Pastry Week

Jenn just finished her favorite week at school so far. As a result I have been inundated with baked sweets and it makes me long for one of her many cheesecakes. For those of you who have had any of her creations from Nini Cakes, you know what I am talking about.

The week began with cakes and Jenn brought home this masterpiece:



It was a vanilla cake made with whole wheat pastry flower, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda, coconut oil, maple syrup, water, vanilla, apple cider and vinegar. The carob coconut frosting consisted of unsweetened coconut milk, agar flakes, sea salt, vanilla, maple syrup, and carob powder. In addition to the visible decorations of strawberries and edible flowers, the cake packed a powerful fruit explosion on the inside with two layers of cherry filling. And to top it off, it was all vegan, which means there was no eggs, butter or milk used.

Next on the list was pies and everyone in the class made apple gallete on Wednesday. On Thursday, the students drew to see what pies they would bake. Jenn drew the classic pumpkin. Both recipes were considered standard with exception to the vegan crust. In this case, it was made with coconut oil instead of butter. Below is a picture of the many pies baked to perfection by the students on Thursday.



The week of class ended on Friday with gluten-free baking. The students made a wide variety of desserts such as muffins, cakes, tarts, scones and cookies.

After the gluten-free class, Jenn wrapped up the week by helping prepare the Friday Night Dinner. Every Friday the Natural Gourmet Institute puts on these dinners for forty dollars per person. It is a three course vegetarian meal that is planned and prepared by guest chefs, school instructors or the students themselves. Each student is required to work two dinners during their course to aid others before helping to plan and prepare their own as part of a final project. In this case, Jenn helped the class that will graduate ahead of her in preparing their dinner project.

The menu was planned over a month in advance. Each table was stocked with bowls of marinated olives with lemon and herbs and each patron received a scarlet elixir for drink.

The first course of the meal was an arugula and watercress salad with grilled fennel, ruby navel oranges, spiced pecans and citrus vinaigrette.

Second came the main course consisting of autumn vegetable polenta strata, sauteed rainbow chard, lemon trouffle brussel sprouts, roasted herbed carrots, and shiitake mushroom sauce.

Sweet cranberry tart with vanilla bean cashew cream, dark chocolate ganache and cranberry reduction capped the evening.

The sample plates of the nights creations:



Once Jenn was finished with her service, she brought me some of the food to try. The carrots were sensational and the autumn vegetable polenta strata resembled lasagna in texture, and the flavor was excellent. I will now spend the weekend curing my sugar cravings with all of the baked goods she brought home.