Savory Tarts and Quiches

One of the most memorable graduation gifts I received this past month came as a pleasant surprise from a friend.  I arrived at Santa Monica Place expecting a latte class perhaps (which I had been talking about for the longest time) – but what a delight to end up at the door of The Gourmandise School!  And this was no latte class; instead, we had been signed up for a course in savory tarts and quiches!  In the next three hours, we learned the basics of preparing tart crusts and fillings along with other useful tidbits for the avid baker.  I was thrilled to have an instructor indispensable to me, with the experience and knowledge to be able to answer my every question regarding baking.

The menu for the day follows:                                                 

• Caramelized tomato tart
• Mushroom and spinach tart
• Quiche Lorraine

The best part of the course was that all the ingredients were already pre-measured in individual bowls, and all our dishes were immediately washed for us after being used.  If only cooking and baking at home could be so easy and mess-free!

We were taught the techniques of chilling and rolling out pastry dough to create good crusts for pies and tarts.

Here is the caramelized tomato tart before flipping it out of the pan.  It was surprisingly sweet given that it is a savory tart.

We were allowed to take away boxes of tarts which we had made, which made great gifts for neighbors and friends.  I was pleased to see that the end result of our quiches and tarts could have easily been something you’d find in a local bakery.

The Gourmandise School offers a variety of courses, from macarons and layer cakes to knife skills and French bistro cuisine.  Check it out if you're in the area and looking for a comprehensive lesson in improving your cooking/baking techniques!

- Candice
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Battle of the Bakers: Tea Festival

                       
The Royal T art space and café in Culver City has never failed to impress me.  From pop up stores featuring vinyl toys to high tea services and green tea lattes, this venue has it all.  The distinguishing aspect of Royal T is that it is a maid café, where waitresses are dressed in Lolita-style black and white lace dresses.  In the evenings, local artists and musicians showcase their work here.  My favorite discovery by far is the artwork by Friends With You.
I was sad to miss out on their recent Harajuku Party, but was thrilled to come across the Tea Festival hosted by Royal T.  This week-long event celebrates all aspects of drinking and cooking with tea.  One event which particularly stood out to me was Battle of the Bakers, where Kristy Choo from Jin Patisserie and Robert Wemischner of Cooking with Tea contested in a bake-off, demonstrating the preparation of desserts using
tea.

I was especially excited to see Kristy Choo, since I am an avid fan of her cakes and macarons at Jin Patisserie.

  

Audience members had the opportunity to try a total of nine desserts from the competition (I was quite full but satisfied afterwards!):

Green tea rhubarb pound cake with a fluffy green tea whipped cream

Green tea parfait with nuts and rhubarb:

Live commentary throughout!

One of my favorite desserts, a chocolate tea-infused ice cream cake topped with candied nuts:

A brownie-like cake, tart, and ice cream sandwich with tea-infused ingredients:

Here's a cute video recapping the event!  Unfortunately, I learned recently that Royal T will be closing soon and a new location is unknown as of now.  Hopefully the café will relocate elsewhere in LA so that local artists can continue receiving support and we can continue enjoying tea time in this unique café.

- Candice
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Love for Waffles

During my last visit to Korea, I came across many cafes with signs advertising delicious waffles with all sorts of variations (fruits, green tea flavor, with ice cream, waffle + coffee combo, etc.).  I was told that the country was recently hit with a waffle fad.  How amusing to think that this iconic American breakfast item was a classy, afternoon tea dessert served at chic cafes catered to a young and hip clientele!  I was sold after my numerous visits to these Korean cafes, and found myself purchasing a waffle iron of my own shortly afterwards.

What I learned: No, waffles are not only eaten for breakfast, and yes, it is alright to serve your waffles with ice cream. 

My favorite creation with my new waffle maker has green tea and red bean ice cream:

Another with whipped cream, cinnamon, and bananas.

I recently discovered a very interesting waffle store in Orange and in Brea called Bruxie. Their concept was to serve all fillings one would normally find in a sandwich using an open face waffle rather than bread.  There are savory and sweet items on the menu, and I was pleasantly surprised by the taste.

The red bean waffle and creme brulee with fruits waffle are pictured here.

- Candice

Mr. Pizza: Korea meets LA

I never actually tried Mr. Pizza during my previous visits to Korea, but was invited to celebrate a friend's birthday here in LA not too long ago.  I was very curious to see what this Korean Pizza Hut-like restaurant was all about!  I have actually tried both of their branches in LA: in Koreatown and Little Tokyo.  All the servers were male, about 180cm, exceptionally fashion conscious, and seemingly charming. There were pretty good deals being offered for dinner which definitely served at least twice the amount of people which  I went with each time.

                                        

The menu had quite extensive options for a restaurant called Mr. Pizza, with a selection of appetizers, salads, pastas, and of course, pizzas, which were categorized into classic and specialty types.  The most intriguing options were those in the specialty pizza section, which listed pizzas with potato wedges, corn, crab, shrimp, and seafood combo options among others.

One of the appetizers we ordered were golden bread sticks, which were basically bread sticks stuffed with sweet potato and covered in cheese.  These were quite delicious.

We ordered the most popular specialty pizza which had potato, corn, bacon, tortilla chips, onions, and mayonnaise as toppings.  The crust was a surprise too, which was filled with sweet potato and had a very nice crunchy texture.  Yes, the pizza itself was very heavy, making the entire medium pizza enough to feed 3-4 people.

The meal ended up being a great deal, since we ordered a dinner combo that had a free appetizer and drinks.

The takeaway from my visits is that if you are looking for some hearty pizzas with unique toppings in a cute cafe-like setting, then pay Mr. Pizza a visit.

Thank you, LA.

- Candice

Chocolate Fondant

Chocolate fondant is a fancier version of a brownie which is not quite baked all the way in the middle.  Upon taking the first bite, rich and smooth chocolate oozes out from the middle, adding amazing texture to the mouthful of sweetness.  This is a relatively difficult recipe to master, since the timing must be precise so as to not under or overbake the fondant.  It took a series of attempts in order to come up with the perfect baking time for the specific oven we were using - approximately 4 minutes.
The ingredients are very basic and the steps relatively simple.  First, melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over boiling water.

The chocolate should be smooth, as shown below.  We used semi-sweet chocolate.

Next, butter and flour a muffin tin to ensure that the fondant easily pops out of the pan after baking.

Fill the muffin tin with the batter, prepared by mixing the melted chocolate with the dry ingredients.

After baking! This attempt was overbaked.

After several more tries, we finalized came out with the perfect fondant, with the middle still not completely baked through.

We served it with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.  Delectable and ideal for those with a sweet tooth!

- Candice