What I've Been Up to Lately...

Well this is my first attempt [EVER] with modeling chocolate. I have three cakes in three weeks, cake one...modeling chocolate with pastillage. I did lovebirds! I wanted something to sweet and innocent, something everyone could look at and smile. The signs are pastillage, the heart is cocoa painted and says "They Were in Love", and they are still in love. The banner reads "Happily Ever After" and it too is cocoa painted. I did a border with my pastry well to have diamonds and took my new little fondant roller and created a kitchy quilted pattern, which if seen up close, it is not even..for a reason. I wanted a homey look that was equally beautiful and innocent. I love it!




Second, I did an at-home bakery night. Yes, these are indeed the cupcakes. Blood Orange Cupcakes. They are soo yummy. I used a simple yellow cake recipe and just added half of blood orange sorbet. The icing is just simple whipped cream, the white icing is vanilla and the orange is of course, blood orange! I find them to be so cute, just so girly and happy. I love when the mood strikes and I crave sugar...and this is what I come up with. Cupcake love is in the house!

Creme Brulee*

Drum-roll...! Lavender-oil, rose oil, and lemon creme brulee! The sugar coating is done perfectly! I am very pleased with this dessert, sadly the chantilly cream melted due to the heat from the sugar. The garnish is just pate a choux, sprinkled with 10X sugar. The crack of the sugar was music to my hears when my Chef tasted it. The creaminess is delightful, such a good little piece of heaven!

Not Your Average Rice Pudding..

This little number is my newest creation in plated desserts. It is indeed rice pudding, but with some twists. That cute little bowl its in is actually Florentine dough, and the sauce its sitting in is vanilla bean cream angelise with curry-lime caramel sauce. The rice pudding began its flavoring with the boiling of the rice, I threw in some star anise and sticks of cinnamon. After all that bathing, the custard was flavored with cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, and raspberry extract. It smelt amazing, sadly I did not taste it due to my own non-liking rice puddings. But the plate looks beautiful and I've a very proud patisserie and baking student testing the waters in my class. Soon will be lavender-oil, rose petal, and honey creme brulee. Oh la douceur de vivre!

Plated Desserts

Today was my first experience with plating desserts. It was very...stressful. I had to keep reminding myself to breathe [a lot]. All week we had to come up with crazy flavor combos; well things out of our comfort zone. Trying to mix fruits with spices and herbs is actually hard. Just throwing extracts together does not always make a great and fabulous flavor. Well in the end with all the tears and sweat that shed it all came together. I was very pleased with my desserts. The baklava was filled with pecans, maple, and star anise. My pastry cream was star anise. The sauce was chocolate. Of course I had a garnish and it was a simple chocolate design. The second dish was a puff pastry, the pastry cream was blueberry all-spice with chocolate raspberry coule. The kicker on the puff pastry was it was atop a graham cracker crust! I got good reviews from the graham cracker mixed with the sauce. I hope to get better with each practice run and it will benefit me in the future with my career. I can seem myself enjoying this class and it will be over before I know it.

My baklava called Crunch of Warmth:


and the beautiful puff pastry named Spice of Summer:

Under The Sea ..

This is the sugar sculpture me and my friend did in class for our practical. It is all sugar [minus the cake board] and it took us 4 days to finish. We started out with just colors and started playing with all the pieces and came together with the Under The Sea theme. I am in love with our final product! The vibrant colors, shine, and the flow of the pieces looks like a pro did it. We are very proud of our "baby" and are proud parents! I do not know if I will attempt something like this again, but I know I can tackle it if I want to .

WeddingPlanning

Today I am hunting through bridal magazine and blogs like crazy. I am looking for ideas from other wedddings are finding the greatest idea..a dessert bar! & what a great idea to showcase my talents and bring more sweet treats to our reception ?! It is perfect. So far I have fallen in love with these little sweets and the bakers and decorators who did them are amazing! The pops of color and menu place settings are adorable! Who wouldn't want to sink their teeth in a cupcake at a wedding? I cannot wait to have cupcakes displayed at our wedding next to the wedding cake I will be making.


&& I LOVE these too! They little addition of color from the sanding sugar and paper cups makes them pop!

The table with the framed card adds romance in an unexpected way. They are beautiful cupcakes!

Oh Sugar, Sugar

This is my pulled sugar rose. The process for this thing is incredibly hard, my thumbs are raw and sore from the heat of the sugar. I am thrilled about this class and the skills I will learn. Sadly, my hands say no. We have to wear thin latex gloves and handling sugar up to 155 C is awful. The product outcome is gorgeous and beautiful, I do love my flower. Many classmates are more skilled than I am, but for my real first attempt I am proud of myself. The roses will keep getting better as said by my Chef because I have to (his words) but the next thing is blown sugar. For anyone wanting to try this please watch a class or get some great instructions.