I'm taking requests.

Week one of Intro to Baking and Pastry done! Heyo!

No pictures. Sorry. I totally blew it. But how about I describe them for you?

1. 9 inch Pate Sucree tart shell, cooked to a golden brown, filled with frangipane and poached pears, and drizzled with dark chocolate.

2. 6 inch Pasta Frolla shell filled with vanilla pastry cream and topped with fresh peaches and blueberries and a dollop of rosemary chantilly.

3. 1 inch tartelettes with a honey mascarpone cream and adorned with fresh blackberries.

Yup. I was a busy girl.  I think one of the hardest things about this class is deciding what to make.... and the tasting. It sounds like heaven, but I assure you, tasting all of that plus the 3-5 things all of your teammates make is not a walk in the park. After roughly 20 bites of tarts, I was about ready to pop.  I'm pretty sure I was sweating sugar by the end of class. So, subsequently, I wanted nothing to do with all of the tasty treats I brought home.

Here's where you come in. Do you have something you absolutely want me to make? If you do, and you are available on Friday afternoons for receiving treats (Oh, and you don't mind a piece or two missing), then let me know.  This week is galettes.  Start brainstorming.

Cake!

Cake = delicious.  I don't care who you are.  After a bad day, all I really want is cake. Well, ok, maybe wine and cake. (Kind of a dream team of stress-relief, no?)

More specifically, after a terrible no-good day, I really want to make a cake. There's something about the lengthy process of preparing, mixing, baking, making frosting, cooking syrup, assembling, frosting, and decorating that just erases the previous stresses of an adult life.  Its even more effective if you are drinking the aforementioned wine during the whole process... but, don't expect the decorating to go very well.

So, in honor of a crappy day (and my bestie's birthday, which is not at all crappy) I made a cake. It tasted good. It looked....like I had been drinking wine.

Vanilla genoise, vanilla bean pastry cream filling, burnt sugar frosting. 
Ta Da! Creme Brulee Cake!

And after piece of that, I'm starting to look forward to my next bad day.

...just kidding. That's really corny. But it did sound like a good conclusion sentence. 

summer ratatouille bruschetta

Yes, I know that I'm mixing cultures here. But to be honest, I can't see myself eating a big bowl of straight up ratatouille. Its way way too flavorful. You know what I mean? Or am I crazy?

Meanwhile, I still have a whole box of organic tomatoes, onions, zucchini and eggplant. Just sitting there. Waiting for me to eat them.  The compromise?  Dice up the ingredients smaller and slap the resulting ratatouille on some grilled toast. Now that's an idea I can get behind.

  ingredients!

Summer Ratatouille Bruschetta


2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (if you call it EVOO I will punch you)
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 eggplant, 1/2" diced
1 zucchini, 1/2" diced
1 red bell pepper, 1/2" diced
2 tomatoes, 1/2 " diced
1 can Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes (14oz)
fresh herbs: thyme, oregano, lavender - whatever floats your boat. 
1 french baguette


1. Heat olive oil in large pan over medium high heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly.
2. Add eggplant to pan, cook for 5 minutes. Add zucchini, red bell pepper to pan, cook for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and herbs. Stir briefly and cover pan. 
3. Let cook, covered for 10 minutes.  Uncover, reduce heat to low, and cook for another 30-40 minutes, or when most of the liquid in the pan has cooked off. 
4. In the meantime, slice up the baguette, brush with olive oil and throw them on the grill. Grill for about 1 minute on each side.  OR! place oiled slices on a baking sheet and toast in a 425 degree oven. (about 5 minutes)

Easy, right? 

End result!

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

drool.

Vanilla pound cake. Peanut butter frosting. Strawberry jam. Yup. It happened.

My first semester of Culinary Arts is essentially over. I have one class left on Monday, but we're just having a potluck...if that's our final, I know I'll pass. I'm good at eating food.   I will now have time to blog about all the yummy things that have come out of my kitchen.  Well, at least for the next week...  because in a week and a half, I start phase two of the culinary arts program, a.k.a. "the fun stuff." 18 hours a week of "Intro to Baking and Pastry." Ohmygod-I-can't-wait.  Although I doubt we will cover anything as sophisticated as the cakewich. ...just sayin'.

If you are looking for a ridiculously fluffy but still insanely peanut-buttery frosting, look no further. I have found it for you. 

From All Recipes (but changed a bit) :

1 stick butter at room temperature
1cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and peanut butter in a stand mixer (or hand mixer) for about 2 minutes. Add milk and beat until fully incorporated. Add powdered sugar a half cup at a time and mix until fluffy.

It should be noted that I had a ton of frosting left over. The cakewich really didn't need all that much. So, if you're making the frosting for a cakewich, you might want to cut the recipe in half - However, there's nothing really wrong with having leftovers. Who wants cupcakes??

just a picture.

I have officially entered the contest. Here's a picture of the finished product.  Wish me luck!