Monday, January 19, 2009

New Zealand Ice Cream Bake Workshop, At The Cooking House

When Edyth of Cooking House told me about this upcoming workshop slightly after the My Nourishment Launch, I was delighted at the prospect of indulging in one of my favourite ice creams. Time went by, and there was no further news, until BABE IN THE CITY KL popped up on email, informing us of the workshop, and 1st come 1st serve for the first 5. Good thing I check my emails regularly, or visions of tubs of NZ ice cream with flapping wings, flying away from me, filled my fertile restless mind. It wasn't till about 24 hours later that the "results" of the lucky 5 were announced. Yay, I was onboard.

Arriving at 1.55pm, I thought I'd be early, but to my surprise, all but Babe had already arrived. Food bloggers, they seem to be quite punctual for food. The glitterati included Teckiee, the famous celebrity blogger, always surrounded by bevy of chicks, Simon Seow, WMW, Precious Pea, and later on, Serena & Dwayne, and when she finally appeared, Babe.

I think the event is by invitation only, and the place was filled with professional cameramen and paparazzi, and NZN staff. There were more flashbulbs going off than Angelina Jolie's arrival at the Oscars.

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We were given party packs, which included, amongs other things, a stress ball bearing NZN name, which Teckiee very gently handled and showed us.

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Actually, looking at the menu, I was thinking, hmmm, it doesnt take much to make it delicious...the ice cream is delicious enough as it is....without any help.

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The picture above is symbolic, of what was to come. Ice cream sandwiched between cakes....

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Chef T L Lee, who is also a lecturer in Taylors, was highly entertaining, and articulate.

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We also had our own celebrity photographer in our midst, Dwayne Foong. Can't wait to see his pics. Thanks Dwayne for helping me clean my smudged lens...

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Chef taught us something rather interesting. He said that a well washed hand is better than wearing gloves, coz plastic gloves make you sweat inside, and the sweat might actually drip out into the food. Hence it is better to make sure your hands are clean. Its not the only activity I can think of that feels better without any protection.

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Pieces of butterscotch cookie dough, cut into even pieces, for rolling and baking

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Teckiee's Response when Chef Lee told us to go to our respective workstations and replicate the sponge cake and butterscotch cookies that he had just demonstrated.

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Look at the chick magnet, Simon Seow. Now that he has appeared with cooking utensils in his hand, do expect a surge in his already numerous pictures with the chicks.

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Here I am rolling the butterscotch biscuits in the sweaty palm. They tasted gooodd...

Our sponge cake rose beautifully, BUT to our horror, apparently we (or I) had put salt instead of sugar so our cake tasted like a sea sponge from the Dead Sea. Fortunately, the purpose of the exercise was to make a sponge, which wasn't going to be used anyway. Sorry guys for the boo boo. We should've served it hor, and see if people are polite and go, "ooooh, lovely".....However, we were the first group to complete our culinary task, albeit with the salty sponge, and had we really wanted to, we even had enough time to make a new one, as some of the other groups were still struggling with their stuff.

Finally, after the group work, which was fun, it was back to watching the see foo in action. We have him circumcizing the sponge savioardi biscuits here, so that they have a flat edge that can stand up in the tin, surrounding the tiramisu cake.

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Butterscotch cookies and Almond Japonaise (which were premade) were used as bases and middle sections for the mango heaven and butterscotch surprise.

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What we have in the collage above is the transformation, much like a bride on her wedding day, of a plain cake, to a decorated cake, in heavy fake non dairy whipping cream, (much like a bride too), to render it beyond recognition from its original form. At this juncture, WMW very kindly suggested to me as she hissed that I learn the art of decoration, as she has always maintained my cakes are hardly fit to look at. Heh heh. But yeah, I could learn a thing or two....
However, I am honestly not fond of rosettes, and non dairy whipping cream as a medium....though I dont mind using chocolate curls and chocolate shavings.

After the cake had been decorated, the paparazzi descended upon it literally like a celebrity bride about to walk down the aisle. Teckiee was very full of tongue on that day, for some strange reason.

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The butterscotch surprise was yummy. Not normally a fan of butterscotch per se, I actually found this rather delectable. Went well with the butterscotch cookie beneath, and actually, might have gone well with our salty sponge too.

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The blackforest, which had an oreo base, and chocolate sponge in between layers of heavenly boysenberry ice cream, was also superb. I ate it sans the non dairy whipping cream, no point wasting those calories on something that is meant purely as decoration.

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The tiramisu ice cream cake was also deeelicious. Oh, hangon, the layer of hokey pokey atop the layer of espresso was far too sweet, in my opinion. But the combination was superb. I would have done the proportions is reverse. ie, more espresso, less hokey pokey. The sponge fingers were purely decorative, another case of not wanting to waste unnecessary calories.

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The mango delight was indeed delightful. Refreshing and a bit tart, it would really be a perfect way to end a heavy meal. We also drizzled some bits of pomelo, which was divine. Afterall, as can be seen in chinese restaurants, Mango & Pomelo combo seems to be the craze.

It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon, indulging in delicious ice cream, and having loads of fun with fellow food bloggers. Kudos to the Cooking House for putting together such a workshop.

Personally, I feel that NZN Ice cream is good enough to serve on its own, and would make a delightful dessert for any occasion, but yeah, it is a good idea to use it in cake too. However, be warned, it won't be cheap. I reckon the cost price for the blackforest of that size but be about RM80 or more. COST PRICE okay. But ohhhh soooo goood.

28 comments:

Precious Pea said...

Hahaha..am laughing at Teckiee's expression. It made me think of puffer fish!!

Very fun class hor??

Julian Si said...

cheers bro!
extra sweat, extra yum...

looks like a really fun afternoon, whilst i was penang-ing!

Anonymous said...

Owh... I missed this :(
Sent my reply to Babe too late I think.

Anonymous said...

Hmm...didn't realise u hv gone into the baking world...Good on u! Guess who..???

Ciki said...

who is that in the orange shirt with a missing HEAD .. i wonder... ? looks like the slimmer version of a baker i know la.. next time u better rmbr u invited me! POUT ! Grrrrrrrrrrr ... muahahahaha ...

Ciki said...

btw, that salty sponge cake should taste something like the bathroom sponge after intense body butter jam.. ya think?!

Anonymous said...

Hehe. I recognise the flurry of shutters going off by the paparazzi. Seems only like yesterday... LOL

P.S. I love the blurred out shot of anonymous bloggers with Teckiee jumping out! :D

Babe_KL said...

i kena ice-cream overdosed, kenot enjoy my yummy dinner next :p

RM80 possible meh? how many gallons that round has?

jason, next time check your mail all the time :p

Anonymous said...

babe, did you have more after i left? for me, it was okay... probably equivalent to 3 scoops all in all? hmmm, actually maybe 5 hor...RM80 ah? dunno la...maybe not hor. have to wait till 30th.

LFB, wonder why the familiarity with the paparazzi. but teckiee's a doll aint she, so photogenic and youthful.

ciki, dunno wor, i never taste my loofah brush after a workout...& 1000 apologies about the invite..

anonymous, now that's a shot in the dark, HOWWWW on earth to guess.. give la some hints.

jason, yalar, you could do with some fattening up, u so slim

jules, sounds like YOU had a blast in the G Spot in Penang...

pea, yalor hor, so fun.

Breadpitt said...

look so fun la, all ppl like so enjoying....! ;-p

The Duo Dishes said...

That's a sweet opportunity! Not so sure how we feel about salty cakes, but everything else was probably quite perfect. :)

fatboybakes said...

The Duo Dishes, guffaw, yeah, them salty cakes are certainly not high on my "MUST BAKE AGAIN" list....

breadpitt, it WAS so fun. when you running a workshop for us?

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

salty cakes...Hmmmmmm...yeah i believe in going back to basics..why touch something so perfect..its like dressing up mona lisa with some modern dolce n gabbana clothing..

Anonymous said...

wow O_O look at the tiramisu man. i am not a great dessert lover but i am so craving for it now!

HairyBerry said...

yeah, u are right. me thinks the butterscotch will go well with the salty sponge. a very nice contrast. i recently tried a sea salt and caramel ice cream and it tasted wonderful!

that gives me an idea on the shortbread! thanks, fbb!

Anonymous said...

Teckiee is so cute! Saham naik banyak

Tummythoz said...

A most enjoyable post. Can feel the fun in your pix.

Jen said...

looks like the desserts all turned out pretty good! wish i could have had a taste though =(

Anonymous said...

I think my lens need cleaning too. I can see dark spots on my photos. How to clean wan ah?

Such a well-trimmed goatee. :D Men here do it all the time. You can see such a perfect line on their jaw.

What's with the smearing of chocolate on the side on the blackforest? I see it done quite frequently. Nice meh? Reminds of smearings found on walls in school toilet cubicles.. :P

Anonymous said...

Dear fatboy (in the most unrudest way),

Please invite me to any of these ultra crazy salivating-inducing workshops. I am quite a famous celebrity blogger really, I just need to introduce myself to more people. You know, fame...so hard to be private but I did too good of a job handling it.

;) LOVE everything!

Glad to have discovered your blog. I am a baking chick..(like biker chick, but think ovens).

And I love a sense of humour like a good mousse. Smooth and unruffled...what am I saying....

Sincerely,
Eunice

Anonymous said...

CT gave me some coffee with salt...it tastes wonderful. Salt does go with some things.

Anonymous said...

AWOL, of course, Christ didnt call us salt of the earth for nuffink ya know...

eunice, goodness, i feel like we click instantly. i lurve ur rapier wit... and sarcasm.

"I am quite a famous celebrity blogger really, I just need to introduce myself to more people. You know, fame...so hard to be private but I did too good of a job handling it."

bow bow, i must learn from the master...hahahahah! will keep you in the loop, though these invites usually arent mine to dish out, as i not celebrity enuff.

GFAD, guffawwwwww.....re the choc smears.. you ah! well, some ppl do expect their blackforests to look that traditional way la.
as for goatees, were u being sarky? i cant tell.

Anonymous said...

jen, they were pretty darn good. however, its easily rectified...just go and buy some NZN...just as good!!! hahah.

tummythoz, there's a lovely photo of the floggers that is so happy dappy, like out of a FRIENDS sitcom laidat. unfort some are still very shy, so cant post that pic.

kgboycitygal, long time no see, how are ya young peeps! ya, teckiee very valuable now.

hairy berry, where was this eclectic ice cream? i had burnt toffee treacle something somethign, in blue pumpkin, siem reap...SOOOOOOO GOOOOOD

xin, tiramisu was good, but i prefer more espresso ice cream, less hokey pokey....

nipples, i was shocked to see you grazing in my gym blog. heh heh, yeah, mona in D G huh... yup, some things should remain traditional, like yee sang...whats with all these new fandangled thai yee sang...

Anonymous said...

FB (now isn't this politer! my gramma will be proud)

oh shyness. blushes and tushes. nooolahhhh *sums up all the humility - humanly possible - learnt from my gramps* i clicked on your link because i was whiffing through lemongrass' comments and found your reply there. i laughed (n got weird stares) and popped in here.

so yeah, CLICK!

oh and, just let the celebrities know that they are missing out. (or maybe I am).....

haha. i really enjoy your writing. and i just found out what rapier means. hey man, you too.

sincerely yours.

Rebecca Saw said...

ahh..so when are u baking (minus the salt) these cakes? Nd help finishing them? ;p

teckiee said...

aiyor..saham sudah jatuh with all that pics.. haha

Happy Chinese New Year!

Simon Seow said...

No lah Teckiee, you'll always have market. FBB if I am a chick magnet why I don't have a gf one??

Dazy said...

Hey I too tried baking cup cakes and cookies just after my exams got over. I go weak in the knees with a mention of muffins and cakes.