hi there, me again. 

i know i keep things pretty casual here and hopefully real (real casual) but my little corner of the internet is about to get a whole lot sweeter..

some how the stars aligned and the universe granted me access to this very private & elusive building that’s been living in downtown las vegas since 2019 -again, how (witchcraft)? it is with great pleasure that i get to share that i am currently enrolled in the pastry program at amaury guichon’s pastry academy. it is pretty bonkers that i am verbalizing that since attending pastry school has been a pipe dream of mine since forever or so i thought. 

my first week at the academy is officially in the books and i have nine more to go. is that crazy? absolutely. do i have a giant smile on face? 100%. 

don’t get me wrong this is an intense program and it’s not all sugar & butter, there will be a lot of hard work but i am here for it! the tired hits different when you are feeding something you are genuinely passionate about and it is wild. i feel really privileged to go through this experience with 19 other unique individuals with such versatile backgrounds that all seem to be as equally devoted to getting the most out of the program too. i can’t think of the last learning environment where everyone in the room truly wanted to be there.

maybe amaury guichon’s name sound familiar? maybe last year around thanksgiving you binged his netflix show, school of chocolate. and yes, he most definitely is that “one pastry guy” on tiktok.

you probably have scrolled past some of his chocolate masterpieces on instagram or are one of his 10 million (millions??) followers.

as if it was a fever dream, on an monday in october i got to sit in a room with the prince of pastry, 2 other amazing chefs (michel ernots + francois delair), a room full of strangers and say “hi my name is rita and i really love pastry”.

what. is. life.

the lows can feel real fkn low but i caught a high wave and i’m going to see where it takes me.

if you’ve ever thought to yourself “huh, pastry school sounds pretty dope” i sure do hope you decide to come along for the ride with with me. i think we are going to have a ton of fun.

week one was focused on basic skills and petit fours but the first two days started off a little more traditional classroom. our instructors spoke on kitchen safety, cleanliness. they spoke in depth about butter + fats, dairy, sugar and the history of pastry.

procope was added to my paris bucket list. this brasserie opened in 1660 by pastry chef francesco capelli and was the first ice cream shop in paris. my dudes, that was 362 years ago. uh, why yes i would like to have my profiteroles with a side of deep historical value please and thank you. 

speaking of profiteroles.. lets get into the goods that are week one’s bakes:

classic chouquettes filled with vanilla pastry cream.

french word of the day:

petit lait- whey

all packaged up to be shared, there will be so much more sharing.

french meringues, not to be confused with italian or swiss meringue (which we also did make too).

madeleines dipped in yummy chocolate glaze topped with a chocolate ganache

a beautiful assortment of macarons compliments of my fellow classmates and i.

each student pairing made a different flavor and at the end of class we all got to take home a little bit of each other’s goodness. i only ate a few macarons but we sampled all the ganache fillings. you know, for research purposes. my type of required learning.

a little sampler box because hellos are better with brown paper packages. 

i can’t (should not!) eat them all, hello. *send help*

after a week i hit up amazon for some items i didn’t know i needed:

• extra socks that have cushioned bottoms
• piping bags
• a re-up on demerara sugar
• pastry cream powder 
• tide pens
• a couple of silpats 

i have a running wish list in my head of things i would love to have but definitely don’t need right away. i am going to try to keep purchases at a minimum and only nab the items i really feel are necessary and most useful.

welp, i think that about sums it up for now - i don’t know about you but it was a lot stimulation.

stay tuned for week two, its bread week baby!

happy eating (and baking)!

xo

rita