Cupcakes Galore

I attended a fun class at
PCI (Professional Culinary Institute) over the weekend. PCI is a fairly new state-of-the-art culinary school in San Jose but they're already making a name for themselves in the world of culinary academy, especially with their victory of the Hans Bueschkens World Junior Chefs’ Challenge at the World Association of Chefs Societies’ (WACS) biennial 2008 Congress held in Dubai. I came across PCI while researching about cooking classes in the Bay Area and learnt that they were offering cupcakes baking-decorating class; I had to sign up! Timing couldn't be better!
I was very excited and eager to start the class; woke up before 7am (on a Sat morning, mind you) and was there at their front door 25 mins before the class started. Even then, I wasn't the first participant there! Guess there're others who're just as enthusiastic. There were 2 classes being conducted that day: Cupcakes Galore and The Art of Pizza Making. The 2 groups of students were congregated in the main banquet room where a light breakfast of delicious coffee cakes and pastries plus good coffee were served. Our host welcomed us and after an introductory tour of the facility, each group adjourned to the classes.























There were 12 of us in the Cupcakes Galore class. Coincidentally, all 12 were ladies. I guess that wasn't a surprise ;-) Our instructor for the day was Chef Stefany Busswell (she's sometimes referred to as Chefany!) who was full of energy and vibrance.

















Chef Stefany and her team

She started outlining the key recipes we'll be covering for the day: Mock Hostess Cupcakes with yummy Buttercream Filling and choc ganache topping, Moist Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Curd Filling and Swiss Meringue Topping and lastly, Carrot Cupcakes with Creamcheese Frosting topped with cute mini carrots made from marzipan.
That's quite a lot to cover within the ~4.5hr timeframe but Chec Stefany and her team made it very easy for us all! They were well-organized - all the necessary utensils were laid out, ingredients pre-measured






Mise en place for our Carrot Cupcakes





and we even had dishwashers who would wash up our utensils as soon as we're done and what's best, we didn't even have to leave our workstations as Chef Stefany's helpers will carry the dirty utensils to the washing area on our behalfs. Talk about luxury cake-baking (my type of baking!) We were definitely spoiled that day! I had a lot of fun that day; baking has always been therapeutic for me but meeting new people with similar interests, sharing the joy of baking together and enjoying the fruits of our labor was so refreshing.





I met couple of really nice people that day; I shared with them my quest to bake D's b'day cake and have received lots of pointers from these new friends already. We'll continue to keep in touch and I now have a support group to turn to for all my baking questions! Super!!

The hobby classes at PCI are definitely a great way to spend a relaxing weekend doing something you like, unwind plus meet up with others that share similar interests. However, if you're looking to further enhance your culinary and baking skills, I feel it's best to sign up for their full-fledge courses. I had the privilege of sitting in for one of their Baking & Pastry classes and there were a lot more baking technicalities being taught and explained during the class compared to the hobby classes over the weekend. Check out the culinary programs at PCI.


Here're other culinary places that I've come across that offer cooking-baking classes in the Bay Area:
Draeger's
Sur La Table
Cake Works