bite-sized happiness

I know what you're asking yourself...Was Jaime able to bake successful petit four (aka bite-sized) cookies for her exam last weekend? And could she really keep her cookies under 6 inches?

The answer:

Yes! And I am damn proud of these cookies. I was focused and precise, and sometimes not breathing regularly, but I managed to produce some of the best cookies in class. I know, they look tiny and you're not sure they're real. Here's a closer view:

Convinced? I am convinced that I still love baking cookies. I'm not sure about the petit four glace section of the exam - coming to a kitchen near me this weekend - but I'll do my best. For this practical, we have to produce a dozen of the éclairs we made last weekend AND a dozen iced petit four cakes. We are making bite-sized almond cakes with jam in the middle and fondant icing on top. And a lovely design of chocolate. Practice results from last weekend:

One of these babies can cure your sweet tooth for the whole day. Unless you're my mother and then you need to eat three of them for breakfast...sigh. I should know better by now. Do not leave any sweets out on the kitchen table that you don't want promptly devoured. Greg wasn't too upset though because his favorite item of the weekend was the chocolate pistachio biscotti. Delicious dipped in coffee, but quite crunchy by itself.

I'm off to practice drawing with chocolate. Time to channel Picasso!