Roopa The last time I tried to make baguettes was a little bit of a mess. I had forgotten some of the techniques I learned in pastry school, which are fairly important when making baguettes. I also didn’t have anything resembling a couche and used strategically placed ladles and towels. Needless to say, that was … More Baguettes
Roopa I haven’t done a lot of it, but I honestly think bread is one of the more therapeutic things to bake. There’s something about aggressively kneading dough and watching it become more elastic and smooth that is really satisfying. And it’s hard to stay angry about much when your house smells like freshly baked … More Hard Bread Rolls
Roopa SUGAR BLOWING!!!! I can’t even express how excited I was about learning sugar blowing. I’ve wanted to do this for years, but have always been nervous about doing it incorrectly and burning things. There are also some things that you need to have before you can really even try (heat lamp, pump, blowtorch, etc.) … More Sugar Blowing (and a Foam Cake Tier)
Roopa One of the other techniques we worked on briefly was decorating sugar cookies with royal icing. I have always been intrigued by these videos but never actually was motivated enough to try. Honestly, it’s not for me. Aside from technical issues – my flood icing wasn’t runny enough so rather than flooding my cookies … More Cookies with Royal Icing
Roopa I’ve always found gumpaste flowers exceedingly beautiful, but there is a little bit of a barrier to entry for these guys. They require a lot of parts, a LOT of time, and a decent amount of know how. Now that I’m a bit adultier than when this blog started, I don’t always have a … More Gumpaste Flowers
Roopa This was a particularly exciting cake because I got to try some completely new techniques! I’d never airbrushed a cake before, and I’d never used pastillage before. We also used the fondant that we made on day one, which is vastly better than commercial fondant. Day 4: Cake: Carrot cake (sabayon) Icing: Raspberry custard … More Carrot Cake with Raspberry Icing (and Pastillage)
Roopa This cake was probably one of the most aesthetically pleasing cakes I have ever made, and also one of the most interesting. The stenciled sponge cake outside was a really cool technique I’d never done before, and how can you go wrong with macarons and fruit as toppings? Day 2: Cake: Jaconde sponge cake; … More Sponge Cake with Raspberry Mousse (and Macarons)
Roopa Macarons have been a little bit of a challenge for me since moving to Vancouver. My apartment gets up to 66% humidity in summer, and it rains constantly in winter, so getting the shells to dry properly is a bit of a challenge. Either way, I was pretty intrigued to see what Chef Marco’s … More Macarons
Roopa On day two of cake decorating class, we switched over to a more chocolatey direction. My favourite direction! Obviously, the most important part here is the quality of chocolate used. We used Casa Luker dark chocolate/cocoa in this recipe, but any high quality chocolate brand will do. Day 2: Cake: Devil’s chocolate food cake … More Devil’s Chocolate Food Cake with German Chocolate Icing (and Modelling Chocolate)
Roopa I’m back in pastry school! How exciting! This time, I’m taking a two week cake decorating certificate program at the Vancouver Pastry Training Centre, so it’s a little less baking focused and a little more decorating focused than other classes I’ve taken. Chef Marco strongly believes that if you don’t know how to bake … More Vanilla Butter Cake with Italian Meringue Icing (and Rolled Fondant)
Chateau Gateau 