J'Adore la brioche parisienne!

What is a brioche?  The very thought of it makes my mouth water...for those of you who wish to have a more culinary  definition, here it is:
Brioche is a highly enriched French bread, whose high egg and butter content give it a scrumptious and tender crumb. It has a golden brown, and flaky crust from an egg wash applied just after baking. 

Brioche is considered a Viennoiserie.  Some terms even refer to it as Briocherie.  It is made the same way as a basic bread, but possesses the richer aspect of a pastry because of its addition of eggs, butter, milk, and a little sugar. Brioche, along with pain au lait and pain aux raisins — which are usually devoured at breakfast or as a snack — form a leavened subgroup of Viennoiserie. Brioche pastry is often paired with fruit or chocolate and served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert with many local variations in added ingredients, fillings or toppings.  Brioche can also be used in savory dishes, usually in meat dishes, usually stuffed with foie gras. 

Either way, it will surely make your mouth water...and transport you right back to the streets of Paris!  Leaving you wanting more and more....

J'Adore les croissants!

What is a croissant?  This infamous french pastry is a buttery flaky bread named for its distinctive crescent shape.  Croissants are made from a leavened puff pastry.  The yeast dough is layered with butter, and carefully folded several times creating the term "laminate."

But enough scientific talk!  As a pastry chef, educated at Le Cordon Bleu, I have trained with world renowned french chefs who turned my passion into a fun and exciting career!  Lately, I feel that the art of being a pastry chef has slowly begun to fade in the city, as it is being taken over by the cakeworld.  With television shows such as "Cupcake Wars" and "Cake Boss", the obsession of having sculpted cakes, and mechanically engineered cakes have taken over!  The pastry chef in me is revolted at the thought of how much that sculpted cake has been handled, and even less enticed to eat it.

I have made it my mission to bring back the love of old world pastries.  Decadent croissants, pain au chocolat, chaussons aux pommes, pain au raisins, pâte a choux, religieuses, éclairs...and the list goes on and on as my mouth begins to water!  The main ingredients: flour, eggs, sugar, milk and most importantly...BUTTER!

This week in the J'Adore Kitchen, we have made it our mission to perfect the art of the croissant.  After two batches, we finally achieved success!  Follow that warm buttery smell right to J'Adore's doorstep, and taste our delicious croissants : Almond croissants, hazelnut croissanst and the original butter croissant!

Lambeth Piping Skills Class!

Join me on sunday May 1st at the Bonnie Gordon College in Toronto  from 10:00am to 4:00pm as I teach the lambeth piping skills!  This course is for those who have basic piping skills and eager to improve their skills. Learn the elegant decorative methods of Joseph Lambeth piping that define this intricate, Old World style. Learn the following piping techniques designed by master pastry chef, Joseph Lambeth:


Students will learn

- Intricate, dimensional overpiping of borders on a fondant-covered cake
- Fine drop scroll & side scroll piping, border construction and lattice piping

For more information, please contact the school at 416-440-0333, and sign up for the class today!