So behind!....So many photos!

Well - that wedding cake pretty much knocked it out of me, and then I had a fever, after coming home and taking a nap, and proceeded to get a nasty cold. On top of which, I was quite busy this week interviewing (eeeek!) and planning a trip down to a beautiful city I will soon call home (July 2nd!).....soon I'll make all those details public. But for now, I must do a lot of catching up on pastries, farmer's market adventures and such.

Last week we finished up the Viennoiserie unit, which ended with a full day of making Danishes. This Danish recipe is called the "Austrian Danish" because it has a bit less butter than the other danish recipe, and a little lemon zest. I think I prefer the other recipe a bit more (I always, without fail, prefer recipes with more butter) but this one was fun to learn several shapes, and to play with flavor combinations. 

We learned to make the "present" shaped ones with the rope around them, to sort of keep the dough from exploding, but in Germany, at the bakery I worked at, we made them with this round, fluted circle egg-washed on top - so I did some of those as well. Filling wise, we've got apricots, almond cream, a cherry filling we made with  a bit of cornstarch, and some pastry cream. Quite yummy! These last fews days everyone kept popping in and out of our room to see what we were making (everyone loves the Viennoiserie unit) and this was definitely one of the more popular options! Every time you walked out of the room with a tray of these, you got mauled. 

English muffins! Delicious, and something I have always wanted to make - and they are really quite easy.

Finished Danishes...

I think this one is exceptionally beautiful - look at all the layers in the dough - just fabulous. 

An ode to Germany.

The school (and Americans) call these Kaiser Rolls, in Germany we call them Semmel - while I was in Austria I would eat one nearly every afternoon, with loads of good, Salzburger butter, and salt. Miss them all the time. And on Friday night, I headed over to my dear friend Ted's house, with lettuce, red onion, and pickles in hand, and we grilled up some mean burgers to eat on our Semmel - such a lovely way to spend a Friday night on a patio in the California "winter" heheh. 

Pizza! With chili oil, pepperoni, basil, sea salt, fresh mozzarella, and a fried egg.

Foccaccia with Rosemary and Sea Salt.

A really lovely Oatmeal loaf with Walnuts and Dried Cherries - you soak the oatmeal overnight, and it makes for quite a wonderfully moist and delicious loaf of bread - it's also got loads of Whole Wheat Flours, which I love. 

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins. 

Exam Day! Here are my Plain Croissants, as well as my Pain au Chocolat.

Seriously, the Breakfast of Champions. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Part of my Viennoise and my Brioche a tete.

Finished exam tray.

Scones! Currant...classic.

With my extra Brioche from exam day, I decided to make everyone a "surprise breakfast". This is the Bostock we made at The Little Bird. A slice of Brioche...soaked with Orange Grand Marnier Simple Syrup...

Topped with Almond Cream...

And Sliced Almonds, then baked. I got up super early, made this before school, wrapped all the slices up in a few tea towels, packed it in the basket on my bike, and headed off to school to share with everyone. And they all loved it. If you Coloradoans ever get the chance to be in Fort Collins during breakfast time, go to The Little Bird and buy a slice - absolutely the best way to start your day. 

Now we're in the Petit Four (meaning "small oven") unit, where we produce for two days, and then at the end of the two days, we "tray up" to practice nicely arranging things on a tray, to look full and bountiful, but still clean, and not over crowded. I ran out of time, because class ran late and I had to rush home for a Skype interview (for me upcoming job!), so my tray is nothing extraordinary, but the pastries sure are!

From left to right: Orange Almond Tuile, Sarah Bernhardts (Macaroon covered with Whipped Ganache, and Chocolate Glaze, and Gold Leaf), Passionfruit Curd Tarts with fresh Berries, Raspberry Macarons, Raisin Cookies, Chocolate Macaroons, filled with Ganache, and more Orange Almond Tuiles. 

I was extra excited (more than normal, which is nearly impossible) for the Farmer's Market this week because.....ASPARAGUS! Nice thin, delicious asparagus, which is presently roasting in the oven, with my chicken for dinner. Yum!

I don't think I've missed a Farmer's Market yet, and my goal is to make it to each one before I leave California, because the next state I'm going to is much more seasonal than here. Can't wait to announce where it is...soon. Soon I will. But, while I'm in this gorgeous, year-round growing season state, I have to make the most of the beautiful produce! And the strawberries are outrageous right now. So, so perfectly delicious. (Mom, Dad, and Laura - I'm really glad you guys are going to be here for strawberries at the market!)

Every week, I buy myself a little bouquet of flowers, to brighten up my little house, They're so cheap, they're local, and they're beautiful. I love going each week, not knowing what sort of flowers will be there, and then picking ones that weren't there the week before. Such a pleasure!

On a last, a very silly note, my very good friends in the class above us are about to graduate this Friday (meaning we're exactly half way done - eeek!) and so i thought I'd share this picture. A while ago, one of the kids made me a crown, out of sugar. Pastry kids really give the coolest gifts. And I wore that thing around all afternoon, parading through the hallways. I'm sure going to miss em. 

Cheers.