I totally have the habit of trying to comfort people with food. When people tell me about hard days they've had or strenuous situations at work, my first inclination is to fix them whatever food stuffs would make them happiest. I've done everything from toast to caramel rolls to homemade pasta. I go a little crazy.


So, when my sister came to me with anxiety about her upcoming birthday being the big 3-0, I promptly jumped into comfort mode. Originally I thought I would just make her a gigantic, fantastic cake. Honestly, I do that every year. Then, without very much thought behind it, I said "why don't I just make you 30 different kinds of chocolates?" As the words came out of my mouth I knew it was a crazy idea, but the series of "o's" that soon became my sisters face meant no turning back. I had made the statement aloud. I had to do it.


Every day off I had for 2 weeks prior to the birthday party, I spent making as many chocolate things as I could handle. Work let me borrow truffle molds for 10 different truffle flavors. There was chocolate babka, 2 kinds of brownies, fudge, cookies etc...I even made Mole and a fantastic chocolate bbq sauce to try and stretch peoples imagination a little.

And, of coarse, the birthday cake. (It did get a little melty in the hot/wet August air)


On the whole, I think it turned out pretty well. I think I made my sisters birthday a little more memorable and a little happier. So maybe when she thinks about turning 30, she'll just remember the miles of chocolate set out for her and think, "turning 3o is awesome!"

I'm a reasonable person. I feel like I can deal with stress in a calm and rational fashion. 

We recently had a new addition to the dessert menu at the restaurant. A souffle. I've never been a huge fan of souffles and after this past week, I seem to have reached my breaking point with them. 

From the outside, when you look at a souffle recipe, it is fairly simple. As long as you can stir things together and make a meringue, your good. Turns out, the recipe can get a bit more finicky than that. The other day, I made this recipe 3 times. First it was too dense. Then it was undercooked. The third time...well okay that was my fault, I got side tracked and burned them. After that I just wanted to cry and my sous chef decided to give it a whirl and there you have the picture perfect fluffy goodness above. 

Eventually I was able to get it together and figure out my problem, which was over cooking the base, and I got to feel like a useful human being again. There are always challenges like this in a restaurant that changes the menu seasonally. I had just never found myself with such an issue, but as my boss continually says to me when I mess things up, "I'm glade you messed that up, because now you know better!"

If you're brave enough....

Souffle

1/4 c. Butter

1/2 c. Sugar

3/4 c. Bread Flour

1 1/2 c. Milk

4 Yolks

6 Egg whites

2 T Corn Starch

1/4 c. Sugar

Prepare ramekins by brushing insides with melted butter and dusting with sugar.

Cream butter and sugar. Add bread flour and mix until resembles coarse corn meal. Heat milk on stove until just scolding and remove from heat. Pour in flour mixture and whisk until it becomes a loose paste. Stir in egg yolks. Set aside. 

Whip egg whites to soft peak. Sift starch and second sugar and fold into egg whites.

Fold whites into paste mixture, 1/3 at a time. Don't over mix this!

Fill ramekins to the top and us a knife or an offset spatula to smooth tops (this will help it rise evenly).

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, rotating half way through. 

They should be a nice golden color, but still spongy to the touch. 

Good Luck!

Bread for the Poor

There are up sides and down sides to the slow season in the restaurant industry.

On the down side, there obviously are not a lot of hours, which stresses people who are already dealing with a depressed economy. You also get out of cynic, so when you come back to work it takes some time to catch the right flow. Also, you're at home more often, so you get to hear your landlord talking on his phone all day on the floor below you because he hasn't bothered to put insulation in even though you've told him you can hear every word he says and every TV show he watches for the past 3 months!!!!!!!!

*Eghmm* 

On the plus side, you find yourself with big blocks of time to catch up on books you've been half way through for the past 4 months. Video games you paid a lot of money for that sat idle for weeks at a time. Or open one of the thousands of colorfully tabbed cook books with recipes that peaked your interest last July. 

Recently I finally got around to making a bread recipe in my favorite bread book, Marys Bread Basket and Soup Kettle by Mary Gubser. I had been eyeing this thing for a long time. I was looking for healthier bread recipes and saw the word 'Granola.' Granola's healthy, right? While the bread turned out to be wonderfully delightful with just a touch of sweetness, I don't think I can realistically put this in the health bread category. This bread is awesome for morning toast and would make FANTASTIC french toast. I'm definitely making this recipe again soon. Maybe today....

Granola Bread

2 Pkgs Dry or compressed yeast

1/2 c. Warm water

2 c. Warm milk

1/4 c. Melted butter 

1/2 c. Organic Honey (regular works fine)

1 t. Salt

1 Egg

1 c. Granola

3 T Wheat germ

Grated ring of 1 lemon

4 1/2 c. unbleached white flour

Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir till dissolved. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine warm milk, butter, honey, salt, and egg. Blend well. Stir in 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add enough of remaining flour to make a soft, workable dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (You can also use and electric mixer with a dough hook attachment for about 8 minutes.) Place in a warm, greased bowl , turning to coat, cover, and set aside to rise for 1 1/2 hours. Once doubled, knead lightly in bowl and let dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 2 portions, mold into loaves and place in well greased pans(8 1/2*4 1/2*2 1/2"). Cover and let rise to tops of pans, 30 minutes.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

The book says you can drizzle lemon confectioner's sugar over the bread before serving. I'm not looking for that kind of sweetness, but I bet it would be delicious! 

An Epic Cookie

This is it! I have found it. One of the greatest, moistest, crispiest, most delectable cookie to come from my kitchen! These things are incredible. I'm not even a big chocolate person, but this cookie will have to be an exception. 

While trying to find a simple and elegant cookie to add to our petit fours at work, I came across this recipe on BakeorBreak.com. It turned out far more delicious than I anticipated. They are incredibly rich so I would caution to make slightly smaller cookies or prep yourself for a stomach ache. (I learned the hard way)

The only alteration I made to the recipe was adding about half the bittersweet chocolate called for and added about 1/8 cup cocoa powder instead. This was done only because I had half a bag of bitter sweet chocolate left. I'm certain they will be just as delicious with the full amount of bittersweet chocolate, but cocoa powder is an option if you find yourself caught. 

This isn't a cake like cookie, the texture of the cookie has a melt in your mouth feel very similar to a meringue. It's almost like chocolate cotton candy, in cookie form! I'm going to stop talking now and let you try it out. 

Ghirardelli's Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookies

11.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

6 T unsalted butter

3 Large Eggs

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/3 cup A.P. Flour

1/2 t Baking Powder

12 ounces Semisweet Chocolate

Melt Bittersweet chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave. (Warning! If you're using the microwave, DO NOT heat for more than 20 seconds at a time or you'll destroy the chocolate)

Whip eggs and sugar together in a mixing bowl until thick and a little light. Slowly pour in chocolate mixture while whipping. Sift flour and baking powder together and fold into batter. Stir in Semi Sweet chocolate.

The batter is pretty loose for a cookie, so I recommend using spoons or a scoop to shape these guys.

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes, turning half way through baking.

Minnesota

On days like today, when the air temperature is -16 with a high of -3, I feel the need to defend this states better qualities. Here are a few facts about my great state to help justify why I live here despite having to give my life to fate every time I go outside 8 months out of the year.

• Minnesota had one of the highest voter turn outs in the Nation for the 2008 election.
  
• Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the largest urban sculpture garden in the country.
  
• Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more that California, Florida, and Hawaii combined.
  
• The first Automatic Pop-up toaster was marketed in 1926 by McGraw Electric Co. in Minneapolis under the name Toastmaster

You can find more facts about Minnesota greatness on the state website.

In honor of the cold winter months, I made a big batch of marshmallows for hot cocoa. I've always found that cocoa can be much improved by this fluffy, sweet confection. If you believe the same, this recipe is a good one to try out. 

Marshmallows 

25g Powdered Gelatin

180g water

300g sugar

240g Lt Corn Syrup

180 g water

flavoring

1 c. powdered sugar

1 c. corn starch

Mix powdered sugar & corn starch. Sift mixture over a 9*13 pan until bottom and sides are covered.

Mix the gelatin and first water in a mixing bowl and allow to bloom.

Meanwhile, heat sugar, corn syrup, and second water on the stove until it reaches 250 degrees. 

With a whip attachment, whip gelatin on medium high for about a minute. Pour hot sugar mixture (while the whip is still going) in a slow, steady stream until it's all in.

Turn the mixer on high and let the sugar whip until the side of the bowl begins to cool. 

This would be the point at which you add your flavoring. I like to use a vanilla bean. 

(You could also add some cocoa powder, cinnamon, almond extract, etc.)

Pour mixture into prepared pan and sift an additional layer over the top of the marshmallows.

Set pan aside for at least 4 hours. Afterwards, cut using kitchen shears into desired sizes. 

Bread Baking for the Non-Baker

A majority of those who know me know that I can spend my entire day making bread without much thought. Bread Baking is my security blanket. The problem is it's not something I can run to the kitchen and do quick, before work. Your typical bread baking experience will last around 4 hours which is usually a bit more than people are willing to sacrifice. Luckily, for those who are intimidated by the kneading and the rising etc, a short cut has been developed. 

No Knead Bread

I learned about this newfangled version of home made bread during a pastry seminar last winter. Had the person telling me about it not been a certified Pastry Chef, I would have called him crazy. Never the less, I tried it out and it was a huge success. It takes less physical labor than pretty much anything else I bake. The bread has an awesome flavor on it's own, but it's also a perfect base for spices, cheeses, or anything else you can think of. If you have the time to spare (you do), I suggest you give this recipe a shot.  

Winter Squash Brulee

alright. It's bordering on ridiculous, how long it's been since I posted something. Since I got my restaurant job and my sister has gotten a puppy, my life has become a little hectic. However! I am going to give it another go. :)

The restaurant has been taking up much of my time recently. Christmas and New Years are our busiest seasons. We changed the dessert menu right before the holidays were kicked off back in September, going from light fruits of the summer time, to denser vegetables and fruits that pair nicely with harsh, snowy winters.

One of my favorite dishes on the new menu is the Hubbard Squash Brulee. My knowledge of squash doesn't go much past the familiar butternut/acorn/pumpkin genre, but I can tell you Hubbard squash tastes like a cross between pumpkin and acorn. It has a rich flavor with a light finish. This dessert has been one of the most popular. It's paired with Yogurt Curry Sorbet and Pistachio shortbread. People are often taken aback by the curry yogurt idea, but if you've ever had curry, you know there is a sweetness to it. We bring out that sweetness and it is fantastic with the Squash flavor.

Hubbard Squash Creme Brulee

6 Yolks

1 Egg

1/2 c. Sugar

1 1/2 c. Cream

1 T Cinnamon

1/2 t Cloves

1 t Nutmeg

1/2 lb Hubbard Squash Puree

• Whisk everything together, pour into molds, and bake in a water bath at 325 for about an hour. Hints for when it's done is when it still giggles in the middle and if you tip it to one side, the custard will pull to the side a little, but isn't so loose it comes pouring out of the ramekin.
• For the brulee on top, just sprinkle sugar over the top of the baked and CHILLED custard and use a hand torch to brulee. If you don't have a torch, you should be able to use the broiler on your oven, but be sure to keep a close eye on it. You want the sugar a deep brown color, which turns into a black charred color really quickly. 

Yaaa. I've been getting yelled at a lot recently for not writing on my blog. So, let me tell you what's going on. I've finished all my classes and am now doing my internship at a swanky restaurant. :) My final class, that I did not blog about, was sugar and chocolate work. We did a range of sugar work including a sugar sculpture, a pastillage (Sugar paste) box, and a gingerbread house. This class was awesome because it allowed for whatever your creativity and ability could handle.
Here's what I came up with. :)This house is totally gingerbread, candy, and royal icing. It took a lot of hours. This is my favorite project ever. It was a real challenge and....it's awesome! I took the design from Tim Burton's, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love it!
I used a picture of an African Drum to design this piece. It's just Pastillage painted with food coloring gels. the ropes on the outside are made of royal icing, piped. I had to defy gravity a little bit on this. Actually, I had to do that a little bit with all these pieces. :) I would like to point out the sugar sculpture originally had an orange bodied fish to match the fins (instead of a blue body) However, I was doing the finished touches on this sculpture when the lower body cracked and ended up crashing down before I had any time to react. This was our very last project and my reaction was just hysterical laughter, because... well what else is there to do.
I don't have pictures from the restaurant yet. I'll start working on that in a bit. I've only got 3 weeks left!
Thanks, everybody, for being patient and glancing at my blog even when I don't. Heh Heh.

Weee! So. We are now officially done with the "Wedding Cake" class at school. I had a little bit of a soap opera, but in the end I think it turned out rather well.

A. Lets not be silly. I did not make a full out real wedding cake. This is a Styrofoam dummy, covered in fondant. The stripes were more of a pain in the ass then I thought they'd be. Of coarse, I've been staring at this thing from it's inception so I can see (quite clearly) every dent, every curve that should be straight, and every smudge. Errr. Make no mistake! I am excited about this cake. I think it turned out wonderfully, but I am my own worst critic.
The fabric-like stuff you see going down the side of the cake is fondant that's rolled out thin, covered with lace fabric, and spread with a thin layer of colored royal icing. Then you pull up the lace and it creates the pattern (just like a stencil).
So, ya. Pretty good for a first timer?
The last few days I've been volunteering at this seminar going on at my school. It's really fascinating and there are lots of awesome chefs doing workshops. I've only been there 2 days and I've learned loads of things and gotten tons of ideas for my next project (which will be sugar and chocolate work). The pictures are of a sculpture one of the chefs did this evening. It's awesome. She did it in about 3 hours. I've been very impressed with all the chefs I've worked with so far, and there are still 3 more days of the program! Eeee! (I'm a nerd)

Settlers of Catan

Let me just say, I am always willing to make cakes for friends and family. I enjoying it immensely. The featured cake for this post is a birthday cake I made for my friend Matt. His favorite board game is Settlers of Catan. So, having absolutely no idea of the mechanics of the game, I decided to make a cake replica. Apparently, I was able to grasp the concept and feeling of the game because everyone was super amazed and impressed at the likeness. All I can say is Got save Wikipedia. If you look up Settlers of Catan on wikipedia, you will see the picture that I copied, start to finish, on this cake.
The cake itself is a chocolate cake with butter cream frosting and fondant. All the little pieces are fondant as well. I was actually disappointed with the taste of this cake because I was originally going to make a German Chocolate Cake, but I was running short of time, so I used the cake recipe for German cake, but not the filling. Turns out that makes a way less awesome cake. So that's too bad.

Woo! Fondant!

It's really amazing what fondant can do to smooth out ruff edges of a cake. Everything looks so much cleaner and neater. Granted, it isn't always the best tasting, but if you're looking for perfection, this is you game. Actually, I realized this past week that it isn't that fondant is disgusting, it's that what I've tried of it is disgusting. I had only tried Neutral fondant, which does taste like butt, however the chocolate and white chocolate varieties we get in from school are actually fairly decent (also pretty freakish expensive).
I've been enjoying myself quite a bit the last week. We've learned how to fondant cakes and decorate them in various ways. We're spending the rest of this week working on making gum paste flowers, which should be interesting. Also, our portfolio's for our wedding cake final is due on Friday and I'm pretty excited about what is going on. I think it'll be awesome!!
Cake decorating has turned out to be not quite as annoying as I'd originally feared. I still think I'm more comfortable with platted desserts, where the important part is the flavor combination, versus cakes, where the most important part is to make the flowers look real. I am enjoying myself, though. I might even like to do wedding cakes for a side business. :)
Anyway! You probably want to look at some pictures, right?!
First up:
This is actually just a butter cream frosted cake with a pastiallge plaque (sugar plaque) with a cocoa painting. I stenciled the cartoon I found online. This thing is so cute! I tried to make a film wheel looking design with fondant around the side of the cake, but it didn't turn out so well...thus the pictures don't really show the sides.
I also did a painting from my favorite childhood book, The Sweet Touch, but I decided not to use that one.
Next we get into fondant cakes. This next one I did for a contest we had that day on who could come up with the best cake design for an 11 year old boy. Now. I will say I was surprised at myself for making this design. And while I don't actually condone this hobby for small children...I thought it was a cool cake!
Long story short, I did not win the competition. A cake in the shape of a Turkey Sandwich won the prize, which, you know...totally makes sense. Hhhem! And, if I might also say, it is probably a little silly or weird to take this cake to a classroom with 2 French chefs in it who immediately giggle at the cake and make "silly American" comments. My bad. :(
And lastly! We were taught how to make silly ridiculous bows that I may never use in the rest of my career, but hey, this cake is cute!

Only the French

So...Second day of wedding cake class and, as were are getting a French style education, we had to learn how to make the traditional French wedding cake. A Croquembouche. This little beauty is comprised of a series of small Pate Choux puffs (the same dough for eclaires) filled with pastry cream and stacked together using caramelized sugar. The best way I can describe it to you is...if you just glanced at it, with no idea of what you were looking at, you'd think it was a big pile of rocks or acorns. This is not really an attractive dessert! In fact, the classmates I was working on this project with had no end of obscenities regarding the ugliness of the cake, the ever increasing leaning angle, and well just the French in general. I am rather hoping this is the only time I will encounter having to make a Croquembouche, but all I can do is hope.

We've also begun learning more decoration techniques. I've spent the last two days pipping rose after rose after rose. I do understand the need for repetition to achieve the necessary skill, but..oh my god, there are only so many times I can make those freaking things before I go cross eyed.
We're going to begin some chocolate molding tomorrow We're also doing some sugar paintings. I'm excited to learn all this stuff and I am having a wonderful time, but I still don't think the wedding cake business is the way for me.

Banana Fritters w/ Burnt Honey Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce

Okay. Yes. I'm sorry, I haven't written for a while. My last class went by like a shot. Between work, school, and lagging immune systems, it's been a busy month.
My last class topic was plated desserts. This is a big class for me because it's basically what I want to do when I get out into the working world. Our final project was to create and execute a menu of 10 desserts, 2 chocolate, 2 Traditional, 2 Seasonal, 2 Frozen, and 2 Hot. The project actually didn't go as well as I would have liked. My first day went well, but as time went on... I started getting frustrated. And my chef and I seem to differ a little on proper textures.
But! Here are some lovely pictures of a few of my final platings.

Clove Wine Sorbet w/ Candied Cherries

Honey Goat Cheesecake w/ Roasted Dates and a Lemon Raspberry Sauce
(although, this was suppose to have roasted FIGS, but none were available.)

Mexican Hot Chocolate w/ Churos
(The kick to this chocolate was not for a faint of heart)

Those are the one's that turned out the best. After that...I stopped taking pictures. Over all it was still good! I did enjoy the entire class and we were allowed to develop more creative desserts and such.
The class we have now is commonly referred to as the wedding cake class. The final being....yes, make a wedding cake. We get to choose if it will be a dummie cake (Styrofoam) or a real cake. Most people opt for the styrofoam because then it can be displayed for a while, possibly years, in the school. So that's exciting. I'm going to be using it as the practice round for Maria's wedding cake which a friend and I are going to be making in June. I'm very excited to design my sisters wedding cake! Ah! Fabulous!
Okay. Promise I will actually be a little more on the ball about blogging this time around. Sorry!

Okay. Okay. No more excuses! I've been terrible about writing on my blog. Sad Sad.
I've been on vacation for two weeks and this past week was the start of a new class. We are now in the home stretch people! This is the first of 3 final classes and I'm done. Yay! I'm having an awesome time though. We are working on plating in this class, so this is where are the finite details come into play. We've spent all this week making sauces and cookies and such to go along with desserts that we then make as something of an after thought. It's been really good and it has allowed for maximum creativity, which is really nice. The pictures are just two platings of the same dessert. It's a Creme Caramel flavored with orange water (which is my new favorite thing) and a blackberry sauce with cardamom tuiles.
We'll have more platings tomorrow, but the finish products for this class are slow going. I probably won't have as many pictures as usual. Our final is to create a menu of 10 desserts, make them, and plate them over the coarse of one week. That'll be fun and hurty.

Seasons Greetings from Yoda!

The holiday season is upon us and what better way to celebrate than making a birthday cake for an imaginary 13 year old boy who enjoys, among other things, STAR WARS! The assignment was pretty entertaining. We had to make a cake geared towards a 13 year old boy and had a bunch of other instructors come and vote. Perhaps I was a special child, but I remember loving the epic story of star wars at the tender age of 13, as did all my male and female friends as well as the few early teenage terrors I know now. It seemed perfect, but guess what! I took 3rd. 3rd! What is the world coming to.

As if this didn't off set my sense of reality enough, we recently made a Boston Cream pie which, it turns out, is not a pie. It is however, one of the most deliciously wonderful, artery clogging, melt in you mouth while distilling pounds of fat into your thighs cakesI've ever had!
I've said it before and I'll say it again. You have not lived until you've doused an entire cake with ganache. Directions: Sandwich 2 white cakes with rich pastry cream and bathe in ganache. Hahaha. AAAhhahahah!

And also, I may have found the secret to the most awesome chocolate cake ever. We recently made a tarragon chocolate cake, which may be the best chocolate cake I've ever had. It's a really subtle flavor that is just awesome. Even one of the most locked an bolted minds I know from my class enjoyed this. Time to get experimental! My plan of action is to now incorporate one of my most favorite spices into a chocolate cake. Curry! Woo! (I'm sure this is no surprise to those who know me.)

Cake Class

Okay, I have to admit I haven't been pouring a ton of time into the blog recently. I do apologize about that, but in my defense we've done nothing but genois cake these first 2 weeks of class. Genois is a low-fat cake that takes 4 years of whipping egg yolks and sugar over a double boiler until really foamy and then folded with cake flour. That's it and that's all. There is nothing in this cake. Not surprising, it's a tad try and doesn't so much thrill the taste buds. It is, however good as a practice cake for frosting correctly. Some of you may not know that there is a right way and a wrong way to frost a cake. Example:
Right way

Wrong way
(actually I just made an error and added a half batch amount of butter to a full batch of butter cream oops, but it gets the point across.)

Edges like shoulders. Sides and top smooth as a baby's butt! This is what I've been doing for the past two weeks. I can show you different pictures, but you'll swear they're all the same cake, so I'm not going to. I have been improving on my smoothing skills. And, as my sister reminded me, this is where all those years of meticulously spreading of the cream cheese onto the bagel until it's perfectly even come in handy. THE CHEESE HAS TO BE EVEN! I WON'T EAT THE BAGEL UNTIL IT'S EVEN! (everybody has there weird food thing)
So, things aren't so exciting right now, but I'll try to keep an update. We may get a lesson on boarders tomorrow, perhaps I'll have more pidazzle then.

Another Ending

We finished with our Custards class last Friday. I have to say, I'm pretty excited to be done with it. Some of you may remember my previous rant on hating eggs with a passion few people even know they have. Well, had I still felt that way when I entered this class....well, lets just say dimensions would have imploded. I can't even begin to explain the number of cases of eggs we went through over the past weeks. The amount of poultry in general this school goes through must keep at least five chicken farms in business. It boggles the mind.
So! We had our final practical on Friday and I'm happy to say, despite some annoying classmates, it turned out well! I did a parody of the famous Black and White New York Cookie. I don't know where this idea came from, but it's done well. It's a fairly simple Chocolate and Vanilla Bavarian Cream Charlotte. The sponge was adjusted to have more of a shortbread flavor, as the cookie does. I used brown sugar for part of the recipe and folded in 2 ounces of butter to give it an additional creaminess. It turned out really nicely. The presentation was fun as well. I just made a chocolate sauce for the bottom and spread the top with white and dark melted chocolate. I was very pleased with the end product. My instructor was as well, because I got 100%! Woo! A good ending to a slightly discomforting lesson involving being elbow deep in egg yolks every morning!

Strange Cake

L'Exotique.This cake here. She may look impressive and she may act impressive, but her taste. Her taste is totally something I've never experienced before and not particularly in a good way. This is basically an example of Hawaiian frilly drink in cake form. The colorful outer layer is a sponge that has been dyed. Those crazy designs you see are my fingers meandering through the batter. It's filled with a mousse consisting of tropical flavors including passion fruit, mango, and coconut. While this may sound exciting and wonderful to some of you, I must confess that my taste buds fulling rejected this as something of a dessert with a personality crisis.
There are just too many flavors packed into this thing. Did I mention the top is smooth because it's been covered in passion fruit flavored ganache. Two great tastes that taste great together!? No. No no no no. No no. You don't understand how contrary the tartness of the fruit is with the creaminess of the chocolate. The moment this cake hit my tongue, my taste buds message to the brain was (and I quote) " Ummm. Well gosh. I, uhh. I, uhh.... You know what I quit. This just isn't working out for me." And off they went to find some Coffee and a sugar cookie.
This cake is, out of this world, strange.
That's all I have to say about that.

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.