Cheese & Wine 101

While handling poultry can seem daunting, it really can be a clucking good time! In Knife Skills 2 you'll discover the fundamental techniques required to transform a whole chicken into popular cuts. We'll cover such topics as trussing and spatchcocking, ensuring you leave with the confidence to tackle any chicken preparation in your home kitchen. No matter how you feel when you enter the class, the class promises to enhance your knowledge of poultry preparation and take your skills to the next level. While not a requirement, it helps to have practiced the skills of Knife Skills 1 before taking this class.

ICE’s Fine Cooking series are the classes on which our recreational program’s reputation was built. This intensive course expands on our Fine Cooking 1 series and takes a deeper dive into essential culinary techniques. These full-participation classes teach fundamental skills, not recipes. This course covers everything from fileting a fish, to properly sautéing, to cover poaching techniques and fundamental sauce making. As you advance through the series, you’ll gradually come to understand each cooking concept. You’ll have a firm grasp of ingredients and equipment; you’ll know why things happen; you'll learn how to avoid and correct mistakes. Most importantly, you’ll gain the experience you need to cook with confidence and pleasure - without relying strictly on recipes. Each class culminates with a student-prepared meal. Prerequisite: Fine Cooking 1.

Working in teams of two, each student will finish and take home two of the following cakes: vanilla mocha latte with mocha ganache and espresso buttercream; triple chocolate cake with dark chocolate cake, white chocolate ganache, chocolate frosting; chocolate chip cookie dough with edible cookie dough filling and vanilla buttercream; Ferrero Rocher cake with praline ganache and feuilletine crunch and chocolate ganache frosting.

These delightful cupcakes come in a range of flavors and frostings, not to mention some well-matched fillings. As we make the cakes, fillings and frostings from scratch, we'll pair strawberry with vanilla, chocolate with white chocolate ganache, peanut butter with chocolate icing, and even birthday cupcakes with a piñata surprise of sprinkles inside. Your cupcake menu: strawberry shortcake with vanilla bean cake and whipped vanilla bean buttercream; chocolate trio with dark chocolate cake, white chocolate ganache and milk chocolate frosting; birthday "piñata" cupcakes with sprinkle buttercream; and peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.