Monique Burr- the biggest event to date

April has been a crazy whirlwind of a month. Layla's birthday was followed by Easter, followed by a wedding cake, and finally, the culmination of it all, the Monique Burr event. Monique Burr is an organization that advocates for abandoned and abused children. Every year, Roy's heads up an event called A Night in the Village. The parking lot is transformed into a "village" with lights, fences, trees, tables, a stage, etc and the businesses in our plaza open their doors for special treats and shopping with all the ticket and sales proceeds going to the Monique Burr Foundation. In the past, there has been approximately five hundred attendees. This is the biggest event I have prepared for to date. The stress level at work has been through the roof this last month. Event after event, combined with management vacations and conferences left us all on edge and the usual back of the house spirit was definitely a little more tense. I've been feeling the pressure. We began preparing for the event a couple of months ago. We determined the dishes and I created a detailed timeline to make sure everything was prepared in time. It all went off without a hitch. I didn't feel much stress as far as the actual dishes were concerned. My stress was definitely more of a social thing. Roy Yamaguchi himself attends this event, as well as many of the Executive Chefs of the Roy's on the East Coast. Back of the house is not very big, and having an extra five Chefs plus food to serve 500 people only makes the space that much smaller. I'm used to having the back of the house/pastry area mostly to myself, and many (influential) people were in my personal space. I did my best to grin and bear it, but I definitely needed a couple of Ativan to make it through.

The day of the event, I was prepping and Roy Yamaguchi walks around the corner. I have gloves on my hands since I am preparing ready to eat food. I have to make a split second decision. Do I shake his hand wearing a glove, or do I take off the glove and shake his hand with a sweaty, just-ungloved-so-kind-of-powdery hand. I opted for the ungloved handshake and as he walked away after a quick head nod and "nice to meet you", quickly face palmed myself. I just shook Roy Yamaguchi's hand...and my hand was gross and sweaty and powdery. I quickly shook it off and realized that he has definitely been in this business long enough to understand, and was thankful I was wearing the glove to begin with. My favorite dish of the night was my Kaffir Lime Curd Tarts with a Ginger Meringue and my Signature Sugar Cookie base. The idea for this was my own, and I love how they turned out.

We also had Cannolis stuffed with a Haupia (traditional coconut pudding) cannoli filling. Some had a brunoise of pineapple folded in, and some had chocolate shavings folded it.

Natane was in charge of the Ice Cream for the Teeny Tiny Ice Cream Cones. She made pistachio and nutella ice creams, and a blueberry sorbet. She spent most of the night in the freezer scooping ice cream. THAT is dedication.

Our final dessert was a Yuzu Pound Cake with Mirin Macerated Strawberries and a Basil Whipped Cream. It was a new take on Strawberry Shortcake and went over very well.

Overall, the event couldn't have gone any smoother. I learned quite a bit and am proud of the success of the event. I'm extremely glad that it is over for the year, however. Now that I have done one of these events, I have a better idea going into the next one what to expect.

Rango Cake

A friend from school and work approached me about making a cake for his daughter's fourth birthday. The theme was Rango, which I had never seen before. When I went to research the movie, I was a little surprised at the main character.

My friend said that it could be simple, with Rango piped in buttercream. "It's for a FOUR year old. I'm sure whatever you do will be fine." I thought and thought about how I was going to pull this character off until I had a lightbulb moment! I wish I had taken pictures ALL the way through the process. I have a few more but I can't get them off my phone at the moment.

I decided to pipe a circle out of royal icing, flood it, and let it dry. Then I piped and flooded the outline of Rango. Next came the eyes, and then his lizard-y texture. I piped tons of small dots to give him his bumpyness. Then I piped the details on his outfit and his hat. Once all this was dry, I began painting. I had several colors of luster dust and a shimmery silver that I was able to mix with some of the plain colors to give his skin a slightly shiny finish. I was able to blend colors easily with the luster dust. I was able to produce shading for his hat and neck. It was SO MUCH FUN! Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy making cakes. Then I slid the circle onto a giant spatula and onto the cake.

Here is the recipient blowing out her candles.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was another huge event at Roy's. This one differed from New Year's Eve in that New Year's eve was one night. Valentine's was an entire weekend, plus actual Valentine's night, which fell on a Tuesday.

I was able to put my signature dessert, Serenity, on the menu for this special day. Serenity is a dessert I have been working on and honing for many, many years. It is five layers of complete decadence. It begins with a layer of Devil's Food Cake topped with a swirl of (almond) Frangipane, Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse, Toasted Marshmallow Italian Custard and finished with Dark Chocolate Ganache. This is then topped with pink and silver luster dusted chocolate curls and is then rolled in a cocoa powder and powdered sugar mixture. I served it with a Champagne Sabayon and two long stemmed chocolate covered strawberries.

Also on the Valentine's Menu was a Macadamia Nut Cheesecake with a Macadamia Nut Graham Cracker Crust and a layer of Dulce de Leche between the two. It was served with a Tropical Anglaise, Marinated Orange Segments, Blueberries, and Toasted Macadamia Nuts.