A Splendid Time at EBO: Chocolate Truffles & Cookies Class
February 14, 2011 at 3:29 PM | Posted in Chocolate, Cookies | 4 CommentsTags: Burnaby, chocolate, Cooking Classes, Delta Hotels, EBO Restaurant, Pastry Chef, Romeo Maghirang
“O Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo?”
Oh, he’s in Vancouver all right. In fact Romeo can be found at EBO Restaurant and he’s known to make beautiful and delicious desserts.
During the first weekend of February, I attended the Chocolate Truffle & Cookie making class at EBO Restaurant. The class takes place in the kitchen, which allowed my classmates and I to have hands-on experience in making the truffles and cookies. The talented and amicable pastry chef, Romeo Maghirang, was instrumental in teaching and guiding us in the truffle and cookie making process.
Romeo Maghirang, Ebo's Pastry Chef
I’m actually quite content that EBO Restaurant at the Delta Hotel Burnaby offers these classes as it allows guests and local residents a chance to make some sweets during the holiday season and throughout the month of February, as well as to mingle and make new friends. Perfect for foodies or anyone in the city who loves chocolate and sweets. 
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Whisky Truffles, White Chocolate Passionfruit Truffles and Basler Brun Cookies
So instead of rambling on, I’d rather do a photojournalistic post instead. Here are the highlights of the class:
Making Chocolate Truffles
Making the ganache
Pouring chocolate ganache into syphon to fill the chocolate shells
Filling the truffle chocolate shells with the ganache. Everyone had a chance to fill the shells.
...including yours truly.
Chocolate is piped onto the truffles to seal the ganache in.
Chocolate truffles in process
The truffle balls are set free and are dipped into chocolate to get the design.
...or they can be hand rolled in chocolate.
TA-DA!! Beautiful chocolate truffles!
Making Basler Brun Cookies
Romeo sifts the ingredients
Sifted ingredients
After mixing dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, cookie dough is rolled out flat and is ready to be cut into shapes.
In this case, the shape we used was a circle.
Basler Brun Cookies!
Overall, the chocolate truffle and cookie making class at EBO was fun, educational and delicious! I totally recommend trying out a class either by yourself, with a loved one or your best friend. 
The classes take place every Friday for the month of February from 5:30pm-6:30pm, followed by a plated dinner (which includes a chocolate dessert buffet!) at 7pm with your fellow classmates. The price is $65 per person, which includes a dozen truffles and a dozen cookies to take home.
EBO Restaurant
Grand Villa Suites – Delta Burnaby Hotel
4331 Dominion Street
604-453-0788
PetiteFoodie’s Holiday Cookie Adventures – Part 2
January 3, 2011 at 12:24 AM | Posted in Cookies, Recipes | Leave a commentTags: holiday cookies, Irish Butter Shortbread, lemon, Lemon Cookies, shortbread
Sooo…what mishaps happened on this adventure? No mishaps, just good cookie adventure with an *ahem* “fun” twist. Let me warn you, some of these cookies are a bit PG-rated so please cover the youngin’s eyes!
Of course, anything goes with PetiteFoodie’s Holiday Cookie Adventures! Last time, in my Holiday Cookie Adventures, Grease Monkey and I made Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies.
This time, Vegemite Girl joined me in a cookie adventure and decided to make 2 kinds of cookies. The first cookie is a buttery shortbread. She was inspired to make this since one of her coworkers brought shortbread to the office and she was craving for some. Since the shortbread cookie was short and quick, we decided to make another cookie with a citrus twist.
The first cookie we started making is the Lemon Wreath Cookies. Initially the cookies were made into shape of wreaths. After making the first baking sheet of wreath cookies, the wreaths started taking other forms. We started making a tray of other “creative” shaped cookies. Despite the funny shapes, these cookies have a buttery and lemony base. With the lemon glaze, the sweet and tartness of the cookie balances out with the lemony fragrance of the cookie.
(1) Pre-baked Lemon Wreaths (2) Pre-baked "Other" shaped cookies (3) Baked Lemon Cookies pre-glazed (4) Baked Lemon Cookies with lemon glaze
Lemon Wreath Cookies
Makes 6 dozen. Adapted from Martha Stewart Living.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- FOR THE GLAZE
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 7 to 8 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 4 lemons)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white nonpareils, for sprinkling
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cookies: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Pulse sugar and zest in a food processor until combined, about 2 minutes.
- Beat sugar-zest mixture and butter in a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until combined.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon dough (or use a 11/8-inch ice cream scoop), and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 4-inch rope. Bring ends together, overlapping slightly, and press together to form a ring. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer rings to parchment-lined baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart, as you work. Bake until pale golden on the bottoms and around the edges, about 18 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool.
- Make the glaze: Whisk together confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth. Dip the top side of each cookie into glaze, letting excess drip off. Return cookies to wire racks, glaze side up, and sprinkle with nonpareils. Let dry completely.
The second cookie that we made was Irish Butter Shortbread. This cookie recipe is simple and requires only 3 ingredients! Yep, you heard right, 3 ingredients! The shortbread was delicious, not too sweet and definitely melt-in-your mouth! It also tastes really yummy with the lemon glaze that I made for the Lemon Wreaths recipe.
Melt-in-your-mouth Shortbread
Irish Butter Shortbread
Makes 3 dozen. Adapted from Martha Stewart Show.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) Irish unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low, slowly add flour. Continue mixing until dough comes together to form a ball.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface; roll out dough to about 1/4-inch thickness, dusting rolling pin with flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Using a 2 1/4-inch round, fluted cutter, cut out dough. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Gather up any scraps, gently re-roll, and repeat cutting process. Take care not to overwork dough.
- Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake until shortbread just begins to turn golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Shortbread may be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
PetiteFoodie’s Holiday Cookie Adventures – Part 1
December 24, 2010 at 9:30 PM | Posted in Cookies, Recipes | 1 CommentTags: chewy, chocolate, Christmas, cookie, gingerbread, holiday, molasses
Ah…the days before Christmas. It’s when Superstore is open for 24 hours. Shoppers make their last minute shopping for their groceries and other items. Well, that’s what Grease Monkey and I did when we had our Holiday Cookie Adventure. He went shopping for ingredients at the last minute and forgot the ginger! Oh noes!
Poor dude had to drive back to Superstore to get a ginger root around past midnight and the cashier thought that he was nuts for buying a ginger root that cost around less than 15 cents! <3 you for joining me in my Cookie adventure!
Hey anything goes with PetiteFoodie’s Cookie Adventures! (That’s why it’s divided into another part because I did another Cookie Adventure!)
The cookie that we made on this Holiday Cookie Adventure is the Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies. This recipe was given to me by a coworker that swears that this cookie is one of her family’s favorites. I hope that this will become one of yours too. These chewy cookies are chewy with a nice hit of ginger and molasses. The semi sweet chocolate provided a chocolaty sweetness to the gingerbread cookie.
Here are some shots of the Cookie Adventure!
PetiteFoodie hard at work!
From left clockwise: (1) Mixing all the dry ingredients (2) Creaming the sugar and molasses (3) Mixing the dry ingredients (4) After the mixing
(1) Cookies before baking (2) Cookies after baking (with pasta sauce on the side ) (3) Cookies in a sexy shot
Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
Makes 2 dozen
- 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
- 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Directions:
- Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
- In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe from Martha Stewart Cookies.
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