Guinness Pre-Dessert 2.0

Pitched the pre-dessert to chef last week and he said it needed a little something more so we brainstormed and decided to try apricot.

So we still have the cashew praline, stout ice cream and Guinness Cheddar (now cut in a strip to better showcase the marbling). Now I’ve added a apricot foam and apricot “skittles”

The Wagyu Beef of Cheddar

Our company's pastry chef Jenny got in this cheese for our other restaurant and I knew right away I wanted to use it. I came up with this today at work for the new pre-dessert, pretty simple play on beer and nuts. Going to pitch it to the executives (chef/pastry chef) tomorrow and hopefully be running it for service.

Guinness cheddar + Stout Ice Cream + Cashew Praline

Pre-desserts of seasons past...

There are so many things I want to post about and so little time. I've been recording my work for sometime now just so I can reflect upon it... Here are some shot of a couple old pre-desserts.

Pre-desserts were the first works that I managed to get onto menus and I really felt like they were mine.

This first shot was the grapefruit pre-dessert at Rush. We were coming up on Stampede and I was lying in bed one night thinking about freezees. I went in the next day, pitched the idea and VIOLA, I was sealing, filling, and freezing cryo-vac bags for half of service.



This next shot is the pre-dessert we were running at the restaurant this past winter, I came up with it in November of 2009. The first one is presented on isomalt glass for a photo shoot (this shot is on the website) The second is how we presented it during service.

Milk Chocolate + Saffron + Black Olive

Didn't make the cut

Rhubarb+Bubblegum+Marshmallow+Menthol

Here is a rhubarb dish I was working on the didn't make it onto the menu.

So we have compressed peeled rhubarb, bubblegum powder, menthol gel, rhubarb gel, vanilla gel and marshmallow espuma that I expelled into liquid nitrogen

Bread Service

I've always always enjoyed making breads, I wouldn't necessarily consider it my strongest skill when it come to pastry but it brings me a lot of joy, especially right out of the oven... yummmm Here are some shots of the bread service from the restaurant. Above is our brioche. Its the first thing I got onto the menu when I started at this restaurant late last year. Customers can't get enough of it, we blow through nearly 300 rolls on a Saturday service (we do around 90 covers on a Saturday)

These are our pouri sticks, a longtime staple item at the restaurant. The first is just a neat shot of the dough proofing, the other is right before they're sent out.

Below is a gluten free bread I've was trying out. Its a buckwheat loaf, we get so many celiacs in that I would really like to have something on hand to accommodate them.

Da Crew

Quick post!! We had a slightly later start to service today so we had a few minutes to relax... I grabbed this shot of the team during our outside time (we love our outside time) ENJOY! :)

Days Off!!

I usually manage to get my Sundays off, the restaurant is open 7 days a week so its not always a guarantee. Today was beautiful outside so I grabbed a much needed pedicure then me and my hunnie went to check out a bakery I've been trying to get to for a couple months now; OMG Baked Goodness in Dundas West. They close at 5 on Sundays and being that we didn't get going until 4:30 I called ahead and talked to Lesley, she said no problem she'd be around for a bit still so we were on our way. :)

Lesley was awesome, we chatted about the ups and down of opening her own bakery (its something I may do in the future so I was curious) she gave me a tour, met the staff, sampled her mini vegan cupcakes (any vegans reading this will want to be ordering these by the dozens, I promise) I ordered a small sample of things to go; a beautifully, buttery turnover, a wonderful, best I've ever had butter tart (and I take my butter tarts VERY seriously) and finally a perfectly executed chocolate lavender tart. Next time I'll be smarter and order more than one of everything, (perhaps half a dozen butter tarts?) her prices are certainly reasonable enough to be doing so! Props to you Lesley, thank you for taking the time to chat with a young budding little pastry chef.

Wedding Cakes Continued....

Just wanted to post some pictures of other wedding cakes I've done.

This is cake I designed for a wedding show, I had a lot of fun doing it because it was a first time I didn't have someone telling me what they wanted and just got to design something really original and very mine

This Cake I did privately out of my house for a small wedding, it was my first time trying to roll fondant square, ughhh the corners were beyond frustrating but I pushed through and I was very happy with the way it turned out.

This last cake I'm posting is one of my favorites, I did it for a small wedding while working at Rimrock resort in Banff. I had never tried to produce a cake like this before nor had I done molded flowers before, especially out of fondant but the pastry chef had left and no one had filled her position yet so I was the only one in the entire (huge) kitchen with any wedding cake experience so they made me do it, and I am so happy they did

Wedding Cakes

The first place I ever worked and gained my apprenticeship was at a little place in London Ontario called La Petite Patisserie. I worked there for two and a half years working my way up through the ranks. Started out just scaling and rolling dough; really simple stuff and eventually graduating to cake decorating and wedding cakes. Here is the first wedding cake I ever made...

A Champange Toast!!

Here's to things to come!! The Genesis of She Bakes :)

I'm just going to start out with some of my old work I think, I have a huge back-log of pictures. In between I'll just be posting interesting articles and keeping you up on whatever I am doing or thinking about doing at work.

Here we go! :)