Sunday, March 20, 2011

That Dreaded Day


Last weekend was the annual Quady Dessert competition. The Quady winery asks competitors to create a dessert that will pair well with their wine; this year being the Essensia that has an orange blossom flavor.

Let me get one thing straight: I don't do competitions. I wouldn't say that I'm not competitive but I hate people watching me and argh...judging me. I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to reviews, tastings, and meetings already so entering in this competition was completely out of character. I wanted to just try it out, to see if I could handle it, and to see if maybe, in the slightest possibility, I might create something that may be in the same league as some of the best pastry people that are up and coming in this city.

This is what I did: a roasted almond sponge layered with a white chocolate peach mousse, stewed peaches, peach gelee topped with a bruleed roasted peach, an orange yogurt sorbet, and an orange tuile. I made a few mistakes that I kick myself for (like choosing peach when it's not in season, and not making the tuiles perfectly straight) but it's done and over with and I can't change what I did. I learned a lot though and saw some amazing stuff!

Would I do it again though? Not quite sure. I couldn't sleep the night before (I kept worrying that my tiny ice cream machine wouldn't be frozen enough to churn ice cream and lo and behold, the morning of, I was right!) I ended up using a backup that I wasn't too happy with. Couldn't sleep well for at least a week leading up to it. As I predicted (though I hoped I wouldn't fall into my usual self), I was a ball of nerves and my hand was literally shaking as I was placing the tuiles on the plates. I remember driving to the location and getting closer and closer to it and thinking, "oh, god, I don't want to do this. Why did I do this?" It was a learning experience and I'll leave it at that.

Monday, March 7, 2011

More Fondant Fun!




A "train-themed" cake was what was asked for and it was for a two-year old so I wanted to do something fun and colorful that would definitely draw a kid's attention. The bottom was just a sheet cake and the individual trains were sculpted cakes. It was a lemon pound cake with vanilla buttercream icing. I added the pig and lion peeking through the windows because I thought it needed an extra "oomph" to it and kids love animals anyways!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Carrot Cake Muffins


These are carrot cake muffins studded with raisins and topped off with cream cheese icing.