Review: Gourmandise Desserts

Back in December, Melody Brandon of Sweet and Saucy Shop tweeted that she was going to be teaching a class at Gourmandise Desserts . Always excited to find new baking classes, I rushed to the website and squealed with delight – there were so many fun classes to chose from!

I LOVE to bake (cupcakes and cookies, specifically). My heart aches over the beauty of what Melody Brandon and Amy Atlas produce – I want to do what they do! Until then, my mom and I bake together and try our creations out on our friends, family and coworkers. We’ve taken lots of fun baking classes in the past from cookie decorating, holiday candies, petit fours, and cupcakes. While scrolling through the Gourmandise website I found that there was going to be a gourmet cupcake class – passion fruit cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream and candied pecans, and chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel cream…I was in HEAVEN! I quickly signed us up to take the class, excited to learn how to make these fancy schmancy cupcakes!

Our class took place this past Saturday. We arrived early and got a front row seat armed with a notepad and pen and a photographic memory. Our teacher for the day was the owner of Gourmandise Desserts, Clemence Gossett. What a gem! Clemence was born in France, has owned a small baking company, and is now mostly teaching (which she loves).

The class was VERY hands-on. She encouraged everyone to participate, and was happy to sit back and let us have fun. She made every single recipe accessible and encouraged us to not be afraid (baking smells fear!). She gave us a handful of recipes for cupcakes, ganache, and buttercream frosting — all which I can’t wait to try in my own kitchen. The class was a good size — around 12 people, so everyone was really able to participate if they wanted to. At the end of the class we all got to leave with LOTS of cupcakes that we were able to decorate.

I would HIGHLY recommend taking a class with Clemence. She offers lots of tips on baking (I especially loved learning a little bit about the chemistry of baking!) and great recipes. She offers a variety of classes ranging from macarons, truffles, cake decorating, and food blogging!

[Images via Gourmandise Desserts ]