Team Shambles A Japanese cheesecake is a light and fluffy style of cheesecake that resembles a sponge cake, rather than a cheesecake. This unique texture is the result of the emulsification between cornstarch and eggs. Another interesting feature of this cake is that it is traditionally made without a crust. You could use a crust … More Japanese Cheesecake
Team Shambles The first day of our cheesecake, cremes, and custards course at the Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver was bussssyyyyy. We prepared 3 batches of cheesecake and creme caramel. We mentioned in our post on New York Style Cheesecake that there are different kinds of cheesecake; it turns out that there is way more … More German Cheesecake
Team Shambles There is about a week in between our pastry courses, and we really don’t get to bake together all that frequently, so we planned to tackle a couple other baking projects. Roopa recently got a mini-doughnut pan so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out! There are several doughnut recipes on … More Baby Doughnuts
Team Shambles We’ve all had apple pie at some point in our lives, but this pie takes the cake! (Insert giggle for questionable baking joke?) The filling isn’t runny at all, and the pie crust is nice and flaky. Chef Marco also gave us some really helpful tips to judge how well the dough needs … More Apple Pie
Team Shambles We didn’t actually make this particular ice cream; the technique to make the custard needed for the ice cream is the same basic technique we used to make the sauce anglaise, so there was no need to practice it twice. It seems odd but in order for an ice cream to be considered … More French Vanilla Ice Cream
Team Shambles While we were writing up all of our posts from our first pastry class, we noticed that we had posted 199 times! In order to celebrate in a minor way, we decided to decorate cookies for post #200 🙂 Roopa had some fondant left over from her Earl Grey Tea Cakes so we decided … More Watercolour Sugar Cookies
Team Shambles We made graham crumbs (which were pretty great) on day one in preparation for a New York style cheesecake on day two. Unfortunately we didn’t talk about what makes a cheesecake “New York style”. A quick Google revealed that styles of cheesecake are differentiated by ingredients and the texture/consistency of the final product. … More New York Style Cheesecake
Team Shambles Strudels consist of flaky pastry wrapped several times around some sort of filling, typically fruit (though there are other kinds as well). Originally, strudels are an Austrian dessert; the dough is stretched thinly enough that you can read printed text through it, then wrapped around an apple and raisin filling. Watching Chef Marco … More Austrian Apple Strudel with Sauce Anglaise
Team Shambles Choux pastry is a French dessert that acts as more of a vehicle for pastry cream than anything else. It’s not terribly delicious on its own, but they expand during baking to create a hollow inside for delicious fillings! This is quite a technical recipe, as there are many techniques needed and a … More Choux Pastry with Creme Patissiere
Team Shambles We had our first day of pastry school at the Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver, and it was AMAZING!! Chef Marco is super knowledgeable, and had a scientific explanation for everything he taught us. It was kind of interesting to see how much of what he taught we already knew, but it was … More First Day of Pastry School!
Chateau Gateau 