Blueliciousness! What you discover when you take an ice cream class

So I know I said that I was trying to make cookies that represented each state in the country. I might still continue with that (I mean I've made like 10 or 15 of them already so why stop now?). But I've got more ideas. Which is probably a bad thing. It springs from a class called Hot and Cold Desserts and, so far, we've only done the cold side of things. In other words, ice cream. I know, dangerous. Anyway, in the midst of trying to find new and interesting flavors, my partner decides he wants to make blueberry ice cream. Loaded with vanilla, whole and juice blueberries, and creamy flavor that any French-style ice cream should have, it is heaven. And, it's sitting in my freezer. Oops! How did that get there? Between the occasional spoonfuls of this heaven, and thinking about the Baked Alaskas we will be making with it, a new idea has surfaced. State ice creams. Yum! A new project is in the works. If only now I could make a deal with the ice cream man at the beach. Who needs snoopy pops when you can have soft serve blueberry, maple, or brown butter ice cream. Yes, I said brown butter ice cream. Smooth, fruity, sweet creamyness hitting the tongue. It almost makes up for the glares I get from my classmates. There are nearly too many options. It's a good thing that I'm going away for Spring Break, as there wouldn't be enough room in the freezer.

Tough cookies. Literally

So, I just finished Day 6 of my Cookies and Petit Fours lab. Mind you, I'd had a very relaxing weekend and hadn't gotten much homework done so I had gotten up early to work on my cookbook, the major project for this lab and biggest part of my homework, with only 6 hours or so of sleep. I was crossing my fingers that today would be a relaxed, easy day. Not so much. It turns out, that those nicely decorated, fondant-covered, bite-sized morsels that come in boxes by the dozen and cost $30 something dollars per dozen... well... let's just say their worth far more than $36 in the effort that goes into them! First, you have to make the frangipane (almond pound cake) batter, using the creaming method but being sure to get all the lumps out for best results. Then you bake the cake, coo/freeze it, then cut it and spread with raspberry jam (a see-through layer, mind you). Then you stack the layers and drape with colored marzipan. Then, you flip the cake over and cut it into 1" squares. If however, you forget to put parchment or powdered sugar underneath before you begin cutting, good luck removing the squares in one piece. Then comes heating and thinning the fondant, which likes a temperature between 98 and 102 degrees. Then you pour on the fondant, clean it up, put them in paper cups, and decorate with classic chocolate designs. Whew. And all that has to be repeated in two days, for the practical. And I thought I knew everything there was to know about cookies (I mean, 11,337 Swedish butter cookies seemed like a good enough explanation for this). Oh and we had homework.
Luckily, that wasn't as bad as I thought. In fact, the worst part about it was that it ruined my plans for getting my homework done this evening. But, I think they turned out pretty well. They are marzipan flowers. Take a look for yourself.
Sorry for the period of no posts... if there's any viewers out there that is. Had a busy week and a fun-filled weekend of baking with friends.
More coming soon!