2009 February

I attended the best baking class last week, led by master pastry chef, baking instructor, and award winning cookbook author, Nick Malgieri, held at Barbara Fenzl’s wonderful cooking school, Les Gourmettes, here in Phoenix.

During the 2 hour demonstration, Chef Malgieri prepared 5 recipes from his latest cookbook, The Modern Baker, a collection of 150 simple step-by-step recipes that use the most up-to-date tools and techniques to create delicious breads, biscotti, cakes, cookies, pies, and tarts quickly and easily.

Based on yesterday’s delicious results, this cookbook has moved to the top of my current wish list.

Nick Malgieri’s love for baking and teaching and depth of experience are apparent.

Baking Class with the Modern Baker, Nick Malgieri

Throughout the demonstration, he shared tips and tricks for baking success and entertained us with interesting stories. Everything we sampled was delicious.

I know I’ve been to a great cooking or baking class, when I can’t wait to get home and make the recipes.

Too often I end up filing them away, either because they weren’t that memorable or were too complicated to replicate at home.

Not today.

I couldn’t wait to get home and try my hand at Malgieri’s Torta Sorrentina – orange scented olive oil cake.

There were so many things I learned that made this baking class worth more than the price of attending - a quick and reliable method for fluffy white icing, the recipe for orange scented olive oil cake, not to mention a recipe and method for tart dough that doesn’t require rolling!

The Modern Baker Recipes Demonstrated

Dough for Thick-Crusted Pizza and Focaccia
Sfincione: Palermo Focaccia – topped with quintessential Sicilian ingredients – tomatoes, anchovies, and bread crumbs. (Fantastic)
Macadamia Shortbreads – a simple, yet special bar cookie
Devil’s Food Cake with Fluffy White Icing with a fast reliable method for making the icing
Roman Almond and Pine Nut Tart
Orange Scented Olive Oil Cake

If you are interested in baking and have the chance to attend a class taught by Nick Malgieri, I highly encourage you to do it. He travels frequently throughout the country teaching classes and directs the baking program at The Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School) in NYC.

Links to more cooking schools and classes…

Andy Food – A Scottsdale based culinary studio with public classes, private parties and team building workshops
Roka Akor – Sushi master classes one Saturday a month
Sweet Basil – A kitchen shop and cooking school in Scottsdale
Whisked Away – A small cooking school in Phoenix

Butterscotch Blondies Recipe

Butterscotch Blondies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups biscuit mix, such as Bisquick
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set it aside.

In a 2 quart sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter, stirring it with a wooden spoon so it doesn’t scorch. Add the brown sugar and cook, stirring, until it dissolves into the butter. This will take 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the granulated sugar, biscuit mix, vanilla, and eggs. Stir until everything is well blended.

Stir in the butterscotch chips and pecans. With a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the butterscotch blondies until the edges rise up, get crusty, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center is glossy but still a little soft.

Remove the baking pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. Cut into desired size and shape butterscotch blondies.

This recipe makes one 9×13-inch pan of butterscotch blondies. The original recipe source says it makes 48 squares but I say, not possible!

Butterscotch Blondies Recipe Variations

Coconut Butterscotch Blondies: Substitute 1 cup coconut flakes for the chopped pecans
Coconut Macadamia Butterscotch Blondies: Substitute 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts for the pecans and add 1/2 to 1 cup coconut flakes
Chocolate, Oat, and Walnut Blondies: Substitute semisweet chocolate chips for the butterscotch chips and walnuts for the pecans. Reduce the biscuit mix to 2 cups and add 1 cup quick cooking oats.

Source: The Dinner Doctor by Anne Byrn, Author of Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor