Upscale Cupcakes

Sitting down to an assortment of dim sum in a bustling restaurant is the culmination of a weekend stroll through Chinatown. It's never easy to choose from the myriad of delicacies that pass by the table, or to not try just one more thing. In this class, you will learn to prepare a variety of popular dim sum dishes, to impress family and friends with a feast of your own. You will make: shrimp shao mai; spring rolls; spareribs with balck bean sauce, and pan-fried vegetable dumplings with spicy dipping sauce.

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.

Here is the five-day version of Toba Garrett’s most popular class, the Wedding Cake Workshop. This hands-on seminar covers everything from baking the layers that will serve as the foundation of your tiered masterpieces to advice on transporting them safely to their destinations. You’ll learn: - Preparation of high-yield yellow cake, citrus curds, buttercreams, and white-chocolate and royal icing. - Making of white chocolate roses, buds, and leaves to be arranged on a two-tiered cake. - Gilding, petal dusting, rolled fondant classical drapery, free-hand drapery, cornelli lace, Swiss dotting, freehand embroidery, oval borders, plunger flowers, and appliqué designs. - Covering cakes with rolled fondant, tiered cake construction, and doweling techniques. - Pricing, transportation, contracts, and great cake stories. Prerequisite: Techniques of Cake Decorating 1

Sushi-making doesn't have to be limited to the view from a seat at your local Japanese restaurant. Bring the sushi bar home by practicing your skills at preparing nigiri (sashimi fish on top of thumb-size, compact sushi rice), perfecting the texture of rice, and learning the proper techniques to create a stellar hand roll. Once you've gotten the basics down, you will try your hand at: sushi rice; maki and futomaki rolls (both thin and thick), inside-out rolls; nigiri and temaki (hand roll).. You will soon learn that sushi is something you too can master.