Petit Fours

These all turned out well, but it's certainly harder baking smaller things!  They tend to dry out faster, and clean lines matter.  These little chocolate covered Petit Fours ("little ovens") had freshly made jam in the middle and were my favorites.  Clockwise, I made Vanilla Madeleines, Pistachio Financiers, Orange Zest Tuiles, and tiny Madeleines.   

Trip to New Orleans

I went to New Orleans for my birthday and had cake every single night.  This Baked Alaska from Antoine's was by far my favorite dessert of the trip! I wish I took photos of the inside but it was so perfectly sweet, fluffy and creamy.

Antoines in the oldest restaurant in the city, and completely haunted.  It has so many beautiful rooms each with their own stories.  This emerald green room was my favorite. 

My last meal in New Orleans was at the famous Commanders Palace, where we ate an amazing three course brunch while Jazz musicians played in the courtyard.   This Pecan Pie was my favorite!

Their strawberry short cake was pretty great too.



You can't go to New Orleans without eating at Cafe du Monde.
I had their begneits almost everyday. They are my favorite! 

My 30th Birthday

Had a small birthday game night for my 30th, with lots of pretty girly details. I'm obsessed with these paper plates that look like nice tea china! 

How adorable is this cake my friends gave me!!  I Love LucyBean! 

I cried when I saw this, Cake & Art always kills it.  

A close up, so cute.  This will live forever on my counter.

A couple days later I was surprised AGAIN with another insanely cute Lucy cake by my other favorite bakery, Hanses Cakes.  I love the palm print background so much!

Strawberry Mousse Cake

In class last week we made Genoise cakes in the egg-levening segment and refrigerated them to use this week with the mousses.

Using gelatin to make a stable Pate a Bombe mouse with strawberry puree, we filled the top of the cake, held together with cellophane and refrigerated it until it hardened a little.

It looks SO cute, and tasted great! Light and fluffy like a strawberry short cake .

Marjolaine & Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Today's Pro Pastry class focused on egg-levened cakes.  AKA a lot of beating egg whites and using their fluffiness to structure the batters. 

I had no idea what a Marjolaine was before we made them so I wasn't even sure what it was supposed to look like, but when it came together i was so impressed.  This may be one of my favorite new desserts.  And coincidentally gluten free, for those who need something tasty without flour!  Using almond and hazelnut flours, this cake has an almost wafer-like texture with a delicate nutty flavor.  The coffee vanilla swiss buttercream layers and frosting makes it all melt in your mouth.  Seriously incredible. 

This chocolate soufflé cake, also gluten free, was super easy to make.  Tasted like a flour less chocolate cake but a little drier, less fudge.  The glaze was my favorite part. 

Pastry Class: Cakes

On my last day of Pastry Class we made two different cakes and learned some very basic decorating techniques.  I am so sad this series is over, and even more sad that I have to wait for Pro Pastry 2 to be on a Sunday again.  In the meantime, I'm really excited about trying new recipes from the CIA book we were given in class. 

This is a Hot Milk Cake adapted from the Miette book.  It's a pretty standard white cake, but using a cup of milk allows the very wet batter to create a spongy cake.

We baked two cakes, trimmed town the tops and layered them with Italian (egg white meringue) Buttercream.  I made two flavors: Strawberry for the center and Almond for the Icing. While I did love how this turned out, I think I prefer regular buttercream to Italian, this was a little over the top, even for me.

I used these heart shaped sprinkles to cover up and imperfections in my side frosting job.  That was not easy!  One trick I learned was to coat the cake in a very thin layer of frosting first and stick it in the fridge to harden.  This will allow the rest of the frosting you put on to spread around more evenly. 

We also made a Chocolate Decedent cake that was pretty amazing.  We practiced slicing the cake in half here, look how well  I did! 

I used a basic dark chocolate ganache as a frosting, which I layered on thick.

It turned out really well.  I could put this ganache on everything. 

For More Recipes and Information Check Out The Gourmandise School 

Pastry Class: Cheesecakes

Week Seven of Pro Pastry I was all about Cheesecakes.  This was a little intimidating at first, but it was super fun and not too hard at all.  First we made our own graham crackers to use for the crusts of the cake.  Who knew this flavor comes from using molases?

Passion Fruit Cheesecake

You could use almost any flavor inside the cheesecake, you just have to be careful about how you incorporate it.  Using the passion fruit puree was very easy, just mixed in about 3 teaspoons and it really brightened up the cake. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This flavor was a little trickier since it's so dense.  I had to fold it in to a portion of the batter first, and then swirl that into the remainder of the batter. It was good but made the texture of the cake a little tougher, more like a fudge. 

For the Ricotta Cheesecakes we made our own Ricotta cheese which was also really easy.  It's just milk, cream and lemon juice! 

I really liked how these turned out, they are much lighter than the cream cheese version.  These mini cups also are the perfect portion.

I added some left over chocolate ganache, I couldn't resist...

For Recipes Check Out: The Gourmandise School

Cake & Art

For a friends surprise party, they got this insane cake from Cake & Art in West Hollywood. They did an amazing job of superimposing his face into the Blade Runner movie poster!


The cake itself was red velvet with a thick buttercream frosting.


The middle cream cheese layer had tons of little chocolate chips, which was a great touch. This was a perfect cake for a birthday party!

Taste of Beverly Hills: Desserts After Dark

Tonight's Taste events was called "Dessert After Dark" hosted by Duff Goldman. Right in the middle of Rodeo Drive was this insane REAL cake made by Charm City Cakes West, their new LA location!

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Duff talking to the crowd


Me and Duff!


The Charm City girls at their booth! They had three kinds of cake to try, I had the Pecan.



Mini Cupcakes from B Sweet


Strawberry Cobbler from Brandiva and Sir Jerks


Godiva Liquor


Chocolate Ice Cream Infused with Frangelico and Candied Hazelnuts from Drunken Udder


Gorgeous Chocolates from Compartes


I tried several and they were all terrific, the best chocolates I had at the event!


Cookies from DeLuscious


Red Velvet Gelato from Pazzo Gelato


Assorted Cheeses from The Cheese Shop


Fresh Peaches with Cream and Cinnamon Granola from Craft


Cotton Candy from Dolly's Sweet Dreams


Panna Cotta with Limoncello and Mint from Oliverio at The Avalon Hotel


Lemon Meringue with Whipped Cream and Peaches from Farm Shop


Chocolate Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory


Mini Fruit Pies from Sweet Butter Kitchen Cafe & Market


Gingerbread Cookies from Sweet Butter Kitchen Cafe & Market


Cinnamon Sugar Fonuts


Milkshakes from The Counter


Mini Pies from Simple Things


Mint Chocolate Bon Bon from Sweet Rose Creamery


Slices of Whoopie Pies from Xtreme Desserts


Irish Butter Cake Made with Kerrygold Butter


Cake from Rosebud Cakes


Vanilla Cake with Buttercream and Blueberry from Rosebud Cakes


Chocolates by Emanuel Andrén Gastronomy


Emanuel's Passion Fruit and Blueberry Lemon Chocolates