Grand finale

Strawberry shortcake was our last creation. As you can see, I have not yet mastered the decorating comb and my whipped cream began to fall as I was piping my rosettes, but all in all an admirable attempt. My masking skills are improving as my whipped cream wasn't filled with crumbs this time. I'll be getting a lot more practice in January, when I start The Art of Cakes, my second course! And yes, these are tuxedo strawberries!:

Just peachy

It was fruit flan night and although it's not my favourite, it's something that I probably wouldn't attempt at home so I'm glad I had a chance to make it. It involves sponge cake, sweet dough and pastry cream (vanilla pudding). A lot of work - not to mention the crust is brushed with melted chocolate and it needs to be decorated and glazed.

Rolled, whipped & piped

I was obsessed with photographing my Swiss Rolls when I got home from class last night. I'm not a huge fan of eating something with this much whipped cream on it, but it makes for a lovely photo!


I love how it looks from this angle, with the raspberry jam & whipped cream all lined up and rolled together...


There were quite a few steps in the process (baking the sponge sheets, spreading with raspberry jam & whipped cream, rolling, masking and decorating) but each was fairly simple so it was fun.

The cherry on top

My favourites - maraschino cherries - are back! We had our cake debut tonight with our very first Black Forest cake. You can't tell (I don't think?) but my cake was actually a mess compared to some of the other creations in class - crumbs mixed in with my icing...masking is hard! I am definitely not a natural. Thankfully, whipped cream rosettes and chocolate shavings cover up a lot.


I love how well the cherries photograph - so glossy and perfect.


I couldn't resist slicing it in half to check out the layers.


This made it all the way home on a 40-minute streetcar ride, with barely a smudge.

Cookies just like from a bakery!

We practiced our piping skills again (in preparation for our first cake this week) with these Piped Spritz cookies. I love maraschino cherries so was all over this. We also learned how to create a mini piping bag from a piece of parchment paper which was used to drizzle warm chocolate over our cookies.


It's weird to make something that you would have otherwise bought - these remind me of cookies I would have seen in bakeries growing up. They were a lot easier to make than I thought.


These are filled with raspberry jam...mmm...

A little taste of Paris

We also used the choux paste to create eclairs - the process is the same, but these are dipped in chocolate fondant (icing sugar, cocoa powder and water) at the end. Couldn't you just picture nibbling on one while lounging by the bank of the Sienne?

Hello, cream puff

Here's where things get really interesting! I love pastry. We made choux paste (where you frantically mix water, flour and shortening in a pot set at maximum heat until it reaches the right consistency) and used it to create cream puffs. Balls of dough are piped, baked and cut in half, then filled with whipped cream and cherry filling. Finally, they are dusted with icing sugar. So pretty.



Our chef described these swans as "70s kitsch." Something you would have expected to see in a restaurant back then: 2 swans swimming in a pool of chocolate. A bit cheesy but still cute!

It's not cake but it tastes good

I wasn't that excited about bread night (there's no sugar or icing!), but it turned out to be yummier than I thought. We made an enriched bread dough, which we used to create a few variations: Double-Knot, Braided and Figure-Eight rolls.


This bread below was made by placing rolled balls of dough (there is a particular way to roll them which I could not figure out and it was driving me nuts!) into a round pan and baking. All of our creations were garnished with a mixture of spices and cheese. I ate way too much...I don't think it's normal to eat a loaf of bread in one sitting.

Muffins & scones are not photogenic

This is the first of the desserts I've made that photographed well...I hadn't heard of creme caramel before, but basically it's creme brulee in reverse. The caramel is made by burning sugar in a pot until it turns a golden brown. The (very) hot caramel is then poured into little tins and left to cool for a few minutes. The custard part is egg-based and is poured on top of the caramel. These are then baked in a water bath. They can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days; overnight is best as the custard has a chance to absorb some of the caramel taste. To plate them, simply run hot water on the bottom of the cup for a few seconds and tip over onto a plate.


This doesn't look as interesting as the creme caramel, but it was actually whipped cream-based and flavoured with concentrated raspberry paste...I'm not a huge fan of custards, but it was really good! These Bavarian Creams were whipped up and left in the fridge to set for about an hour - then plated the same way as the creme caramel. These can be frozen, although I don't know why you would want to store this rather than just making and serving it fresh. Suggested garnishes: Mint leaves and raspberries.