| Hint of Vanilla

While I love being in pastry school and learning more about baking soda than I ever thought I could, there are times when I want to make something messy and ugly. Almost always, I strive to make my food pretty, appetizing, and a little bit refined. I like doing that. But doing that for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week makes me want to do the opposite.

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Raspberry and Pink Peppercorn Macarons

Cookies | Fruit | Macarons

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These little gems were actually a project I did for school. It was a simple project, just scale down an existing cookie recipe to yield a certain number of overall cookies. It wasn't really an exercise in creativity, but I decided to get a little creative anyways. As soon as Chef told us about the project, the idea for raspberry and pink peppercorn macarons immediately came to mind. I was inspired by a dessert I made a little while back - the raspberry and pink peppercorn mousse. I loved the contrasting flavours of the raspberry and the peppercorns, as well as the slightly spicy kick from the peppercorns. And so, I set about making the mousse into macarons.

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Peach Vanilla Jam

Fruit

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Before I started pastry school, I only had one fear of what it was going to be like. I feared that we would bake sometime incredibly easy, like muffins or cookies, something I have done dozens and dozens of times. And I was afraid that for some strange freak reason, I would completely mess up. I would be completely embarrassed and have to explain to everyone that I did actually know how to make that simple thing, just not today.

That happened.

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Raspberry and Pink Peppercorn Mousse

Custards | Fruit | Mousse

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The days seem to by flying by now. Isn't that how it always is when you're having fun? And I certainly am having fun, but I'm also crazy busy. I went from having most of my afternoons free to do whatever I wanted, to now having about two afternoons to do everything I need to do. Welcome to the adult world, I guess?

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Strawberry Lemon Sorbet

Fruit | Ice Cream

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This sorbet is crazy refreshing in so many ways. First, the taste! Oh man. So strawberry-y with a bit of lemon in there to wake you up a bit. The colour! Yes, that's the real colour of it, no food colouring or photoshopping in there, guys. It really is bright red. And, of course, it's cold! What else could you want from a summertime dessert?

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