5 months, and counting...

Well, they do say that time goes by fast when you are having fun, and, since I am having quite a LOT of fun with this baking stint, time has been FLYING past at a great rate of knots! We have learnt so much, and I have even been inspired to get my act together and RENOVATE MY KITCHEN :-). Yes, it is all in motion already - and the reno starts on MONDAY! Bigger kitchen, more work surface, new (BIG) oven, more storage room (so can store all my Mum's kitchen stuff AND my kitchen stuff!). If things go relatively smoothly, the work should be completed by either 3rd week of July or end-July. Fingers crossed for me please :-).

On the baking front, we have done so MUCH in the last one month (and we are well into the 5th month of baking). And since we have done so much, it was very hard for me to pick and choose which pictures to share with you. I mean, we have done: Banoffee pie, Roasted Pineapple Tart, Apple Crumble Tart, Rhubarb Tart, Peach n Pistachio Tart, Bakewell Tart, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Malva Pudding, Tarte Pierre Herme, Berry Vanilla Tart, Cones, Lemon Shortbread, Cats Tongue, Almond Biscuits, Scottish Shortbread, Croustillant, Choc Hazelnut Spiral biscuits, Fig n Orange pinwheel biscuits, Choc Fudge, Nougat, Vacherin, Sacher Torte, Pain L-epice, Frasier, Pavlova, Swiss Meringue figurines, Le Succes, Passionfruit Mirroire, Gateau Marjolaine, Exotic "Cheesecake" Tart, Profiterole, Apple Strudel, Sabayon Fruits, Strawberry Tarts....PHEW!!! So, the only pictures I will put up are of those items that I think I will actually MAKE again! The rest would be... well... interesting to know, but not something I would really eat again! Mind you, I WOULD make it for any friend who wants it :-).

Anyway, here goes... and, as always, try not to drool all over your keyboard!

- The Apple Crumble TART! In other words, an apple crumble (as normal) but with a TART BASE of sweet pastry or sable pastry. SO YUMMMMMMMY!

- The Bakewell Tart: If you like raspberry jam (as I do!) you will LOVE this!

- Malva Pudding. I can almost hear you say "Huh", as that was my first reaction too. Imagine a sponge cake which, when almost baked, has rich chocolate sauce poured all over it! Well, this picture shows my attempt at this pudding. I poured the choc sauce on TOO EARLY, and thought I had a disaster on my hands! As it turned out, the sauce mixed nicely throughout the whole cake and made it incredibly rich and incredibly tasty. I would not hesitate to say that it tasted better done this way, as compared to doing it the 'right' way :-D

- Sticky Toffee Pudding! I could eat half a dozen of these at a sitting. Talk about sinfully delicious! Especially when eaten with the sauce... sigh...

- Cones, painted with chocolate on the inside, dipped in sweet garnishing on both ends, and then filled with either chocolate ganache or chantilly cream. Sweet little bites!

- Chocolate and Hazelnut spiral biscuits. Now, I am NOT normally a fan of biscuits, but this one is lovely! Great flavour combination.

- Sacher Torte. A classic German cake. And if you like chocolate, you will LOVE this cake!

- The Frasier! A.k.a. Strawberry shortcake. Isn't it extremely pretty?

- Passionfruit Mirroire. Amazingly refreshing and tasty. Especially when made with a fruit that is tart, rather than sweet!

- Gateau Marjolaine. Rich, nutty cake. Imagine - in this WHOLE cake, there is only 25grams of flour! The rest of the 'powder' in the cake is actually roasted almonds and hazelnuts which have been put through the food processor!

- Apple Strudel. Another German classic. Our first attempt came out as hard as a rock! The 2nd attempt came out pretty darned good, and we already have improvements in mind for our 3rd attempt!

- And last, but definitely not least, Strawberry Tart. Scrumptious!

So, we are 4.5 months done, which means we are half-way through this course already. We have still got lots of interesting things to learn, and I am SO looking forward to continuing this journey! Anyone who is still 'thinking' of doing this course, or any of the short courses conducted by the Academy of Pastry Arts, should stop "thinking" about it, and (in the words of that well known Nike ad) "Just do it" :-).

One word of advise, of course - DON'T eat everything you make! Or you will be twice the size of your house :-).

In the middle of all this fun, a day that is very special to me came and went - 14th June was my late husbands birthday. The days leading up to that day, the day itself, and the days after, were particularly difficult. Yeah, lots of tears - but managed to keep them to myself. Yes, I am OK now... and I guess I WILL always be OK, but I guess that all the special days will also still continue to hit very hard. But... life goes on, so I will also manage to go on!

Till next time, have a good day, every day!