Day Eighteen

…and some other news. I’m freaking out a little bit and don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I’m so shaky I could barely eat my vanilla soufflé with pistachio ice cream tonight. I checked my email when I got home from school today and saw that I’m one of the five finalists in Grapes from California’s Makeover Your Snacks contest. It was a contest where you had to create a healthy snack using California grapes.

I created a sweeter snack (my favorite kind!) – Peanut Butter & Jelly Macaroons, using red grapes from California. Whoo hoo! It’s a quick, healthy snack that everyone will love, especially kids. I actually ate these for breakfast one morning. They’re prepared in the style of a no-bake cookie, by melting natural peanut butter and natural grape jelly in a saucepan. Old fashioned oats, puffed wheat cereal, chopped grapes and chopped peanuts are stirred in. You can form dough balls at this point and eat the macaroons, or you can bake them in a 325 oven for 15 minutes for a crispier texture, which is what I did.

I don’t usually enter voting contests, but this one was too good to pass up. The person with the most votes wins $5000! My first thought when I read that: rent money!! The money would come in handy since I will be starting an unpaid internship next week.

I know you’re all very busy people, but if you could spare a minute, would you mind voting for my peanut butter and jelly macaroons? You have to “like” California Grapes’ Facebook page, and then go to the Vote For Your Favorite Snack tab. Scroll down, and my name and recipe should be there. Voting lasts a week, and I believe you can vote once a day. Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it.

Okay, moving on to today’s events in pastry school.

Crème Caramel. I looove crème caramel and flan.

This is beautiful, amber-colored caramel created by cooking sucrose, glucose and water together in a saucepan.

The custard is made from hot milk, sugar, vanilla bean, and tempered egg yolks.

They’re baked in a water bath for even cooking. We had to refrigerate these overnight. I can’t wait for tomorrow! Plated desserts class is fun because you get to taste your dessert in class after you plate it.

Table Four represent. That’s me and my girl Camille.

As promised, we made vanilla soufflés today. This was the first time I’ve ever made a soufflé before; I was always too intimidated. Well, not anymore. The whole process was a lot of fun and made me want to run home and start whipping up soufflés for dinner.

I’m going to give you a very vague description on how to make these. And go!
Make a crumbly mixture of butter, flour, and sugar. Heat milk and vanilla in a saucepan. Stir in flour mixture to saucepan and make a “roux”. Whisk milk-flour mixture into eggs. Beat egg whites, cornstarch and sugar in a mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold whites into soufflé base. Place in buttered, sugared ramekins. Bake until golden brown.