mom’s homemade strawberry jam that had been warmed slightly so it was liquid. This makes the berries shiny and helps keep them fresh longer.

Of course, you can always eat the fresh berries plain, warm from the sun, like I’ve done for years.

Rose Cream (Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich)

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 to 2 teaspoons rose water
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
• Pink food coloring, optional

In a chilled bowl, whip the cream with 1 teaspoon of rose water until it begins to thicken. Add the sugar and whip until the cream holds a soft shape. Taste a bit of the cream, add a bit more sugar and/or drops of rose water to your taste, then finish whipping the cream to the desired stiffness.

I did a very poor job of updating my blog with what was going on at school for the last 2 or 3 months. A brief synopsis: chocolate candies unit (molding, casting, tempering, enrobing, ganaches, pralines, truffles, rochers, gianduja…basically a chocolate lover’s dream), sugar showpieces, and chocolate showpieces.

Photograph (at right): Vanilla chiboust with red berries, micro greens and lavender-honey poppy seed tuile

We spent these units with Chefs Sebastien and Jacquy, who were great, as expected. The last week of school we prepared for our graduation buffet, which was a fantastic opportunity to show our families and friends what we can do now. The last day of class was spent doing some hardcore cleaning.

And with that, we had our graduation ceremony, followed by the lovely grand buffet, and we were sent off on our ways. A few days later, I moved out of the city.

I am forever thankful for my education and experience at The French Pastry School and have so much respect for my chefs. I’m also immensely thankful for my parents, in helping me make my goals a reality.

And now I shall spread my little pastry wings.

Photographs (from top to bottom): variety of casted chocolate candies, chocolate showpiece, vanilla-roasted pineapple with gold leaf, cappuccino creme brulee with chocolate cremeux, almond-scented milk flan with berry water, red wine roasted plum stew with linzer and florentine tuile.

Then I grew older and wiser, a natural progression. In fact, there are numerous varieties of salt available today for culinary uses, and they are deliciously different from table salt in their size, crystal shape, and taste. I highly encourage you to experiment with them.

One of my favorite salt varieties is fleur de sel. Of course it is also the most expensive of all salts, but this is due to the fact that it is hand-harvested under precise conditions. It is a moist, flaked salt that dissolves beautifully and is free of that sharp salt flavor, if that makes any sense. Forgive me, as savory flavors are more difficult for me to describe.

Anyways, I recently replenished my fleur de sel stock, and was inspired to bake with it after coming across this recipe. If the name is any indication, these cookies have three main flavors: peanut butter, salt, and toffee. The peanut butter flavor is dominant, but there are hints of salt and toffee which make them perfect. Add a little crunch from the toffee peanuts and peanut butter lovers are bound to find themselves in heaven.

Salted Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies (Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich)

• 1 1/3 (6 ounces) cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup natural chunky peanut butter (not unsalted)-stir well to blend the oil before measuring
• 1 cup (5 ounces) toffee peanuts or coconut toffee peanuts, very coarsely chopped

Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together thoroughly in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter with both sugars. Whisk in the egg, vanilla, and peanut butter. Add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until just evenly incorporated.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for an hour or two, or up to 2 days. This will make it easier to handle.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour the chopped nuts into a shallow bowl. Scoop about 2 level teaspoons of dough for each cookie, shape into a 1-inch ball and coat heavily with the chopped nuts, pressing in any pieces that fall off, so there are no bald spots. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets.

Bake the cookies until they are lightly colored on top, 15 to 18 minutes. The cookies will seem very soft to the touch, but they will firm up as they cool. Set the baking sheets on a rack to cool completely. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for at least 2 weeks.

Yield: About fifty-six 1 1/2-inch cookies

Living in a city where you have to carry your groceries for blocks completely changes your perspective on needs versus wants, but we’re not even going to get into my city life rationing groceries and acting like a pack mule (at least not this time).

Sometimes, but only on occasion, as I try to utilize my food inventory in the most efficient and unwasteful manner, I have “overstock”. Case in point: Four pint-sized cartons of heavy cream, all unopened but nonetheless facing impending expiration dates.

So, I decided to make panna cotta. Not just your typical white disc surrounded in berry sauce or whatnot, but a quivering, pale yellow panna cotta scented with exotic saffron and cardamom. And then I adorned its creamy richness with freshly grated cinnamon and crushed pistachios.

Don’t be confused, however, with pudding, or creme brulee. Panna cotta, especially in this recipe, is rich and creamy, with the help of all that heavy cream, but it is not heavy. There is only the slightest amount of gelatin in panna cotta to give it just enough structure so it holds its shape-barely.

This creates that quivering spoonful that is much more worthy of a Jurassic Park scene. And sopisticated. Jell-o, really?

Saffron and Cardamom Panna Cotta (Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich)

• 3 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 cardamom pods
• Slightly rounded 1/8 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin or 3 leaves of sheet gelatin*
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Finely chopped or grated pistachios for garnish (optional)

In a small saucepan, heat the cream, sugar, and salt until steaming hot, stirring from time to time to dissolve the sugar. Off the heat, add the cardamom pods and saffron. Cover and allow to steep for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the milk into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside (without stirring) for 5 to 10 minutes to let the gelatin soften.

*If using gelatin leaves, soak the leaves in the cold milk to soften them, then fish the softened sheets from the milk and stir them into the hot cream (after steeping) until completely dissolved. Stir in the milk, and proceed as directed.

Add the milk and gelatin to the cream mixture and reheat to steaming, stirring well to dissolve the gelatin. Strain the mixture into a bowl, preferably stainless steel; discard the cardamom pods. Set the bowl in a larger bowl of water and ice cubes and stir frequently until the mixture thickens and registers 50 degrees F on a thermometer.

Divide the mixture evenly among ramekins or dessert dishes (I used espresso cups, which created more than six servings). Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 4 but preferably 12 hours. Before serving, use a microplane to grate a little stick of cinnamon over each one, and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.

Serves 6

Let me start off by saying that if it weren’t for my mom, I wouldn’t be baking and cooking like I do today. She taught me the instinct that is baking- the spring of a done cake, the golden edges of a cookie, the way a cooked custard should coat the back of a spoon. I love being in the kitchen with my mom and it is something we always enjoy. I love you mom!

I was shopping at The Spice House in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago this weekend where I immediately gravitated to the baking spices. One whiff of the intoxicating scent from the Lavender Sugar jar and I was hooked (The best vanilla sugar is made from cane sugar and high-quality vanilla beans. Sometimes vanilla extract is added. It’s also a delicious pair of words). The lavender is rather subtle but adds an entirely new dimension that is fragrant, floral, and an essence of summer.

I wanted to convey this scent into cookies, so I adapted a Williams-Sonoma shortbread recipe to my liking. Butter is one of the main ingredients, so be sure to use a rich, high-quality product for the best tasting result. I used pastry flour to give these cookies a lighter, more tender texture but all-purpose flour can be easily substituted (If you are trying to find pastry flour, I recommend ordering from King Arthur Flour, at www.bakerscatalogue.com).

I also desired a strong vanilla flavor to compliment the lavender, so I used vanilla paste. Vanilla paste has actual vanilla bean seeds in it, which I love because you see the flavor before you taste, but equal amounts of a nice vanilla extract works too.

After mixing up my dough, I rolled it into logs and then rolled each log in a generous coating of lavender sugar. Then the logs were given some time to harden in the freezer for easier cutting and a more attractive result after baking (the warmer the dough the more the cookies will spread, losing their delicate small shapes).

Best of all, these bake up crisp, buttery, and will melt in your mouth.

The tops of each cookie were decorated with one or two dried lavender buds pressed into the surface, as even a small amount of dried lavender has an intense taste- use sparingly. The cookies will keep, stored airtight, for about a week, making them perfect for shipping to your mom or grandma. They are excellent with coffee or tea.

Lavender-Scented Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies (adapted from Williams-Sonoma recipes)

• 2 cups pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or pure vanilla extract)
• 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
• Lavender Sugar, for dusting and rolling (www.thespicehouse.com)
• Dried lavender for decorating

Sift the flour into a large bowl with the granulated sugar, confectioner’s sugar, and salt. Whisk briefly to combine all of the ingredients.

Add the butter and vanilla paste to the dry mixture, then use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the entire mixture can be formed into a soft lump. Lightly roll the dough into a 1 1/2 ” diameter log. Cut the log in half for easier handling. Roll each log, carefully, in several spoonfuls of Lavender Sugar to coat.

Roll the logs up in parchment paper and put in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, if not longer, until firm. When ready, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/4 ” slices. Place on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet, 1″ apart, and sprinkle with more Lavender Sugar, if desired, or decorate with a few lavender buds. Bake the cold dough until is is just starting to turn golden around the edges, around 20 minutes or so.

Yield: About 40 small cookies

I love the incredible pairing of Guinness beer and chocolate and it’s a combination that’s been on my mind lately. So, naturally, when I was going through cookbooks (something I do frequently, for fun) I decided to give this recipe a whirl.

The recipe comes from Baked, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, and they recommend using a chocolate stout, having found Guinness beer too light and dry for this recipe. After tasting the finished shake, I think Guinness would work fine in a pinch, although the chocolate stout does add a very pleasing taste.

This is great poured into a frosty tall glass, or as “tastings”, served in shot glasses.

Chocolate Stout Milkshake (Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)

• 2 huge scoops (about 2 cups) premium chocolate ice cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup very cold chocolate stout
• 1 tablespoon malted milk powder

Put desired glasses for serving in the freezer while you mix up your shakes. In a powerful blender, add the ice cream, milk, stout, and malted milk powder and blend until smooth.

Pour into the chilled glasses and serve with spoons. Chocolate shakes are never going to be the same again!

Serves 2 (8-ounce servings)

Photograph (right): Vanilla chiboust with fresh red wild berries and honey-wheat tuile

Schoolwise: I believe my last post relating to school was when we were doing our wedding cakes and gumpaste flowers. Since then, we’ve had our second exam, Chef Nicholas Lodge’s visit/demonstration for a whole day, sugar candies, ice creams and sorbets, and plated desserts.

My classmates and I were fortunate enough to have the experience of learning more gumpaste and fondant/sugar art techniques from Chef Lodge, for free, during one of our normal school days. Chef Lodge is a highly skilled pastry chef who was once part of the pastry team in charge of Princess Diana’s wedding cake. He has two sugar art schools, one in Atlanta, where he is based, and the other in Tokyo, Japan.

Watching Chef Lodge demonstrate some of his cake decorating techniques inspired me to order his fondant and gumpaste kit. If people want me to make them beautiful cakes for special occasions, I want to be able to do it well. My reasoning behind this purchase is efficiency and personal improvement. I am eager to start “playing” with the kits once they arrive.

Photograph (below): Warm bittersweet chocolate cake with berries, honey ice cream, and chocolate decoration

The sugar candies unit was next. I don’t have any pictures because the items we made aren’t the most photogenic. Not that they aren’t beautiful or anything, but it’s much easier to photograph a dramatic piece of cake or even a peach dripping with juice- than it is a bowl of wrapped caramels. The wheels in my head were definitely sent spinning though, there is so much one can do with candies like these, whether in flavors or packaging or used in a million other ways.

Photograph (Below): Apricot-passion fruit pate de fruit squares

We made pate de fruit, a refreshing fruit candy that actually tastes like the real fruit flavor it is because it’s made with fruit puree, which isn’t that common in fruit candies anymore. We also made caramels, marshmallows, and honey nougat.

The nougat were studded with toasted pistachios and almonds, lending a pleasant crunch to compliment the chewy texture. This took place right before Easter, so I brought a bunch of the candy home with me when I visited for the weekend. It always amazes me when I see people’s reactions to real, honestly created food that doesn’t contain preservatives, fillers, or artificial flavorings.

Photograph (below): Poached rhubarb with rhubarb broth, banana crisp, strawberry sorbet, and spun sugar

After sugar candies, my class moved on to ice creams and sorbets. Chef John Kraus worked with us on balancing the recipe equations for these frozen concoctions, which can be a lot more difficult than it sounds but nonetheless appreciated.

The end result is an insanely creamy texture and oh yes, mouthfeel. Lovely word. Each table was given two different ice creams and two different sorbets to make, and it was reminiscent of being in my favorite store when I was 7, Baskin Robbins.

At the end of the second week we used some of our ice creams and sorbets to make frozen desserts such as a bombe, vacherin, and protiferole tart.

Photograph (below): Hazelnut financier with white wine-poached pears, hazelnut praline ice cream, and pear chips

You can see here that I put some of that ice cream, which currently occupies my freezer, to good use in this Chocolate Stout Milkshake.

Photograph (below): Chocolate ice cream

Meanwhile, during this time, I had another stage experience at TRU, where Gale Gand is the executive pastry chef and co-owner. I staged with the pastry chef, Chef Meg Galus, who is a FPS alum. I was there for about eleven hours, until 1:15 am or so.

It certainly didn’t fit into my current sleep schedule where I’m up at 5:00 am every morning, but it did remind me of my bartending days in college- the heat, the rush, and then after cleaning you leave hungry and tired, but awake from a second wind. But back to pastry school. Our most recent unit has been plated desserts with Chef En-Ming Hsu. I continue to be amazed by all of our chef instructors, they are such brilliant and helpful teachers.

Photograph (below): Crepes Suzette

We made a variety of product for the plated desserts unit, so that even with different recipes, we could understand the fundamentals and techniques to mastering them. My favorite plated dessert was a cappuccino creme brulee with chocolate cremeux, milk foam, and biscotti, because I loved how the components were assembled and I enjoy the whole coffee shop experience.

Chef Hsu made her cappuccino brulee in a fancy coffee cup, and then after caramelizing the sugar she topped it with a scoop of chocolate cremeux, a dollop of milk foam, and dusted it with cocoa powder and spices. On the side was a small piece of hazelnut-pistachio biscotti we made as well.

Another dessert that we made was poached rhubarb served in a rhubarb broth with strawberry sorbet and a banana tuile. I’ve never tasted rhubarb before and I really enjoyed its fresh, spring-like taste.

Photograph (below): Creme caramel with whipped cream and sugar cage

The last two days of our plated desserts unit we also covered jam-making. We used IQF (individually quick frozen) fruit, since it’s difficult to find all of the required fruits in Chicago this time of year.

IQF fruit is picked when it is at its ripest, then frozen in a way that prevents large ice crystals from developing, and this prevents the fruit from becoming mushy and watery when thawed. In some cases, IQF fruits can be of better quality than what is available at your grocery store during a specific season.

I was assigned to make cherry jam, while some of my classmates made strawberry, raspberry, plum, fig, blackberry, blueberry, apricot, and apricot-almond jams. Another group made apple butter as well. Nothing conveys summer like fresh jam! I love the way it looks like molten stained glass on white bread.

Photograph (below): Cherry jam on French baguette

Starting this week I will have my third exam over these past units. This will be my second-to-last exam and as much as I love being in school and learning everyday, I am certainly looking forward to life after school. I have so many aspirations, ideas, and goals.

Chicago is a fantastic city that has always been very good to me, but I am longing for some place where I can have my own yard, grow my own vegetables, and hear crickets at night.

Stay posted as I promise there will be more updates very soon!

Prior to pastry school, I had no knowledge of gumpaste flowers. It wasn’t until our chef for this unit, Chef Laura Ragano, began her class demonstration for us that I came to fully understand their construction and appreciate the artistic craftmanship required.

Gumpaste is a labor of love. The work is tedious and time-consuming. Yet, the result is spectacular. As extravagant wedding and specialty cakes continue to increase in popularity, choosing detailed, beautiful gumpaste flowers for one’s cake could be the defining feature that sets it apart from all others.

Here is a just a brief breakdown of the construction for a single gumpaste flower:

Day 1: Make gumpaste. Let sit overnight.

Day 2: Color gumpaste, if desired. Roll out gumpaste and cut out petals. Insert a wire into each petal. Detail the petals with veining, ruffling, or fringing and let dry. Also, create the flower centers.

Day 3: Each petal and center is tied into a base wire with floral tape. The flowers are dusted with color, if desired, and then steamed to set the color.

This can take awhile if you are making more than one flower. For example, a lily flower has 6 petals. That’s 6 petals to roll, cut, and embellish, as well as tie into the base wire and paint.

Despite the work involved in creating these flowers, they are rewarding to make and allow vast creativity to the decorator. The gumpaste flowers we created will be used to decorate our own three-tiered wedding cakes next week. I chose to decorate my cake with a mixture of green, yellow, and white flowers. I made a lime green gumpaste and painted the edges of my roses with a tangerine-pink.

Below are more photos of my gumpaste flowers, as well as some of my fellow classmates’ flowers. At the bottom of the page is the three-tiered fondant cake I created for my gumpaste flower spray.

Photograph (right): Chocolate tart topped with nougatine crisps

In the tarts class, we made two types of lemon tarts. The first was a lemon cream tart that was topped with French meringue shells, the other was a lemon curd tart topped with Italian meringue. They were beautiful tarts. We also made a very rich, seductive looking chocolate tart. A chocolate nougatine crisp was made and broken in pieces to adorn the top of the tart, as well as give it a some texture and crunch.

Photograph (below):  A slice of chocolate tart with nougatine crisps

Photograph (below): Lemon cream tart topped with French meringues and granulated almonds

Chef John also had us make some fruit tarts using almond cream, and he taught us how to make puff pastry dough. With the puff pastry dough, we made mille feuille and St. Honore, which is basically a heart attack of puff pastry, pastry cream, and salambos (cream puffs dipped in caramelized sugar).

Puff pastry dough is similar to croissant or danish dough in the way that it is rolled and folded. I love the way puff pastry dough feels, it is almost velvety.

Photograph (below): Nougat mousse cake: pistachio dacquoise, apricot-passion fruit gelee, and nougat mousse

Photograph (below): Pithivier (almond galette). Almond frangipane encased by flaky puff pastry

After the conclusion of tarts week, we moved on to European-style cakes with Chef Dimitri Fayard. Chef Dimitri has his own patisserie in Chicago that he runs with his wife, also a pastry chef, called Vanille Patisserie. This unit has by far been the most difficult for me because everything must be extremely precise.

Many of the products require a careful incorporation of air or folding motion that can make or break the resulting product. Nevertheless, this has been my most enjoyable unit because I loved learning the different components and styles of cakes.

Photograph (below): Hazelnut chocolate cake coated in chocolate mirror glaze

Photograph (below): Nougat mousse cake layers

The cakes we’ve made are European-style cakes, not the American version of layer cakes that are as tall as your head. The layers complement each other and when experienced for the first time, are incredibly impressive.

We made four main cakes: nougat mousse cake, coconut passion cake, chocolate hazelnut cake, and raspberry silk cake. The nougat mousse cake was my favorite, it was layers of pistachio dacquoise with apricot-passionfruit gelee and honey nougat mousse studded with dried fruit and nuts. It sounds odd, I know, but the flavors together were great.

We also made pithivier, a French dessert of puff pastry and almond cream.

Photograph (below): Raspberry silk cake: almond dacquoise, raspberry gelee, hazelnut crunch, and white chocolate diplomat mousse layers. The top is coated in a colored white chocolate spray.

Photograph (below): A slice of hazelnut chocolate cake: hazelnut dacquoise, carmelized hazelnuts, hazelnut mousse, chocolate mousse, and chocolate biscuit layers

Photograph (below): A slice of pithivier

Our class finished a bit ahead of schedule, so Chef Dimitri generously gave us the recipe to his “Sophia” cake sold at Vanille and let us each make it to practice our cake techniques further the last two days of the unit.

This is a phenomenal cake, probably one of the best I’ve ever had! It is several layers consisting of chocolate cake, hazelnut crunch, chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, vanilla cremeux, chocolate mousse, and then a milk chocolate glaze. Surprisingly, everything is just right, so it’s not overwhelming or too rich to enjoy.

Photograph (below): Sophia cakes courtesy of Chef Dimitri

Photograph (below): Sophia cake slice. Heaven on a fork.

With that, we move on to gumpaste flowers and wedding cakes…and it’s hard to believe I am halfway done with pastry school and my time here in Chicago…

We started the unit by making pate a choux, which is the thick, rich paste used for making eclairs, cream puffs, and other pastries. It has the amazing ability to puff as it bakes, then it hardens on the outside, leaving behind a hollow shell that is crusty and spongy at the same time. This creates the perfect base for filling with a rich, smooth pastry cream or nut cream.

Photograph (right): Chocolate espresso tartlets

For petit fours, we made mini eclairs filled with chocolate pastry cream and glazed in a chocolate fondant icing, the traditional French way. We also made chouqettes, or mini cream puffs, filled with a hazelnut praline cream; mini paris brests, and salambos. Salambos are probably one of my favorite new (new to me, at least) pastries. They are a shorter, fatter shape than an eclair and are filled with rich custardy pastry cream, then dipped in hot caramel. The caramel hardens on the top, so when you bite into the pastry it is crunchy, soft, and creamy all at the same time.

Photograph (below): Fruit tartlets filled with kirsch pastry cream, fresh fruit, and candied lemon

During this unit, we made a variety of tartlets, French macarons, and financiers. Financiers are made with ground almonds and buerre noissette, or browned butter. They have an amazing flavor and texture, and the almond flour keeps them really moist.

Photograph (below): Chocolate french macarons sandwiching Earl Grey ganache

Photograph (below): Chocolate financiers

During our final petit fours week, we made opera cake, which reminds me a lot of tiramisu, especially in both the texture and taste. It is a composed of numerous sponge cake, espresso syrup, coffee buttercream, and chocolate ganache layers.

Photograph (below): Opera cake

Week 7 was our first exam week. I was a little bit nervous about this, being the first one, but it went fairly smoothly. The first day was a bit hectic because I wanted to try and get as much done as I could, so the next few days would be mostly shaping proofed doughs and assembling products.

But I survived. I didn’t have any mishaps, fortunately. My products looked good and I was satisfied. Voila!

Photograph (below): Madeleines

So with that, I bid good-bye to Chef Jonathan and the breads, breakfast pastries, and petit fours unit.

I also had my first stage experience during these weeks. A stage is when you go to a restaurant, hotel, pastry shop, where ever; and work under the supervision of the pastry chef for one shift. This is really nice because if you hate it, it’s only for one shift. But more importantly, it gives you the opportunity the see what it’s like working in different areas of the industry and what will ultimately be the best fit for you.

My stage was at Le Flour Bakery in Edison Park. I have been flipping the idea of opening a cafe/bakery style shop over and over in my head for awhile now, and Le Flour has that vibe. It was very quaint and comforting inside. The owner, Nicole, went to The French Pastry School and hired two of her classmates. Sometimes I’m not sure if I would like the everyday, never-ending obligations of running a bakery, but one thing is for certain- if you are surrounded by friends and family, in a way, it’s not “work”.

Photograph (below): Chocolate espresso tartlets

We made brioche dough again, but this time we shaped it differently. The brioche has been one of my favorite breads we’ve made, especially when it is sprinkled with pearl sugar.

Photograph (right): Chouquettes

We also made a variety of breads- farmer’s bread, country bread, and sourdough multigrain. The country bread was dotted with walnuts. Croissant dough was made again (practice makes perfect!), but this time they were made into almond croissants and chocolate croissants.

On Friday we began making doughs for our petit fours unit. These included sweet dough, chocolate sweet dough, and two sable doughs.

Week 5 marked the start of our petit fours unit. French petit fours are small bite-sized desserts and pastries, which I like because not only are they cute, but they are perfect for having ‘just a taste’. We made pate a choux dough that was piped into a couple of shapes: mini eclairs, salambos, paris brest, and chouquettes.

A very rich, chocolate pastry cream was piped into the miniature eclairs, which were then topped with a chocolate fondant icing.

Salambos are shorter, fatter miniature eclair shapes that are filled with vanilla pastry cream and dipped in hot caramel, which hardens as it cools, creating an addictive crunchy, sweet, soft, and creamy experience in your mouth when you eat one.

The paris brest are circles filled with a praline cream and toasted almonds. Chouquettes are miniature cream puff shapes filled with a mixture of hazelnut paste, pastry cream, and buttercream.

Photograph (below): Salambos

Photograph (below): Pain au chocolat

Photograph (below): Country bread

Photograph (below): Farmer’s bread

We also made dacquoise, which are delightful nutty meringue wafers surrounding a rich filling. Then we made miniature blueberry tarts and almond-apricot tarts. The week was finished out by a large batch of French macarons.

That weekend I staged at a very cute bakery called Le Flour. The chefs and advisors here highly recommend we stage at restaurants, pastry shops, bakeries, and hotels as much as we can. To stage, you usually work one shift for free. While you may only be doing simple things, you can still check out the activity taking place and the best part is that it is just a short-term commitment.

One thing I noticed at Le Flour was how much fun the staff were having, working. They were all family and friends and that really got me thinking…

Photograph (below): Chouquettes

Photograph (below): Apricot almond tartlets

Photograph (below): Blueberry tartlets topped with streusel

I think I have been following a strict butter diet. On to the food…

Photograph (right): Pear danish

TUESDAY:

We didn’t have class on Monday due to MLK Day. Tuesday arrived with a bang, as we made french bread, started beignet dough and croissant dough, and made waffles.

The French bread was delicious, we shaped half of the dough into baguettes and the other half into loaves, or batons. It was crusty, soft, and not the least bit chewy.

The waffles turned out thick and fluffy, perfect for trapping tasty toppings.

Photograph (below): French baguettes

Photograph (below): French baguettes and batons

Photograph (below): Waffles

WEDNESDAY:

Wednesday was a fun day to me because I was so fascinated by the process for making croissant and danish dough. The dough is prepared to a certain point and then proofed in the refrigerator overnight. Then, on this day, we pounded butter into very thin sheets and incorporated them into the dough.

A series of folds is done with the dough to create distinct layers of fat in between the dough. It is these layers that will create all those marvelous flakes we fondly associate with a classic, true croissant. The butter melts during baking, and consequently releases steam, producing millions of flaky layers.

Photograph (below): A flaky croissant

Photograph (below): The cross-section of  a croissant

Photograph (below): Pain a La Biere

We fried our beignet dough balls into fluffy, soft “french doughnuts”, which were rolled in granulated sugar and dusted with powdered sugar. I enjoyed mine with Nutella and it was amazing.

We then made a very rustic version of beer bread, Pain de Biere. The bread had the hearty addition of rye flour, and was brushed with a mixture of beer, salt, yeast, and flour, giving it a gorgeous red color.

Photograph (below): Beignets

Photograph (below): A tender (and utterly irresistible) beignet

THURSDAY:

We made danish dough, another type of baguette using a sponge starter, pastry cream, and the dough for Kugelhopf, a German pastry. It reminds me of both a cake and a bread, and is studded with Kirsch-soaked golden raisins.

Photograph (below): Kugelhopf

FRIDAY:

We finished our Kugelhopf by baking it in beautiful molds that are made just for Kugelhopf. Before placing the dough in the molds, almonds are arranged in a pattern on the bottom. The danishes were completed today, and filled with almond frangipane- a delicious combination of pastry cream and almond cream, then topped with either apricot halves or pear slices.

Photograph (below): Apricot danish

Photograph (below): Pear danish

We also made croissants, again, but this time they will be frozen and baked later next week. Instead of making them the traditional style, they will be either chocolate and almond variations.

For additional practice, we baked lemon pound again. Practice truly does make perfect-they turned out even better this time.

Photograph (below): Lemon pound cake

Next week we will be finishing up our breads and breakfast pastries, so by Friday we can begin petit fours.

When I came across this recipe, I knew it would be perfect for ringing in his birthday. The cake is made in a bundt pan, so there’s no need for assembling or frosting the cake; a simple sprinkling of powdered sugar adds just the right touch.

This cake also is super moist, with strong flavors of both yellow cake AND chocolate cake. Perfect for birthdays, right? The flavor of the beautiful chocolate swirl doesn’t get lost in the rest of the cake thanks to a potent combination of chocolate and cocoa powder. Be sure to cut generous, thick slices and enjoy…

Marble Bundt Cake (Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)

For the Chocolate Swirl:

• 6 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened dark cocoa powder

For the Sour Cream Cake:

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 16 ounces sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To make the Chocolate Swirl: In the top of a double boiler over simmer water, melt the chocolate. When the chocolate is completely smooth, add the cocoa powder and whisk until thorougly incorporated. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the Sour Cream Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a medium bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth and ribbonlike. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and mix for 30 seconds. Mixing for longer will develop the gluten in your flour and create a tough, dry product.

Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl before each addition and beating only until each addition is just incorporated. Do not overmix.

Pour one third of the cake batter into the chocolate swirl mixture. Use a spatula to combine the chocolate mixture and the batter to make a smooth chocolate batter. Spread half of the remaining plain cake batter in the prepared pan. Use an ice cream scoop to dollop the chocolate cake batter directly on top of the plain cake batter. The dollops will touch and mostly cover the plain batter, but some plain batter will peek through.

Use a butter knife to swirl the chocolate and plain batter together. Pour the remaining plain batter on top of the chocolate layer and smooth it out. Once again, use the knife to pull through the layers to create a swirl.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, or until a sharp knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the edges of the cake and invert it onto the wire rack and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The cake will keep for 3 days, tightly covered, at room temperature.

Yield: One 10-inch bundt cake

The great thing about being a pastry chef is that you can work anywhere, and anything is possible if you are motivated. If you can create great food, people will come.

Photograph (right): That’s a lot of bread: Toast bread, whole wheat bread, and brioche loaves

We also received our texts, and after flipping through it and seeing what we would be making, I was ready to start cooking!

My class will spend the first 8 weeks on breads, breakfast pastries, and petit fours with Chef Jonathan. Our typical routine for this unit starts with us scaling our ingredients for the day. We scale ingredients, rather than use measuring spoons and cups, because the scale ensures accuracy every time.

Not every measuring cup is exactly the same, nor are ingredients, like flour, measured into the cup in the same manner universally. I purchased my first kitchen scale this summer and I love it, especially for ingredients like cake flour.

After scaling, the chef-instructor demonstrates his approach and techniques for each of the recipes we will be making that day. Then the rest of the time is ours to bake with.

MONDAY:

Our first day started with some basics. We were given a tour of the kitchen we would be working in for these next 8 weeks and an introduction to the kitchen equipment.  We also practiced knife skills (kinda important, eh?) on apples. The chef also showed us how to make clarified butter, beurre noisette (a browned butter with a delicate nutty taste that can be used in pastry doughs), and our own baking grease for pans.

TUESDAY:

Our second day in the kitchen, and this time we would be making products for the first time. We made a versatile and beautiful vanilla bean-flecked sweet dough that can be used for tarts and cookies, streusel topping, and an almond cream for using with tarts or cakes.

We also had the opportunity to test out those fabulous pastry tips from our tool kits- we practiced our piping skills with butter.

Photograph (below): An arsenal of pastry tips

Photograph (below): Sablees

WEDNESDAY:

This is where things started getting busy. We rolled our sweet dough into cookies, made pastry cream, piped and baked French meringues, made Italian meringue, and Italian buttercream.

By the end of class the kitchen smelled deliciously of vanilla. There are several different types of meringues, and it can get confusing sometimes when reading recipes.

The main difference between a French meringue and an Italian meringue is that the French meringue is baked, creating a hard, yet melt-in-your-mouth shell that can be filled with fruit, pastry cream, etc.

Italian meringue is basically when a hot sugar syrup is beaten into egg whites, creating a stiff meringue that is usually combined with other ingredients, such as butter, to make a light, sweet, and beautifully spreadable frosting.

Photograph (below): An oven that’s too hot creates edible, yet cracked French meringues

THURSDAY:

On this day we started to dip into the baked goods department. We had our first opportunity to work with yeasted dough by making toast bread, a lovely white bread with a crumb.Perfect for toast or grilled cheese sandwiches.

Chef Jonathan spent a long time discussing yeasted doughs with us and showing us some of his techniques, as bread baking is his specialty. It’s amazing to watch how quickly and perfectly he shapes dough.

We baked blueberry muffins and started brioche dough, which rested overnight in the refrigerator.

Photograph (below): Blueberry muffins baked in mini charlotte molds

FRIDAY:

Our last day of the week ended with a bang. I had so much product to take back to my apartment that I didn’t know if I’d even be able to carry it all.

We made whole wheat bread, finished and baked our brioche, and made lemon pound cake. This created a massive number of mini loaves, as for the wheat bread alone we each made 6 loaves!

My favorite had to be the brioche, we made two mini loaves with our dough, then divided the rest into 6 individual balls that were brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with either Bee Sting (a delectable sugary honey almond mixture) or pearl sugar.

For lunch Friday I had bread with cheese, honey, and jams. The rest went into my freezer!

Photograph (below): An assortment of quick breads

And that concluded my first week of kitchen time. Despite the below zero temperatures, severe windchill, snow, and early mornings, the time in the kitchen has been truly enjoyable. I am looking forward to the next!

Photograph (below): Brioche topped with Bee Sting mixture