Feliz Navidad @ Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia

When Jason asked if I had wanted to take up an invite to check out Academy of Pastry Arts, I was rather nonchalant about it. I had no idea that there was an academy in Petaling Jaya in the first place (it's just 4 months old!) and I was still feeling tired after coming back from Melbourne. Now, I'm glad I went that day - I had so much fun while learning and having a hands on opportunity to decorate my very own gingerbread house.

This is what they say about themselves : -

"Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia, a premier institute offers you the rare opportunity to learn the art of bakery and pastry making in a professional setting, being personally trained and coached by experts in their field. Your skill will be finely honed through hands-on practice and repeated exposure to the best pastry techniques, tools, and ingredients.. Our Academy is dedicated only to the art of pastry and it is our target to be the finest pastry academy in Malaysia & Southeast Asia. We are committed to groom the best ready to perform pastry professionals entering the hotel industry and related pastry fields.

Read more about the Academy from their website and Facebook page.

The main kitchen area and classroom area.

Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia offers four main courses : -

Certificate in Pastry and Bakery (9 months)

Certificate: Art of Intermediate Pastry Program (3 months)

Certificate in Bakery Arts (3 months)

Continuing Education (Short term courses) See schedule HERE.

Short term courses (which range from RM150 - half day, RM250 - full day, RM500 - two days) include
Cheesecake
Chocolate for Beginners
Chocolates and Praline
The Art of French Pastry
Tea Cakes, Cookies & Bar

Course fees include EVERYTHING - ingredients, equipment, study material. For the longer term courses, pay up in full on the spot and you can get a 10% discount. Interest free monthly installments are also offered. If there are Master Chef classes held during your time at the Academy, you can attend the classes for free (these classes are at RM2000 each otherwise and are usually attended by established Pastry Chefs of the Southeast Asian region). Be taught by World Champion Pastry Chefs who are flown in to Malaysia!

We visited the Chocolate Room (Gasp! I would love to have a Chocolate Room in my house apart from the usual dining room, store room, bed room, hahaha!) - No Willy Wonka here, but lots of delicious chocolates made by students that were laying around - such temptation!

We were given a tour of the academy and also had the opportunity to see some students creating their masterpiece. There's also a sugar art work room and came across some students' lovely sugar art works.

Chef Guillaume Lejeune (Director of Pastry Arts), then proceeded to demonstrate how to make a gingerbread house and complete it with decoration. We were like little kids, watching in amazement as he put the gingerbread house together with the "glue" that is made from a mix of beaten egg white and icing sugar. We were then taught how to get the "icicle" effect on the roof and finally decorate the gingerbread with the assortment of candies. After the demonstration was over, we were told that it's now our turn to unleash our creativity juice and decorate our very own gingerbread house!

We had lots of fun, having a go at it. The "icicles" were the challenging part of the whole process. I was so caught up in decorating mine till I had forgotten to take photos of the process till much later ... There I was, bending over my gingerbread "home", decorating away and I had forgotten that my camera was hanging around my neck! Hahaha...that is, till I started sifting the icing sugar over my "home" for the snow effect and realised that it was also "snowing" onto my camera! :o)

Managed to get a shot of Jason adding "snow" to his gingerbread house

Here's our respective masterpiece ... I added the three tiny green gummies to pass off as Christmas trees. Hehehe...We were definitely happy campers and took portrait shots with our "homes". It was a first for me, and I took it home to show my family who were pleasantly surprised to see my handiwork :o). Hey, Chef Guillaume taught us well, it was a rather easy task.

We then sat down for some tea and pastries at the lounge area and chatted with Chef Guillaume and Hanne Landgraf (Customer Relation Executive). The pastries were made Chef Guillaume and his students ...

Cardamom Honey Cookies, Stollen ... (the colourful macarons are for deco though ...the "cream" is actually gum paste!)

Chocolate Moelleux - chocolate cake with a slight melted center topped with raspberry and edible gold leaves.

I absolutely loved this Petit Four Raspberry and Passion Fruit. This petite dessert drew "mmmms.." from us as we enjoyed the delicious taste of it; sweetness from the whipped ganache (passion fruit with vanilla), chocolate shaving, biscuit joconde and chocolate shell base while the slight sour taste from the fluffy guimauve and raspberry balanced the overall flavour.

The other Petite Four Strawberry was lovely too. This small confection was so lovely to look at, almost a shame to bite into. The whipped ganache is made from strawberries and vanilla and had just the right level of sweetness. Gosh...I'm tempted to go for the two day course on December 29 &30 on Canapes & Petit Fours! Check out the schedule HERE. December 2010 and January 2011 timetables are out. By the way, the next Christmas Delight workshop is on 13 & 14 Dec, 2010 ... "Deck the halls with lots of goodies, fa la la la la, la la la la...." :o)

Whether you want a career in the pastry field or simply love doing pastry, Academy of Pastry Arts can guide you along in achieving your goals. I definitely felt a renewed zest when I looked at my gingerbread home and the whole wonderful experience has got me pondering ... Hmmm....

For further information on detailed class content and fees, please contact the Academy of Pastry Arts at info@academyofpastryartsmalaysia.com or call +603 7960 3846.

Have a great week ahead .... :o)

Read about Jason's, PureGlutton's, Edwin's and Li Chuen's experience at the Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia.

Academy Of Pastry Arts Malaysia

Lot 2-A, 2nd Floor

Wisma Thrifty

19 Jalan Barat

46200 Petaling Jaya

Contact : +6017-3252395/603-7960 3846

Fax : +603-7960 3848