Baking Frenzy!

Bake with Maria has been a busy place the last two weeks! I enjoy the role of freelance photographer with payment in baked goods.

A few of the highlights:

BREADS & SPREADS - Recipe testing for the new class. All delicious and all homemade (of course)! Pita, flatbread, hummus, tabbouleh and tzatziki.

Mediterranean breads and spreads

Puffy pita pockets

   

Chopping dill for the tzatziki

Hummus - my favorite!

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FRENCH PASTRY - Amazing pastry chef, Pino Ficara, came from Paris to teach this course. 

Students made creme brulee, eclairs, creme puffs, napoleans and madeleines.

Madeleines

Pino creates a napolean.

Making eclairs and creme puffs

Better than any Parisian cafe 

Torching the creme brulee

A student's take home box.

After class, I gave it a try.

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CROISSANTS - Another day, another French lesson from Pino Ficara. The lesson I learnt - exactly how much butter it takes to make a croissant. Let's just say you are much better off not knowing.

Pounding the dough

It's the Eiffel Tower! 

Creating the perfect croissant

See the layers of butter in the croissant dough? 

Rolling the pain au raisin

Pain au raisin

Pain au chocolate production

Flaky fresh croissants 

Ice cream, you scream...

We all scream for ICE CREAM!

Despite the wacky weather we've been having in London, Monday night was an ice cream party. Here at Bake with Maria, that means making it yourself. Mary made rhubarb and tarragon while Maria made vanilla with chocolate chips. After 30 minutes churning in the ice cream maker, heaven! Both were scrumptious! Good thing this "lactard" brought plenty of her Lactaid pills!


I assisted with the sugar cookie cones. See the very professional white cone form in the background? Yes, that's a piece of paper. The secret is forming the cones immediately after taking them out of the oven. The cone on the left cooled prior to shaping. They were delicious none-the-less!

Mary scoops for Maria.

Mary enjoys her hard work.

Bake with Maria

Welcome to Bake with Maria! Come on into the baking lab....
www.bakewithmaria.com

That's Maria sitting at the table. Upstairs is the office.

Cookbooks, supplies and merchandise.

 Maria with her fresh rye breads. She uses KitchenAid ovens and mixers.

The sink (AKA dishwashing central).

Join Maria for a class the next time you're in London!

The Norwegians are coming!

That was my first thought when I awoke this morning. I must admit I was a tad bit nervous... not to meet 9 Norwegians but to act as Maria's assistant. It had been 2 years since I'd baked with her and never for profit. No worries though, it went just fine and she'll let me help her again.  I'm an excellent dishwasher which is the main skill required when assisting in her Intro class. I even improvised when the hot water ran out by boiling water in the kettle. Come to find out the hot water switch was accidentally turned off. I blame it on a Norwegian. Lovely people though.

Only 7 Norwegians made it. 2 were sick thanks to the brilliant London weather which is cold and rainy. People are wearing winter coats. This Georgia Peach is missing the hot Spring she left!

Since Danish (Maria's native language) is very similar to Norwegian, she taught the class in that. That's right, I was the smiling American mute dishwasher who took pictures. I know you all are chuckling at the thought of me being silent for a solid 3 hours!  

The Norwegians couldn't stop laughing. I think that means they had a great time. Today's class was a team-building exercise. The group is in London on a strategy retreat for their bank. They'll each return to Norway with rolls and loafs of foccacia and soda bread, assuming they didn't eat them already.  

Who knew Norwegians bankers had such a sense of humor! A few photos of the happy baking bankers.