my second of three cakes classes has been butter cream filled!

praline torte: hazelnut chiffon genoise cake with rum syrup, praline buttercream & praline glaze, garnished with toasted filberts & modeling chocolate rose

gumpaste rose spray

dinosaur package cake:  vanilla cake with rum syrup & italian butter cream covered with rolled fondant, fondant bow & dinosaur decorations, & fern brush embroidery

let it bleed cake: inspired by mr. max norton & the rolling stones album cover “let it bleed”

vanilla cake, apple brandy syrup, italian buttercream, & marzipan rose spray

wedding cake: vanilla sponge cake filled, ginger french buttercream, lemon zest italian buttercream, marzipan rose spray & brush embroidery poppies

this cake made quite the journey! it sat on my lap the entire plane ride from providence, rhode island to tampa, florida- resulting in the obligatory “glad you brought me some cake” comment from every single person i made eye contact with on the plane!

time is flying so quickly! my plated desserts lab was over in the blink of an eye- probably due to the fact that there was so much production to be done, i didn’t have time to blink :)

coming into this class, i wasn’t really expecting too much- i had this idea that it wasn’t what i would really want to be doing in the industry- but i fell in love with it! there is so much to composing a plate & i love the design element & infusing a bit of whimsy into the presentation of a delicious dessert

i’ve also learned to think much more with the culinary side of my mind when cooking- especially sauces-a little bit of this & a splash of that versus following a formula to the t. i can whip up a reduction, compote, or coulis in no time!

chipotle, coffee, & orange poached pear with pear reduction, french vanilla bean ice cream, chipotle tuile, & chocolate sauce

molten chocolate cake with sugar cage, caramel sauce, french vanilla bean ice-cream in a lace cookie cup, “dirt”, raspberry reduction, & fresh raspberries

banana & walnut bread pudding, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, & french vanilla bean ice-cream & tuile cookie with toasted walnuts inside a chocolate loop

no bake cheesecake, blackberry white wine sauce, raspberry mango sorbet, lace cookie, & sugar encapsulated blackberry

chocolate mousse with chocolate glaze wrapped in dark chocolate, strawberry port reduction, mint sorbet in a chocolate lattice, & vanilla bean milk foam

marbled chocolate & vanilla bean new york cheesecake, toasted pecan crust, raspberry reduction, chocolate garnish, & raspberry leather

molten chocolate cake, sugar cage, supremes of orange, chipotle cinnamon ice cream in a chocolate lattice, vanilla bean milk foam, & port & orange liquor reduction

some of the final breads baked in my vienosserie class were classic, European holiday breads- & donughts to celebrate the end of the term! 

Panettone

italian holiday bread! quite tasty & filled with dried fruits & nuts

kugelhuph

german/french seasonal bread that is actually used as a traditional birthday cake! The dough is yeasted- but it is quite light & cakey. it’s flavored with orange essence, giving it a delicious tang & is baked in a pan coated in sliced almonds

stollen

i swear i will make this every christmas as long as I can! learning to make stollen was yet another one of those “I can’t believe I can make these” moments. the tasty spiced dough is filled with rum soaked nuts & dried fruit (ours had been soaking for 6 months!) & is rolled up around a log of marzipan-it’s the marzipan that makes the stolen :)

doughnuts: vanilla bean glazed & lavender glazed

super delicious & best when piping hot (in my opinion) i don’t understand how a bread can just melt in your mouth as a good doughnut does! these were glazed with a vanilla bean glaze or a lavender glaze- the vanilla was of course delicious, but the lavender were amazing- with just the smallest hint of lavender infused into the sugar glaze

just about every day in vienosserie, danish was made. as with other laminated doughs, it is quite a process. in our case, we would make the dough on one day, laminate the dough the next day, & process it & bake it the third day- that’s three days for one pastry! though, these pastries more than make up for it with their tasty, flaky deliciousness :)

poached pear, pastry cream, & pistachio danish

hazelnut pastry cream, chocolate, & streusel danish

blueberry, pastry cream, & streusel danish

apple, pastry cream, & streusel danish

ham & gruyere whole wheat danish

goat cheese, roasted red pepper, & caramelized onion danish

it’s a gorgeous morning up here in providence, sunny with a cool breeze & everything is green! this is the perfect morning for a cinnamon roll (but really, what morning isn’t?)

in class, we’ve been working with sweet dough, a versatile yeasted dough you can use to make all sorts of delicious treats with!

cinnamon rolls: classic, delicious, & sticky! my favorite is the one right smack dab in the middle (its the gooiest) 

sticky buns: a close cousin to the cinnamon roll, baked with a delicious, sticky glaze & crunchy pecans

snails: a very swiss version of the cinnamon roll- filled with hazelnut paste & pastry cream, then coated in glaze & sprinkled with pistachio

russian braid: a sweet dough pull apart loaf with hazelnut filling, glaze, & pistachio

bienenstich: “bee sting” a very swiss & very delicious little treat, sweet dough baked with an almond honey florentine, filled with pastry cream