Let's rewind a bit to last fall, when I was still afloat on the excitement of the Field Guide to Cookies having just been released, and honest-to-goodness actually existing in physical form, like a dream materialized. At the same time the reality was also sinking in that I had agreed to do a second book, on the intimidatingly far-ranging topic of candy, and I was going to have to really buckle down and start stocking up on bags of sugar and chocolate molds.
In the midst of this sugary maelstrom I received a call from Tante Marie's Cooking School, my alma mater. Would I be interested in teaching a class on cupcakes for the school? It would be a 3-day workshop in March, almost five months away. At that moment, five months away was like envisioning the first flowers of spring budding upon bare branches in the middle of a frozen winter: in other words, an eternity and a world away. I'd never formally taught a cooking or baking class before, but the class seemed so far off that it dampened any incipient nervousness. Surely, I thought, I'd have plenty of time to pull a class together. It would be fun – I saw it as another facet of sharing my love for pastry, just like I do on this blog.
Fast forward about three and half months, flitting by on candy-colored wings. When I looked up to take a breath from the manuscript, it was nearly February, and – yikes! March seemed a whole lot closer than before. Now dreams of cupcakes intertwined with the familiar candy phantasmagoria at night. What did I want to teach? How should I organize the class? How would I fill up the three days? What if I was a boring teacher?
Fortunately, I already had a lot of notes and recipes from all the testing I've done for this blog – joy! One of the reasons I began blogging was to keep track of my various dessert ideas and inspirations over the years. Now this blog was proving the perfect resource, not just for recipes but for remembering all the mistakes and questions that popped up as I experimented in the kitchen, from whether all-purpose or cake flour would work best, or what happened when I used silicone cupcake liners instead of paper ones, or, most importantly, what was the most delicious frosting I could come up with?
Constructing a class on cupcakes proved to be a most worthwhile and illuminating exercise for me; I firmly believe that teaching helps you understand the material much better, and exploring the intricacies of something as simple as a cupcake actually yields a mini-encapsulation of many basic baking tenets. To wit:
– Techniques for creating butter cakes, including the importance of ingredient temperatures, how to cream butter and sugar, the necessity of sifting, how to avoid overmixing batters, and how to know when cakes are baked properly.
– Tips on creating flavor variations, including how to make infusions, how to combine flavors, and how to consider seasonality
– Methods for making filled cupcakes, and recipes for various fillings, including caramel, curd, and ganache.
– Recipes for different frostings, including buttercream (both confectioners' sugar and Swiss meringue), ganache, cream cheese, meringue, and whipped cream
– Techniques for decorating, including piping with a pastry bag, glazing, using rolled fondant, and bruleeing meringue
I'm really excited to be incorporating all of these baking pointers into my class. It's my hope that the class will serve as a primer and a springboard to encourage bakers to experiment with confidence in their own kitchens!
Of course, one of the most highly anticipated parts of any cooking class is the recipes, right? Suffice to say that for a while candy testing was mingling with cupcake in my poor overworked kitchen! Much tweaking and obsessing later, I've arrived at the following offerings for my class.
Tahitian Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream (first photo)
Deep Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache (second photo)
Summertime Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Cupcakes with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling and Candied Pecans (first photo)
Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling and Roasted Meringue Topping (second photo)
Almond Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling and Chocolate Buttercream (third photo)
Coffee Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream (third photo)
Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Whipped Cream Frosting
I'm so looking forward to meeting the class and diving into the world of cupcakes! The class will be next week from March 23rd-25th. I don't know if there will be other ones scheduled afterwards, but if you are interested please do e-mail Tante Marie's and let them know what classes you are interested in seeing!
If you're interested in some other cupcakes I've played around with on this blog, check out:
Vanilla Saffron Cupcakes with Rosewater Buttercream
Vanilla Bean Fig Cupcakes with Orange Blossom Honey Frosting
Chocolate Cupcakes with Hazelnut Mousseline and Coffee Buttercream
Goji Berry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Himalyan Pink Salt
Olallieberry White Tea Cupcakes
Also, this Saturday I'll be speaking about Field Guide to Cookies at the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon, a gathering of chocolate connoisseurs and aficionados. It promises to be a slice of chocolate heaven – I hope to have some yummy photos to share of the event!
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
So, you’re posting the recipes from your class (after the class), right? RIGHT??
I love cupcakes, chocolate cake, cheese cake etc. Those cupcakes really look so yummy. Hope I can collect more recipe to baked with. I’ll be waiting for your next post.
-krisha-
These cupcakes are so pretty! Delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
all your students will be lucky to have you as their teacher! I wish I could take your class 🙂 have fun!
Who wouldn’t love this class! I’ll be experimenting with some lavender ones soon! I’ve been in cupcake mode for a while…they are just fun to play with.
Yummm, that looks so delicious! Great recipes and post, I’ll be sure to try it out myself sometime!
I’m signed up for your class so see you there! Looking forward to learning a lot and to meeting you.
wonderful cupcakes! wish I could attend the class but so far away 🙁
So nice! Wish I could try them all.
Oh I wish I was In San Fran. I have been looking for a baking/pastry class to take and I would LOVE to be a student for this one! Giid luck!
The cupcakes are super cute. You are one busy woman! We are coming to SF the last weekend in March. I am so excited. I will be at the Ferry Building on the 28th for sure! Any book signings that weekend? 🙂
I will be in that class, i’m really looking forward to it! Haven’t baked in over a month…can’t wait to be inspired.
can’t wait to see the pic from the event! These cupcakes look amazing! I want in on this class!!
Wow, I wish I could be in that class!
If I didn’t live on the other side of the country, I would sign up for your class. I love cupcakes, and your menu sounds wonderful! Have fun!!
Gorgeous! Would love to participate!
Ack!!! Why can’t I live where you are so I could go to that class. I need that class! Good luck – I am sure you’ll be fantastic!
That looks soo good. Everything you make looks good! I love your site so much, it’s really great!
http://www.bakingmonster.blogspot.com/
What else can I say, than “Your cupcakes are wonder-, wonder-, wonderful!” Bye (from snowy Germany) Kirsten
The cup cakes sounds gorgeous…pictures looks cool.
WOWZER.
These bad boys look delightful. I’ll have a go at some on my blog.
THANKYOU FOR THE MUSIC!
I’m amazed at the gorgeous creations that come out of such a small kitchen space. I enjoyed the tour over at Jen’s
I wish I could have been there for the class. These look divine!
Hi – I recently came across your blog and you have such wonderful ideas. But where are the recipes??? I clicked on the Recipes link on the top nav bar, but can’t really seem to find any recipes in all the posts that I’ve read so far.
Hi Jackie,
I’m not sure where you’re having problems finding the recipes? All my recipes are at the bottom of my posts. Currently I’m working to make all my recipes printable, so on the Recipes page sometimes the name of the recipe doesn’t show up, only the post name. But if you click on it you should be able to find the recipe at the bottom. Hope that helps!
Can you please send me your email?
I tried to click the email link on your site but it takes me to install outlook and I dont have an outlook account so i wanted to email you from my other account.
Thanks!
Sara, if you hover your pointer over the “E-mail me” link you should see my e-mail address pop up – it’s anita[at]dessertfirstgirl[dot]com. Thanks!