la belle patisserie

We're Moving

2011-08-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

For everyone who has followed la belle patisserie, you may have noticed the absence of posts in the last couple years. I started the blog to kind of detail my adventures in pastry school. But soon the combo of school, job and relationship made it more difficult to keep up. I am now done with pastry school (although still in school), but I wanted to start a new blog. The concept is more recipe oriented and focuses on both baking and cooking. I invite you to check it out...it may be slow to start, but I hope I can keep it going.

dough bakeshop & The Savory Kitchen

Fun Cakes

2010-01-08T23:31:00.017-06:00

So, I know it's been close to a year since I last posted. I hope I still have friends that might still read this. Problem is I have been so ridiculously busy and then I just got behind. And then I didn't want to post until I could catch up and that never happened. So in an effort to get myself back in the blogoshpere I thought I would share some of the cakes (and some cupcakes) I have done since I've been gone.

Texas Independence Day Cake & Burnt Orange Cupcakes

Pickup Truck Cake

Coors Light Bottle

Fondant with black scrollwork

Graduation Cake

Wedding Shower Cupcakes

Laura's Surprise Strawberry Cupcakes....two months later

2009-03-10T19:55:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite friends had a birthday back in January and so we all gathered for a little surprise birthday at Cuba Libra on Henderson in her honor. Side note: If you ever find yourself at Cuba Libra, I recommend the Dugeness Crab BLT Tacos and Mango margarita.

I thought it would be nice to make Laura some cupcakes, so I called her up and told her I would like to bake something for her since I had to work all weekend and was going to miss her birthday. (just fyi: DID NOT ruin the surprise. Even though I am sure some people would peg me as the type to spill the beans). Laura decided she wanted Strawberry cupcakes. Seriously? I haven't had a strawberry cupcake since the 2nd grade, but I would make it work. I scoured the web for some recipes (because I didn't want to use a box).

I found one recipe that used strawberry puree, strawberry gelatin and white cake box mix. I thought I could use it as a guideline to create my own from scratch strawberry cake. But I bought a box of cake mix and some extra frozen strawberries, just in case. In the end, the whole adventure turned out wonderfully.

Strawberry batter

Pretty in Pink

Strawberry Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream

My friend loved (I'm pretty sure) the cupcakes and I was very satisfied how they turned out. I decided on a vanilla buttercream for the frosting. I think if I do strawberry cupcakes again, I might try a different frosting. The strawberry cake is so sweet I think I need an icing that will downplay the sweetness. Perhaps cream cheese?

Surprise!!

How do I get a birthday tiara?!

Make a wish

Let me admit that it has been too long since I made these cupcakes. Since I altered a recipe and I didn't write it down (iiiii-diot) I am going off my memory. I am pretty sure this will work out well...if it doesn't, ooops?

Here's the recipe:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 3-ounce box strawberry gelatin
1 10-ounce package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons milk*

Procedure:
Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
Cream butter and sugar
Mix in vanilla
Add eggs gradually
Add flour and strawberry puree alternately, beginning and ending with flour
Add milk in as needed*

*Since there was the strawberry puree, I used this as the liquid ingredient. The batter was a little thick, so I added milk a tablespoon at a time. I also needed to be careful not to overmix. So I would just be careful if you do end up making this recipe.

Maybe I should've given up bread...

2009-03-09T22:50:00.005-05:00

For Lent this year I gave up sweets. Pretty big sacrifice given I am in school for pastry. I do have a provision I can taste in class. And I have been really, really good about the tasting. But bread, bread is a different story. And I think this particular day was the first Tuesday after Ash Wednesday. We made four breads that week, one being brioche. I cannot say enough about how wonderfully delicious (and sinfully fattening) brioche is. We made up the bread in three ways: loafs, grand tetes and tetes. The tetes are usually baked in a fluted bowl, but we improvised and just used a round bowl for the big ones, and the fluted tartlet pans for the small ones.

Brioche Loaf

Brioche in a bowl...or how we baked our Grand Tetes

Brioche Grand Tetes -- finished product

Brioche Tetes...aka individual pieces of yummyness

The second bread we did was challah. My roommate really loves challah so I brought home two loves - one for her and one for work. (I like to bring my breads to work so I can share my breads with others since my family is so far away). The coolest thing about the challah was the braiding. I always feel so accomplished when I do something so neat. Practicals are this week, so we'll see how well I remember the six braided technique.

Six-braided Challah loaf

The next bread was an olive fougasse. This bread was pretty good, and had a really cool makeup. Surprisingly, I hate olives (especially black), but I don't mind black olives in bread. I liked it better than the olive bread we made earlierr in the semester.

Olive Fougasse

Finally, we made aloo paratha, which is an Indian bread stuffed with potatoes and spices. We topped it with a tasty cucumber yougurt, provided by J. Mac's husband. It's always a treat when he makes his cameos in class because it usually means we're getting something good to eat.

Aloo Paratha

with cucumber yougurt

Ice Creams and Plate Presentation

2009-03-08T21:49:00.004-05:00

About three or four weeks were dedicated to ice cream and plate presentations. We started with the basics: chocolate and vanilla. We could have done coffee instead of chocolate, but when ever confronted with a variation our group always picks chocolate. To go with the ice cream we made almond tuiles, which is basically a very thin cookie that can be shaped right after being pulled from the oven. They taste similar to and ice cream cone. This was the week after the wonderful caramel sauce so we decided to do caramel again along with a raspberry coulis. There was an attempt at white chocolate, but it didn't really turn out for us.

Just playing around...

The first week we did the tuiles, we didn't form them soon enough after pulling them out of the oven, so as you can see they are all flat. The following week we learned from our mistakes and was able to give our cookies some shape.

Here are some of the other plate presentations with ice cream:

Kiwi coulis, white chocolate sauce &
Mango-Kiwi Philly Style Ice Cream

Strawberry-Kiwi Sorbet...or maybe Raspberry
I can't remember, but it was good!

Japonaise Meringue, Caramel Cage & Fresh fruit

Peach Napolean with Peach Ice Cream

Frozen Mousse

Poached Pear in Wine

i heart bread

2009-03-05T00:27:00.003-06:00

I can't say how much I just love Breads & Rolls. Bread is a long process - we make the doughs on Monday to ferment overnight and then bake off on Tuesday - and we are usually baking about 5 breads each week. The ice day we had at the beginning of the semester set us back so we've been playing catch up ever since so we could make all the breads on our syllabus. And all of the breads we've made in class have been a huge hit at work. This week was particulary awesome because we made English muffins and at the time I was eating English muffins every morning for breakfast. It's also fun to learn how to shape, like boules, batards and baguettes. Here's a look at our breads:

Whole Wheat Batard

Semolina Boule

Garlic and Cheese Drop Biscuits

Focaccia Bread

English Muffins

JELLO Puddings

2009-03-03T20:59:00.004-06:00

Let me start by saying this was by far my least favorite week (if weeks were strictly decided by desserts). We made several different types of puddings and souffles. It is always fun to learn how to bake different types of deliciousness, but I am not going to lie, it's a little bit more fun when I enjoy what I ~~eat~~ taste.*

I will rank in order of yummyness:

Savory Souffle (aka Cheese Souffle) who doesn't lurve baked eggs and cheese?!
Caramel Sauce ok, technically NOT an individual dessert, but was perfect for dipping apple slices
Steamed Blueberry Pudding I was totally surprised this was sooo good
Chocolate Bread Pudding as a chocoholic, I was disappointed I didn't enjoy this more
Chocolate Souffle see above note. Chocolate and eggs - not a winning combo
Rice Pudding it wasn't horrible, but the texture was just weird

Savory Souffle

Souffle Anecdote: In the bakeshop we have several smaller size mixers (think KitchenAid size as opposed to the larger 12 quart mixers we use for most everything else) that we use a lot for whipping creams & egg whites. On this particular day, there were not enough whips (the whisk looking attachment) and instead of waiting for one to become available I decided to start whipping the egg whites by hand. Lemme tell you, it was certainly an arm work out, but I got the whites to stiff peaks and the souffles turned out great! I know it's not really a major feat, but in this day and age where we depend on electronics for everything I felt rather accomplished.

Rice Pudding

Individual Rice Pudding Portion

Caramel Sauce

Caramel Sauce Anecdote: This caramel sauce looked too good to use just for rice pudding (which as I mentioned was texturely unappealing). The Subway at school sells apple slices so me and another group member took a little field trip to Subway during class so we could enjoy a tasty snack. It was worth every penny.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Individual Bread Pudding Portion

Steamed Blueberry Pudding

Steamed Blueberry Pudding with Hard Sauce

I had never heard of steamed blueberry pudding, but this was really good. It's basically brown sugar, butter, bread crumbs, milk & blueberries (with small amounts of eggs, cinnamon and flour). We topped it with a hard sauce which is very similar to a buttercream frosting, but with a higher percentage of butter. The hard sauce melted on top of the blueberry pudding creating a really nice rich flavor.

Up Next: Ice Creams!! And lots of plate presentations....

*I would like to say I can just taste the items we bake in class, but that would be a flat out lie. I do have a sweet tooth, and recently it has been a little out of control so for Lent I gave up sweets (quelle horreur!). The provision is I can only TASTE in class.

[Thinking of a clever title about bread]

2009-02-24T21:13:00.003-06:00

Not that my blog title's are all that clever....

One of the great joys of this semester is coming home on Tuesday night with fresh baked bread*. For some reason it seems like such a great accomplishment to me to create a rye loaf or semolina boule. There really is an art to bread, and though it may not be my favorite thing to make, it is certainly a wonderful knowledge to have. My instructor[J. Mac]**, who teaches both my classes, is from Scotland and it's so much fun to listen to her Scottish accent all day. And she also provides us with a lot of instruction. Seriously, I just did a six braided Challah loaf today...but that will be for another post.

Grissini Bread Sticks (with parmesan & garlic)

Soft Rolls

Rye Loaves

Are you totally impressed?!

I am waaaay too lazy to make bread at home (there are 12 steps & fermentation takes so long) so it will really be sad once this semester comes to an end.

*It always goes so well with my Corner Bakery salad, which has become a Tuesday night staple after spending the entire day eating sweets and bread. And it seriously puts the CB ciabatta roll to shame

**J. Mac is just a nickname, but it has a nice ring to it. And she loves it!

I'm Back!....

2009-02-23T23:11:00.004-06:00

...And hopefully with more frequent updates. I have been back in school for over a month and it has been full of fun desserts, delicious breads, and lots of learning. Unfortunately, I do not have as much free time this semester as I did last semester. I seriously have about twenty blog entries that I want to do, but just can't seem to dedicate the time necessary to upload pictures, type out recipes, etc. The saddest part of all: I haven't even been able to keep up with my favorite blogs.

Anyhow, onto the fun stuff. This semester I am taking two lab [baking] classes (as opposed to lecture classes): Advanced Pastry Shop and Breads & Rolls. Advanced Pastry is a great deal of fun. We've made some wonderful desserts: Creme Brulee, Chocolate Mousse, Bread Pudding & Ice Cream are just a few. The best part is the plate presentation. We make a lot of different fruit coulis, dessert sauces and cookies to create our plate presentations for our desserts. Here are some of the early desserts:

Creme Brulee

Bavarian Cream [back] & Chocolate Mousse [front]

The First Plate Presentation [Bavarian Cream]

Fruit Bavarian

Lemme just admit that I have a wicked sweet tooth. And I have a special place in my heart for chocolate. The day we did all of these desserts I made the rookie mistake of not eating before school. (Seriously, going to school hungry is by far the WORST thing a girl can do). Anyway, by the end of the day I had the worst stomach ache from all the sugar, but it was worth it because all of the above items were delish.

I am really going to try and catch up. I will be back soon with some words and pictures about bread.

Dessert Party Recipes: Nut Cookies and Jam Tarts

2009-02-03T21:57:00.004-06:00

Miracle of all miracles! A new post! I apologize for not posting at all recently, but I have been tres, tres busy. School started a couple weeks ago and between school and work I have had very little free time. And since school is back in session I really need to get this blog updated so I can share all my fun from the bakeshop. But for right now I am going to share some more Dessert Party recipes. The dessert party that was over a month ago. I feel like such a slacker.

Nut Cookie

Jam Tarts

I made both nut cookies and jam tarts during fundamentals last semester and they were both recipes I really wanted to try again at home. And I think they are perfect holiday cookies. I also got some graduated fluted round cookie cutters from Santa Claus that I was dying to use. Since both of these recipes are from school the ingredients are weighed, not measured.

NUT COOKIE

7 oz. Butter
2 1/2 oz. Powdered sugar
1 oz. Brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Sea salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
8 oz. Bread flour
6 oz. Ground nuts*

Procedure:

Preheat oven until 350 degrees
Cream butter and sugars
Mix in flour, salt vanilla and ground nuts
Mold cookies into desired shapes
Bake until golden brown
Dust cooled cookies with confectioners' sugar

*You can use whatever kind of nuts you prefer. I used pecans.

-- -- -- -- -- --

The Jam Tarts are a short dough cookie with a jam filled center. We used a Stawberry Sambuca Jam my mom got at a craft fair and Smuckers Red Raspberry Jam.

BASIC SHORT DOUGH

8 oz. Butter
4 oz. Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Egg
3/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract
12 oz. Pastry flour*

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cream butter and sugar
Add egg
Mix in flour, salt and vanilla
After mixing the dough it's best to refrigerate the dough so the dough is cold when you are ready to roll it out
Roll out dough to 1/8-in. thick and cut out dough with large, round cutters. Using a 1/2-in. cutter, cut out the centers of half the rounds
Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges. It's best to put the tops and bottoms on separate cookie sheets to ensure even baking
Once baked, cool completely
Sandwich the tops and bottoms together with a small dab of jam, so the jam shows through the hole on top
Dust the tops with confectioners' sugar (don't worry if the sugar covers the jam in the center hole. The water in the jam will absorb the sugar)

*You can substitute all-purpose flour for pastry flour

Dessert Party Recipes: Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Whipped Cream

2009-01-19T18:25:00.004-06:00

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Whipped Cream

I believe my oven woes have been well documented, so I was determined to make a cheesecake when I went home over the holidays. When we decided to add a second cheesecake to the menu, I asked for some suggestions and my brother wanted Pumpkin. I made this cheesecake the previous year for Thanksgiving; it's a great Paula Deen recipe. I thought adding a fresh bourbon whipped cream would enhance the flavor. Unfortunately, I failed to try the cheesecake with the whipped cream because I don't really like pumpkin flavor.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick salted butter, melted

Filling:

3 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sourcream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For Crust:
Combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon
Add melted butter
Press into 9-in. springform pan

For Filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth
Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar & spices
Add flour and vanilla
Beat together until well combined
Pour mixture into crust

Bake for one hour. Remove for oven and let sit for 15 mins.*

*Once the cheesecake has finished baking I like to turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for an hour with the door ajar to prevent cracking.

BOURBON WHIPPED CREAM

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon

Procedure:

Whip cream and sugar until stiff peaks form
Fold in bourbon

Dessert Party Recipes: French Chocolate Bark

2009-01-13T19:55:00.004-06:00

French Chocolate Bark

My mom and I were watching and episode of Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network and saw Ina prepare this recipe. Conveniently, we had some whole cashews and craisens already so we decided to add it to the line up. It's super easy to prepare and it turned out quite nicely. Although, the chocolate was a little to dark for me. I'm more of a milk chocolate girl, but whatevs.

FRENCH CHOCOLATE BARK

9 1/2 oz. very good semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 oz. very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole roasted, sald cashews
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Procedure:

Melt the two chocolates in a double boiler (or in a glass bowl over simmer water if you don't have a double boiler)
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper; using a ruler and pencil, draw a 9 x 10 rectangle and turnover (so pencil marks are on the bottom)
Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spreadto form a rectangle, using the outline
Sprinkle cashews, apricot, and cranberries over chocolate
Set aside for 2 hours to firm
Cut into 1 x 3-inch and serve at room temperature

I think this would be a fun recipe to play with and create different types of bark with various types of chocolate, nuts and fruit.

Dessert Party Recipes: Turtle Bars

2009-01-09T11:00:00.005-06:00

Turtle Bars*

Turtle bars are becoming a holiday must in our family [or maybe just with me]. They are so simple to make and so yummy. My mom found this recipe several years back in a magazine, but I am not sure which one [or I would give credit where credit is due].

TURTLE BARS

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup unsalted butter

Caramel:
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 cup pecan halves, toasted
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together flour, sugar and butter until well blended and crumbly
Press mixture evenly into an ungreased 9 x 13 x 2 metal pan
Bake until golden brown (about 15 mins.)
Maintain oven temperature
Bring remaining sugar, butter and cream to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves
Boil for one minute, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat
Sprinkle toasted pecans over baked crust
Pour caramel over the pecans
Bake until bubbles form and color darken (about 20 mins.)
Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate
Let stand until chocolate melts; with an offset spatula spread chocolate evenly over top
Chill bars until chocolate sets; cut into 1-inch squares to serve

The bars can be served at room temperature, but I really like them refrigerated. Seriously people, you must try these!

*Did you notice the cute little turtles on the serving platter??

Dessert Party

2009-01-06T19:55:00.003-06:00

Happy 2009!! I can't believe it's already a new year. 2008 seemed to fly by.

So while I was home we hosted a Dessert Open House for friends and neighbors. My mom and I spent two days in the kitchen baking ten desserts. It was total sugar overload, but everything turned out so nicely. Although I am bummed I forgot to taste the cheesecake...a girl can only eat so much. Here's a look at our spread...

Table of desserts

Here is a list of our selections. I will feature each one in a separate post with the recipe. Because it would be a little insane to do it all in one post.

Turtle Bars
French Chocolate Bark
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Whipped Cream
Jam Tarts
Nut Cookies
Bourbon Pecan Pie
Vanilla Mascarpone Cheesecake with Mixed Berry Compote
Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Pineapple Coconut Bars
Devil's Food Cake with Peppermint Frosting

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Tommy made some chocolate chip cookies.

Award Winning Cheesecake

2008-12-25T19:27:00.003-06:00

Yup, you read that right, I have an award winning cheesecake! Granted, it was an elementary recipe contest among the employees where I work, but I won nonetheless.

Award Winning Andes Mint Cheesecake

I was hoping I would win, especially since there was a $100 prize, but I tried to prepare myself for defeat. When my name was called I was so excited I started screaming with joy and jumping up and down (in 4-inch heels...). I don't think my coworkers were prepared for my jubilation.

I Won!!!

In other news, I am home for the holidays until Dec. 30th. My mom is hosting a dessert open house for some of our friends and neighbors so there is quite a lot of baking to be done. At last count, there were 6 or 7 desserts planned. I think I will feature each one of the desserts and the recipes over the next couple weeks or so (I am not dedicated enough to write a post everyday) so I can provide some new content, pictures and recipes! So keep reading. And I hope everyone's Christmas was as great as mine!!

Masterpiece

2008-12-14T20:19:00.006-06:00

The end of the semester has finally arrived. It is nice to have some free time, but class is fun too because I get to bake. I will just have to make the most of winter break. Wednesday was my final practical for cake decorating. Our task was to create a two-tiered wedding cake with fondant and gum paste flowers. But because I am me, and I am crazy, I made a three-tiered wedding cake. I didn't want to go the super traditional route - white cake, roses, etc. - so I used chocolate fondant instead. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake. I think it turned out beautifully and I couldn't be happier.

The prep work took quite a bit of time...more than I had anticipated. First, I had to cut the individual layers out of sheet cake and each tier had to be two layers (2 12-in., 2 8-in., & 2 4-in.). Second, there was the frosting each layers with a buttercream crumb coat. Third, there was the bead border - individually fondant beads in three signature colors [espresso, bone & champagne], which also meant hand coloring white fondant. I think I made about 300 beads (to be on the safe side). And finally, there were the gum paste flowers which is a painstakingly delicate process...and nearly drove me to insanity. Just ask my roommate.

The crumb coat...

Here are some full view pictures from a couple different angles...

And some close-up shots...

The "champagne" beads [gold] were dusted with a gold luster. I don't have the exact bead count, but it was very close to 200.

Now I need to focus on baking for my work holiday party. There is a $100 prize and I intend to win. I am entering two desserts: Mint Chocolate Cupcakes and Andes Mint Cheesecake. I figured it would increase my chances to take home the prize. If you don't know, I am a bit competitive so I won't be very happy if I don't walk away a winner.

White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes: The Recipe

2008-12-08T22:25:00.003-06:00

Here is the recipe for the White Chocolate Mocha cupcakes:

Cupcake**:

Butter 9 oz.
Sugar 15 oz.
Sea Salt 1 tsp.
Bittersweet 3 oz.
Chocolate, melted
Semi-Sweet 3 oz.
Chocolate, melted
Eggs 8 oz.
Cake flour 12 oz.
Baking Powder .5 oz.
Milk 7 oz.
Coffee 7 oz.
Vanilla extract .25 oz.

Procedure:

Cream together butter and sugar
Blend in melted chocolate
Add eggs until mixed in, one at a time
Add sifted dry ingredients and liquid ingredients alternately in three parts, beginning and ending with flour (1/3 dry, 1/2 liquid, 1/3 dry, 1/2 liquid, 1/3 dry)

**This recipe calls for ingredients to be weighed, not measured. So, for example, if you measure 1 1/2 cups flour instead of weighing out 12 oz. it may not translate and I can't promise the cupcakes will turn out the way you want**

White Chocolate Buttercream:

1 cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
6 oz. white chocolate, melted
3-5 tblspns heavy cream

Procedure:

Sift confectioners sugar and beat with butter
Add chocolate and heavy cream
Beat for 3-4 minutes

Like I mentioned in the previous post, I kind of took some liberties with the type of chocolate and added coffee from the basic chocolate cake formula I found in my textbook. The outcome was good, but I think it is a recipe that can be improved.

White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

2008-12-07T23:55:00.004-06:00

As soon as I claimed my mixer on Friday afternoon I decided it had to be used immediately. I was actually planning on making cupcakes, so it was pretty much an added bonus I finally had a stand mixer instead of my hand-held mixer that I don't like very much because it is just too fast. Anyway, I have been wanting to attempt this recipe for a while now. I didn't really find it from anywhere so I had to scour websites, blogs and cookbooks to find an acceptable recipe for both the cupcakes and the frosting. One of the main problems I had was I wanted to use melted chocolate (a mixture of bittersweet and semisweet) and all the recipes I was finding called for unsweetened cocoa powder. And then I remember I am a baking student with a big fat text book, and voila, I had a recipe.

Since I pulled a recipe from my textbook, I need to weigh the ingredients instead of measuring.

Getting ready to scale out ingredients

Weighing the butter

The recipe I used was for a basic chocolate butter cake, but I took some liberties here and there. I really wanted a cake with a strong coffee flavor, not a chocolate cake with a hint of coffee. The formula called for 14 oz. of milk, so I substituted 7 oz. of milk and 7 oz. of cold coffee. The flavor worked out well, but I think I need to increase the amount of chemical leaveners I use next time.

Coffee & Milk mixture

My machine, hard at work, creaming butter...

And my beautiful batter...

This formula yielded approximately 36 cupcakes. They were on the smaller side and they didn't rise very well, but I suspect that is because of the proportion of coffee vs. the proportion of baking powder. And since I totally altered the recipe in a somewhat major way, I really wasn't expecting perfection in the presentation the first go at it.

Cupcakes cooling...boy, those look good

Next up, I had to prepare the white chocolate buttercream. For the frosting, I found a recipe online so I turned out quite nice.

I usually like to ice with a large star tip, but typically I think it leaves the cupcakes with a little too much frosting, plus since my formula gave me 36 cupcakes, I wasn't really sure if I would have enough frosting. Instead of a large star tip, I used a #12 round tip. They still looked pretty and I had just enough frosting.

Frosting the cupcakes

The finished product looked nice and tasted wonderful. I think the flavor balanced out nicely, but the frosting could of had a little more chocolaty flavor.

White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

I promise I will post the formulas later.

"Santa! I know him!"

2008-12-06T13:43:00.003-06:00

I received a very special delivery from the North Pole yesterday!!

My very own, very beautiful KitchenAid stand mixer!! Look at that dough hook! I was so excited I couldn't wait to use it. I broke it in with some White Chocolate Mocha cupcakes (Mocha cake with white chocolate buttercream). I'll post more on that later. Thanks, Santa!! And give the reindeer a little treat from me.

Guest Post: Flan, and more

2008-11-30T17:49:00.011-06:00

Note from Megan: My brother and I grew up in a family that loves to cook and try out new recipes. Tommy cooks more often than I, and has been quite the entertainer and experimenter lately so I have invited him to be a guest poster and add some additional content and commentary whenever he pleases. This is his first post, but we at la belle patisserie hope he shares his kitchen triumphs with us again!

In my last year of law school I've had several people over for dinner, with the idea that now is the time to live it up, and maybe that these dinners will some day encourage future visits to Dallas by my friends once we all leave C-ville. With these dinners I'm much more of a tinkerer with various protein entrees--fish, poultry, etc.--but in order to provide a complete experience and encourage my friends to help my roommate and I finish off the wine & beer we collect, I have been working with desserts now, too.

Aside from bananas foster (which involves a cheap, low key caramel), this was my first attempt at caramelizing sugar. There were a few technical missteps at the
beginning due to my unfamiliarity with my stove, but the result was just darker caramel, which I think results in a more bitter flavor. Ultimately, the key points I deduced from caramelizing are: (1) only stir the sugar/water suspension until it becomes a solution. Be as precise as possible. (2) Once you get close to the color you want for your caramel, watch very carefully. The solution heats unevenly, and gold turns to brown very quickly. Of course, if you hit brown, this is no problem for flan, as the recipe suggests a slightly bitter caramel is offset by the sweetness of the creme, so all is good.

Everything else about flan is rather simple. Some recipes call for a water bath. I found a recipe that instead just required a longer baking time (2 hours at 225F), which saved me the slight hassle of having to make a water bath with my limited baking supplies. Additionally, the recipe I used called for using a vanilla bean, letting it steep in the milk. I don't cook enough (ever) with vanilla bean, so I wasn't about to shell out 12 bucks for a couple bean pods.¹ Instead, I subbed 1tsp vanilla extract for 1 bean. Various internet sources suggested using somewhere between 1tsp and 2tsp, but I decided to go low. Also, low on kosher salt, I subbed in sea salt. Surely this is a no-no for baking purists, but like I said, I'm more about the entrees.

You can find the recipe here.

All in all, it turned out to be pretty good. We all enjoyed the food and had some great conversation.

Flan before it was set to cool.

Flan after I'd already taken a couple bites.

The Meal

As for the rest of the meal, we had some bacon wrapped sea scallops, served with rice and toasted almonds and sauteed asparagus. Throughout the meal we enjoyed three varieties of white wine: Gallo Pinot Gris, Nobilo Savignon Blanc, and Martin Codar Albarino (all 2007). All were spectacular. A tip for bacon wrapped scallops - two toothpicks per scallop is better than one--the second pick will help tremendously in both preparation and while cooking. Just don't forget to remove them before you serve them.

Scallops. And glorious bacon.

FN1: While I didn't buy the vanilla beans, I almost did because of the time of year. I recently saw a food network recipe that involved using vanilla beans for mulled wine. After warming sugar and water, they added wine, a few sliced vanilla beans, plus a bouquet garni of cardamom pods (~5), cloves(~5), and two sticks of cinnamon. Mulled wine - why not?

A little tangent

2008-11-30T16:06:00.004-06:00

As many you know I have a little obsession with college football and my beloved Texas Longhorns. Today is a sad day for me as 6 computers decided that the root of all evil, Oklahoma Sooners, were a superior team to the Texas Longhorns even though Texas beat OU on a neutral field, 45-35. Seriously?! My heart has broken for the 2nd time this season and my hate (yes, I know it is a strong emotion) for OU has never run deeper. I just needed to get that off my chest.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star...

2008-11-29T00:15:00.005-06:00

Here are some of my latest cakes. There are only two because last week we were introduced gum paste flowers and this week was cut short by Thanksgiving. I am disappointed that the pictures of the sea shell cake are a little off. It just doesn't do the cake justice.

Moon & Stars

Seashell Cake

Seashell Cake -- aerial view

Oh, how I miss the beach. Why did I move?

Cookies + Brownies = YUMMY

2008-11-27T23:05:00.005-06:00

Sometimes I struggle to come up with creative blog entry titles. I admit, the above title is rather lame and/or cheesy, but it will have to do. C'est la vie. And now for the actual commentary.

The school semester is quickly coming to an end. Which is good and bad. It's fun to be able to bake and decorate at no cost to me (well except for tuition, but that's just a technicality) and I think my oven issues have been well documented. But I am ready for a break from studying and projects (oh yes, it is not all just fun and games). We have ended fundamentals with cookies and brownies.

In the past two weeks we have made: devil's food cake with chocolate buttercream, jam tarts, nut cookies, Texas Gold cookies, butter cookies, bicotti and brownies. The Texas Gold cookies were definitely one of my favorites and probably a cookie I will make again in the future. I promise that one day I will pass on that recipe. Here is a little looksy at the products.

Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

The jam tarts are a basic short dough cookie with a raspberry jam filling and then finished with powdered sugar. In my opinion, they are the perfect cookie for a Mr. S. Claus on Christmas eve.

Jam Tarts

Nut Cookies

The Texas Gold cookies were super soft, super chewy and super chocolate-y (and I think everyone knows by now how I heart chocolate). The cookie dough is made with unsweetened & bittersweet chocolate and has semi-sweet chocolate chips....that's three different types of chocolate if you weren't counting.

Texas Gold cookies

The butter cookies were made with a good amount of almond paste so they were more like almond butter cookies. After mixing the dough was placed in a pastry bag and piped onto a sheet pan. Don't they look pretty?

Butter cookie -- make-up

Unfortunately, the dough was too warm before going into the oven and then cookies spread and lost their form. But it didn't affect the flavor.

Butter cookie -- finished product

Biscotti

We had some leftover buttercream from the devil's food cake the week before, so we frosted our brownies with some of the delicious buttercream.

Brownie

Next week is practicals and I will get a second attempt at the almond butter cookies. I also have to bake the lemon buttermilk pound cake from a couple weeks ago. I'll let you know how it turns out. And maybe (if I get my act together) I can send some pound cake to North Carolina and Virgnia.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T22:56:00.003-06:00

Cooper and Pekoe sharing a meal

Update: a certain orange cat pictured above went to the vet for his yearly checkup. Apparently all his trips to the dog food bowl has caused our little Garfield to put on some pounds and now has to go on a diet.

The Cheesecake Conclusion

2008-11-22T16:45:00.002-06:00

I know everyone has been holding their breath with anticipation waiting to hear how the cheesecake finally turned out after approximately two and one half hours of baking. You will notice this post lacks any photo evidence of baking. The final presentation was not very pretty, but the taste was wonderful. I actually tried something a little different this time for my cheesecake. Instead of 32 oz. of cream cheese I substituted mascarpone cheese for 8 oz. of the cream cheese. The recipe I used has been adapted from Joy of Cooking, a must have for any cook or baker.

Graham Cracker Crumb Crust:

4 tblspn unsalted butter
1 c graham cracker crumbs

Cheesecake Filling:

24 oz cream cheese
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1 1/3 c sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c sour cream
2 tspn vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine butter and graham cracker crumbs. Coat bottom of springform pan evenly.

In a large bowl mix cream cheese and mascarpone. Gradually add sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in remaining ingredients until incorporated.

Bake @ 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes (or in my case 120-180 minutes...) Cheesecake should be set, but jiggle slightly in center. Turn oven off and let cool in oven for an hour. Let cool completely before removing from pan. Refrigerate overnight.

I prefer to bake my cheesecakes in a water bath. Once the cheesecake filling has been poured into the springform, place the pan onto a sheet of heavy aluminum foil and fold up the sides of the pan. Place in a large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with boiling water so it reaches halfway up the sides of the springform.

I would love to try this again, but in a more reliable oven. Maybe for a Christmas dessert?

Love/Hate Relationship

2008-11-20T23:32:00.002-06:00

I am a very tired baker right now. And I am currently in the hate phase of my love/hate relationship with my oven.

Now that school is winding down, and two of three projects have been successfully completed and turned in, I have started to focus my energies on recreational baking and trying out new recipes. Tonight I am currently making a vanilla cheesecake which has been in my crappy apartment oven for about two hours. For those of you who don't know, a cheesecake typically takes 55-60 minutes to bake. I am sure a sensible person would ask why I insist on making cheesecakes when I know my oven takes about three times longer to bake them than it should (this is the 2nd cheesecake attempt), but I am headstrong and would scoff at any such person. So instead I am sitting on my couch waiting for a cheesecake that may never finish baking, completely exhausted. And I have an early class tomorrow.

Maybe at a later date I will share some pictures, but I can tell you now it is definitely not a pretty looking cake, but I do believe it will be quite tasty.

Mint Chocolate Chip Deliciousness

2008-11-17T22:38:00.005-06:00

It has been a while since I have been able to bake for fun so I decided last weekend I needed to make some cupcakes. If you have been following, the early part of this fall was dedicated to burnt orange cupcakes so it was definitely time to try something new. I had the perfect recipe in mind: Chocolate Chocolate Chip cupcakes with Mint Buttercream frosting.

Mise en Place

The recipes I used I came across on a now defunct cupcake blog, aptly named the Cupcake Bakeshop. I made a couple of changes to try and get the result I wanted.

Devil's Food Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour (I used cake flour so I added 2 tablespoons)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Mint Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter
4-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk (I used a small amount of cold water)
1/8 teaspoon all natural peppermint extract

I used the creaming method to mix which is as follows:

Cream butter & Sugar;
Gradually add eggs, mix until combined;
Alternately add sifted dry ingredients with liquid, beginning and ending with dry.
In this case the sifted dry was the baking soda and cake flour and the liquid is the milk. I added the flour in three parts. I also incorporated the cocoa powder and vanilla before the flour. Lastly, I folded in the chocolate chips after the batter was mixed.

Make-up & Panning

I filled the cupcake liners 2/3rds full with the batter and baked @ 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. The cupcakes turned out pretty nicely.

Just out of the oven

I usually let my cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes after pulling them out of the oven. I then let the finish cooling on a cooling rack so the bottoms don't get soggy from the steam. I made the cupcakes on Friday evening and waited until Saturday morning to do the frosting. The cupcakes had good flavor, tenderness and moisteness BUT all the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom. Oh, the lessons you learn through your mistakes! Of course I will be trying this recipe again until I get it just right, but I think I will try cutting chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips.

Finished Product: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The flavor combo of Mint Buttercream and Devil's food cake was so delicious! Once I work out the kinks with the chocolate chips/chunks* it will be a most excellent cupcake!

*Someone gave me a tip that if I coat the chocolate chips in flour they won't sink. I asked on of the baking instructors and he said that may not work because chocolate chips have a waxy coating and are heavy. It was suggested I try the chocolate chunks.

Fun with Fondant

2008-11-16T21:42:00.005-06:00

YAY! It's finally here! FONDANT!

So we started working with fondant. I don't really have much commentary so I will just share some cakes. I have included some other cakes from class because I thought they were so pretty.

Front view

Side view

Back view

Alecia's Leaf Cake

Whitney Sprinkle's Flower Cake

Thursday was our first practical for cake decorating II. For several weeks now I have been dying to make a Hungry, Hungry Hippo cake. Originally I was going to do it two weeks ago, but that was the week I was sick. I decided it would be the perfect cake for my midterm. Creative, fun, and requiring multiple techniques. I used buttercream icing, but I kinda wish I had waited and made it with fondant. I guess it's cute enough, but it could have been better.

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

P.S.: My first attempt at a poll has garnered little attention and even fewer votes. It's making me sad...

Foam Cakes

2008-11-16T20:36:00.005-06:00

We have moved on to cakes and cookies in fundamentals, which is both good & bad. Good because cakes and cookies are so yummy; bad because cakes and cookies are so yummy...and I have a rather large sweet tooth.

We started with Angel food and Chiffon cakes. Both cakes have a large amount of egg whites which help the cakes rise. Angel food cake reminds me of my childhood - It seems like every week my parents would be an Angel food cake from Tom Thumb. Normally, I would rave about my bakeshop creations, but truthfully, I still love that Tom Thumb Angel food cake from my childhood so much more! I think it needed some more vanilla. On the other hand, the Chiffon cake was great!

Angel Food Cake

Chiffon Cake

We also baked a lemon buttermilk cake last week which was so delicious! This is a cake I will definitely make again. I think I would like to try it as a layer cake with strawberry filling.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

We ended Tuesday's class period with a traditional favorite: Chocolate Chip cookies. The dough was too warm when we put them in the oven so our cookies spread quite a bit (which according to the instructor is bad. And makes ugly cookies.) But according to those who consumed the "ugly" cookies they were the best cookies ever! (Just fyi: I am not the only one who consumed the cookies. I brought them to work where everyone went crazy for them.) The cookie recipe was just your basic, back of the Tollhouse bag so nothing too special there.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

On deck: Devil's Food Cake

Did you notice that poll on the right hand side????

2008-11-13T20:41:00.001-06:00

You did? Well then why haven't you voted? It will make me feel special.

How Can I Be a Better Blogger?

2008-11-11T16:13:00.007-06:00

1. It would probably help if I stayed up-to-date with the blogging...So in my quest to be a better blogger, I will give a little cake decorating update.

Last week we did doll cakes (which are a little creepy to me) and petits fours (which are pretty much the biggest pain in the ass ever.) The fun part about the [creepy] doll cakes was deciding what to make - after all I wasn't just going to do the run-of-the-mill, plain jane barbie-looking cake. Instead I decided to decorate mine like a Disney Princess (I know, so much more original). I chose Snow White, in part because I was inspired by a friend's Halloween costume. I decided to dye the doll's auburn colored hair black (which was truly a terrible idea) to achieve the full effect.

Snow White

I wasn't crazy about the outcome, but I think it was pretty cute. My friend Dani (she's been wanting some blog love) made a Wonder Woman cake which was truly adorable and original, but boxed it up before I could take a picture.

Thursday was petits fours day. For those of you who might be wondering why petits fours are somewhat pricey, I have an answer: they are messy, time consuming, and NOT fun. Never again, my friends, never again. Plus, the icing is so ridiculously sweet it made me almost sick just eating one. By the time I was done icing the darned things I didn't even want to decorate so they are kind of boring looking.

2. One of the things I love about blogging is the inspiration it provides. I have actually come across some really great & creative blogs* searching for a recipe idea. I also have a dear friend who is somewhat of a blogger savant. I don't know how she finds them, but she has turned me on to some of my favorite blogs. I was thinking about how much I can take away from other people's daily musings, I hope I can provide the same to people who might come across my little internet home. With that in mind, I was thinking I should share a little more of the techniques I learn on a daily basis and some of the recipes we use in class. I think I will start a poll to see what my readers would like to see in the future.

So please, tell me, how can I be a better blogger?

*Sometimes I worry my cakes will end up on Cake Wrecks...please don't submit them.

Pies & Tarts

2008-11-04T19:24:00.008-06:00

"Baby don't you cry, gonna make a pie, gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle. Baby don't be blue, gonna make for you, gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle. Gonna make a pie from heaven above, gonna be filled with strawberry love. Baby don't you cry, gonna make a pie, and hold you forever in the middle of my heart."

--Waitress

The last couple weeks have been focused on pies (and a couple tarts) in my Fundamentals class. I have never really considered myself a 'pie' person. I have a wicked sweet tooth, but I prefer cakes and cookies over pies. But after this class I have learned that pies can be just as divine and yummy as cakes and cookies! And homemade pie dough makes all the difference in the world - the flakiness and the flavor really adds to the pie. Here is a rundown of what we have baked:

Chocolate Cream Pie
Key Lime Pie
Old-Fashioned* Apple Pie
Peach Sour Cream Pie
Cherry Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Walnut Tart
Fruit Tart & Tartlets

We also did cream puffs and eclairs with the pastry cream we made for the Fruit Tart. I don't have pictures of everything, but here's some of our group's beautiful pies (and tarts. and eclairs & cream puffs.).

Cherry

Pumpkin

Pecan

Lemon Meringue

Walnut Tart

Eclairs & Cream Puffs

Fruit Tartlets

Fruit Tart #1**

Fruit Tart #2**

*Old-Fashioned is actually the method used to prepare the pie.

** Our group made two fruit tarts. I did the fruit design on the first tart, and another member of our group, Nicole, did the design on the second tart. We used plums, strawberries, kiwis and mandarin oranges.

Excuses, Excuses...

2008-10-30T22:43:00.003-05:00

I was really going to get this blog back on track and up to date. And then I got sick. You might think that it would be a good time to blog, but it really takes more energy than I have had over the past couple of days. The real bummer is I was sick enough that I missed cake decorating this week - both Wednesday and Thursday! Tragic, I know. So there will be no cute Halloween themed cakes to share...or any cakes for that matter. The good news: I still have lots to share from my fundamentals [of baking] class where we have moved on to pies, tarts and laminated dough. Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! And Hook 'em Horns (because there is a pretty big game this weekend if you haven't heard).

A Plethora of Cakes

2008-10-26T20:35:00.007-05:00

This week has been exhausting. And has not provided ample time for posting. Actually, the only things I have had time for has been school and work...what a glamorous life I lead! But I do have some great cakes to share. There are quite a few pictures so I will keep the words to a minimum. Cake Decorating I ended a couple weeks ago with a two-tiered wedding cake practical; Cake Decorating II commenced last week with more fun character cakes - football helmets, sports balls & dinosaurs. We have a lot more freedom to create all types of fun cakes and I have so many fun ideas! But until then, here is a look at my most recent work.

The "practice" cake

Roses...

...and Rosebuds

The Final

Side View

The Other Side

Front View

and the back

I like to think this is why Texas is still ranked #1

Is this the number of a Heisman winner?

If you know my family, then this cake needs no explanation...

"FORE!"

One of my new favorites...I even gave her a name!

"Lola" the Princess Dinosaur

T H E E N D.

Big Tex says, "Howdy"

2008-10-15T20:55:00.004-05:00

The Ferris Wheel

Last week was practicals in bakeshop (we have to bake something we have previously made in class sans group to assess our proficiency in learning the concepts we have covered in class). This week we started pies - key lime, chocolate creme, old-fashioned apple & peach sour cream - but we were so rushed at the end of class on Tuesday trying to clean that I totally forgot [gasp] to take pictures of my our group's pies. So long story short, I have no recent bakeshop pictures to share. In place of baked goods I will provide you with State Fair of Texas pictorial. Above, the Texas Star Ferris Wheel might be my favorite Dallas landmark.

A quintessential Fair experience....

Enjoying a Fletcher's Corny Dog in front of Big Tex

Me & Laura

I wish I could have been there for Game Day....

Site of the GREATEST game EVER!!!
Texas 45 Oklahoma 35

Not at the Fair, but Texas - OU is another great Texas Fall tradition....

Hook 'em Horns

Wedding Cake Techniques

2008-10-12T22:25:00.003-05:00

Cake Decorating I is coming to an end...but fear not, because Cake Decorating 2 will commence next week so there will be plenty more cake pictures and a lot of new techniques.

To prepare for the end of the class we started learning wedding cake techniques. On Wednesday, we worked on cornelli lace. I applied other techniques I have learned over the past several weeks (six?) to add detail to the cake.

Thursday, we learned how to stack. Let me first say, this might be my LEAST favorite cake. I did a poor job icing the cake, I am not really satisfied with the color palette, and during the decorating of the cake there were several disasters. And I am not being overly dramatic with that statement. At one point my parchment paper broke and the icing and tip fell on the side of the cake. It was not pretty, but I just did what I could since I didn't really have enough time to stack, ice and decorate another cake.

Two tiered "Wedding" cake

String work, Rosebuds, Reverse Shell Border

After I admitted to myself this cake would never live up to my standards I just through some decorations and borders on the top layer to practice and so I would have a finished product.**

Our final class period is on Thursday, so I will really need to refine my game on Wednesday so I can do well on the Final practical.

**If we decided not to bring our cakes home, they are sold at a bake sale.

Cooper in Cake

2008-10-08T21:10:00.007-05:00

Last week we learned some new techniques in cake decorating. On Wednesday we used the projector to create an image on cake. The cards we used were stock images from a file box our instructor provided us...they were all a little cheesy...I think they might be thirty years old, but I decided to have a little fun with it. This is the image I chose:

After placing the image in the projector I used a black piping gel to outline wherever you see a black line. After the image was outlined, I used the airbrush to fill in the image with the appropriate colors. It kinda looked like a big mess because the rainbow colors were running into eachother and I, of course, could not deal with an ugly cake. I decided to pipe in the icing on the rainbow and flowers so the final product was a blend of airbrush and buttercream piping. The clouds I actually always planned to pipe with white icing to give it some texture.

"Have a Great Day!!" Cake

Our instructor encouraged write a message on the cake to practice our writing. It reads, "Have a Great Day!!" I thought it went with the image. An check out this shell border:

Two-tone color shell border

On Thursday our task was to create a shaggy dog cake. Now anyone who knows me knows that as soon as our instructor charged us with a dog cake my cake had to look like my own adorable dog. Since Cooper is not a shaggy mutt, I had to do some improvising. Using the techniques I learned from the hamburger cake I was able to create a smooth, round dog. I then used an airbrush for the coloring. I think it turned out so cute! You can hardly tell the difference between the cake and the actual dog...ok, maybe that's going a little to far.

Cooper the cake

Cooper the dog

Look at that handsome pup!

Move over Krispy Kreme...

2008-10-07T23:40:00.006-05:00

Did you miss me? I know I am getting seriously behind in this blogging business and I definitely have some delicious pictures to share - be prepared, there's a lot!

I'll start with bakeshop...We ended our time with breads and rolls last week. On Monday we made doughnuts and corn muffins; Tuesday was soft rolls with dough we prepared on Monday.

Chocolate icing & chocolate sprinkles

Vanilla icing & rainbow sprinkles

As you can see we were able to ice our doughnuts with vanilla or chocolate icings and accessorize with chocolate or rainbow sprinkles. Our group did half and half and tossed the doughnut holes in cinnamon sugar. It was a great (read: delicious) day! But I think the cinnamon rolls still get the blue ribbon for best day ever.

Corn Muffins

Corn muffins are seriously the easiest thing to bake. I feel so Southern now that I can make corn muffins. All I need now is some fried chicken. Paging Paula Deen...

Single knot rolls

On our final day of breads we made single knot rolls. We portioned our dough into 2 oz. portions, rolled our the dough and tied it into a knot. The sheen on the rolls is from an egg wash that was applied prior to baking. The culinary side had made an awesome herb butter the day before which we were able to use when tasting our rolls in the bakeshop.

This week was practicals. We usually bake in groups, but for practicals we make the product individually. I don't have any new product to share, but next week we start pies. Tomorrow I will try and catch up on my cake decorating.

Au revoir, basketweave

2008-10-01T22:39:00.008-05:00

I feel like it's been a million years since I talked about cake decorating (on the blog. because I talk about cake decorating in my everyday life all the time). And I have some cake pictures to share.

Last Wednesday was our midterm which involved a written portion and practical. The requirements for the practical were the following: a.) Basketweave; b.) border; and c.) flowers. Obviously our instructor looked at other details, like whether our colors compliment each other, if our cake is centered on the cake board and icing the cake.

the basketweave midterm

For my cake, I did a white on white basketweave so I could easily hide any mistakes. I did a dual border I did a shell border (in aqua) and just a dot border (not really a technical term, in yellow). I did some half daisies around the edges with a chrysanthemum in the middle.

On Thursday, we moved onto new techniques: baby shower cakes and figure piping. Our instructor asked us to try and do two cakes so we could do a baby shower cake and to a cake practicing other figure piping (like cute little bears, dogs, piggies, etc.). There are some people in class who can decorate two to three cakes each class period. I am not one of those people. But I was able to on Thursday.

the baby shower cake

The baby cake is a little cheesy, but my rosettes and border look great! And the cake says, "Babylicious" Why, you ask? Why not?! I didn't really know what else to write and I didn't want to say, "It's a Girl!"

My second cake, on the other hand, was totally cute! It is definitely one of my faves from this semester. Oh, notice how there are NO figure piped animals? That's because I suck at figure piping. After three attempts of a cute little bear that someone mistook for a cat (true story) at one point I just decided accept that figure piping is not for everyone.

the cake without figure piping

Plus, I got so many more compliments on this cake than the strange looking blue bear/cat type animal. The only issue I have is my center design is way off center. But I think the color palette, borders and dots totally make up for that, don't you?

So much to say, so little time

2008-09-29T22:45:00.002-05:00

I totally owe the blog a post. And I have plenty to blog about: three cakes, doughnuts and corn muffins. I just don't have a free second at the moment. Although I did find the time to hit up the Greek Food Festival this weekend at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. The festival has been going on for years (like close to fifty) and the last time I went I think it was part of a high school field trip so I was looking forward to attending for the first time in 10 years. I had a delicious Gyro and some great Greek desserts - including baklava, a total necessity if attending a Greek food festival. There was not much baking happening in my kitchen this weekend. Just some cookies (peanut butter and chocolate chip), but nothing too special. I promise a way better post with pictures will come along soon...maybe Wednesday morning. But don't hold your breath...

Sooo Good...

2008-09-24T21:50:00.010-05:00

I have fallen behind a little bit in the blogging lately, mostly because I have been doing a lot of baking - at home and in the bakeshop. At least there is lots to share.

Several months ago Jacque requested an Andes Mint Cheesecake for her birthday and because she is such a great friend I was happy to oblige. Her birthday was a couple weeks ago, but she has been traveling a lot recently so this past weekend was the perfect opportunity to bake it.

Andes Mint Cheesecake

Andes Mint Presentation

This is the second time I have baked the Andes Mint cheesecake and I was pretty pleased with the outcome. The oven I used was not the best and caused some issues with baking time, but it all worked out eventually. I did get a little more creative with the presentation this time and even made some fresh whipped cream for the cake. I think it looks pretty darn cute.

Monday and Tuesday in the bakeshop I was back to baking breads - quick and yeast. Monday we prepped our yeast dough for Tuesday class. Both doughs were made using a Sponge Method which basically increases the fermentation process, adding more flavor to the final product. After our doughs were done, we made our quick breads: Irish Soda Bread and Popovers (the pic below is kinda blurry).

L: Irish Soda Bread, R: Popovers

On Tuesday, we came in ready to bake some bread after our dough had the chance to ferment overnight. We made French bread again, but as I mentioned above, we used a different mixing method. I really can't say enough about have fresh, homemade French baguettes.

French bread

The second dough we made was the rich sweet dough which we used to make cinnamon rolls. I can't even tell you how delicious they were. We made a honey pan glaze for the bottom of the pan that melted as the rolls baked to give some added flavor; we made a clear glaze to give the rolls some extra sheen; and we made the flat icing to drizzle over the rolls to add both color and flavor. I am usually on top of taking pictures of everything, but I was so excited about the cinnamon rolls I totally forgot about taking a pic until I had it all bagged up. I'm thinking this recipe might make an appearance in North Carolina over the holidays.

Cinnamon Rolls

Baking with Laura

2008-09-22T20:32:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Laura asked me if I would help her make some burnt orange cupcakes for a work party and of course I acquiesced. It's always fun to bake and even more fun throw out concepts like gluten development and overmixing to those not familiar with the trade. This was also the first time Laura had ever made cupcakes from scratch so it was great to be able to teach someone else how fun baking is...although I don't foresee her whipping up anymore homemade treats in the near future.

Laura and her handiwork

Laura rocking the Cupcake Courier!

I heard they went over well at the office...even her boss (a big Sooner fan) couldn't resist the burnt orange! Good job, Laura!

Bluebonnets in September?!

2008-09-20T17:12:00.006-05:00

Are you tired of the basket weave cakes? Because I am. We have our practical midterm next Wednesday and have to do a basket weave cake with flowers so Thursday was our last day to practice. I did take this opportunity to work on the Bluebonnet. Actually, this cake might be my favorite to date. I love the colors, I love the flowers and I worked with buttercream icing instead of whipped icing. Usually I don't take my cakes home (with the exception of Kathryn's birthday cake) but I thought this cake was too cute to leave for the bake sale. Laura came over to bake cupcakes on Thursday evening (more on that in a future post) so I gave the cake to Laura and James. I hope it was yummy!

Bluebonnets

Chrysanthemums

Hamburger & Fries

2008-09-18T07:53:00.005-05:00

Yesterday in cake deco we were introduced to "character" cakes. Our task was to create a hamburger, french fries, and milkshake. It was a lot of fun and I was totally pleased with my final product.

Hamburger, French Fries and a Milk Shake

Back of the Cake

The bun and french fries were colored using an airbrush. It's a little difficult to see all the items, but my burger is decked out with cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion and topped off with a little ketchup, mustard & mayo. You can't really see the burger pattie (chocolate fudge icing. not a real burger. but I am sure you knew that), but it's in there, I promise.

Bakin' Up a Storm

2008-09-16T21:37:00.007-05:00

It was quite the busy day in the bakeshop today! On Monday we learned about yeast doughs and didn't really have time to bake so Tuesday we had to play catch up. Since we were working with yeast bread it took some time management to make sure we could get everything done in three hours. We prepared our bread dough on Monday so it could ferment overnight. Today we started by folding (removing all the excess gas), scaling (portion the dough into loaves), rounding (shaping the portioned dough into loaves), benching (allowing the dough to rest) & proofing (continues the fermenting process and increases the volume) our bread doughs. While we waited for our breads to proof we made some quick breads. First we whipped up some brown sugar muffins. About the time those were ready to go into the oven, we were ready to take our breads out of the proofer and move them to the oven to bake. While items 1-3 were baking we made scones. Everything turned out so wonderfully and so yummy! It was actually quite nice [awesome] to have some fresh baked french bread that I baked with dinner. I put the white pan bread in the freezer to save for a rainy day.

Brown Sugar Muffins

Scones

French Baguette

White Pan Bread

Locks of Love

2008-09-15T19:17:00.004-05:00

I have been talking for months and months about cutting off my hair and donating it and this weekend I finally did it! It was quite a shock after having such long hair for so many years.

Before

After

My Locks of Love

I think I ended up getting approximately 13-14 inches cut; the ponytail was about 12 inches.

A Birthday Weekend Extravaganza

2008-09-14T10:27:00.012-05:00

This weekend was full of birthday fun! Two of my closest friends share a birthday on September 13. Poor Jacque had her big birthday plans destroyed by Hurricane Ike so Friday night we went to dinner at Cafe Madrid to celebrate. After some yummy tapas and sangria, we all shared some birthday flan & other desserts.

Birthday Flan

After dinner we headed to Jacque's favorite wine bar, Wine-tastic where Jacque was treated to more birthday dessert!

Jac's Chocolate Cake

Me and Jacque

It may not have been a luxury box at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to watch the Texas game, but we still had a good time...and ALOT of laughs!

Saturday was Kathryn's day. Hurricane Ike ruined our original plans, but we found a suitable replacement activity: bowling! It had been a while since I last bowled and I had a little trouble knocking over the pins...

My Stellar Bowling Skills

Roomies!

And because it was a birthday, there was plenty of dessert! Val brought Kathryn some delicious cupcakes from TART.

Yummy Cupcakes

The Birthday Girl

I, of course, decorated a cake in class for my roommate. Kathryn loves basket weave cakes so it was kind of serendipity that we learned the basket weave this week.

Happy Birthday, Kathryn

All in all it was a fun weekend. Although I think I don't need to see another dessert for a while...which will be a challenge considering I am studying to be a baker.

The Basket Weave

2008-09-13T00:05:00.006-05:00

I've been talking up my blog a lot lately so I figured I should probably actually write an entry before I start to lose what few readers I actually have left. (I think my mom and dad have already stopped reading. They always liked Tommy more...)

Anyway, I learned the basket weave in cake decorating this week. It's somewhat time consuming, but according to our cake deco teacher that just means we can charge more if we start doing wedding cakes [with a basket weave].

the basket weave

I know it looks a little amateur...the next one looks better, I promise. But I do like the yellow & white combo. I also started trying to master some flowers. Because who wants a cake without flowers?!

floral design

a closeup of the roses

My purple flowers are roses and the pink flower is supposed to be a chrysanthemum. It didn't really turn out so well...I think that will take a little more practice.

Biscuits and Banana Bread

2008-09-10T21:29:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was my first day baking. We work in groups of three and usually have two formulas (recipes. because it's like chemisty, but funner!) to bake. Right now we are baking breads. We started with quick breads making biscuits and banana nut bread. Here are some pics of our team's work:

Biscuits

Banana Nut Bread

Fundamentals is proving to be an interesting class. There are so many things to consider when baking, like gluten development, that I never really knew about. I guess that's why I am in school. I could go into it further, but I am not sure how interested people would find it. If you want to know more, let me know, and I will be happy to share all my new found knowledge.

'Burnt Orange' Velvet Cupcakes: The Sweet Smell (and taste) of Success

2008-09-08T21:20:00.013-05:00

I did it! After last weekend's somewhat failed attempt (I can't call it a complete failure because it helped in making this weekend's success) I was determined to get it right. Appropriately, my adventures in cupcake coloring took place during the UT game so we could indulge in a sweet treat to celebrate Texas' commanding win. Let's just hope we can (and by we, I mean Mack Brown and the Longhorns) be this successful all season long. Because I don't think I can take losing to OU this year.

I've been talking about the burnt orange cupcakes for quite a while now. Some people questioned why I insisted on turning red velvet burnt orange instead of simply making a white batter and coloring it orange. My reasons were three-fold:

I am stubborn and determined. I decided that I wanted burnt orange velvet and I wasn't going to stop until I got burnt orange velvet. Luckily, it only took two tries;
I like the rich flavor of red velvet; and
There is something satisfying about taking something red and transforming it to burnt orange (because it all goes back to the old college rivalry. OU sucks!).

Looks like I'm off to a good start...

Perfectly burnt orange

Texas Fight!

Now that I have the perfect cupcake recipe for football season I can focus on other things. Like school. We start baking in Fundamentals tomorrow!

Colors, Flowers, and Borders, OH MY!

2008-09-04T21:33:00.010-05:00

My fellow ~~Americans~~ ...errr, blog readers, it's been a busy week. I didn't have time to post so I have two days worth of cake decorating to share with everyone. Wednesday we introduced color into the mix and Thursday we started working with the rose tip (also known as the petal tip) and making flowers.

Here is Tuesday's cakes...a little experimentation with color:

Bottom: 'e' border, top: rope border

On Wednesday, we worked with quarter sheet cakes. We learned how to do all sorts of flowers, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time or cake to try everything. I really wanted to do a bluebonnet so I think I am going to try that next week. Because when you live in Texas how can you not have the bluebonnet in your flower repertoire?!? I also experimented with some different borders.

Flower cake with Ribbon Border

Flower spray of Rosebuds

Flower spray of Daisies

Things are really moving quickly. Next week we learn the basket weave which should be fun.

'Burnt Orange' Velvet Cupcakes: Attempt #1

2008-09-01T20:55:00.007-05:00

It's the last weekend of summer, but the first weekend of college football, so there was plenty reason to celebrate. Accordingly, I baked some cupcakes to help ring the inaugural game of the 2008 Texas Longhorn football season. One of the benefits of living in Texas again is I can actually watch my Longhorns play as opposed to be subjected to the inferior ACC conference weekend after weekend (no offense to fans of the ACC).

This summer, after baking a red velevet cake, I formulated an absolutely genius idea: 'burnt orange' velvet cupcakes. If I can make a cake red, surely I can make it orange? You might be able to guess the results from the title of this entry. Burnt orange cupcakes...still red.

They're still red...

but they looked cute!

My real goal is to get it right by Oct. 11 (TX-OU weekend). I think Attempt #2 will be next weekend and I already have some ideas on how to change the color so stay tuned...

Cake Decorating

2008-08-28T19:38:00.006-05:00

I was going to wait until this weekend to post on Cake Decorating, but I was too excited. Today's class focused on the star tip. I wish I had something that showed all the tips and what you can do with them [like the poster hanging up in the bakeshop]...maybe I will look into that for a future post.

First we just did some practice on parchment paper before getting our own cakes to ice and decorate. Right now we are using a whipped icing, as opposed to yummy buttercream.

Cake with a simple 'shell' border

The finished product

My cake is a little ornate for my taste, but remember it is a.) the first day of actual decorating and b.) the point is to practice so I pretty much did all kinds of borders, stars, rosettes, and pop-up flowers so I could get some experience. And I did get some compliments!

Here are examples of some of the techniques I used on my cake (because it's difficult to see the details):

Top: Star Tip, Bottom: Shell Border

Top: Rosettes, Bottom: Zig Zag Border

I can't wait until next Wednesday!

First Week of School

2008-08-27T22:29:00.003-05:00

So I started classes this week. It's been a long time since I had a first day of school and I was pretty nervous. Some people (who shall remain nameless. But I live with her) thought I was being silly (maybe I was), but it still didn't stop the first day of school anxiety. After my first class I realized that I don't have anything to worry about and I am going to have soooooo much fun over the next year. So here is the rundown on what I am taking:

Fundamentals of Baking
Cake Decorating
Facilities, Layout and Design
Safety and Sanitation
Bakery Operations

And I am strongly encouraged by my professors to taste (which could be bad) and take home anything I have baked or decorated (which might be worse). Be ready for pictures because I start decorating cakes tomorrow! The actually baking doesn't commence for another week or so, but I will be making breads, rolls, cakes, pies, cookies, tarts...pretty much every delicious dessert you can think of. If you want anything, let me know and I will send you some goodies!

Goodbye North Carolina, Hello Texas!

2008-08-25T18:58:00.010-05:00

Part of my decision to start this blog was to document my big move and new career in Texas. Exactly one week ago I packed up all my worldly belonging into a 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer and drove from Charlotte, North Carolina to Dallas, Texas.

The Lexus & the U-Haul...thanks, Dad!

The drive took approximately 17 hours over two days. It is not something I reccommend as it was not very fun. Luckily, my I had a couple books on tape and a cuddly sidekick riding shotgun to keep me from going crazy.

Cooper riding shotgun

I have done the NC-TX trip several times over at this point so I decided instead of going the normal route through the southeastern states of Georgia, Bama and Mississippi, I would change things up a bit this time. My route took me through the beautiful state of Tennessee, a state I have never visited.

Top: "Mountains" Bottom: Entering the state of Tennessee

I stopped in Nashville the first night so I could go to Neely's BBQ [since I am a self proclaimed Food Network junkie], but unfortunately my tight schedule prevented me from exploring Nashville any further.

Tuesday morning I was back on the road, but by the time I hit Arkansas it was pouring rain which it did until I hit Rockwall. Since then it's pretty much been a whirlwind of activity. I moved into my new digs. Cooper is getting used to living with a different kind of four legged creature, cats!

Cooper meets Oolie

He's not quite sure what to think of Pekoe and Oolie, but I think over time they will all be the best of friends...maybe.

So for now I focus on unpacking, organizing, starting school (more info on that to follow) and getting used to living in Dallas again. In some ways it is so different, but totally the same as it was 10 years ago.

The Return/A New Beginning

2008-08-24T21:17:00.002-05:00

I should be unpacking & organizing. Instead I am starting a blog as I watch my roommate unpack & organize...

Stay tuned - I promise it will get better!