Strawberry Cream

For my brother's birthday his favorite is strawberry cake. This year I made hi a strawberry and cream cake to celebrate!

Light and Healthy Desserts

Vegan Jelly Donuts

The object of this class was to make plated desserts that fit certain dietary restrictions. There are vegan, sugar free, and gluten free varieties.

Sugar free Orange Curd

Gluten free Banana Bread

Vegan Apple Spice cake

Sugar free Lemon Mousse

Vegan Tiramisu 

Vegan Cheese Tray

Vegan Berry Cheesecake

Chocolate Sculptures

Made entirely out of chocolate, flowers and all!

Yule Log Cake

Getting into the Christmas spirit by making this winter themed yule log cake! All decorations are marzipan/fondant and the mushrooms are dried meringues.

Chocolatetier in the Making

I took an advanced chocolates class during my senior year at JWU. These are some of the bonbons I made.

Cinnamon Truffles 

Passion Fruit 

Banana

Coconut

Peanut Butter Truffles

Raspberry

Guava

Chai Tea

Thanksgiving Pies

It's not a Thanksgiving meal without the pumpkin pie! My family traditions include the usual feast of home-cooked food and delicious pie. This year I made whole wheat crusted pumpkin pie and chocolate silk pie.

Birthday Pie

Who wouldn't want their name spelled out on a birthday pie? This one happens to be apple pie and I cut out the top crust to celebrate my dad's birthday!

Reese's Lovers Cake

Chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven! This cake is chocolate, filled and topped with chocolate ganache, enrobed in peanut butter frosting, and topped with Reese candy decorations.

Wine Tasting

This weekend is Family Weekend at my school and they offered a wine tasting course. We were able to try six different wines: two white and four red. My favorites were the white Ch Latour Pessac Leognan with a smooth citrusy taste and the red St. Julien with a crisp, rich flavor. The others included: Sauvigon Blanc, Merlot Napa, Cabernet Napa, and Haut Medoc.

Science Of The Vanilla Bean

A Rare Find With An Exceptional Demand

            The last five centuries of world history were mainly shaped by the discovery of new plants, especially spices. The Americas offered the rest of the world all kinds of new flavorings, including vanilla (Standage: 90). Today, it is one of the most popular flavorings in the world (McGee: 430). Vanilla is most commonly known for its distinct aroma, high production cost, and its use in cooking. While its botanical origin is not acknowledged as much.

Strawberry Pineapple Mojitos

To further celebrate my birthday, my friends and I mixed up these sweet treats. It's a twist on a classic mint and lime mojito with a splash of pineapple juice, pineapple rum, and fresh strawberry slices.

Birthday Twins

Every year on my birthday I celebrate with not only myself but a very close friend who happens to have the same birthday as me. She also happens to have been born in the same hospital and by the same mom. We even look alike. Yes, we are identical twins! I love celebrating with her and for quite a while now have made our birthday cake(s) every year. This year was no exception, her favorite is chocolate and mine vanilla. So this cake is a four layered half vanilla, half chocolate cake with oreo ganache filling and a simple colored buttercream design.

A Brief History of Ice Cream

      Centuries ago summer-time desserts were made by taking sweet cream or custard and cooling them down with ice (Olver). The name “ice cream” comes from this process; derived literally from iced cream. For centuries, these chilled desserts were considered a luxury.  Dating back to as early as 3000 BC, the Chinese are credited for developing the very first ice creams (Olver). Between 54 and 68 AD, Roman Emperor Nero is said to have sent his slaves to fetch snow from the mountain tops to make an ice cream like dessert (Staff). However the frozen treat we enjoy today is not the same that was originally introduced. Ice cream began as flavored ice, usually with fruit or honey. It is said that during the 17^th century the modern ice cream, cream or custard based, originated from Italy; eventually making its way through Europe via France (Olver).

Food Memoir

Don’t Judge A Snail by Its Shell

            It was mid-afternoon on a sunny summer day. Looking to my left and right, my sister and mom were both in a dream like state gazing at the exquisite sights of Paris. The air was fresh, and the warmth of the sun lightly kissed our faces. Leading from the sidewalks of the Champs-Élysées we casually stroll down the pebbled walkway entering the Jardin des Tuileries. Suddenly a whiff of something delicious crosses paths with my nostrils.  I turn my head to see a quaint little café poking out from behind the trees. Its inviting atmosphere catches not only my attention.

A Short Story About Vinegar

As a naturally occurring substance, vinegar can be any alcoholic beverage exposed to air. Vinegar has been used for many purposes such as medicinal, flavoring agent, food substances, and a preservative.

S'mores With A Twist

Fall is coming, and with fall comes colder weather and camp fires. A camp fire's best friend is the roasted marshmallows. If you've never had a s'more, you don't know what you're missing! Having been raised on s'mores as a kid, I love the trifecta of flavors. Chocolate, marshmallow, and gram cracker come together to make this tasty dessert. I put a twist on this traditional dessert and turned it into an entrmet with a gram cracker crust, chocolate mouse filling and chocolate glaze, vanilla sponge cake, marshmallow filling and a toasted marshmallow topping. Everything is better with toasted marshmallow!

Food Writing

Yesterday I started a class titled "Food Writing" where we were asked to keep a blog pertaining to food. I thought I'd share the first memory I have of baking:

I was young. Young enough to have to stand on a chair in order to see over the kitchen counter top. My dad swiftly puts all the ingredients into one big bowl as my eager hands reach for the whisk. With his hands on top of mine, we mix until the batter comes together. I can feel the heat emanating from the griddle. There is a sizzling sound the moment the batter hits the flat, hot surface. A short amount of time goes by and I am given the spatula. And a huge smile forms on my face. As I flip the golden browned circles, their buttery aroma fills the room. I help my dad until there is no more batter in the bowl. "Breakfast is ready!" my dad calls to the rest of our family, "who wants pancakes?"

This is one of my favorite memories of my childhood! And this recipe was passed down from my granddad (dad's dad). To this day, I still use this recipe and pancakes are one of my favorite breakfast foods! 

Chocolate Strawberry

Same flavors, one just has a chocolate Spider-man face.

Caramel Cream

Vanilla Caramel

Chocolate Caramel

Oreo Love

United We Enjoy Pie

I saw a video of someone who made this pie so I recreated one myself!

Third Times A Charm

While I was studying abroad one of our assignments was to create the perfect entrmet. It could be any flavor you chose, and any design you wanted. I had never been given so much freedom on an assignment before, and I was absolutely thrilled to create my masterpiece! I decide to make a banana, chocolate, hazelnut flavored entrmet with toasted hazelnut and tempered chocolate as decoration. By the third attempt, I had perfected my flavor and design!

Attempt 2

Attempt 1

Attempt 3

Study Abroad France Part 6: Plated Desserts

 Tiramisu

 Mille-Feuille Pistache Framboise

 Tart au Citron avec Yuzu et Noisette

Mi-cuit Chocolate a la Poire

Study Abroad France Part 5: Confections

From nugget to caramels, to gummies and pate de fruit, it sure was a sugary experience.