Summer fruit Tartlets with Jim Dodge

You will learn how to make beautiful and delicious mini fruit tartlets with the summer’s ripe fruits with a variety of filling and delicate crisp buttery shells. The prediction required to roll the dough to thin even layers is easy once to learn a few simple techniques. The Crème Pâtissière and Lemon Curd are a less rich style which pairs better with ripe summer fruits and berries. Give your fruit tartlets or tarts a beautiful sheen with a Mirror Glaze, so much better when made from scratch so you can control the ingredients compared with purchased ones.

The hands-on part of the class will focus on rolling the Pâte Sucrée, baking the shells, cutting the fruits, fanning cut fruit, placement of anchor fruits and glazing. This is a demonstration and hands-on class. To maximize the hand-on portion of the class the ingredients will be pre-measured and tools distributed. Each student will leave with each of the desserts that they make.

Recipes:

Pâte Sucrée
Chocolate Pâte Sucrée
Vanilla Crème Pâtissière
Chocolate Crème Pâtissière
Peppermint Crème Pâtissière
Lemon Curd
Apricot Mirror Glaze
Orange Scented Neutral Mirror Glaze
Vegan Neutral Mirror Glaze

Jim Dodge is an award winning pastry chef and author who comes from seven generations of hoteliers from the lakes region and white mountain of New Hampshire. After early training and direction at his parents’ luxury resorts, he began a two year Swiss pastry apprenticeship with chef Fritz Albicker, at which time he decided become a pastry chef instead of a hotelier. The Swiss influence with his New England heritage, resulting in unique methods of preparation and styling. In 1978, Jim moved to the West Coast to be the executive pastry chef at the Stanford Court in San Francisco for 10 years, during which he became one of the first pastry chefs to be nationally recognized.

In 1991, Jim made his home in the Pacific Rim and opened The American Pie, a restaurant and pastry shop offering modern American fare in Hong Kong; a wholesale bakery and a second American Pie followed. In 1993, Jim returned to the States and left retail baking for education, joining the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT, as senior vice president.

He is the author of “The American Baker” and “Baking with Jim Dodge”. Besides teaching pastry domestically for over 30 years he has taught in the Japan, Korea, Mexican and Panama. Jim is an advisor to the Julia Child Foundation and jury chair for the Julia Child Award.

Categories: Baking Class, Beginner, Cooking Class