The Repressed Pastry Chef

Wilton Course 3… cake 1

Em — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:40:11 PDT

Well, here it is… my first cake for Wilton course #3. The class is all about fondant. Fondant… fondant… and more fondant. And that’s A-ok with me because the opportunity to learn to work with fondant is pretty much the reason I took this class :) One thing I’ve learned along the way is while I may not enjoy eating fondant I surely do enjoy decorating cakes with it!!!

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Lemon Gelato - and a new photo gallery

Em — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:07:54 PDT

Today is a typical Southern California Summer Scorcher. It may only be 98° right now (2:00 pm PDT) but if it’s anything like yesterday the temps will climb another 8° or so before we hit the max in about 2 more hours. If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know I was struggling to get these photographs done before I had lemon gelato soup! LOL!! And as I mentioned on Twitter, the only option I really had was to… uhm… well… hmmm… eat it!!!

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Tribute-to-Katharine-Hepburn Brownies

Em — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:44 PDT

Admittedly I’m a few days late so instead of “Tuesdays” with Dorie, for me this week it became Thursday with Dorie :) As the saying goes “better late than never”, right???… right! Tonight I wanted something sweet and of course the family is always in favor of chocolate so nearly as fast as I could’ve made a box mix, I whipped up Dorie’s recipe instead. These are chewy, ooey, gooey, fudgey brownies that totally deliver on the decadence-factor… and used only a single saucepan to make the batter. Not only is this recipe quick and easy… it’s delicious too :)

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Pasta w Sundried Tomatoes

Em — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:01:20 PDT

The Independence Day holiday weekend is officially over… and most people are back to their usual summer routine. I’m busier than usual taking the fondant cake course on top of my usual day job (which seriously gets in the way of me having a real life!). I was very glad to not have to think about dinner last night and rely on Ina Garten instead. The first Barefoot Bloggers recipe for July was chosen by Cat of the blog Delta Whiskey. Her choice was Ina’s recipe for Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes. Really it’s more of a pasta salad since it’s served cold but it came together quickly and easily… something for which I was very grateful indeed!

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Chocolate MaryAnn Cake

Em — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:30:28 PDT

For Independence Day my family wanted nothing to do with a red/white/blue dessert. Not a chance. What they wanted was (surprise?) chocolate. I decided to try a new cake recipe and christen my MaryAnn pan at the same time. This cake is a fabulous crowd-pleaser inducing plenty of ooooohhhh’s and aaaaaahhhhh’s :) The taste is fabulous too… in fact, DS called it “AwesomeTastic”… and even a non-chocolate-lover like me thought it was very very very good!

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Fondant Fourth-of-July!

Em — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:01:05 PDT

Happy Birthday USA!

One night this past week I took a 2hr basic fondant class - since Independence Day was approaching I decorated my cake accordingly. It was my first time working with fondant and I was definitely intimidated before class started. By the time it was over… I was excited in a whole new way!!! By the end of the week I’d signed up for a series of fondant classes that will keep me busy the rest of this month :) I’m thinking I’ll have a few more fondant cakes to show you along the way.

Whatever your plans for this holiday… have a delicious Independence Day!

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Garlic, Cheese & Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

Em — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:25:17 PDT

Some of you may think of buttermilk biscuits as being “heavy” and “winter food” but not to me! I love bread and enjoy eating any kind of bread any time of the year. Just as my stomach has no alarm clock (pancakes for dinner? no problem!) it also has no calendar :) Once you have a classic biscuit recipe in your repertoire and get the technique down pat… the add-ins are limited only by your imagination and palate. For this go round I added in freshly minced garlic, feta cheese and dried herbs… and these were a huge hit!

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Perfect Party Cake - TwD

Em — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:01:17 PDT

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie hostess was Carol of the blog Mix, Mix, Stir, Stir and she chose Dorie’s recipe for the Perfect Party Cake. Having made this cake at least ten times since first being introduced to it in the Daring Bakers challenge back in February of 2008, I do agree this is the perfect party cake. Dress it up… Dress it down… even plain-ol nekkid… this cake is my hands-down favorite! Having made it so many times as a full-sized cake… and not wanting all that leftover cake in my house… for this week’s TwD I chose to go the mini-sized route and do cupcakes:)

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Bakewell Tart - Daring Bakers June Challenge

Em — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:37:06 PDT

When the end of the month draws near it means the time has come for another Daring Bakers challenge. The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England. This challenge was different… in part because I’d never ever heard of a Bakewell Tart or Bakewell Pudding. But it sounded interesting and rather tasty so I thought I’d give it a go. Considering I completely lost track of days and didn’t realize until today that the reveal date was… uhm… today… it was a really good thing this recipe could be completed quickly. “Quickly” as in about 2hrs start to finish. Oh yeah, I’m definitely thanking Jasmine and Annemarie for that!!

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Chocolate-Studded Monkey Bread

Em — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:37:24 PDT

Monkey Bread… aka pull-apart bread… is easy to make and quite a delight to eat. Just look at this picture - little fingers got to it and grabbed a piece before I could even snap a picture of it! Funny how those “little fingers” just happened to be mine ;) But seriously, it’s hard to resist this stuff. Individual balls of yeasted dough, seductively bathed in a combination of melted butter, cinnamon and brown sugar then baked to deliciousness. My version has chocolate chips tossed in among the dough balls cuz, well, yanno, the family considers anything “good” to be “great” when chocolate is added! LOL! While Monkey Bread is indeed good, “Chocolate Studded Monkey Bread”? We’ll that’s absatively great!

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