It's So Fluffy I'm Gonna Die

So, I "graduated" in June, but I decided to go to Taryn & Erik's wedding instead. (Congrats!)

It made me realize how long it's been since I updated.

My last post was just before Christmas, and I promised to show you the gingerbread version of the Pyramids. So here you go. MANY AI students and chefs worked on this giant gingerbread house, which turned out really nice.

For my wonderful Italian family's Christmas party I wanted to make cannoli. But, I forgot to bring the tubes to shape the shells. Instead, my beautiful sister helped me cut and fry hundreds of little circles.

And we made these adorable cannoli sandwiches.

OK, enough Christmas in July. Just before New Years I started working at a French cafe in Carmel. I make a wide variety of pastry and pies. You can see my eclairs, cookies, and cakes in this video.

One of my responsibilities is to make crepes. Lots of crepes. But my first week, my friend Michelle was visiting. She charmed me into teaching her how to make crepes. On my day off.

We had a good time.

By the time the Superbowl came around, I was itching to bake some cookies from my Christmas gift from Tari. These are the Chocolate Sandwiches from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Thank you for the cookbook, Tari! They were delicious, of course.

Valentine's Day at the restaurant was full of truffles. Mocha, caramel, champagne, and raspberry truffles, which were bought by more staff than customers.

I also made cupcakes for my friend Jennifer's baby shower. These are chocolate cherry cake with fondant decorations and lemon chiffon cake with buttercream icing. And now her baby is four months old! (Hi Opal!)

My biggest accomplishment is my first wedding cake! I was nervous, but I think it turned out great.

Congratulations to Shea and Katelyn!

So that's what I've been up to for the last 6 months. There were so many shout-outs that I should have called this post "Rollin' with the Homies" or something. But the Despicable Me previews have taken over my life. The movie doesn't come out until next week, and my co-workers and I can't stop quoting Agnes. "It's so yummy I'm gonna die!"

I'd also like to congratulate Neal & Amanda on their wedding; Terry & Melinda, and My Dad & Roberta on their upcoming weddings. And welcome my newest cousins Jackson Haro and Makenzie Shaw!

Holla

I hope one of you is ready to hire a personal pastry chef (PPC). Cuz in one week, I graduate. Then it's hardcore Christmas Cookie Time. Then... I got nothin.'

But I know how to make awesome pizza dough!

And I can cover it in your favorite toppings...

And as your PPC, I won't even let Linda touch it. (She didn't touch my pizza, either. Her hand got slapped!)

Now here are some breads you won't be eating if I worked for you:

Pear Buckwheat bread

Roasted Potato Bread

Roasted Tomato Bread

Harvest Squash Bread

Let's just say that they weren't my slice of bread. I think of the person who wrote the recipe, and then I think about how I would feel if I wrote a recipe that people said was awful, and I can't say anything bad (on the internet).

There were plenty of breads that were great. If you hire a PPC, you'll eat them on a regular basis.

You can't go wrong with Cook's Illustrated, and their Olive Rosemary bread is tender and has a good olive flavor (you're out of luck if you don't like olives).

Fougasse is a traditional bread that is related to focaccia. We shaped and cut it to look like a leaf.

And the Challah was so good it was gone in one night. How many people say out loud "Holla!" when they hear someone else say "Challah"? I say it in my head, so I know half the population says it out loud. Anyway, it's good.

Next week I want to show you the gingerbread version of the Art Institute that I helped with. If you had a PPC, you could have a gingerbread replica of your house. Just saying.

And it's finals week. I doubt lightning will strike twice and the grease trap will need to be replaced, canceling finals. But one can hope.

Tradition

Don't laugh. I'm never arranging cannoli this way on a plate ever again.

Ok, now that you finished laughing, I'll explain. This is an actual recipe from the Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg. There are three cannoli filled with rice pudding, ricotta cream, and chocolate chip ricotta cream. Chef Friberg cut rectangles for the shells, and I used a circle cookie cutter, my mistake. Oh, and the pool of blood is a cranberry coulis. They actually sold this in the student restaurant.

My second dessert for the restaurant, a key lime tartlet, turned out better. Traditional key lime pies are not cooked; the acid thickens the eggs in the custard. It's totally unhealthy if you have a compromised immune system, so use pasteurized eggs.

I've also made pita pockets.

And bagels.

Bagels are boiled before they are baked. It makes them chewy.

We lost our holes, and allowed the yeast to create too much gas. They weren't bagels by the time we were done with them. But cinnamon and sugar fixes everything.

If you've been to New York, you might have tried bialys. They're similar to bagels with sauteed onion. I didn't like them.

And we made PRETZELS! So soft and chewy and salty... if only it was covered in cinnamon sugar.

In the same night, we made naan (Indian flatbread, not Indiana flatbread as my Hoosier fingers automatically type).

That weekend, I made my "first" specialty cake. The bottom layer is white cake with caramel filling, and the top layer is chocolate truffle. It was for an adorable 5 year old's birthday, and she picked out a My Little Pony for a topper.

The next day, I made my second cake for a family baby shower. Congratulations Kate and Shea!

Can't Hardly Wait

The Fashion department at the Art Institute held their first annual fashion show, and I helped make the desserts for the event. I baked the spice cake on Wednesday, then Thursday morning started pumpkin praline tarts. After baking all day, we also served the desserts that night.

Then it was bread time. Most of the recipes we use are from Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery andThe Bread Baker's Apprentice. The recipes are delicious, with detailed instructions and pictures. But there's a lot of down time, waiting for the bread to ferment, then proof after shaping.

We make focaccia with olives, peppers, cheese and herbs for the student run restaurant.

We also learned the traditional baguette made with a sourdough starter. The starter adds flavor and the developed yeast makes the dough rise.

The baguettes were very dark on the bottom and stuck because we didn't put enough cornmeal on the pan. But I've been assured that bread in France can be burnt without a raised eyebrow.

I tried a tiny piece of this jalapeno cheddar bread, because it had a crazy amount of peppers in it.

This looks like a loaf of white bread. Surprise!

It's marbled rye! Layers of a light and dark rye doughs are rolled together to make the swirl pattern, or a bulls eye.

This is a miche after it has been shaped and allowed to rise for the second time. "Miche" refers to the shape of the loaf, which may or may not mean "butt cheek" in French slang.

The loaf is topped with cheese and roasted onions, then baked.

The miche, baked and sliced.

This potato, cheddar and chive bread should have been shaped like a torpedo, with pointed ends. Instead, it looks like a salamander.

Until you cut it open and the cheesy goodness bleeds out. This bread is best when it's warm.

Then we have the life of the party, black pepper cheddar bread.

It's a tender bread with a kick of black pepper.

I also decorated my first fake cake all by myself. I covered styrofoam in colored fondant.

I would have liked to cover the cake in my little gumpaste flowers, but ran out of time. It also needs a topper, like some white doves.

Last Quarter

I haven't updated in a while, I know. I'm officially one week into my final quarter at the Art Institute. So here's the best of last quarter, and the beginning of this one.

Opera Torte, a traditional French torte with almond cake and coffee buttercream.

Cherry hard candy, which looks simple. You boil sugar to 310 degrees, pull it with your hands until it aerates and gets shimmery, then tell me it's simple.

Honey drops. Same story.

But you can make pretty flowers with boiling sugar. I recommend wearing gloves.

We made a pastillage replica of our building, with air-brushed windows and a royal icing logo. We made a stencil for each color of the logo and spread the icing on.

This is my favorite new candy, the Hot Chocolate. The top layer is a cinnamon marshmallow, then chocolate ganache. Then the marshmallows are dipped and decorated with white chocolate.

We played with isomalt for the last few days of class. It's a sugar alcohol that makes a more durable sculpture than table sugar. And you boil it. Luckily we played with molds to make shapes.

This is a hot-air baloon. Don't laugh.

This quarter is turning out to be much prettier. My final classes are Advanced Patisserie, Artisan Breads, and an Externship. These are gumpaste flowers that will go on a wedding cake.

Rye bread, and lavash crackers. Lavash is served as an appetizer at my family's favorite pizza place in Hammond, Aurelio's. It's just one more delicious recipe I have to make for Christmas dinner.

At home I've been making Cowboy cookies regularly. Weekly. Bakerella posted this oatmeal and M&M cookie recipe this summer, and everytime I make them they dissapear fast. I also made my first ice cream. Thanks Inger and Teresa for the ice cream maker!