Gateau and Cake Bake

Yesterday, Miss Cake and I took a terrific course on Sweet and Savory Baking at the ICE culinary school in Manhattan. We had tried to get into something more cakey, but many of the classes were already full. As it turned out, this was a perfect class for us.

We worked in teams of two, and each team made 4 of 5 recipes. Working in a professional kitchen with a full range of equipment and supplies, plus a person on dishwashing and a chef-instructor and assistant to help us, was delightful.

The recipes were:

Pissaladiere (a sort of French cheeseless pizza, with onions, olives, and anchovies)
Calzones with Ricotta-Prosciutto Filling (also spinach or dried sausage options)
Blueberry Crumb Cake (sour cherries also available; we did half and half)
Triple Chocolate Biscotti with Walnuts and Chocolate Glaze
Breton Apple Cake (we didn't make this)

I am going to make that apple cake, though, this fall when I go apple picking and overdo it. It's very caramelly and has rum, so what's not to like. Also, it's gorgeous and is very easy to make look like it came from some fancy patisserie.

The whole thing was tons of fun, and Cake and I worked great together. The only downside was that we had to share the worktable with a nasty couple. They barely spoke to each other, and generally seemed to be having no fun at all. They were big space hogs, but would grumble if you edged into their space at all (and they had a long side of the table, while we had the short one). They'd hoard supplies, but take whatever anyone else was using, and act proprietary with the communal equipment. Basically, they sucked and our stuff came out better. So there.