Chocolate forms the backbone of many of our most beloved desserts and confections, yet the complex techniques required for success often elude many cooks. Building upon our introductory bean-to-bar experience, students will further utilize our exclusive house-made chocolate in finished preparations with a range of origins and flavor profiles. In this demonstration and hands-on class, students will learn the fundamentals of chocolate product identification, basic tempering, molding, and decoration techniques, as well as finished confections and desserts that best showcase chocolate’s alluring properties. Recipes covered in class will include Single-Origin Bonbons; Chocolate Caramels; Chocolate Crémeux, and Chocolate Ice Cream. Students will leave the class with samples of the items produced, and exclusive bars available only at ICE. Michael Laiskonis joined ICE in 2012 fresh off of an eight-year tenure as Executive Pastry Chef at Le Bernardin. Laiskonis has long been one of the industry's most creative and talented chefs. He helped Le Bernardin earn four stars from "The New York Times" and three Michelin stars. He was named to America's Top Ten Pastry Chefs by "Pastry Art & Design" in both 2002 and 2003 and was "Bon Appétit's" Pastry Chef of the Year in 2004. Best known for his use of modern techniques to reinvent classic desserts, he was also awarded the coveted James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2007. Most recently, Chef Laiskonis received the IACP's 2014 Culinary Professional of the Year Award, one of the most distinguished honors in the culinary field. Laiskonis has been an active writer, in print and on-line, including "Gourmet", "Saveur", and "The Atlantic" and has appeared on television shows such as "Top Chef: Just Desserts". While Laiskonis is best known as a pastry chef, he spent most of the first half of his career on the savory side of the kitchen.
You will work in teams to execute the class menu. At the end of class, participants gather to enjoy the food they have prepared. Wine is served with meals in most classes. All class menus are subject to change. While a snack platter is offered in both morning and evening classes, you may want to consider a light snack before joining us for class. Students are encouraged to bring a light lunch or dinner to all pastry classes.
You will work in teams to execute the class menu. At the end of class, participants gather to enjoy the food they have prepared. Wine is served with meals in most classes. All class menus are subject to change. While a snack platter is offered in both morning and evening classes, you may want to consider a light snack before joining us for class. Students are encouraged to bring a light lunch or dinner to all pastry classes.
The flavorful cuisine of Cuba reflects the country’s Spanish, African and Caribbean influences. From cooling ceviche to hearty ropa vieja, these influences manifest themselves in an array of seafood and meat preparations, not to mention unforgettable side dishes that will make you wonder why you didn't cook Cuban sooner. You will make ropa vieja (shredded flank steak in tomato sauce); pescado enchilado (sea bass in sofrito); frijoles negros (black beans Cuban-style); rice and tostones (savory fried plantains).
The sauces you will learn to make in this class are not just for special-occasion dishes you'll prepare once a year. Relying on pantry ingredients and reflecting the contemporary cook's lifestyle, they are meant to easily take a grilled meat or poached fish from simple to superlative with a pan reduction, beurre blanc or a pesto. You will master these techniques by making sauteed steak with red wine reduction sauce; poached salmon with beurre blanc and pasta with pesto.
Under the guidance of skilled ICE pastry chefs, you'll learn the art of tempering chocolate. You'll use these tempered chocolates as you practice essential methods for making various chocolate confections. You'll also learn a wide assortment of elegant and colorful chocolate-decorating techniques for your treats. Recipes include: chocolate English toffee; chocolate peanut butter cups; chocolate bark; chocolate bars and chocolate-dipped confections.
Ranked as America’s Best Culinary School (USAToday 2019), our roster of Chef-Instructors have run top kitchens around the globe.
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