Saturday, January 01, 2011

Yummy New Year's Resolution?

If you are searching for a new year's resolution - here's one to consider :)....

"Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia?", I wondered, "What's that?"

I never imagined that there would such a specialised and professional cooking/baking school right here in Malaysia, newly opened in the not so new Wisma Thrifty in PJ (very near PJ Hilton):
Spacious and well equipped "classroom"/ kitchen...

While there are full time courses (9 months or 6 months, I think), for professional certificates, there are also a large range of short courses (2 days/ 1 day/ half day) for beginners who want want to learn how to bake, or hobbyists who want to expand their skills.....

Other than the basic stuff (eg. Baking bread, biscuits, cakes), you can learn more complicated stuff, like wedding/ decorative cakes:
So pretty...

.... and how to make pretty little chocolates and sugar art too:
I want to eaaaaaaaatttt...

That day, I was there to learn how to bake a chocolate fondant (YUM) through a special introductory class followed by a "Bake Off" contest with the RED fm DJs**.
(Aly, Jeremy, Terry and the new addition to the RED fm family - Rudy, were there that day)
:) :) :)

It started off with a demo/ instructions by the charismatic chef Guillaume Lejeune:
(He makes it look SO easy, but well, I guess it's because he has more than 15 years experience in this line....)
Voila!.....

After that, we went back to our teams and had to try it out by ourselves. It seemed so very simple - with only 5 ingredients and about 5 steps on how to make it:
Sugar, chocolate, butter, flour and eggs - that's all you need...

... but of course, whether or not the fondant is too dry/ too moist/ rises/ deflates depends on skill (and a lot of experience/ practise).

Our chocolate fondants turned out quite well though, I think (IMHO), although it was just a eencey weency bit too dry:
Some of our fondants...

Our team didn't win. :(
(Aly's team won)

... but all in all, I had a really fun day out - made some new friends and learnt a yummy new skill! :)
(This was just a short intro class though, so it wasn't anything too complicated)

- Don't get between me and any yummy chocolatey desserts, ok?
(You have been warned! :P)
This is me trying to look scary...


SHOUT OUT:
- To RED fm: Thanks for organising such a interesting and fun contest/ event,
- To my team mates (Rudy, Tania, Jessica and Nadya): Nice meeting you!
AND
- To Chef Lejeune, Chef Wei Loon and the rest of the team at the Academy: Thanks for being such good and patient teachers to this bunch of newbies. :)


Now I just need to buy an oven....
*lol*

Signing out,
J



Summary Information:
Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia @ Wisma Thrifty, PJ

Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9am - 5pm
Phone: +603 7960 3846 / +603 7960 3848
Email: info@academyofpastryartsmalaysia.com
Address: Lot 2-A, 2nd Floor, Wisma Thrifty, No. 19, Jalan Barat, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
(Also, check out their Facebook or website for more details on classes/ courses available)

Map: (Below)

NO PORK THERE



MAP:

View Larger Map


TAGS: , , , , ,

7 comments:

  1. Once you have bought yr oven, we'll have some cake from u, yes?

    ReplyDelete
  2. yikes! learning to bake sounds possibly fun, but too ambitious for cooking-challenged me! maybe i'll take up knitting instead (wonder if there's an academy for that) :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww, even if your team didn't win... you're always a winner, dear! :D

    P.S. Scary Watchmen version of J the Chocoholic.... plus bread knife some more! :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. to PureGlutton:
    I'm not sure you would want to eat the cakes that I bake. I'm not sure I would want to eat the cakes that I bake! LOL.

    ... but of course if somehow a miracle happens n it's edible, I will share some with u...
    :)

    to Sean:
    Don't think there's a knitting accademy here but will keep an eye out for you so that you can be on your way to becoming a professional knitter! :P

    to LifeForBeginners:
    Awwww, thanks. *hugs*

    PS. The breadknife was so scary with its evil looking serated edge with all the little "teeth"! >_<

    ReplyDelete
  5. =) and i didnt even know u were chocoholics memoir =) hehe..hi!! =)thanks for coming for the event. jade

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi,
    this is Hanne from Academy of Pastry Arts Team.
    Just to let you know:
    Our operation hours are
    Mo-Sat 9am-5pm.
    Starting from March we will also offer classes on Sundays :-)

    Check out our website for up-dates on classes or send me an e-mail:
    info@academyofpastryartsmalaysia.com

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. to jade:
    Ah, well... sorry I didn't mention it, but I guess I'm shy? :)

    Anyway, it was really nice to meet you too - had lots of fun at the event! Thanks....

    to Hanne:
    Oh, thanks for the info! :)
    Silly me - I meant to call up to check and update it into this post but forgot...

    ReplyDelete

Appreciate your thoughts, opinions and feedback. :)