Carb Loaded For Life

Friends! It's been awhile. Like 4 weeks awhile. Lots of pastry school updates to be had, but lets start in reverse order, because I have exciting recent news.

We found out this week where we got placed for our externships. This is where we'll be working and spending all of our time for the last two months of the program, it's MAJOR. A few weeks ago, we all had a one-on-one with the founder of the school and ever since then, I've been anxiously-nervously-excitedly wondering where the devil I'll end up! On Wednesday morning, we were told that we'll all find out at lunchtime. Deep breath. Eeks magee. Lunchtime rolls around, and every one of us are silently on our phones, obsessively refreshing our email like a bunch of buffoons. And then, like dominoes, one by one, the emails start coming. Murmuring and smiles come next. I refresh my email for the 20th time and there it is. I open my email to see that I got placed at the same location where this journey began: Tartine Bakery! Motherf*&%ing Tartine! So SO excited. Want to know where everyone else got placed? Yeah ya do! NOPA, Chez Panisse, Quince, State Bird Provisions, Feve, Jane on Larkin, Little Bee Baking, Neighbor Bakehouse, Craftsman and Wolves, Della Fattoria and Cake Coquette. Bad. Ass. So excited for my pastry school peeps.

#photoshopskillzonpoint

Lets continue this Memento-like order recap in reverse, shall we?

Week 13: Breads 2
That's what it said in our syllabus: "Breads 2." Pretty self-explanatory <insert sarcastic looking emoji of your choice here>. We only had two days of class this week before Thanksgiving break and they were filled with "quick breads," mostly breakfast-type pastries. Waffles, coffee cake (best I've ever had), muffins, brioche to name a few and one of the BEST croissants I've ever had: a PRETZEL croissant! Yes, it's as good as it sounds. Actually, it's better than it sounds.

Week 12: Laminated Dough
Translation: CROISSANTS!! There was a lot of <under the radar> happy dancing and fist-pumps this week. Laminated dough is dough consisting of many thin layers of dough separated by butter, produced by repeated folding and rolling. Fun Fact: Croissants have 81 layers, while puff pastry typically has about 1000. #mindblown We had chef Brian Wood from Starter Bakery come in to show us how croissant making is done. He's the king of all things croissant, and also, you haven't lived if you haven't eaten his kouign amann. #lifechanging Chef Brian also kindly participated in a "Last Supper" photo you can get a glimpse of below. He makes an excellent Jesus. We finished out the week with a visit to the kickass Craftman and Wolves facility. Chef William Werner gave us a personal tour of the digs and his soon to be expansion. It was beautiful, spotless and I noted that they had pretty much one of every tool and machine a pastry gal could dream of. Chef William really impressed us. Confident, business savvy and smart as a whip. I want to be like him when I grow up.

Week 11: Breads 1
The first installment of bread. This week was eye-opening. We made more of your classic loaves and baguettes this week. Guest chef Michael Kalanty joined us for a day to show us his way of making some classic breads like pan au levain and San Francisco sour dough. He takes the cake for my favorite guest chef. He's not only hugely entertaining and hilarious, but he's a fantastic teacher. Sign up for one of his classes, and thank me later. Other notable things we made: bagels, pretzels and babka, oh my! We closed out the week with a field trip to Central Milling in Petaluma. Nicky Giusto was our fabulous host who took us on a baguette making adventure. Chef Nicky is competing in the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris (a.k.a. The World Cup of bread baking), representing for team U.S.A. He's that good!

Week 10: Ice Cream, Gelato, Frozen Desserts
Yes, yes and yes. Guest chefs Bill Corbett, former pastry chef of Absinthe, and Patti Dellamonica-Bauler, pastry chef at One Market, paid us separate visits and taught us their style of ice cream making. Chef Bill is all about the science angle of ice cream making utilizing emulsifiers and stabilizers such as Cremodan 30 that give ice cream viscosity and also delays the melting of ice cream. Too much of this can give ice cream a chalky, gummy mouth feel though so watch yourself. Chef Patti's angle was all natural, sans stabilizers. Ironically enough, one of our freezers broke during this week. Reminded me of the good ol' Pottery Barn days when the printer broke at clutch times like before a film review. Figures. All in all, it was an ice cream-tastic week.

So you might have noticed that we had three three glorious weeks of bread. THREE! That's some serious carb-loading.

And now, while I start my bread detox, here's a photo montage of the last 4 weeks. Oh, and cue this song first because I said so.

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Quite Possibly The Best Ice Cream I've Ever Had

I was in Lancaster, PA for a handful of days on a work trip last week. Lancaster is quirky little town in Amish country- about 1.5 hours west of Philly. When visiting someplace new, I have this habit of trying to befriend a local in order to find out where the best restaurants, bars and attractions are in that given town. If I befriend the right local, I'm never let down by this strategy, it's gold. After chatting up a local chef, while grabbing dinner on my first night, I asked him where would a dessert fiend, like myself, go for dessert in this town? Without hesitation he said "Carmen and David's Creamery." He told me they get their dairy from local Amish farmers and the ice cream is to die for. He also said that one of the owner's went to Ice Cream School at Penn State in order to learn the ways of ice cream making. Ice Cream School actually exists? I did the college thing all wrong.

On my last day, I finally made a special trip to this quaint little ice cream shop located downtown. I was a bit early, it didn't open until 5pm, and I had 30 mins to kill. I jaunted next door to Prince Street Cafe for a hit of caffeine while I waited. This wait is worth mentioning because I had quite possibly the best latte I've ever had. I went in thinking of ordering a normal latte, but was rightfully steered towards their "How Now Brown Cow." This drink is an iced latte, BUT made with rich, local chocolate milk instead of regular boring milk. WOAH it was delicious. It was a solid dessert appetizer before I moved on to my dessert entrée next door.

At 5pm on the nose, I sauntered into C & D's Creamery and was faced with copious amounts of ice cream flavors- 30 to be exact. "It's sample o'clock," I thought. After asking the gal behind the counter a few Q's about their flavors, I sampled only 3 flavors, but felt like trying at least 5 more. The pressure of the line got to me (quit breathing down my neck line!) so I pulled the trigger and got 3-mini scoops on a pretzel (!!) cone of Molasses Brownie Chunk, Vanilla Fudge Ripple and Dark Chocolate. Lets back the truck up and talk about that pretzel cone. In all my ice cream shop visiting days, I've never come across a cone like this before so it was a no-brainer to give it a go. Verdict? I loved the concept, but the cone was slightly stale. Le sigh. As for the ice cream, it was <dramatic pause> quite possibly the best ice cream I've ever had. It has a thick, velvety texture that kind of coats your tongue. It's creamy, but not overly rich creamy. It tastes like homemade ice cream to the highest degree. The Dark Chocolate top scoop was unreal. I'm talking having the urge to high five a fellow patron good. The fudge in the Vanilla Fudge Ripple tasted like legit homemade fudge. Same went for the brownies in my Molasses Brownie Chunk scoop. I chose well, but probably would have felt that way about any of the flavors. I'm a real dumb dumb for going to this place on my last day.

Until I return to this happy place, I will have dessert dreams about Carmen, David and their creamery for days to come.

Photo cred: carmenanddavidscreamery.com

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Review: Three Twins Ice Cream

When my BF (now hubs) and I moved in together, we were stoked to discover an ice cream shop two blocks from our new place. "This could be very, very dangerous" I recall saying to him. The shop was Three Twins Ice Cream, and we were excited to see what it was all about. After waltzing into the hard to miss lime green shop for the first time, it didn't take long for us to fall madly in love with the shop and their ice cream. Three Twins was founded by Neal Gottlieb, his twin Carl, and his twin's wife Liz, hence the clever name. Their ice cream is organic (how very San Francisco) and they kindly donate one percent of sales to land conservation initiatives through 1% for the Planet. Eat delicious ice cream for a good cause = reason to never feel guilty about eating ice cream again! I'm game. Also, if you're feeling really generous (and hungry), you can order the World's Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae, that clocks in at $3,333.33. When I win the lottery, this may or may not be one of the first purchases I make...I mean...how could you not be curious about this?!

Naturally, we became regulars here in no time. We loved trying each of their creative mash-up of flavors such as Chocolate Orange Confetti and Dad's Cardamom. YUM. My personal combo favorites are Sea Salted Caramel with Chocolate Malt OR Lemon Cookie with Strawberry Je Ne Sais Quoi <cue drooling>. Pro Tip: If you are going for a two scooper, I recommend you ask someone working there for a suggestion. They're the pros, after all. My hubs has many a time gone rogue and paired up flavors that create a questionable combo-bite. Order wisely my friends.

A few months after we discovered our precious spot, we were crushed to hear they had to close due to damage caused by a fire in one of the apartments over the shop. They said not to worry and that the repairs should only take a handful of months. Two years later...(which was a long painful ice cream-deprived wait), they opened their doors again, which are a boring grey now, but we didn't care. It was like Christmas when we happily skipped over to the shop's re-opening night. We giddily placed our order, after a sample or five, and felt complete again.

Hook yourself up with a double scoop at one of these shops and thank me later, or if you're feeling lazy, grab a pint at a SF grocery store (most have Three Twins), or if you're the laziest of lazy, order some pints online.

Overall Rating: 5 Ice Cream Cheers'

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Thanksgiving Desserts Part One and Deux

My apron of choice.

One of my family's Thanksgiving traditions is to make a crap-load of desserts. I'm talking, at least 7 desserts. Fo real. We don't mess around either, my mom and I team up and we conquer the desserts, one at a time. You should see us in action. We start first thing in the AM, tie on our aprons in sync, cue the Christmas music (it's acceptable this close to December) and it's go-time. She kindly takes on the roll of the reliable sous-pastry-chef and dishwasher while I take on the role of pastry chef diva.

This year, I jetted to Boston first to celebrate Thanksgiving early with my in-laws. They've adapted nicely to my dessert fiendness and happily join in on the dessert making. This year, we made PB Chocolate Chip Bars (see previous blog entry for the recipe), Mini Pecan Pies, Grandma's Special- Pistachio Whipped Cream Angel Food Cake Heath Bar Parfait (there's gotta be a better title for that), Croissant Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, Pumpkin Ice Cream, Vanilla Heath Bar Ice Cream and Apple Crisp. They were all delish, but the standout was, in my humble opinion, the Croissant Pudding! That recipe had me at "croissant." This is basically bread pudding, but better because it's with croissants. I've never made bread pudding before- for some reason, it always seemed very daunting to me. Luckily, it was far from that. Honorable mention goes to my mother-in-law's Apple Crisp. I'm such a sucker for it.

Croissant Pudding...hello lover...

Croissant Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients – Pudding
6 large croissants, sliced in half lengthwise
8 large eggs
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 cups cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Ingredients – Sauce
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup Irish whiskey or bourbon

Directions – Pudding
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2.  Layer the croissants in pan, making sure entire surface is covered, with no space between the slices.
3.  Whisk eggs and sugar together, and blend well. Whisk in the cream and vanilla.
4.  Slowly pour cream mixture over the croissants, allowing the bread to absorb the liquid. Push down the croissants with the back of a spoon so they absorb more of the liquid.
5.  Set baking pan into a larger shallow pan or baking dish, and pour hot tap water into the outer pan, until the level reaches halfway up the side of inner pan.
6.  Place on center rack of oven, and bake until pudding is just set, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, and remove the inner pan from outer pan.

Directions – Sauce
1.  Beat the egg yolks and sugar in large bowl until pale yellow. Add whiskey and beat until well combined.
2.  Transfer mixture to the top of a double boiler, or a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium high heat until the mixture is thick and creamy.
3.  Whisk just before serving. To serve, place a slick of the pudding (warm or chilled) on a plate, and drop with sauce.

My sister-in-law's husband modified the drizzle recipe or, some would say, he went rogue (he simply used melted vanilla ice cream) but it was darn tasty. I'm definitely making this recipe again.

Thanksgiving Desserts Part One

My adorable nephew sous-chef

The setup is key!

Next up, Thanksgiving Part Deux at the Thompson household. My mom and I, as I mentioned earlier, did our thing and made 6 of the 7 desserts: PB Chocolate Chip Bars (appetizers), Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake, Classic Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting, Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Pumpkin Cheesecake and Apple Pie. My hubs made the 7th which was another round of the Vanilla Heath Bar Ice Cream, but this time with a hot fudge swirl. Such a damn showoff. Everyone's favorite, of course, was the husband's dessert (PISH POSH!). Honorable mention goes to the Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from All Recipes & Martha Stewart
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients – Cupcakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients – Frosting
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions – Cupcakes
1.  Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger in a bowl; set aside.
2.  Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3.  Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Directions – Frosting
1.  In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
2.  Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Overall, 'twas a successful dessert Thanksgiving. The only flop we had was that we didn't grease the pan well enough for the chocolate cake so half of it decided not to come out (see below). We tried to patch it together with the frosting, but it was a hot, hot mess. Luckily, it still tasted good and, in my humble opinion, that's all that matters.

Happy Holiday baking friends!

Thanksgiving Desserts Part Deux

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Review: Luna Park's Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

When my sister found out I started a dessert blog, she said I absolutely had to go to Luna Park to try their Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. She was a fan, to put it lightly. So much in fact that when she was dining here with a friend when she was 9mos pregnant and started going into labor, she insisted they stay long enough to order this dessert...and polish off every last bite, including an extra scoop of ice cream! Brav-o sister, bravo.

Don't you hate it sometimes when siblings are right? Not in this case. This dessert is kind of like eating a hug. Crispy on the outside, warm gooey chocolatey goodness on the inside and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that melts over this bread pudding in all the right places. Yeah that sounded weird...just go with it. 

Rating: 5 Milkshakes

Thank you sister for sharing this yummalicious dessert. : )

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Review: Desserts of Disneyland

My family and I go to the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland, every year. This is partially due to the fact that we all truly love it, but mostly because there's a dental convention in Anaheim that my parents attend. (Ironic fact: my dad is a dentist and my mom is a hygienist...and we're all dessert fiends. GASP). Since we've been going for so many years, we know the park waaay too well, especially when it comes to the desserts (didn't see that one coming huh?) Luckily, Mr. Walt Disney didn't disappoint in this area. My fam and I have dessert traditions that we try to partake in each visit and I'd like to share some of the highlights with you.

Clockwise starting left: Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae, Strawberry Ice Cream with Hot Fudge, Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae and Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream.

​​Best Ice Cream Sundae: Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae @ Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.
This sundae can do no wrong. Two scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream, served in a waffle cup, with hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. This past visit, I stupidly ordered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae ​to mix things up. Don't do this. It was below average. Plus, I got to watch my sister happily chow down on the Mint Sundae across the table from me. I was an angry panda.

Why so happy friend? I'm about to eat your face.

Best Frozen Nibble: Mickey's Ice Cream Sandwhich @ Frozen Treat Cart.
Snag one of these adorable cookies 'n cream ice cream sandos and bite Mickey's ears off with glee.

Best Afternoon Snack: Churro: @ Churro Cart.
When you're in between meals and you need a little something something to tie yourself over, order yourself a Churro. It's sugary crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside.

Best Baked Sweet Treat: Chef Cookie’s Deep Dish @ Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue.
Choose from a classic chocolate chip cookie or seasonal cookie (ours was a snickerdoodle), each served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot fudge or caramel. It's yum.

photo cred: disneylandblackoutdates.com

Best Hot Day Refresher: Pineapple Whip @ Tiki Juice Bar.
This pineapple fro-yo is not only delightfully refreshing, but is probably the healthiest dessert at DL. Order this when you've been porking out on corn dogs and want a lighter sweet.

Clockwise starting top left: Some fruity dessert, some PB choco number, my duo of crème brûlée: vanilla and hazelnut and lastly molten choco with flare.

Best Exclusive Dessert: Crème Brûlée duo @ Club 33
You can't help but feel like a VIP getting to dine at Club 33. The 4 desserts we tried were not all mind-blowers, but most were really tasty. Tom Colicchio would give them all high marks on presentation, but I personally think the crème brûlée duo tasted the best.

Disneyland will always hold a very special place in my heart...and stomach. My hat is tipped to you Walt!

Overall Rating: 5 Ice Cream Scoops

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My Dad's "Love" for Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

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Growing up in a house full of dessert lovers meant desserts didn't stick around long. This was a problem for my dad, who's favorite go-to dessert is ice cream. Whenever his sweet tooth hit, he wanted to have a dessert he could rely on being there for him, like an old friend if you will. This is where Ben and Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" ice cream came in.* My dad was crafty and was able to find the single ice cream flavor that the rest of the family hated. Keep in mind, this was far from his favorite flavor, but he grew fond of it, mostly because he didn't have to worry about it disappearing on his watch. Brilliant or desperate? Nevertheless, whenever I open my parent's freezer and find a pint of Cherry Garcia sitting there, it makes me smile.

*If you haven't had the pleasure (?) of sampling this, it consists of cherry ice cream with cherries & fudge flakes. B&J, this flavor royally sucks. Stick to what you do best like "Coffee Heath Bar Crunch" or "Half Baked".

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