A friend of mine called me yesterday. She was having a relatively strenuous evening and I felt pretty helpless to comfort her. I'm not sure how others deal with stress, but as a pastry chef, I feel sugar is a good start. While I was unable to run over and make my friend a batch of chocolate brownies, I was thinking of her this morning when we had to make a batch of Tuile's. These thin little cookies are usually used more as an accent to a dessert rather than a desert themselves, but they're still pretty tasty. It's also a simple recipe:
4oz butter
4oz powdered sugar
4oz eggs (+ a little vanilla)
4oz cake flour
And you just spread the batter paper thin in your mold and bake for 10 minutes!
These little guys are fun to make because you can make any shape you like. Class was fairly light hearted today. We spent a long time making molds for these cookies. Many Halloween and Christmas themes were brought in. I decided to make Teddy bear faces for my bummed out buddy in hopes that it would put a smile on her face. Well, I hope the picture will do it because I dropped the plate on my way out and smashed them across the hallway. Heh Heh. It's the thought that counts? I kept the molds, so I may try again! Ha!
Just for clarification, I did not make Teddy Bear faces all morning. We've been working with a lot of Bavarian Cream. Today we actually completed two types of Charlotte's. They're both really tasty, but I have to say that I'm not overly impressed with them. Sponge and cream, doesn't have all that much flavor. To each there own.

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The last few weeks have been very insane, as everyone probably knows. It's been very exciting and exhausting at the same time. We've started a new class basically on custards. We've been doing bunches of Creme Caramels & Bread Pudding. My friends and neighbors seem to be the most ecstatic for this new chapter of Baking and Pastry. And, as I continue to state, these recipes are pretty simple. Many of them I have fond memories of making with my mom or grandma. What's fun is taking the basic recipe as given and adding to it. Making new flavors that scare most people! Everyone in my class is a little wary of me because I put weird flavors like ginger and curry into sweet creams. I think it's fabulous and I suggest everyone at least try it ONCE!
I'm sure once we get into more complicated custards I'll have more interesting things to say, but for now... you'll just have to deal with me rambling.