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| Enderun College |
My slew of classes
started last quarter of 2012, the first class that I attended was at Chocolate Lovers in Cubao. I took up a lesson for Sugar Free Brownie Class, since my dad
is a diabetic so that means the chances that we become diabetic in the future
is high since that is a hereditary disease. I figured the earlier I start
learning how to make sugar free sweets the better. Moreover, I also noticed a
trend here in Manila that people are growing more health conscious whenever I
sell my creations during the holiday season. My patrons would always ask if its
sugar free or do I have a sugar free version and I don’t. I tried experimenting
with Splenda before and the brownies that came out with that product are
inedible. I would have loved to keep experimenting but Splenda is way too
expensive. In this class I learned about sugar substitute Isomalt and coco
sugar. These are sugar replacers that behave and feel like real sugar because
they are in granular form, unlike Splenda which is in flakes form. Honestly, compared
to other classes that I attended this was a far inferior class in terms of all
the goodies I get to take home. The ingredients used were inferior as well,
inferior in the sense that instead of using regular unsalted butter, the recipe
called for half shortening half margarine and some recipes even used all
shortening! It’s the first time I ate a brownie made with half shortening and
half margarine. The instructor said it so to keep the cost down, especially if
we were going to sell them in the future. I’m no Paula Deen but please bring out the
butter! I was so appalled! Shortening in brownies? I mean I’m not a food snob
but heck if I’m going to eat something fattening like a brownie I want it
something that is packed with flavor! I left the class thinking that it’s a
good thing I didn’t pay full price for this.
After my disappointment
with the class in the Castle, I went back to my true and tested Heny Sison
lifestyle class. Based on past experiences, chef instructors don’t skimp on the
ingredients so we really got a taste how it should look and taste like when we
would bake them at home. And for some reason I noticed that people who attends
classes here are more eager I guess, they freely ask questions so the classes
are livelier. Moreover, every time I finished attending a class here I often
feel that I amass huge knowledge. The number of recipe that I get per session
is also a lot thus it’s well worth every penny and if ever I do get in a though
baking situation in the future, I can attend the class again as long as they
are still offering the class. Isn’t that fun!
As I have mentioned on
this blog before I had a fruitful long weekend few months back. That weekend
bore a sweet fruit and won THIRD price! As a prize I got to attend TWO weekend
classes at Enderun Collage in McKinlley Hill. It’s a private cooking school
that I had once inquired on their pastry program but my schedule never permits
me to go since the class that I want takes up whole 3 months all weekday
classes only. Luckily with this price I could sort of attend that prestigious school.
I picked two classes Sachertorte and Parisian macarons. I was giddy for weeks I
could not wait to attend.
The class started
promptly at 9 and ended quite early at 12 noon which is a good thing because
the school is located in a remote area I don’t think there’s food anywhere and I
have no idea where the campus cafeteria is. It’s actually hands on class and
not just a demo which is nice. We would watch and listen to the chef and after
we would go to our workstation and do what the chef demonstrated earlier. The chef was super nice and he has this nice
Austrian accent that I like very much. He was very helpful to the extent that I
felt like was rushing me, instead of just teaching me how to do it he would
grab my bowl and do it himself while explaining what he is doing of course. Since
the sachertorte took many steps to finish; there is the cake, apricot frosting
then the glaze, I again I felt as if Chef was rushing things when it seems like
we were taking too much time making the cake batter he would ask the pastry
students who are around to help us. The students would then just takes over and
do out task. I was like ugh ok but that sucks! I’m there to learn and not just
watch, if I wanted to watch I would have just stayed at home and watched the
telly. I was expecting glorious looking sachertorte meaning with all the bells
and whistles but what I got was a plain looking glazed cake, no decoration no
nothing. What an utter failure! I took
my tired self-home and slept the whole afternoon since I woke up early for that
class.
Class two was Parisian Macarons!
I’ve been meaning to make it myself for a long time now but it seems like too
much of a trouble I cannot find ground almonds. The chef instructor for this
class was Chef Cy, he is a big and cuddly looking Filipino chef who is very
talkative. He talked the whole morning and answer lots of questions about the
do’s and don’ts of making a macaron. This was a fun class we got a chance to
experiment with different colors and flavors and we get to take them home in
these pretty macaron boxes. Before this class I never understood why people say
they are very addictive but now I recognized their addictive powers. They are
tiny little things that are crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. Imagine
how small little things like these can pack a lot of wallop in the flavor
arena. I think I must have eaten more than my share of these. Now I must give
them a try one of these days!
I do wish that Enderun would offer Weekend classes for the Certificate in Baking and Pastry. I might not be a professional pastry chef but I'm very interested to be one, what's keeping me from doing so was the schedule. Most culinary school that offers Saturday classes are not that extensive and there are few choices to choose from.
hi maybe you want to exchange templates from baking school i have attended some of them :)
ReplyDeleteHi! what particular templates you want? and what you have?
Deletethis is the class i missed at Heny Sison..
ReplyDeleteHi! Jesuit, This is a very nice class. Do attend it when Chef Heny offers it again in her school.
Deletekelan kaya magkakaroon ng classes? i really want to know how to bake tlaga :)
ReplyDeleteThey always have classes just check their schedule
Deletehi, I would like to ask if there will be schedule for baking and pastries on March onwards? If so, how much it will cost? thank you. Please do reply also in my email elizabethhatulan@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI would suggest you contact the school :)
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