Monday morning at CSR started with Chef Adam unloading a whole pig and lamb he toted back from Paonia, Colorado. Chef Adam, under the curious eyes of the Culinary Arts students, broke down a pig. Stayed tuned next week for CSR’s first ever whole animal butchery week. Culinary Arts students will get to help Chef Adam break down the lamb and pig. Culinary Arts continued with their second week of pastry with Chef Amy and Marilyn. Over the course of the week, the class created delectable desserts and pastries, some of which included galettes, mousses, tiered cakes and buttercreams. While most students prefer to indulge in more savory applications in the kitchen, they seemed to enjoy this week, even after a fritter frying disaster. One of the highlights included a chocolate tasting of varieties ranging from bacon filled chocolate to 80% dark chocolate.

Chef Track trekked through the first-half of the week by taking their final exams, both written and practical. They all passed – and CSR is looking forward to hearing more stories next week from their final week of class and graduation. Don’t miss out on stories, recipes, pictures and the menu for Chef Track Graduation, Wednesday, March 17^th.

Pastry Arts finally got to the day in their curriculum we know they’ve all been waiting for: cake day! The students torted, layered, crumb coated, assembled, glazed and frosted their caked with fantastic results! Each of them produced cakes they were so proud of, each one representing their personal style in their own way. The students also prepared petit fours which are tiny, bite sized cakes. Working with tiny pastries is very difficult and can be temperamental, but the Pastry Arts students handled it all like pros and prepared perfect, gorgeous petit fours. Next week, they will be enrobing their cakes with fondant and learning how to put the finishing touches on their cakes.

Sara Gunning, Pastry Arts September 2009 graduate, is working at Pix Patisserie in Portland, Oregon at the Division Street location. This highly successful and award-winning patisserie serves traditional French pastries. Sara is working under Pastry Chef and Owner Cheryl Wakerhauser (a.k.a. Pix). Chef Pix has an eccentric flare for working with pastries and desserts from chocolates, to cakes, to beer paired desserts. Congratulations Sara for landing your dream job in Pastry Arts!

Culinary Arts Students Chocolate Tasting

First of all, CSR was lucky enough to receive a complimentary BBQ Bacon Chocolate Bar from The Chocolate Truffle in Boston. This chocolate bar couldn’t have landed on our doorstep at a better time. This morning, Pastry Chef Instructors Marilyn and Amy, led a chocolate tasting in Culinary Arts. Students had the chance to taste 41%, 55%, 60% and 80% chocolates along with cocoa nibs and the infamous bacon chocolate. It was interesting to see how each student tasted their chocolate; some took tiny bites and tasted very slowly, others popped chunks of chocolate in their mouths and ate every last bit of chocolate from their plate. The consensus in the class over the different varieties of chocolate ranged, some liked more bitter chocolates such as the 80% some liked the sweet salty mix of the BBQ Bacon Chocolate Bar the best. Chef Amy talked about being a supertaster during the tasting. She polled the class on who liked hoppy beers and black coffee and classified those students as “nontasters” or people who have less receptors on their tongue and are less sensitive to tastes. Other students, who like very sweet things and who are very picky eaters are supertasters, or people who are very sensitive to different tastes and have many more taste receptors on the tongue. The students had a great time with the chocolate tasting. They talked about the different qualities each chocolate had and enjoyed every one in a different way.

We would like to give a special thank you to The Chocolate Truffle for kindly providing us with their BBQ Bacon Chocolate Bar for our tasting. It was the perfect touch to the chocolate tasting this morning. Check out their website or follow them on twitter to see what other magical candies they are melting!

My dear brothers and sisters in the pastry world,

Have you ever stopped to think about the popularity of cake?  Really, think about it.  Someone’s having a birthday party, I bet there will be cake.  Weddings… cake.  First anniversary… cake top. Graduation… cake.  Easter… cake shaped like a bunny.  Most events or special occasions that are celebrated in our society seem to have some form of sweet treat to mark the event.  But why cake?  I have been thinking about this question since we began our cake week last Thursday. 

There are, of course, many different types of cakes, but they all fall into two categories: butter cakes and sponge cakes.  Butter cakes use the creaming method for leavening and sponge cakes are leavened by folding whipped eggs into the batter.  Butter cakes are denser and in my opinion, more flavorful.  Sponge cakes are airier but don’t have as much flavor.  But let us (future pastry chefs) worry about all of that technical stuff.  All that really matters is how wonderful cake is, and how much we all love it!

So, why cake?  Cake has so many different faces and it can be so many different things.  It can be a blank canvas for flavors and textures to run wild on.  From the smallest cupcake, to the grandest wedding cake, and everything between.  It is delicate and powerful.  As pastry chefs, we put our heart and soul into all of our work, and you will find it nestled between each layer.  Cake is special, because for most of us it isn’t an everyday thing.

I watched in awe as my classmates entered into their own world of cake and put all that they had into creating some of the most beautiful pieces of edible art I have ever seen.  It was an extension of each of them. Look into the eyes of a pastry chef and you will know why cakes are so special to so many people.

Waistline is free with purchase of pastry education,

The Guy

Saturday, April 3^rd from 12-4pm, The Bake Sale, one of CSR’s most anticipated community events is hopping onto the calendar. This year, the Bake Sale will be held over Easter weekend. Get a jump start on your sweet shopping and place a preorder for your favorite Bake Sale goods. The Bake Sale is CSR’s Professional Pastry Arts Program’s student-run bakery. All of the proceeds benefit CSR’s Scholarship Fund. Don’t miss out on a sweet time to shop for your Easter basket sweets and Holiday treats for Easter!

Choose from the following items for your preorder:

• 9“ Fruit Tart $22
• 8″ Layer Cake $36 (Choose from the following filling flavor options: Mango Buttercream, Passionfruit Buttercream, Raspberry Buttercream, Chocolate Ganache)
• 8″ Cuatro Leches Cake $40
• Baguette $4
• Challah $8

To place a preorder, email Sarah, CSR’s Office Manager, with your order and contact information.

Chef Amy and Chef Will Poole Teach Tempering Chocolate

Another week at CSR flew by right before our eyes and stomachs. Culinary Arts had their second week of pastry, taught by Chef Amy and Chef Marilyn. The students created beautiful desserts despite their anger and frustration at times over finicky doughs and custards. The office staff at CSR tasted the students Napoleons, Crepes, and Granites, to name a few of our favorites. Next week, Culinary Arts will get back to making more savory dishes. On the menu: Regional Italian and Mediterranean Cuisine. Yum.

Chef Track students put on The Dining Room for over 50 guests this week. They sliced, seared and served their way towards plate perfection on Wednesday evening, pleasing all their patrons. The Dining Room is a “student run restaurant” in which the class turns CSR’s kitchens into a dining room, preparing and serving a 3-course meal paired with wine to the public. Their menu consisted of Winter Squash Ravioli, Potato Crusted Crab Cakes, Duo of Colorado Lamb, Snapper and Toasted Pound Cake. The students did a magnificent job. Next stop on Chef Track’s adventure – Graduation! Stay tuned for updates on the menu for the upcoming event, March 17^th.

Last week the students in Pastry Arts were lucky enough to have a very special guest instructor: Chef Will Poole. Chef Will is a longtime friend of CSR and former owner of award-winning, Wen Chocolates in Denver. Chef Will has an engaging teaching style and sense of humor that carries over into his creative cooking style and chocolate making. Chef Will helped the students temper chocolate and create truffles, rochers, mendiants, and more last week. The students were all covered in chocolate by the end of the day and each one of them were able to successfully temper chocolate, which is no easy feat.

Leslie Vance, Chef Track February  2009 graduate, just started at Stuft Burger Bar in Ft. Collins, which opened this week. According to an article written in Coloradoan, Stuft will replace Eliot’s Mess, a local favorite in the Ft. Collins area.  

“Eliot’s Mess opened in Old Town in 2007 after moving from Stuart Street, serving sandwiches and staying open until the wee hours of the morning on weekends to cater to college students. Stuft will be open until 10 p.m. weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends, include a full bar, handmade milkshakes with or without liquor and burgers with more than 1,000 different combinations, including the Stuft, a half-pound burger stuffed with melted cheese and other fillings. “It’s ooey-gooey awesomeness,” Fitzsimmons of Coloradoan said. “You won’t forget this burger.”

CSR is so proud of you, Leslie, and can’t wait to hear what your favorite burger is – and if you’re able to try all one thousand burger combos!

Applause is in order for the students in Chef Track who prepared a lovely dinner for guests of The Dining Room last night. Culinary School of the Rockies was hoppin’ last night; with guests coming from around the country to eat a lovely meal made and served by students. We hosted three seatings last night: all filled with ooh’s and ahh’s of delectable delight. On the menu was Winter Squash and Ricotta Ravioli, Potato Crusted Crab Cakes, Duo of Colorado Lamb, Snapper a la Nage, Chocolate Pot de Crème and Saffron, and Poached Pears. The office staff heard word of the lamb being the highlight of the dinner. It was tender, flavorful and melted in your mouth. Great job, Chef Track!

 Missed The Dining Room? No worries! Next month, CSR’s Culinary Arts students will be putting on the Harvest Dinner. Purchase your tickets now, while spaces are still available.

Move your party to the couch this Sunday and celebrate Tinseltown’s most talented stars. Dim the lights, raise the curtains and snuggle up on the sofa to catch what all the celebrities are wearing and what they’re winning. To celebrate the nomination of Julie & Julia, we’re sharing one of Julie Powell’s favorite cocktails. If you’ve read the book, you know: Toast the stars with a classic Gin Gimlet!

 Gin Gimlet

Makes one drink

Ingredients:

2 oz. Gin

½ oz. Fresh Lime Juice

 Method:

Pour the gin and lime juice into a mixing glass half-filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the lime wedge.

My dear brothers and sisters in the pastry world,

Look into a bowl of melted chocolate.  What do you see?  Unspeakable beauty swirls and shimmers before your eyes.  Does the chocolate speak to you?  What does she say?  If you are kind to her, she will reveal some of her mysteries.  She has traveled thousands of miles to be with you and her story is thousands of years old.  You have to listen, be patient, and the wonders of the chocolate will unfold before your eyes.

 This week was very special for not only all of us in the Pastry Arts program, but for the administration and CSR.  Our long awaited chocolate week featured Chef William Poole as guest instructor.  Chef Poole has been working with chocolate for 8 years, and he has been a friend of CSR for just as long.  The term guru gets thrown around a lot, but this is one man who truly deserves that title.  

It is hard to be around a person like Chef Poole without getting sucked into his enthusiasm for confections.  The whole class jumped right in and took on all the struggles and triumphs that go along with chocolate and sugar work.  We made toffee, caramels, chocolate truffles, candied nuts, rochers, and chocolate garnishes.  Everyone in the class had success with tempering chocolate, which isn’t an easy thing to do.  There were some absolutely mind-blowing and innovative flavor combinations created and some of the most beautiful confections I have ever seen.

At the end of the week I think we all were feeling like a sticky, sugary mess.  Some of us managed to stay relatively clean, others ended up with chocolate from head to toe, and some even had chocolate on their back.  How do you get chocolate on your back!!???

Just like the chocolate we were working with, this week was a little bittersweet.  This was Chef Poole’s last class at CSR.  After years of creating confectionary masterpieces in his Denver chocolate shop, Wen Chocolates, he closed the doors.  But, this won’t be the last we hear from Chef William Poole.  He is planning to take it easy for a while… The Big Easy that is.  Chef Poole will be opening his newest venture, Macarty Park Bed and Breakfast, in New Orleans, and is planning on showing the south what he can do in the kitchen.  Thank you Chef Will.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate Truffles,

The Guy