Christmas Parcels

Sorry about the lapse in posting but I picked up and moved from the lovely Vancouver. Graduated from culinary school and took a trip across the country to make it to my new home in Halifax. So to say the least I've been a busy girl.

I've been dreaming about getting together a batch of solid recipes and preparing some cute packaging ideas along with a couple of business cards to sell some confectioneries at the local farmers market. Though I'm a far cry from materializing it there is always time to day dream.

But in the meantime I had time to squeeze in a huge batch of candies to give to those people I adore during the holidays.

Some adjustments have to be made to some of the recipes. Like the lemon and chocolate caramel didn't quite set the way I would have liked, a little too soft when I enjoy the extra chew. Fudge has never been my forte so it's hard to judge but the sponge toffee blew my mind.

The minty ones were extremely easy to make. The taste was ok if not a little too minty tasty and a little sloppy to look at. Hopefully the second time around with some adjustments made they'll taste even better.

I've always been a fan of chocolate and nuts so the peanut butter cups I thoroughly enjoyed but next time around I might try them with a crunchy butter for more texture.

I think my next challenge is to conquer my fear of marshmallows. I fell upon a pumpkin marshmallow recipe that I've been meaning to get my hands dirty with.

If anyone wants some recipes, just let me know. With all my love have a terrific New Year celebration with dubious amounts of alcohol and friends.

Wedding a Cake

The last week has been a little of a fooling around week. I shouldn't say that, it was a relaxed week before the chaos of final exams and practicals. Our Chef was nice enough to let us all design and create our own wedding cakes.

After all was said and done and we all looked at one of another works and it was nice to see how differently we all took the project. And funny enough each cake reflected each others personality to tee; the color scheme of one girl from Mexico, the daintiness of our mini Martha Stewart, the petite perfection of another, the arty-ness of Miss Marianne and the strong personality of the voice of our class.

It was the first time I really appreciated to the relationship between art and baking. Sometimes it's blind sighted by the fact that you have to churn out a product but the labour and creativity we all exhibited in putting together these cakes really inspired me. Even made me consider how limitless the art of baking can be.

This guy is mine. I choose to do a cherry blossom tree. The more I look at it the more difficult I think about how it would be to portion this baby.

On a topic totally unrelated to cake making I seen the new movie by Todd Haynes called I'm Not There, a somewhat fictitious account of Bob Dylan played by six different actors. Anyone who knows me knows my complete devotion to Bobby D so it was entirely expected that I would love this film but I just want to say from a biased opinion it was one of the most imaginative and well rounded movie I've seen in long time. Cate Blanchet is guaranteed an Oscar for her role as Dylan during his transition from folk singer to the poet with an electric guitar. I would also recommend picking up the soundtrack too, a lot o different interpretations of Zimmerman classics.

Ginger Bread The Finale

We had our big competition tonight. And guess what, we placed first in our categorie! Plus there was an open bar which made all the speeches that more exciting.

We spent 4 days of class time plus a couple nights and a weekend to put on all the finishing touches. I think we calculated about 62 batches of royal icing which is like 70 pounds of icing sugar and whites.

I was in control of the kitchen made a fridge an oven along with little tinker objects like a kitchen aide and spatulas. But we had a fine brick layer who made an excellent chimney. Plus a lake pour-er and window treaters.

Everything was hand made from the fondant to the candy canes and I'm so proud of us. Besides extreme boasting privileges we got a $200 certificate to a restaurant to share between us plus a one night stay split between two people. We're still debating how to split it fairly but I'm trying to convince them a jumbo slumber party with a ton of room service.

Christine the AMAZING

You know those times when upon first meeting someone you instinctively know that they are someone you were meant to have in your life. I was lucky enough to have met that person on the first day of my life and she has been someone that has been around ever since. I always know that she's there for me and loves me no matter my awkward moments or the fact that were a couple provinces apart.

And who knew she was an expertise seamstress. I received a lovely parcel on Friday and hiding inside was a beautiful handmade apron and the funkiest and most functional oven mitts I've ever layed my eyes on. Chris, your beyond words and I absolutely adore you and I can't thank you enough for lending me some of your crafty genes.

If anyone else wants a look into the life of one of the world's greatest check out her blog at http://chris-theedgeoflight.blogspot.com/

Ginger Bread Update

So we've worked three straight days on the ginger bread house and I still think we have a ways to go but at least we're making head way. The frame is put up and one of my lovely classmates spent the day shingling the chimney and it looks great. We've made everything by hand, marsh mellow & candy canes and fondant & gum paste and probably 140 pounds of rolling icing, and it's enormously gratifying.

We've got the house underway inside. I've been dealt the duty of the kitchen and am slowly getting there. I have all the major appliances done and just have to put them in. Along with a couple more hours of fooling around with Marzipan.

The roof is complete but the outside still has a ways to go. We need to pour our lake with sugar, build up our forest and complete the storybook that will go in the front left hand corner. Our teacher blew sugar to make individual bulbs for each light bulb we have and I can't wait to see it all complete.

I need a couple hours of sleep but I promise to keep you up to date. It needs to be handed in on Monday so expect a picture in all it's glory soon.

Haaalifax

Last Wednesday I came home to find a parcel lying in my door and seen the Nova Scotia School of Art & Design logo in the top left hand corner. My heart sunk, within this letter was my next four years and the act of opening it held a kind of heart attack impact. I sat, I debated and I made a cup of coffee with cigarette in tow to calm my nerves than attacked that parcel as if it had an expiration date.

To my relief the first ten words involved pleased to inform you of your acceptance to NSAD for winter 2008. The following day I gave my landlord my months notice and on the 15th of December I will be heading east and I couldn't be happier.

I also watched Say Anything this weekend and have developed a HUGE crush on John Cusack that borders on obsession. I once thought Dustin Hoffman was the only man to steal my heart but Mr. Cusack has now taken that title. Cusack, if your reading, I could spend forever watching you practice your kickboxing while listening to that sappy Phil Collins song on repeat.

Fancy Desserts

At the request from a message on my answering machine I'm going to have to give everyone an update. The last 2 weeks at school have been fairly intense thanks to a little experiment they've been tinkering with called Service Day. Like a mock restaurant, they shout out orders to you that you have to plate and I can honestly say its been the least pleasant experience of the whole program. I think we've all become accustom to doing doing things slowly with a lot of thought put into the product but in this case people are screaming at you and your rush and overwhelmed.

Lets just say I'm glad it's all over. Though a lot of great plated desserts came from service day. It was a bit of a challenge trying to squeeze 5 different components together on one plate harmoniously but it was great to see how everyone approached each dish totally different.

We had to prepare a tiramisu and were given free range to do as we pleased with the molds and plating. One group made it in a wine cup, another into tiny towers and we put ours into a terrine mold. Then some how we had to fit in minted crepes, tea jellies & vanilla ice creams.

Another plate was fresh apple beginets which are a huge thing in New Orleans. Basically an apple fritter served with a creme frachie parfait.

And a very Asian influenced dessert of mango pudding & tapioca sauce. My group added some dried mango slices and palmiers which are made from the same dough as a croissant but rolled differently and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

It was a great learning experience but like I said, I'm glad it's over so we can return to our pastry thinking mind sets of slow and perfect.

CHOCOLATE

We fooled around with chocolate all last week. There was truffles with fruit ganaches and pistachio gananches. Caramel coated in chocolate. Nougats and the like.

We learned that traditional French style truffles and usually scooped out of the ganache and hand rolled into balls then dipped into tempered chocolate and rolled in either cocoa powder or icing sugar. While those other fancy looking things you pick up at chocolate shops are little chocolate shells that's the ganache is pipped into and then rolled in anything you desire. The latter freak me out a little cause if the shells are not properly filled; air pockets in it, there's room for bacteria and mold growth which would obviously cause the eater some serious diarrhea.

Making the caramel was honestly the most fun I had. Though I could be bias cause I always eat the caramel flavors first out of the Quality Street Chocolates you always seem to receive around Christmas. Adding different goodies like nuts and dried fruits made for some pretty looking chocolates while adding salt to a butter caramel I made tasted the best.

And tempering chocolate is an art in itself. You have to heat your chocolate up to 45 degrees over a bain marie(double broiler) then cool it back down to 25 degrees which proper chocolatiers will call it's crystallization stage. To get t back down to the crystallization stage you either work out chocolate on a marble slab to temper it, add more chocolate to cool it down or what I prefer to do it your chocolate over an ice bath till it reaches your desired temperature. And I hate to bore you but that's not all. You then have to reheat your chocolate back up to 30-32 degrees and that's when you can have fun with it.

I made up little goody boxes for my favorite people so be expecting a parcel sometime soon.

Numero 2 Cake

I finally got around to completing a cake I'm happy about. I kept the same kind of formula, some spices, a little citrus & tea, but this time with success. I think I may have gotten a few extra brownie points with the chef for staying a little later a couple of nights but that's nothing compared to the self gratification of making something that makes you blush and taste good at the same time.

I'll take you through a little guide like the last time around:

Bottom layer is a shortbread crust where I added some chai spices (cardamom, clove, ginger and a few other flavors)

Up next is a layer of honey mousse with a teenie bit of lemon zest

Then is a lemon cake with lemon segments hiding in there

And the cherry on the cake, and earl grey tea mousse with little chunks of cacao beans. I had a terrible time with this one cause my gelatin kept on seizing up on me, creating a chunky mousse as opposed to the wanted air-y ones. I finally realized I was initially having a heavy hand with the gelatin so the second time around I just added less and I got that texture I was going for.

Finally, wrapped around the cake is a jacadon which is a thin, pliable cake that I baked upon a stencilled cigarette paste design.

I'm still thinking of a name for it but I'm thinking of stealing the title Sunday Morning from the last cake I tried. Just cause it's one of those cakes I could imagine eating in bed.

And Claire Clark came in to take to the class as promised this afternoon. Now I'm experiencing an existential crisis cause the master patisserie told us of 14 hour days and a gas pilot stove explosion. And with all the 'glory marks' I've received on my arms and hands from ovens & hot pans I'm wondering if I'll ever love it enough and endlessly to sacrifice everything she has to be master of your craft. The hand modeling gig I had always used as a back up plan is out of the question so I guess I'm sticking with it...

The Local French Laundry

I'm so excited to brag about a lovely pastry chef coming in to visit our school on Wednesday. This lady is a legend who prepared tiny bite(petite four) cakes for the Queen of England, was rewarded some fancy award which basically entitles her to use the words 'master of pastry making' on her business cards and was hand selected by Thomas Keller to oversee the pastry department of the French Laundry. Yeah, I said it, THE FRENCH LAUNDRY. That little ol' restaurant that is booked solid for six months in advance and regarded as one the best restaurant in the US, if not the world. Her name is Claire Clark and she is a master patessier and meeting her will grant me bragging rights till the day I die. I've been reworking the disaster of my entrement from last week and hopefully the new and improved will be edible enough to have a 'master patessier' take a bite. I'll post a picture when all is said and done.

Today we were also introduced to the pretentious world of chocolate tasting. We spent a whole afternoon tasting different kinds of chocolate and like wine snobs pretending to pick up aromas from the chocolate. "I taste tobacco yet smell flora." "Though I liked the earthy tones to it, the snap wasn't crisp enough for my liking." That's the snobbery we threw around today. And just for those wondering what a lady like myself, with a birthday around the corner, likes my new found saying 'the bitter, the better.'

And thanks to the people who raised concern about the bike thief. All I can say is that the situation is taken care of and because of an oath of silence(mainly for legal issues) I can't divulge in any way as to how if got back in my hands. But my lovely bike is home and being ridden on a daily basis.

Vegan Baking

We were given a list of wide ranging topics that we had to produce a tiny presentation for. While we've had ones on Indian Sweets, El Bulli's influence on modern cuisine and one on wine and dessert pairings where the whole class got drunk off wine and giggled, I choose to do mine on Vegan Baking. I made a couple vegan cupcakes based on recipes from the beyond awesome baking book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Some banana peanut butter cupcakes, espresso flavored and even ventured into the unknown with some curry & coconut cupcakes. I swear I'm not patting my own back but you couldn't tell these puppies were dairy free. They were rich and moist and so good. The banana peanut butter were the class favorite but I knew that would happen. A person that doesn't love bananas and peanut butter is a madman. I have to say the spices one were my personal favorite. I don't think my presentation trumped the other gal who got us drunk but just in case your egg less next time you consider whipping together some muffins here's some alternatives:

Ener-g Egg Replacer (tapioca starch and potato flour)
Method: 1 ½ tbsp Ener-g Egg + 2 tbsp Water= 1 egg
Use: Good replacement when eggs act as an emulsifier or binder in a recipe.

Silken Tofu
Method: ¼ cup blended= 1 Egg
Use: Dense Cakes, Brownies. Used as a Binder. Also good as a replacement in recipes like tiramisu & custards.

Flax Seed
Method: 1 tbsp ground Flax Seed + 3 tbsp water= 1 egg
Use: Pancakes, Whole Grain Items. Used as a binder.
Caution: don’t use if recipe calls for more than 2 eggs.

Baking Powder/Corn Starch
Method: 2 tbsp warm water + 1 tsp Baking Powder or 2 tbsp water + 2 tbsp Corn Starch= 1 egg
Use: To replace leavening produced with eggs with a chemical leavener

Bananas
Method: ½ blended banana + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar/lemon juice=1 egg
Use: In quick breads and muffins, cakes. Also used as a fat replacer in recipes.

Psyllium Husk
Method: 1 Tablespoon Psyllium Husk Seeds+ 2 Tablespoons water = 1 egg (the longer they sit in water the "eggier" they become)
Use: Same results as with flax seed mixture

Dairy Free Milk
Method: 1 cup Soy/Nut/Rice Milk + 1 tbsp Sugar
Use: As an ‘egg’ wash

Sunday Morning

After much debate and headache I had to finalize my choice of flavor for the cake project. I really wanted to do something colorful, full of flavor and something no one else in the class would do. Well, I surely was the only one with this flavor combination but I over did it resulting in a dessert that was too sweet for a second bite.

I'll dissect it for you, starting for the bottom up:

A shortbread crust added for a little crunch

Deluce De Leche smothered a top which is similar in taste to butterscotch and is simply accomplished by simmering a can of condensed milk in water for two(to top a sundae) to four(a toffee texture) hours

Next is an orange sponge, which is light in texture but has a tart texture because of the oranges

Layered with Chai Pastry cream which I let simmer overnight to bring out the millions of spices in Chai

Then comes an Earl Grey Cake, which I thought would compliment the chai and chocolate flavors but turned out bland and unrecognizable with the rest of the cake

Another layer of orange sponge, and painted with a bitterchocolate ganache

Decorated with candied oranges(cause of time restraint they were too wet) and sable cookies sandwiched between chai pastry cream dressed with cocoa beans

I took a peak of Chef when he was test biting my cake and he had the "ohhh, way too sweet" face and I knew I was doomed. I tasted the cakes on there own and concurred they were lovely but once I had a nibble of the final product I knew I did too much. All the flavors were overwhelming but I learnt an important lesson today; less is more. Especially in developing pastries. Chef defiantly credited my creativity in the cake but we both agreed it was too much. The other pastry ladies in my class made some really fantastic cakes, kiwi & mango mousses, banana & hazelnut cake, lemon chiffon & pardon the pun, the one that took the cake was defiantly a pistachio cake with marscapone filling, a crunchy white praline on the bottom & topped with poached pears.

On an extra shitty note, my bike was stolen. There was biblical rain on Friday and with full hands I decided to leave my bike, locked of course, outside of school and when I returned on Monday it was gone. And the cherry on top was when I was walking home Monday I noticed my bike half a block away from my house locked up to a post in front of a huge apartment complex. My conundrum is what to do about my beloved bike. Leave a note on the bike gently explaining how much I miss it? Knock on every door apartment door and flatly accuse anyone that crosses my path? Or let fate have its way?