"La Casa Gelato"

As our final assignment of the year for this foods class, we had to go to La Casa Gelato to sample and eat ice cream. With their many different flavors, 216 to be exact, there were many options to choose from. I decided to try some different flavors such as rice pudding and a pear and goat cheese combination. I also tried birthday cake, vanilla reeses pieces and mint fudge. After trying all these different delicious flavors, I decided to get birthday cake because it truly tasted like a cake just in ice cream form. One scoop of ice cream was $5 and very over-priced. However, the ice cream was well worth it and I would most likely go back there in the future. 

"Ice Cream Sandwiches"

For our next assignment we made ice cream sandwiches. We split this lab up into three days so that we would have enough time to make everything. On the first day we made the base for our ice cream and then the day after we put the ice cream in the ice cream machine so that it would turn into actual ice cream and we also baked our cookies. Our flavor combinations were a chocolate cookie and strawberry ice cream. Assembling the sandwiches on the third day was somewhat tedious because the ice cream had to be softened but not too soft so that it ran out of the cookie. After assembling them it was finally time to taste all of the hard work that we put into this lab. These ice cream sandwiches were delicious and it was nice to know that all of the components were homemade. I will definitely be making this recipe many times for the summer. 

"Fondant Cake"

After all that practice with fondant flowers we got to use them to decorate our cake. The cake was a basic white cake and the cake itself was two layers. I dirty iced the cake with buttercream icing so that the marshmallow fondant that we made would stick to the cake better. The marshmallow fondant was much tastier than the store-bought stuff we used to practice making flowers. I decided to cover my cake with white fondant and decorate the edges with stems and the top with pink and white roses to make my cake look like a bouquet of flowers. Also, to make the cake look more realistic I added leaves on top. As a finishing touch I added some red balls along the bottom of the cake. I am very proud of the way my cake turned out and I think the fondant flowers turned out well. This cake was very time consuming therefore I'm not sure whether or not I would do it again. 

"Fondant FLowers"

Next, our assignment was to create fondant flowers. This lab went on over a period of classes and wasn't meant to be eaten. Each class we were assigned a different flower or leaf to make and we practiced making them throughout the class. The different types of flowers and leaves we made included calla lilies, carnations, daisies, roses, mums, ivy leaves and lily leaves. Each design presented a new challenge but if you were patient the flowers would end up looking beautiful. The rose was the most difficult flower to make while the daisy was the easiest. I enjoyed practicing making these flowers however I couldn't wait to use them to decorate my cake.

"Cake Pops"

I was very excited for our next recipe because I knew that it would be both challenging and rewarding. I have always seen cake pops in stores and I really enjoy eating them so I was looking forward to the chance to get to make them myself. The process of forming the balls was fairly easy but when it came to spreading the wafers things got more challenging. The melted wafers weren't going on evenly therefore the surface wasn't the smoothest. We decided to design our cake pops to look like little chicks and I must say they turned out to be quite cute. Once the wafers melted it was easy to finish the cake pops with eyes, a nose, legs and arms. The cake pops were very sweet but they were very tasty. 

"Carrot Cake and Buttercream Icing"

Our next recipe was a carrot cake that we baked in an easter egg mold for Easter. The cake turned out very moist and tasty and to decorate it we made buttercream icing and piped designs on the egg. We got to choose any color we wanted for our icing and do any design we wanted. The product was both atteactive and delicious.

"Ukrainian Easter Eggs"

The next assignment that we started didn't involve a product that we would get to eat in the end, but it involved a lot of work and if done properly, the finished product would be incredible. This project was Ukrainian Easter eggs. First of all, you had to design what you wanted to put on your egg. There are many different symbols that represnt different things. I decided to go with a fairly simple design that involved a few colors. I began with white, then moved on to yellow, then green, then blue, then dark red and finally black. I used a border around the side of the egg to add detail and designed a flower in the middle. To keep the colors separated we used wax while we dyed the eggs different colors. My final product was much better than I expected and I was very proud of my work. This project was very tedious and I can't say whether or not I would try making more in the future.

"Pulla Bread"

I have made a lot of different types of bread throughout the past few years, however I have to admit that Pulla bread has been one of my favorites. The process of making this finnish coffee bread was the same with most other types of bread but there was one thing that set this bread apart from the others that I've made; the sugar that was added on top. The coarse sugar that we got to sprinkle on top gave the bread the perfect amount of sweetness and made this bread a delicious snack. 

One of the most fun parts of this recipe was braiding the bread. I used five sections and rolled them out into long and thin strands. Using five strands was fairly easy and it made the presentation much better. This has been by far one of the best recipes we've made in class this year.

"Royal Icing Flowers"

Next, we were given the difficult task of creating flowers out of royal icing. We could choose from a variety of flowers such as daffodils, violets, primroses, and the most difficult of all: roses. Making these designs requires a steady hand, dedication, and attention to detail. I tried my best to make perfect daffodils and roses, however I would say that I need more practice.

"Cherry Pie Cake Stack"

Our next recipe included layers of sponge cake, cherry pie filling and whipped cream. Creating this Cherry Pie Cake Stack was fairly simple and created a delicious dessert. First, we made a wonderful vanilla sponge cake for our stack. We cut circles out of the cake itself and then divided those circles into three thinner circles to create different layers. Then, we began whipping the cream to create a fluffy whipped cream for the top of the cake and for one of the layers. Finally, the last thing we needed to create our Cherry Pie Cake Stack was the cherry pie filling. Once we had all these components, we began assembling our stack. We alternated layers of cake,cherry pie filling, cake, whipped cream and finally more cake. We topped the cake with more whipped cream and some chocolate sauce. All these flavors created a fantastic cake that I would make again many times.

"Cheesecake"

Our next tasty creation was an all-time favorite of mine: cheesecake. It involved three different components: the cheesecake itself, a strawberry coulis and chocolate leaves (not pictured above.) We used a dark cookie crumb crust to begin with and made the traditional cheesecake to go with it. There was also orange zest that was added to this recipe to add flavor. We prepared a strawberry coulis by combining strawberries, orange juice and sugar and refridgerating that mixture. Finally, the last part of this recipe was chocolate leaves. We washed and dried the leaves and simply painted a layer of chocolate on the underside of the leaves. Unfortunately, the layer of chocolate wasn't thick enough and we weren't able to peel the chocolate off the leaves successfully. Even with that minor complication the cheesecake still tasted delicious and we managed to plate it in an attractive manner.

"Truffles"

This recipe was not successful for my group because the chocolate mix did not set in time and it wasn't hard enough to form balls to make truffles. We followed the steps of the recipe, however, refrigerating the mixture for two days was not enough to set it completely and when we tried to form balls the chocolate was still in a liquid state. We tried to use cocoa powder to help with the shaping but the truffles were hopeless. The liquid truffles tasted delicious but they didn't look very appealing.  

"Garnishes: Apple Bird"

Another garnish that we made out of fruits and vegetables was an apple bird. This provided me with many challenges because I found it difficult to make clean and smooth cuts using a crisp apple. The wings were the easier part of this assingment meanwhile the head was very hard. I cut triangles out of the bird's wings to ressemble feathers and once I got to the head, I did my best to cut out the proper shape and make an eye. In the future I would try and make my cuts smoother and more rounded because I was not very impressed with my final apple bird. 

"Noodles with chicken, mushrooms and snow peas"

There are very few savory dishes that are made in this class becasue decorating is more common with desserts. The reason for making this stir-fry was to work on presentation and garnishing. The peas were used to add color to this dish and the different components on the plate were supposed to be arranged in an attractive manner. I found it interesting to see how simply changing where things are placed on a dish can make the dish look so much more appetizing. I am a very big fan of asian cuisine and I thought the stir-fry looked delicious and tasted great.

    

"Garnishes: Watermelon Basket"

The next garnish that we created was a watermelon basket. It involved using a tool to cut around the center of a watermelon while leaving spaces for the handle of the basket. Once the shape was cut out we had to scrape out the inside of the watermelon so that it would be hollow. It is possible to use the watermelon that we scraped out to create "melon balls" that could be placed in the basket and eaten. This garnish was much simpler to create than the shark and I prefer the look of the basket to the cucumber shark.

"Garnishes: Cucumber Shark"

We have began creating garnishes in this class and there will be three that we will be making: a cucumber shark, a watermelon basket and an apple bird. The first of the three is the cucumber shark. There are many different steps to building this underwater fish. First of all, a flat bottom must be cut. With that piece that you cut off, you can create the fins on the top and on the sides of the shark by cutting slits into the shark and pushing the pieces of cucumber into the slits. You can also cut out a mouth full of teeth as well as some gills. A tail can also be made with a different cucumber piece and a slit at the back of the cucumber and finally you can give the shark some eyes by using a rounded tool. The challenges with this task were the size of the cucumber (it was very small and that made it difficult to add details) as well as the ability to use a knife.

 

"Cookie Monster Cake"

The second time that we used the monkey shaped novelty pan we had to be creative and think of a completely different design that would work with the shape of the pan. One of our ideas was doing cookie monster because we thought it would be fun and unique. Once the cake was ready to be iced the labor intense process began again. This time it was a bit simpler since most of cookie monster is blue. We decided to outline his hair to create more visual texture and to add detail to the cake. Also, we made cookies before hand to put on the cake so that it could be more realistic to cookie monster. This cake was a lot of fun to make and it turned out really well and tasted delicious.

"Monkey Cake"

To create this unique cake we used a novelty shaped pan, in this case a monkey, and used different icing techniques to make it resemble a monkey. Once the cake was baked and cooled it was time to begin what seemed like a big challenge. Five different colors of icing were required and it took patience and commitment to finish the decoration process. If your hands weren't shaking by the end then you weren't working hard enough.

The star tip was used on 95% of the cake and that's what helped give the cake texture. Otherwise, the smaller parts such as the eyes and the mouth were simply spread on. A grass border was created to give the impression of a monkey in its natural habitat. When the cake was finished it was easy to be proud of the work that had been accomplished. It truly looks like a monkey.

"Ze Bite"

A part of this course required me to taste the food from a local food cart. I went downtown and chose the traditional French cuisine of "Ze Bite." This food truck makes stews, soups and sandwiches and is a quick and healthy choice for a meal. I tried the Chicken Blanquette stew and everything tasted delicious.

Chicken Blanquette