Pipping Practice Makes Perfect

Star flowers, small shells, large shells, rosettes, reverse shells, fleur-de-lis, garlands, and roses have been the theme of the week. I have been practicing my piping so much that my hand is sore...but as my chef is always saying "piping practice makes perfect". I still have a ways to go but I made some good headway in my technique this week.

Here is a link to step-by-step instructions from Bake Decorate Celebrate on how to practice piping for your own cupcakes.

Marzipan Cupcake Toppers

Around the world, particularly in Italy and England, Marzipan is a popular sweet used for many occasions. I decided to use marzipan to make cupcake toppers. For every topper that made it onto a cupcake, another one popped into my mouth. I couldn't get enough of these almond delights!

honey pear cupcake

cream filled pumpkin cupcake with ganache frosting

lemon coconut cupcake

apple ginger spice cupcake

raspberry cream cupcake

chocolate carrot cupcake

temper...mold...fill...enjoy!

Mastering the art of tempering and molding chocolate takes a lot of practice but is definitely a skill worth developing! When making homemade chocolates, proper tempering is the key to create a beautiful sheen shell. Tempering varies depending on what type of chocolate you are using; whether it be white, semi-sweet, or milk.

Here is a helpful chart from Felchlin, one of my favorite chocolate companies located in Switzerland describing tempering different types of chocolate. Happy molding!

caramel sea salt candy bars

hazelnut ganache centers for enrobed chocolates

molding white chocolate

Cookie Craze

Nothing is better than homemade cookies. In class we went on a cookies craze and made a wide assortment of cookies....which were a huge hit for the holidays.

The cookie spread included lemon squares, pistachio macarons, sicilian fig cookies, mamoul, biscotti napoletani, american biscotti, linzer augen, macaroons, chocolate chip cookies, spritz cookies, palets aux raisins, amandines, spicy oatmeal cookies, rogaliki, and almond tupipe. My personal favorite were the classic chocolate chip cookies and the rogaliki.

Lemon Squares

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rogaliki Cookies

Pistachio Macarons

Checkerboard Cookies

American Style Biscotti

Amandines

Spritz Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Pistachio Macarons

Miroir Myrtille

In class I made this beautiful cake--Miroir Myrtille. The cake consists of two layers of genoise, blueberry bavarian cream, and a blueberry nappage to top it off. You may be asking yourself "what does that even mean?" Let me break it down for you. Genoise is an Italian sponge cake that is moistened with flavored syrup. Bavarian cream is a mixture of cream whipped to a soft peak, sweetner, flavoring (in this case it is blueberry puree), and gelatin to give it a little more body. The top layer is a nappage made of blueberry puree, currant jelly, and gelatin. All of these components sums up to one incredible cake!

NYC Chocolate Show

This past weekend my friend Kate and I went to the New York City Chocolate Show. The 13th annual New York Chocolate show is the largest event in the United States dedicated to chocolate. I was in heaven! I spent a good three hours eating all types of chocolate. The highlight of my day was meeting the famous Jacques Torres. Jacque was very friendly and even called me 'mademoiselle'. It was such a fantastic day of eating and learning about chocolate. I was a little sick by the end but it was worth every bite

Me and Jacques Torres

Chocolate from Tokyo