Miami’s Biltmore Hotel has opened its new Culinary Academy, and our editor had a go at making chocolate desserts in its inaugural class.
It’s no secret that Miami is a culinary hot spot. It boasts several James Beard-nominated and awarded local chefs, is home to outposts of celebrity chef restaurants (such as Emeril Lagasse’s acclaimed Emeril’s Miami Beach) and plays host to the increasingly popular South Beach Wine & Food Festival, taking place this week, through Feb. 22.
Now those planning a Miami vacation break can improve their own culinary skills by taking cooking classes at the newly launched Biltmore Culinary Academy, at the Biltmore Hotel in nearby Coral Gables. The academy began offering classes—which last about three hours and range in difficulty in order to accommodate beginners through advanced cooks—earlier this month. I fortunately was able to participate in its first one, Working With Chocolate, led by the hotel’s executive pastry chef Olivier Rodriguez.
The Academy’s newly built classrooms are housed in the conference center at the hotel, and include a custom-designed kitchen lab, with a 12-burner stainless steel Jade Range island. There were six of us in the chocolate class, paired to make things move smoothly, plus Chef Rodriguez and an assistant chef. I have minimal experience in the kitchen, so I was grateful to find out my partner was none other than Biltmore Culinary Academy director, Lourdes Castro, who is excited to see the academy come to life.
“It’s rare to find a program that allows guests to personally interact with chefs, learning directly from them, and now it’s here at the Biltmore,” says Castro, who in addition to being a chef is a culinary consultant, author and instructor. She has two books coming out this year from Ten Speed Press, the cookbook Simply Mexican, and a Spanish-English dictionary of culinary terms, Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish. All ingredients used in the classes are fresh and seasonal, says Castro, and there’s a focus on making sure students learn proper techniques.
Castro works with four chefs from the hotel, and has created a schedule that includes not only cuisine-focused classes, but also techniques and targeted topics, such as Pork 101, knife skills, how to make fresh pasta and pastry, and dinner-party planning.
Our goal for our Working With Chocolate session was to learn how to make a chocolate tart, chocolate truffles and chocolate mousse with orange tuile (a thin candy-like cookie). Who could resist? We were given an apron and the recipes, and Chef Rodriguez explained everything clearly, and encouraged any and all questions. My fellow classmates’ culinary background ranged from complete amateur (moi), to those who are passionate about food and have taken other culinary classes, to a professional caterer.
Some of the stages were pre-prepared for us, with a few things measured out already, for efficiency. However we definitely got plenty of hands-on experience, whipping cream into a meringue—felt like my arm was going to fall off afterwards, getting a feel for the right consistencies when mixing the pastry dough by hand, rolling out the tart crust, creating the right sized truffle balls and spreading the tuile cookie dough, which reminded me of mixing oil paint on a palette.
The end result? Scrumptious!
You can check out the recipes from Chef Rodriguez on the next page, and try them yourself. I haven’t yet made these goodies at home, but I left the class feeling significantly more confident than when I arrived, and am pretty sure I can at least create tempting truffles for my next dinner party.
Individual classes are currently scheduled through the end of March, and cost $110 per person. There is a three-day Master Chef class available, for $330, and visitors can also arrange for private or custom group classes, which are ideal for wedding weekends or girlfriend getaways. For more information, visit www.biltmorehotel.com or call 305-913-3131.
Next: Recipes: Chocolate Tart, Mousse, Truffles
All recipes below are from Chef Olivier Rodriguez and are what was made in the Working With Chocolate class at the Biltmore Culinary Academy.
Pate Sucre (Tart Shell)
Makes 1 crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
½ cup water, ice cold
Chocolate Filling
Makes 1 tart
7 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons corn syrup
7 ounces heavy cream
Mousse
Serves 8
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (we used 62 percent cacao)
7 egg yolks
7 ounces sugar
7 egg whites
1 cup heavy cream
Zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
Orange Tuile Cookie
1 ounce all-purpose flour
3 ounces powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted (unsalted)
2 tablespoons orange juice
Garnish
Chocolate bar, shavings
Whipped cream (1 cup heavy cream with 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar)
7 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons corn syrup
7 ounces heavy cream
1 cup cocoa powder, for coating/dusting
Destinations: Miami
Themes: Culinary
Activities: Cooking Classes
Culinary art schools various specialized programs for the aspiring chefs. These schools have experienced trainer who provide the training of baking and pastry making. These schools offer affordable culinary education.