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Classes

Things to Know About Working with Laminated Dough

kouign amann 1

For some time, I felt that laminated dough was my enemy. When I was in school, I didn’t have trouble with it. When I made my first batch of cronuts, they were a success (or maybe, it was beginner’s luck?). But then came trouble. My next 3-4 attempts were all fails. I threw one batch in the trash and gave up after that. Fast forward a year later, and here I am with a renewed desire to get it right.

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Miette Cookie Decorating Class

I’ve always admired the artistry and technique that goes into decorating sugar cookies.  Jeff Gosche, a cookie decorating genius, lends his talent to San Francisco’s Miette patisserie, creating the most gorgeous cookies for the shops.  The best part is that he shares his tips and tricks at the patisserie’s cookie decorating classes.  I had the great opportunity to attend one last week.

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Ice Cream Sunday at Sur la Table

After churning out two quarts of sorbet this past week, I got up bright and early Sunday morning for Sur la Table’s ice cream class. I guess the sorbets was the equivalent of doing conditioning before a marathon.  I was just warming up for the main event.

Menu (my lunch on Sunday):

Lemon Curd Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl
Butter Pecan Ice Cream with Peanut Brittle
Mexican Chocolate Sundaes
Strawberry Ice Cream/Strawberry Milkshakes

A slice of lemon curd ice cream.  To get the layered look, we formed the ice cream into a loaf pan.  A bottom layer of lemon curd, middle layer of blackberry syrup, top layer of lemon curd and finished with more blackberry syrup.  Then after it hardened, we unmolded the pan and sliced the ice cream.

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Sur la Table: Dabbling in French Macarons

Last week we dedicated a whole class to French macarons, this year’s new trend coming off the cupcake frenzy last year.  From my observation, macarons haven’t created as much of a commotion as cupcakes, but nevertheless they are equally as fascinating to experiment with and taste.

Coconut macaron with rum cream filling

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Sur la Table Spring Cupcakes

We had a great class this past weekend with a menu of Spring cupcakes.  All the cupcakes tasted great but what I loved about this class was the added focus on decorating using edible flowers and fondant.  Such great techniques to use on cakes for Mother’s Day and the coming wedding season.

Spring Cupcake Menu:

Devil’s Food Cupcakes
Coconut Cupcakes
Chocolate Cupcakes with lavender icing and sugared pansies
Sponge Cake Cupcakes with fondant bees

I wish I had taken more photos, but for once I have very few as I was trying to run around to all the recipes.

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