Pastry & Dessert Workshop
Build a pastry display of lemon tarts, éclairs and profiteroles, plate a restaurant-style dessert, and make chocolate mousse and pandan crème caramel. Make-ahead sweets for any dinner party.
About this experience
Pastry & Dessert Workshop
Finish your dinner party on a high note. In this full-day Pastry & Dessert Workshop you'll learn the core techniques behind tarts, choux, chocolate and custards, and why each step matters.
The Hero: A Pastry Display & a Plated Dessert
You'll build a pastry display of lemon tarts, chocolate éclairs and profiteroles. Then you'll compose a restaurant-style plated dessert from simple parts: crumble, fruit coulis and a crisp tuile. The day ends with everyone's work set out together on a dessert table.
Make-Ahead Sweets
- Lemon tart with sweet shortcrust (pâte sucrée)
- Vanilla crème pâtissière – the base for dozens of desserts
- Chocolate éclairs & profiteroles from one batch of choux
- Plated dessert with crumble, coulis and tuile
- Dark chocolate mousse & ganache – the ganache also glazes your éclairs
- Pandan crème caramel (bánh flan) – a silky baked custard with a Vietnamese twist
Pastry needs resting time, so your chef will have rested dough ready when you need it. You'll still make your own from scratch to take home. Most of these can be made a day ahead, so dessert is ready before your guests arrive.
What You'll Learn
- Mix, rest, roll and line a tart tin with sweet shortcrust
- Blind bake for a crisp, even base
- Cook a smooth crème pâtissière and lemon curd
- Make choux, pipe it evenly and bake it hollow and crisp
- Glaze, fill and finish pastries neatly
- Plate a dessert with contrast in texture, colour and flavour
- Melt chocolate into a glossy ganache and fold an airy mousse
- Bake a silky custard and cook a clean caramel
What to Expect
- Full-day, hands-on class – 10:00am to 4:00pm
- Your own bench, with step-by-step guidance from an expert pastry chef
- Small group of up to 16 for plenty of one-on-one help
- Premium Victorian butter, dairy, eggs and fruit
- Enjoy the dessert table together with tea, coffee or a glass of wine
- Take home your pastries
- Recipes to take home so you can bake it all again
This is Day 6 of The Confident Home Cook, but you can book it on its own.