Man cave.. Or Man cake.. What's the difference??

Well, both are designed for men!!

This week, our project was a masculine cake.. Sorry guys.. No flowers, no pretty colors..

We had Chef Mark Seaman, who actually not only teaches at The French Pastry School, but at his Chicago-based studio. He is an award-winning Certified Master Sugar Artist and Cake Stylist, and we had the privilege to learn lots and lots of techniques from him, as well as some tips on how to find ways to be more efficient..

Here are some pics..

Emily and I with Chef Mark...

My man cake, ready to be decorated..

Ta daaaaa... Man Cake!!


Have a sweet one!!

...are we there yet??

...that was the question I kept asking to myself, as we approached the entrance of this mighty place...

I'll explain...


I have been hearing a lot about the most popular hot dogs you can find in Chicago... Yep!... I'm talking about "Hot Doug's"


There's little I can say that could do enough justice to these delucious hot dogs... So, I will leave you with some pictures. Judge by yourselves, and enjoy!!

Did I mention that the French fries are actually fried in rendered duck fat... D E L I S H!!!

...no need to explain...

Chris and I.... Hot dogs = Happiness... :-)

Bon appetite!!

It's all about the details... right??

Figurines...

Good Lord!...

Could anything be more difficult than modelling a monkey that doesn't look like a bear??... Well, let me tell you, it's all about the details.

I always thought that I kind of sucked in the fine art of modelling. And I must say that, I was quite nervous with this specific class. But, once I understood that I must really pay attention to the main characteristics of the object (in this case, a sweet little monkey, and a playful dog), in order to reproduce it successfuly... I started having fun... and that's what really matters... JUST HAVE FUN!!

Greetings from Chicago!!

Hey everybody!...

It's been a long time since I wrote the last post... Please, forgive me for taking so long to write again. It's just that I really had some busy weeks... But, here I am... Doing what I love... Baking and writing!


So, I am now taking this U N B E L I E V A B L E course at The French Pastry School in Chicago, called L'Art du Gateau. I should say, this is nothing like I have imagined... It's waaaaaaaaaaay better!!... The staff has been really helpful, willing to work with us in order to make our enrollment easy and smooth... And the premises are IMPECABLE, like Chef Kristen once said "...I would eat from these floors..."...well... I would too!!

Our first week is all about Sanitation, and History of Pastry... I know, it doesn't sound appealling, but it's kind of fun and interesting to learn about all these facts on real kitchens; the pastry origins; where the ingredients come from... And so on...


Well... That's kind of all by now... I'll keep you posted...

It's fun to be back!!

We love cupcakes!!

This was, probably, one of the posts I enjoyed the most working on. Mainly, because every time I work on a post, I am really focused on perfection.  During a normal photoshoot, I want to get the right angle of the cake, I arrange the nicest setting so it looks "inviting", I want the whites to be spotless... In short, it's kind of a task.

But this time, it was all about the kids, and having fun with sugar!!... oh Lord, did they have fun... They took me on a ride... And I just let go!!








 

Cupcakes up for grabs!!... The kids went bananas when they saw this tray full of cupcakes!!











I gave each one a piping bag with colored buttercream, and they loved making their own decorations, as well as they loved the fact that there were no limits or boundaries; they could do whatever they wanted to do with the cream; they could combine, and sometimes even check the taste of it...












What is a cupcake without sprinkles??... We had different sorts of sprinkles, so they could be creative and have fun decorating.













Tadaaaa!!... So this is the final product!!... Isn't it just beautiful??... The cupcakes ended up so colorful... just by seeing the photo makes me smile. The kids definitely knew what they were doing, I didn't need to give any direction, they just went with the flow, and the result speaks for itself!!













Needless to say, the best part of the whole "cupcake playdate" was actually eating the cupcakes. The kids had so much sugar, that I needed to take them to the park afterwards for them to release some energy, but it was well deserved... They worked really hard to get the "task" done...












The two very special guests that we had this week are Giorgia & Beatrice. They have been friends of my kids since so long, and now their whole family is moving to Italy due to their father's job. I only want to say that I am sure that this new chapter in their life is going to be filled with blessings... I will miss you guys!!

And talking about goodbyes, I would like to announce that I am taking a few weeks off, before I start my very own adventure. At the end of August I will begin a cake designing course at "The French Pastry School" in Chicago... {so excited!!!}

I'll keep you posted!!











Have a sweet week,