Baking Class Frenzy

Vanilla Cream Cake

One of life's most pleasurable gift is the gift of giving. I love receiving, yes I do. But there's a whole different feeling whenever I give. A gesture of thought, a labor of love, a smile...giving and sharing have various faces and phases. Teaching is an act of giving that not only imparts knowledge, but requires giving a bit of yourself too--patience and commitment.

I recently hosted a baking class with a small intimate group of people ready to learn and of course eat! We wasted no time getting down to business, making caramel, ganache, creme patisserie, cakes, cookies and bars. There were tons of work to do, but there were loads more of laughter and smiles. And the first one we finished was a stupendous Vanilla cake that took not a mere second to assemble!

Two mini cakes that held different toppings from their fillings gave the realization of the endless possibilities in cakes. The girls tried their skills in icing, while the guys bickered--but leaving to them to finish the job was an almost impossible task hehe.
Brownies and butterscotch bars that were oh so fudgy and rich didn't dishearten us into dressing them up with different icings and toppings. Nothing could spell I-N-D-U-L-G-E-N-C-E better than brownies with a thick slather of ganache...caramel..nuts&marshmallows...and even whipped cream!
Moist, dark, and appealingly tender chocolate cake made for us an unforgettable Decadence cake. It was high, impressive and covered with ganache. The caramel filling packed more flavor into each bite, giving this rich dessert its defining feature. Trying my best not to nibble on this cake was a futile exercise in restraint!
Different icings and frostings

Too bad, I wasn't able to take any pictures of the cookies. There were so many of them and not even one picture. We had chocolate chip walnut cookies (the benchmark variant), chewy and crispy oatmeal cookies and my personal favorite, the cinnamon sugar cookies. They were the last one put in the oven, subjecting us to buttery scents that had been the perfect ending to one glorious fun filled day.