Saturday February 11, 2012 from 11-1pm.

Kids of all ages will be delighted by the gravity-defying fantastical Mushroom Cake.  Kimberly Bailey, Owner of The Butter End Cakery in Santa Monica will demonstrate how to create this sculpted showpiece cake from start to finish.  If you like watching cake shows, and you’ve ever wanted to see how a custom cake is built up close, here’s your chance!  The entire cake is edible – from stem to cap, including the woodland creatures.  Kimberly will demonstrate how to construct the cake, make it stable, and how to decorate it.

Kimberly Bailey and her one of a kind custom cakes have been featured on television shows such as My Fair Wedding with David Tutera, TLC’s Fabulous Cakes, The Ultimate Cake-Off, Access Hollywood, 90210, Real Life: The Musical (upcoming on OWN).

With a degree in art and the heart of a foodie, Kimberly has build a custom cake emporium in Santa Monica to provide truly delicious works of art to make every occasion memorable.

Using rolled chocolate instead of fondant makes The Butter End Cakery’s creations delicious through and through.  All of the delicious cakes are made with local cage-free eggs, organic milk, hormone-free butter, and the finest flavorings and chocolates available, maintaining a standard even the most discriminating foodie will love.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEMO:

www.facebook.com/events/282755195113712/

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUTTER END:

www.thebutterend.com

Ingredients
¾ cup toasted walnut pieces
3 eggs
1 cup + 2 T. sugar
⅓ cup La Nogalera Walnut Oil
⅓ cup dry California white wine
1 ¼ cup white flour
¼ cup Community Grains whole hard red winter wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
⅛ tsp. salt

-preheat oven to 350 degrees

- put the toasted walnuts and 2 T. of sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until very coarsely ground, then set aside

-beat eggs in a medium bowl with an electric mixer, then slowly add remaining sugar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy

-add oil and wine and mix well

-generously butter a 9 inch cake pan

-sift together flours, baking powder and salt into a large bowl

-add egg mixture to flour and with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined, then gently fold in walnuts and spoon into prepared pan.

-bake until until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes

-remove cake from oven and let cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out on rake to cool completely

Note: You can simply dust with powdered sugar and serve or add ice cream, whipped cream or creme fraiche. We will be using it as a base for our poached pears and mascarpone.

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Serves 4-6

Ingredients
4 organic Bosc pears, stemmed cored and cut into eighths
juice of 2 organic lemons
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 vanilla bean
2 tsp. black peppercorns

-combine pear slices and lemon juice and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

-combine water and sugar in a medium sauce pan then bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer (this is a basic -split the vanilla bean and scrape the out seeds)

-put seeds, pod and black peppercorns in the simmering syrup

-remove pears from lemon juice and add

-let simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool in pan

-transfer to a bowl and serve at room temperature.

Note: The pears are great alone or with some ice cream or gelato. We are going to take them a step further by straining and then reducing some of the syrup to serve with the walnut cake and mascarpone.

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(This is NOT like most heavy cheesecakes)

10 – 12 servings
1 -  8oz  package cream cheese, softened (microwave for 1 minute)
½  to 2/3 cup (to taste)  sugar
3 cups milk (whole)
1 big lemon, (juice only)
½  pint whipping cream
0.7 oz (20g or 2 envelopes) unflavored gelatin, melted with warm water
4 heaping tsp blueberry or blackberry jam

Step 1.  Heat the milk and sugar in a medium deep pan over very low heat, stirring until melted.

Step 2.  Use a whisk to rapidly stir in melted gelatin into the milk.  Add lemon juice and whipping cream.   Then add the softened cream cheese and stir.

Step 3.  Pour the mixture, 1/3 at a time, into a blender and blend until smooth.  In order to make the mixture smooth, strain through a small strainer.

Step 4.  After blending the smooth mixture, pour into a deep dish bowl (at least 9” in diameter, 2 1/2” deep) or mold of your choice. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight (or until set).

Step 5.  Remove the plastic wrap and set flat dish upside down on top of the mold, then carefully flip over to remove from the mold.

Step 6.  Cut and serve as individual pieces on flat cake plates.   Garnish with jam on top of the cheesecake.

Purchase items in BOLD in-store at Surfas or online at Culinary District!

Halloween is extremely scary! The only thing we find that begins to relieve the extreme fright of the season is sugar cookies (and maybe chocolate). We love them in the spooky shapes of the season- bats, witches hats, ghosts and pumpkins. Decorate them with royal icing colored with Gel Paste, sprinkled with sanding sugars and you’re set for the season (just don’t look in the basement!)

Easy recipe for Royal Icing:http://www.culinarydistrict.com/Products/Herbs-Spices/Premium-Meringue-Powder-1-lb

Gel Paste: http://www.culinarydistrict.com/Search?search=gel+paste

Sanding Sugar: http://www.culinarydistrict.com/Search?search=sanding+sugar

Here is a great recipe for Sugar Cookies that works particularly well for cut out cookies:

Sugar Cookies-
with thanks to Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

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From the demo Autumn Bites
Recipe Courtesy of Chef Meg Hall

Ingredients
4 T                          Unsalted Butter
10 oz (40)             Large Marshmallows (roughly one package)
6 cups                   Gluten Free Rice Krispies cereal
½ cup                    Toasted sweetened Coconut
½ cup                    Finely chopped toasted Hazelnuts
½ cup                    High quality cocoa powder
20                           Lollipop sticks

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large saucepan, being careful not to brown.
2. Add marshmallows over low heat and continue stirring until completely liquid.  Turn off heat.
3. With or without gloves, rub butter on your hands and when the Rice Krispies treats cool slightly begin rolling into golf ball size balls.
4. Roll 1/3 of the Rice Krispies balls in coconut, the next third in cocoa and the last third in chopped hazelnuts.  Do this while they are still warm so the toppings stick.
5. Finish by pushing a lollipop stick in each ball to make a “cake” pop and serve!

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200 g. Callebaut PRA Praline Paste 50%
42 g. Tapioca Maltodextrin

In a food processor, blend the two ingredients together until a fine dust is achieved, about 1-2 minutes. Pass through a sieve, if necessary. Store this powder in an airtight container.

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Milk Chocolate Banana Ganache
500 g. (100%) Callebaut 823NV Milk Couverture
300 g. (60%) Fresh Banana, mashed
100 g. (20%) Heavy Cream
100 g. (20%) Unsalted Butter

Procedure
1. Heat heavy cream to boil. Remove from heat.
2. Add butter, stir.
3. Add Callebaut 823NV and banana puree.
4. Blend with an immersion blender.
5. Use as a filling for Moulded Bon Bon

*Pair this ganache with a layer of Callebaut Caramel. Fill- 100% Caramel in a Dark Chocolate Lined Polycarbonate Bon Bon Mould.

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Passionfruit Dark Chocolate Ganache
500 g. (100%) Callebaut 811NV Dark Couverture
300 (60%) Passionfruit Puree
100 g. (20%) Heavy Cream
100 g. (20%) Unsalted Butter

Procedure
1. Heat heavy cream and puree to boil. Remove from heat.
2. Add butter, stir.
3. Add Callebaut 811NV.
3. Blend with an immersion blender.
4. Use as a filling for Moulded Bon Bon.

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Ingredients:
1/3-cup sugar
1 ½ cups water
1-¾  cups Prosecco or sparling water
½ cup Morello Austera sour cherry syrup
1-cup cream
3 tablespoons mascarpone

Procedure:

Place the sugar and water in a large saucepan. Heat the sugar and water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Add the Prosecco to the sugar syrup and stir to combine.  Carefully stir in the sour cherry syrup.  Pour into a container, cover and refrigerate until cold.

Pour the chilled granita mixture into a 13X9 tempered glass baking dish and place dish in the freezer.  After about 45 minutes check to see if the mixture has started to freeze around the edge of the dish. Scrape the sides of the dish with a fork and stir mixture distributing the frozen crystals into the center of the dish.  Return the dish to the freezer and check again in about 30 minutes.  Repeat the scraping process distributing the crystals into the center of the dish. Continue this process until there are fine even crystals and granita mixture is completely frozen, no liquid or slush remaining.  The scarping is an important step, allowing for a light frosty mound, rather than a hard ice cube like texture.

For the Mascarpone cream: In a medium stainless steel bowl beat the cold cream until just thickened.  Add the mascarpone and confectioner’s sugar, continue to beat until soft peaks form.

To Serve: Spoon granita into a dish and finish with a dollop of mascarpone cream.

Purchase items in BOLD in-store at Surfas or online at Culinary District!