The Sweet Life

White chocolate olive oil cream, red wine poached and fresh apples, cinnamon arlettes, celery, and toasted oat ice cream Hello, hello? *taps microphone Is this thing on? *mic feedback Wow. It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm pretty sure you're glad to know I haven't died or anything, right? Things were getting a little crazy for me and I was second guessing my career choice. People always tell you to do what you love, follow your passion, but they don't tell you about the rest of it. Please bear with me as I try to get all of the cobwebs out of this thing and see what I have to work with. 2013 - Now. A lot has happened in 5 years. I've changed jobs, and my dessert plating style has changed a lot. Currently, I'm sitting on my couch, it's raining outside and from the 10th floor, it seems the world has disappeared. The fog insulates me as I hear the raindrops, the slosh of traffic driving through soaked streets, the keys on my MacBook...

Are on the Time Out Chicago's Eat Out Awards photos!!! I'm including a link below. Eat Out Awards for 2013 . Now you'll have to scroll over to the 4th photo, I think. And then they pop up again later in the slideshow. Kinda proud of these simple beauties! Other than creating famous pastries, I'm training for my first 5 mile run on May 5. Yes, you read that right, I'm running the Cinco de Miler, baby! with my friend Jennifer. Then, on May 18, we're running the Zombie Shuffle. We plan to run another Hot Chocolate 5K in November, and I'm hoping to sign up for a run on my birthday. Interesting way to celebrate. So, in order to see photos of my tarts, check out the link!

Yes, I bake cakes all day. I get to bake what I want, when I want. It's a lot like those Food Network shows, I'm all fresh and dewy, never sweaty or stressed. I never work so hard I can barely move the next day. You think what I do is glamourous? Hahaha! Let me tell you some of the things that they don't tell you about what I do. When I see ads for culinary schools, and see culinary students, I want to stop them on the street and tell them that it's all bullshit. Whatever the admissions counselor told them ain't crap. Nobody ever told me that my passion would be pushed aside by babysitting duties. Or that I'll have to teach the same people the same skills every day, and then, one day, before they've mastered the basics, or consistency (what's that?), they'll be asking for a raise because they've worked for you for x amount of months. Or that my passion would be smothered by a pile of papers, emails, sticky-notes of reminders and recipe note...

One of the challenges that I face with my staff is that they tend to slow down and become nervous when given a new recipe, whether it is for something as simple a new cookie, or something a little more complex. For instance, I gave a recipe to one of my newer cooks, J. It listed the ingredients, listed cooking methods, and combining the components. When it came time to finishing the recipe, it said "Put the pastry cream into the robot coupe and add the chevre." She turned to me and asked if she had missed something. "Where is the pastry cream? It's not listed in the ingredients." she asked. I then had to show her that the first part of the recipe is making a pastry cream with the first few ingredients. I suppose part of me knew that they are not aware of what they are making on a daily basis or why. That they just look at ingredients listed and methods and don't think about it. That they were just blindly trying to get through prep lists and go home. J...

I just got back from Ace Hardware with a dozen 4 oz jars with lids! Exciting, I know. It's cherry season again! And seeing that I still have brandied cherries in my fridge (apparently I don't drink enough cocktails!), I decided to make pickled cherries this year. I made some at work for our cherry inspired dessert on the McKinlock Court menu, so I figured why not make some at home and . . . try canning them! And of course, give them away as gifts. The following recipe is sort of a template in that you can substitute as needed. For instance, I didn't have any cider vinegar, so I used champagne vinegar instead. I also didn't have any cloves, but I had some wine muddling spices left over from winter and since it's mostly cloves, I used that instead. Feel free to substitute whatever you want that complements your fruit. I made a little over twice this recipe (2.31 times to be exact) and had enough to fill twelve 4 oz jars and one. Pickling Syrup 116 grams ...

Seems cream puffs are all the rage these days. At least among the chefs I admire. I remembered something from my days back at Trump when my pastry chef Hichem was working on  pate a choux with a "streusel" top. He had conversations with a French chef, and experimented at work. I'm not sure if he was testing the other chef's recipes, or if they were sharing ideas and working on a technique. But in any event, I used this technique for my Raspberry Cream Puff, one of the new desserts at AIC. I got the recipe, which I call cassonade dough, from a French recipe. I rather like these, though they're becoming more commonplace at many bakeries and restaurants across the US. But at least I can say that I was a witness during the development stage! Raspberry Cream Puff Raspberry Cream, Lemon Curd, St Germain Chia Seeds,  Micro Lemon Balm, Freeze-Dried Raspberries

Baking cookies for a bake sale. Instead of baking something new, I'm going back to cookies I baked last Christmas for friends. I can't recall where exactly I got this recipe, but I'm sure if I wasn't lazy, I could do a "Google" and find the original and tell you where I got it. But, seeing that it is 12:22 and I've only my second dozen cookies in the oven and that I haven't been feeling too well lately, I'm hoping that you'll let me off the hook. In any event, the recipe isn't mine, and the idea isn't original, but I'm filling the "thumbprints" with ganache, and a brandied cherry half-the cherries I brandied myself a couple of years ago. 226  grams butter 272 grams sugar 1 tsp vanilla paste 40  grams yolks 115 grams Dutch cocoa 2 tsp salt 272 grams flour 30  grams cream Cream together room temperature butter and sugar, with vanilla paste. Add yolks, scraping after adding and mix until incorpo...

Milk Tea Mousse, milk chocolate almond biscuit, sesame streusel, blackberries, micro lemon basil, bubble sugar I made this for the Woman's Board lunch on Tuesday. I will be serving it this Thursday as a dessert option in the Member's Lounge. I'll be adding a sauce, either blackberry, or a tea caramel (or blackberry tea caramel?). This dessert replaced another one they originally wanted; they grew tired of creme brulees. I used to drink milk tea when I visited Chinatown with my friend, and so, it evolved into a dessert. I tried to think of many ways to keep a pure tea taste and ended up using one of my white chocolate mousse recipes. Worked out very well. Once I get the sauce down, I'll repost another photo.

Working on items for our Small Plates restaurant this season and piped these guys. They were supposed to be eclairs, but they shrank into little peanut shapes (they were supposed to be minis for this platter on Wednesday . . . but, whatever, these are much better!). So, instead of getting discouraged, I got excited, made some peanut butter cream, filled them, put them in a bowl and shared them with coworkers. The best bowl of peanuts, hands down! Best of all, no messy shells to sweep up and toss.

Can you believe that Christmas is this Sunday? Neither can I! I've been a busy little elf, and after the Cookie Swap, I've been inspired to carry on with the cookie and candy making. For my pastry team, I bought oven mitts and stuffed them with little treasures: And for friends and "chosen family" I made coffee caramels, nougat, more Spiced Cookies with Cranberry Jam and Jivara , and Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with ganache and brandied cherries! Chocolate thumbprints filled with ganache and brandied cherries!  Filling the spiced cookies. Cookie and candy tins! Cookie Bags! I hope everyone has a happy holiday! Merry Christmas and I'll see you in the new year!

Let me preface this post by stating that I woke up at 2 am and realized that I didn't post this, nor did I send my link in to be added to the round up. But that's not why I woke up that early. Lately I sleep about 4 hours a night, and wake up at 2-ish and am up the rest of the night. One day I was up for 25 hours straight, but that's another story. On to the cookies! I did something I normally don't do. I participated in something. I joined a cookie swap and baked three dozen cookies, mailed them, and waited for cookies to arrive. Three dozen. I wanted to do something a little different than what I've baked in the previous years.  I also wanted to send something a little special; something festive and fancy for the occasion.  I made Spiced Cookies with Cranberry Jam drizzled with Jivara Milk Chocolate, an adapted a recipe, from Epicurious. You can get the original recipe here .  Instead of sandwiching the cookies with Jivara ganache as usual, I decided that ...

I realize that I haven't posted anything in a long time. It's been difficult because of work, and I haven't been inspired to do anything. And if one waits for inspiration, well, one waits for a while. I am participating in a cookie swap! Yes, me! And I shopped, prepped, made, baked, cooled, assembled, drizzled, and shot some hasty flash-lit (horrendous I know, but it is night, and we've had cloudy days for more than a week!) shots in one day! This week my off days are split, and they have to be shipped tomorrow. So, after work, I'll rush back home to pack and ship. I can't say much more about the cookies, but until I can post about them, here are a few shots from work and other items. Desserts from the Twelve Plates of Christmas at the Art Institute of Chicago's Small Plates in   McKinlock Court .  There are four savory courses, drinks, and a surprise at the end!  Cranberry mousse, pistachio dacquoise, cranberry gastrique (I plan to add a layer ...

The Art Institute of Chicago decided to throw a gala for their docent's 50th year and I was asked to create a golden dessert for their golden anniversary. I mulled it over for a very long time before I came up with this: Valrhona Manjari mousse with passion fruit gelee (inside), olive oil feuilletine layer between the mousse and chocolate cake, "golden" chocolate sauce and "golden" chocolate decor, and "golden" honey. Did I mention that I had to make 340 of these desserts? That it would be featured in the restaurant upstairs? So I met with Chef M and explained my flavor profiles and what direction I was going in. She told me that the passion fruit would not be used, as they only served seasonal items in the restaurant. I was mostly using the passion fruit because it was golden in color, as well as for an acidic balance to the rich dark chocolate. Also, you really don't find a lot of yellow-hued fruits in the fall. So, we decided to use caped go...

I haven't posted in ages. I'm waiting for my grain rice mix to cook. I'm trying to condense these past couple of months into a post without going overboard. I had a birthday.  Ate at Sepia and had a wonderful time. Enjoyed a tasting menu at Aviary .  Had a wonderful time. Worked about 70-80 hours a week for about a month.  Short-staffed.  Frustrated.  Exhausted.  Don't remember much. Got a dessert published on BizBash. Changed the desserts in Small Plates. Wait?  What?  Go back? Which part did you miss? Many things have been happening at work and not having enough people to do the work has been tough, but I've been pretty well-seasoned from working at NoMI and Trump to be able to "make it happen."  We are finally having a slow week, and I have finally had two days off in a week (in a row even!), and am catching up on rest and am getting bored.  Cafe items is up to par stock.  Banquets and Small Plates is just ab...

Today the company executives came for an all-day meeting.  They had the Continental breakfast, lunch, and cookies for afternoon break.  I started creating this dessert on Friday, and finished execution today.  I have to say that this is the first dessert I have been happy with upon completion.  Usually I find fault with my desserts almost immediately after plating and sending it out.  Even my Chef was very pleased.  The execs were impressed and I got great feedback! I am calling it Spring? temporarily because for the most part, it has been grey, rainy, and chilly and it's almost May!  I can't wait for the days to warm up and the farmers markets to be open!  I am excited to get out and buy local produce again and cook fresh veggies and fruits!  The browns are earth tones, and the muted green of the lime "caviar" and the tender leaves of the micro basil are tentative signs of approaching spring weather. Originally I had planned and was fina...

Yesterday I did a tasting for a prominent Chicago couple's personal chef. They're having a dinner at our facility for other "prominent people" in the next couple of months.  It just so happens that this chef worked at NoMI, but left just before me, so I really don't know him, but I know of him. It is one thing to have your boss critique your desserts.  After a while you build a relationship and learn each other's style and you learn his/her expectations and you work from there.  Tastings for people who are on a committee choosing a menu for the umpteenth gala isn't so bad either.  Especially when you are doing something that other banquet facilities don't do.   But doing a tasting for another chef is different altogether. Chef D introduced me and upon hearing my name, "Chef B" looks at me intently.  "Why does that name sound familiar? Did you work at NoMI?"  I nodded and we established that he was on his way out as I was on my w...

Hello. For those of you still tuning in, I am still alive.  I have not won the Lottery and run off to Paris to live blissfully, getting fat on croissants and Paris Brest.  I have not been abducted by aliens. I have been promoted. After returning to work from my trip, I was asked into the office by the Chef de Cuisine.  They are happy with what I'm doing, and they wanted to offer me the position of pastry chef, which I accepted.  I'm still in shock, and when introduced at tastings as " . . . my pastry chef . . ." It takes a couple of beats for me to realize he's talking about me! I'm really enjoying things, as much as I can.  We're short-staffed, and I've had people in for interviews, stages, and soon, paperwork.  It's quite interesting being on the other side of the interview.  It's also a challenge to lead a staff, to monitor and figure out what to do in certain situations.  But it's also exciting!  I'm looking forward to what my...

While waiting for my mom during her surgery this afternoon, I started editing photos and sorting them into nice "projects" on Aperture.  I rediscovered some that I'd taken a while ago and thought I would share them with you. Enjoy!

 . . . the sum of my career.  At this point.  . . . the sum of my choices.  I am the person that I am today because of them. As I work through my day, I follow procedures based on those of chefs I've worked with, the kitchens I've worked in.  My pastry education, post culinary school, is a culmination of the information those people-chefs, both savory and pastry, fellow cooks-have chosen to give to me.  I understand why ingredients work the way they do because someone else learned it and taught it to me.  I remember by effect, the chemical reactions between heat and ingredients, time, air, cold.  When something goes wrong, I can make corrections based on this knowledge.  I choose to pass this information on to the staff I now supervise, and am not afraid of not having an answer-in fact it makes me want to learn so that I can better understand and answer the next time. I tell my staff where this information comes from.  I'll say tha...

These are two more desserts on the menu, realized for the first time.  After plating these samples for a tasting today, I've rethought some of the elements.  And while they're good enough to serve, I still want to tweak them a bit. Creme Fraiche Bavarian, Lemon Curd (insert and sauce), Raspberries, Streusel, White Chocolate Decor Classic  L'Opera with Mocha Sauce