Chocolate Eclairs

Chocolate eclairs, ooh how tasty the eclair can be!!! We recently had a Baha'i study circle at our home with about 20 people participating. It was an all day intensive study circle, we started at 9:00am and finished at 5:30pm. I knew I had to make something that would keep people functioning all day long, besides for food (breakfast and lunch). My answer was mini eclairs with hot tea or coffee, Yumm! How to make eclairs? It is easy all you need is a great recipe for eclairs.

A Chocolate eclair dessert is one of my favorite pastries. One of my guests was a beautiful French lady (both inside and out) named Guilmette. She came up to me and said "this is real French custard". She knew her true Eclairs living in France for so many years, and could not believe I had made them. I had also experimented with my original recipe and decided to do something a bit different, that made it more nutritious and tastier. (It will be revealed in my classes and recipe book - hint hint).

I do have to say that French Baking is a labor of love. The reward is seeing the happiness it brings to people and their stomachs. Also the reaction that people have after they eat the pastry - takes me by surprise a lot of times. Some will come up and hug you and love you for it while others will just say you are the best! This is when I have to remember not to let it go to my head, which too many compliments can do to someone. I sometimes don't realize how much people appreciate the effort and quality of a well made dessert and this is why I keep making them. I love to see the joy it brings to people besides for their tummies.

It makes the hard work...well not so hard and definitely worth it!

Until next week, be happy, eat healthy, and bring about more love in this world.

White Strawberry cake with white chocolate shavings

This cake was made for a little angel who turned one! Her name is Nura which means light in Persian, and you guessed it she is a little angel of light. This was an enormous 21 pound cake, filled with three layers of strawberries and fresh whip cream, and about 5 to 6 inches in height. This cake easily fed 70 people plus there was left overs for the family to take home. Niky, who is Nura's mom had told me for several mornings after the B-day party, her family had cake for breakfast, and day by day it tasted even better. This is actually true as the strawberry's juice and whip cream soak into the cake over time.

I never use oil or butter in my cakes and that makes for a very healthy and light cake, and that is why people can easily eat more than one slice. Also using fresh whipping cream and not frosting which is made of butter and sugar, makes my cakes very light and healthy. As we try to live a healthy life we need to be aware of what we put into our bodies. Therefore if we can eliminate cakes that have butter, oil, and lots of sugar, we will then eat a healthy cake that is delicious and brings a sigh of yum with every bite we eat.

Niky wanted Nura's cake to have the appearance of snow, so she wanted only white chocolate shavings for the decoration with happy birthday to Nura written on marzipan. There were many Marzipan lovers at the party, especially Anisa and Tandis, who could not keep their eyes off the rich tasting marzipan piece (they knew how tasty marzipan can be). Either you are a big fan of marzipan and love it, or you simply may not know enough about it and may not have taste buds for it (yet). As for me, I love a high quality marzipan. Happy Birthday little Nura and may you have many more angelic birthdays to come!

I was very happy with the review from Nura's family, friends of the family, and those who don't like cake, but really enjoyed this one. I will be putting together all my recipes in a book for sale in the near future, for all of those who have been asking and like to bake. Also sometime soon I will begin teaching classes for those who have asked. Happy New Year to all, and best wishes for 2010!

Fruit Tart

For a holiday dessert I thought it would be nice to have a colorful, beautiful dessert to eat. My family loves fruit tarts, because it is a light and a healthy dessert, and fruits are so tasty and good for you.

Fruit tarts are truly works of arts, and this brings out my artistic side. There are so many gorgeous designs you can create with fruit and it brings out the art in your baking. Many people don't want to cut into this gorgeous creation, but eventually you have to eat your artistic creation.

It tastes just as good as it looks, the shell is filled with chocolate then a thin layer of cake, topped with custard and finally fruit. Most people who have ate fruit tarts have not had it with a layer of cake in it. Adding the layer of cake in it really makes the taste and texture even more incredible tasting. Some of you have experienced this incredible taste and know what I mean, and for those who have not you just might want a bite.

I will be putting together all my recipes in a book for sale in the near future, for all of those who have been asking and like to bake. Also sometime soon I will begin teaching classes for those who have asked. Happy New Year to all, and best wishes for 2010!

Chocolate Covered Pecan Pie

Tonight we are invited to a study circle / dinner party at our good friend Pari's home. I didn't want to go empty handed, and since dinner was provided, I wanted to whip up some dessert. I had about three hours to come up with something different, mouth watering, and relatively quick. So I go through my fridge and see that I have a bowl of caramel and pecan filling and dough which I can use for a shell. I got it! I can make a chocolate covered Pecan Pie.

Chocalate covered pecan pie takes about several hours to make so I do have enough time. This is a unique pecan pie that has always been a hit. Everyone who tastes this extraordinary dessert falls in love with it because of its rich taste.

The caramel and pecan filling is enclosed in the mouth watery shell. Finally chocolate is poured over it to form a complete covering. Very rich in taste and so delicious with tea or coffee, it hits the spot! My husband Prabakar was very excited as this is one of his favorite desserts. As we drove to the party Prabakar was stating that he could smell the chocolate and it was killing him. He was so hungry that he wanted to have the dessert first because of the incredible chocolate smell. At the party, it was a hit. No one had taste a pecan pie like it!

kiwi strawberry rollet cake

Great news! I will be giving French baking classes soon. I have been putting together plans to start teaching french baking classes. It has been on my mind for a while and I have been talking to my friends and customers to get some feedback. Many of them have asked to come and learn, watch, be an assistant or to get recipes for my cakes and pastries. So look forward to more plans and details on that.

My friend Atousa had invited us over for dinner this past weekend. My husband and I decided to make a rollet cake to take as dessert. I figured I would experiment with teaching him how to make a rollet cake. Mind you, it was a little frustrating teaching him :) as he just doesn't listen sometimes, but he was a good student after all. It took us about 2 hours to get it all done and believe it or not, it came out great.

Here are the quick details of the cake we made. It was a white cake with whip cream and chocolate shavings with fruit on top. Kiwis and strawberries look great on chocolate shavings. It gives a holiday look, feel and taste. Everyone loved the taste and the design. They couldn't believe that my husband had made it and not me. Rollet cakes are easier to make than a standard round or square cake and I think they taste better too if you want something different. I add a lemon and orange Zest for additional flavoring and a unique taste. I think there was about 4 or 5 people at the party who wanted to take the class. Yeah!!

Holiday Yule Log Cake

Its the holidays! Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa, or holiday, its a great time to add the sweets as part of your celebration.

This year I am making Holiday Yule Log cakes. Several friends have already placed their orders and here is my first one for the season. What is a Yule Log cake you ask?

The term goes way back to the 12th century, when it was customary for families on Christmas eve to sit around a fireplace and light a log. Yes, it was actually a real fire log that had to be burned for 12 hours. Families and friends would watch it burn for hours while telling ghost stories . Then over time, tradition changed and the log was replaced by luscious desserts made to represent the log. Therefore the circular tree rings on the Yule log cake.

My Yule log cakes are made french style, no oil, no butter, just natural and healthy. It is a white cake with orange zest, fresh whip cream and chocolate shavings on top with holiday decorations. A lot of love went into it to make it as delicious and pretty as can be. It is a very festive and fun dessert to have during the holidays. I still have to do all my clean up and dishes, but it was worth the hard work.

Raspberry White cake with Chocolate Shavings

During our bakery days, our french style cakes were the most popular. We made french cakes for all kinds of occasions, from birthdays to anniversaries to weddings and just parties. Making french style cakes has always been my favorite part of the bakery days and I truly enjoy the experience and results.

Today was my friend Anthony's birthday party. I decided to make a white cake with raspberry whip cream filling for him. I always like to decorate with chocolate, so I'll top it off with some chocolate shavings. There is an art to making french style cakes. The difference is not only in the recipe but also the process. My father taught me one of his secrets to making cakes spungy and moist. We never use oil or butter in our cakes. Surprised??? Yes, for all the years that we have been making cakes, we never used oil or butter to make the cake soft and moist. It is a secret that has made our cakes so popular. It is healthly, all natural, and tastes so great! So have an extra slice without worrying too much about the fat :)

Here it is! A white cake with raspberry whip cream filling and chocolate shavings on top and on the sides and decorated with raspberries on top.