Chocolate Indulgence

For a flash course on all the basics you need to make a varied and impressive meal, look no further. With a professional chef, you'll gain the skills vital for moving through any simple menu with ease. You'll practice knife skills, roasting vegetables, cooking proteins with a pan sauce and a vinaigrette. Then you'll use what you learned as you make a menu of: popovers; sautéed chicken with classic pan sauce; roasted root vegetable salad with fresh herb dressing and garlic mashed potatoes.

Evoke the Old World with these nonna-approved classic desserts, creating flavors that instantly transport you to Italy (or Little Italy!). We'll use pignoli nuts to bake perfectly light cookies, set the custard for a rich panna cotta and more! Your traditional dessert menu includes: tiramisu; panna cotta; and pignoli cookies.

Spend two days making the most beautiful cupcakes ever. Award-winning cake artist Chef Toba Garrett reveals her secrets and techniques for the most spectacular cupcakes. The first day is spent making delicious cupcakes and beautiful edible ornaments to decorate them, such as royal icing flowers, marzipan fruits, modeling chocolates, buttercream icings, ganache, and more. On day two, you will decorate the cupcakes with two-dimensional designs, including lattice work, textured rolling pin designs, floral designs, and buttercream piped designs. Students should bring their pastry kits. Prerequisite: Technique of Cake Decorating 1.

Biting into fresh-caught seafood, just off the grill with a squeeze of lemon, is summer at its best. In this class, your chef will lead you through a complete seafood grilling menu, perfect for a party or a simple dinner. You will make: gazpacho with grilled shrimp; grilled squid with navy bean salad; Spanish style monkfish skewers; and charred corn, tomato and avocado salad.