Chocolate Painting

Marc and I ADORE TacoLu- a local eatery in Jax Beach that seriously has the best tacos around!!! My favorite is the avocado taco, I think. We go there fairly regularly, so when I heard that the owner, Don, was in with his family to celebrate his birthday at Roy's, I knew something special needed to be done. The signature artwork around TacoLu is the day of the dead skull. I saw a piece of artwork hanging there that I really loved, so I snapped a pic of it on my phone the last time we were there.

I pulled it up and did a loose interpretation of it on his birthday plate in chocolate. I wasn't able to get any pictures, but he did and posted them all on Facebook!

I was so glad he did! This is just one more reason I love my job and makes it get more amazing every day!

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.

90 Day Challenge

Since I began culinary school in January 2010, I have gained about 15 lbs. I've been meaning for a long time to write a post about the struggle of staying healthy in the culinary industry, especially as a pastry chef, but didn't really know where to start or what to say. I think I will start at the beginning.

I've always "struggled" with my weight. People from the outside might have thought that was silly. I thinned out in high school, I realize looking back, but I didn't really feel like I "fit in" with all the stereotypes. The social pressures are very real. I was 5' 10" and always felt giant next to the tiny girls running around my school. I wanted so badly to exercise, but didn't have guidance. I wanted to run, but the only place I was allowed to go was the very hilly driveway. I didn't have to motivation to suck it up and run this. I wanted to join the swim team, but the pool was at a different location and it was too far to drive with my parents' busy working schedules and my autistic brother.

After graduation, I got my driver's license and that summer I walked in my best friend's neighborhood every night. It was a mile around and we would walk it 2-3 times every single night when I got off work. I lost quite a bit of weight and I literally wasn't trying. I got down to 155 lbs, the smallest I think I've ever been, and a size 8. Over time I gained the weight back and then some.

When I got pregnant with my first daughter, I weight 165-170. I gained FIFTY POUNDS throughout my pregnancy, scarfing down ice cream and any other treats I could get my hands on. I was also extremely anxious since I had miscarried previously, and basically just sat around doing nothing.

I lost a little after I had Harmony, but weighed around 205 when I got pregnant with my second daughter, Layla.

I refused to gain fifty pounds this time around, and ended up losing 13 from morning sickness during my first trimester. Overall, I only gained 26 pounds throughout the pregnancy.

After I had Layla, I started jogging at the 6 week mark. At first I couldn't even do two "poles" on the baseball field. My husband motivated me to keep going, and after running at least five days a week, eating healthy, and breastfeeding for several months, I got down to 160 lbs!!! I felt fantastic. I looked fantastic.

Then I started culinary school. Life got busy. I managed to maintain running at least 3x a week all the way until the last two quarters. I started working. I stopped working out pretty much all together. I was tasting all the pastries at work. I was tasting rich foods at school. I was sliding backwards.

I am now four months post graduation. I am up to 180 lbs. I am a size 10/12. Something has to change. I know several friends who have participated in the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge. They lost weight and have kept it off. I am giving it a shot. I am on day 4. I am replacing two meals a day with the Visalus Shake Mix that tastes like cake mix. On days I work, I am having a shake for breakfast and dinner because I hardly ever have time to eat those meals anyways. Marc and I have lunch together- usually grilled chicken and veggies. I've had an apple pie shake, strawberry pineapple, strawberry cheesecake, and peanut butter cup. They are delicious and I can't wait to try more. In between each meal you are SUPPOSED TO SNACK on healthy things- like strawberries, pineapple, nuts, lowfat yogurt, etc. This helps ALOT.

I'm interested to see how it works without exercise, so this first week I am not exercising. I will start jogging again in week 2. I am so embarrassed to post my before pictures, but I feel it is a necessary evil. I need the motivation. I will be taking 30, 60, and 90 day photos, as well. My 90 day goal is 15 lbs. I feel comfortable at 165 and after that, we will see how I am feeling. I will be keeping you posted!

Haupia Bombe

My latest dessert was inspired by the last wine dinner dessert. Adam and I were talking after I introduced Coconut Panna Cotta to the menu, and he told me about a classic Hawaiian dessert, Haupia. Haupia is basically a coconut pudding that is thickened with a cornstarch slurry while it is being cooked. I wanted to try my hand at it and see how it tasted, so I located Roy Yamaguchi's recipe for the dish.

Haupia
4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

To prepare the haupia, place the coconut milk, 1 cup of the water and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch and the remaining 1 cup of water together in a bowl, add to the pan, and stir until the mixture returns to a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat and keep warm in a double boiler.



I decided to take this to the next level, and make it into a bombe, which is a layer in a layer, usually in a half sphere. I baked off my almond cake in teeny tiny half spheres, then piped the Grande Marnier Mousse into a slightly larger mold, and pushed the almond cake into it. I froze this so I could pop them out of the fleximolds and handle them. I made the haupia and ladeled it into a larger half sphere mold and let it cool slightly. I then inserted the frozen mousse/cake portion into the center of the haupia and froze them.


While they were freezing, I made a macadamia nut pastry crust and cut out circles slightly larger than the haupia bombes. I baked them and let them cool while I unmolded the haupia bombes onto a sheet tray. I torched the outside of each bombe individually just long enough to melt it enough for me to be able to cover it with toasted coconut before finished the assembly by putting it on the pastry crust base.

To plate, I made a Bourbon Blueberry Compote and serve the bombe on top of the leftover Blueberry Thyme Glass. It sounds like alot going on, but it REALLY all works together so well! I was ecstatic when I tried the finished dessert because it ended up being so much better than I had even imagined in my mind. I love it when that happens! I can tell I am continuing to grow in my skill AND in my willingness to explore the unconventional flavor profiles and pairings.

I ain't as good as I'm gonna get but I'm better than I used to be

"I ain't no angel
I still got a few more dances with the devil
I'm cleanin up my act, little by little
I'm getting there
I can finally stand the (wo)man in the mirror I see
I ain't as good as I'm gonna get
But I'm better than I used to be"



I know I've been strangely silent recently. I've been doing alot of reflecting and working and growing, sliding, pushing...alot of movement in my head and heart. I have a laundry list of things I want/need to change and plenty of frustration that I continually defeat myself when it comes to actually doing it. It's therapeutic for me to write about things. It helps me process them. It is also a little scary to put them out there for everyone to see, though. As much as I would like to say I've been writing but not posting, that is not the case. I would like to work on that.

I would like to say this, though. My life right now is pretty much split in three time frames- work, kids, Marc. I have three nights off a week. Tuesdays I work in the morning cleaning the station and prepping for my days off. By the time I get home Tuesday night, I am exhausted and usually fall into bed the moment the kids do. Marc works, so it is my one opportunity to sleep and not feel like I'm missing out on anything. I enjoy my extra sleep that night. Wednesday nights are my nights "alone" when Marc works and the kids go to bed. I relax and catch up on shows and just...spend time by myself. I am a person who needs that. I need time with myself to just BE. Thursday nights are Family Fun Night and then Marc and I have the evening together.

I'm saying this because I don't spend time with friends much. Please don't be offended if I don't call or text or go out with you on girls night. I just don't have enough "spoons", as it were. I still care. I just need to have my nights off free to...recover and recharge. Even though I am out of school, I am just as busy as ever, picking up things like helping at Harmony's school, taking Layla to ballet, and having time with Layla on Fridays. Please don't feel I am ignoring you. I just need some more time with my family and myself. Thank you for understanding.

Love,
Me

February Wine Dinner- Step by Step

Adam hosts frequent Wine Dinners at the restaurant, where he pairs each course with a special wine the compliments the dish. He conceptualized this dessert, and I executed the majority of it, and we worked together on the plating. It's so wonderfully refreshing to have someone else really care about the dessert station and put so much effort into co-creating something wonderful.


We started with a base of my Almond Cake. Adam had an idea of making them into triangles and having them arranged in a certain way. When he attempted to stand the one triangle up, it kept falling over. Easy fix! I cut a notch in the piece that was laying down to make a brace and fit the second piece into it. Teamwork! Ginger Streusel was then placed in the groove between the cakes to make a nonslip, flavorful base for a light Grand Marnier Mousse. The plate was garnished with Blueberry Thyme Glass and Candied Red and Yellow Beet Paint.

Making the Blueberry Thyme glass was a new venture for me. I cooked the sugar syrup to the hard crack stage and added in a blueberry paste I had made previously. I added some blue food coloring to intensify the color, and then poured it out an a silpat and it was sprinkled with Thyme. Adam and I both had visions of a single, dramatic piece of glass sticking up between the slices of cake, but this just didn't happen for two reasons.

First, I poured the sugar a little too thick. Next time I will definitely make it thinner and more delicate. Second, I think if I had actual glass cutting tools, I believe I could make some amazing designs with sugar glass by scoring it and using glass nippers to break away the pieces in an organized fashion.

Because it was so thick, even though I scored it while it was still a little warm, it did not follow the lines when I broke it apart. It instead broke into thick, small chunks. Here is a picture of a chunk held up to the light so you can see the color of it.

I decided to robot coupe some of the glass to get some chunks to sprinkle on the plate. The robot coupe turned it into a powder. Then I decided to use a different attachment on my food processor to see what other texture I could achieve. I loved the slightly larger chunks this produced. It gave the plate a really pretty color profile, as well as a nice texture contrast.

When the dishwasher tasted the glass, he said that it tasted like cotton candy. DING! Oh my goodness, WE HAVE A COTTON CANDY MACHINE!!! I broke it out and used some of the chunks to produce a Blueberry Thyme Cotton Candy! (We ended up using this technique to top a mini cheesecake on a trio a couple weeks later that ended up being a big hit.)

The dessert was an overall success and the guests were, apparently, scraping the paint off the plate.

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.