As far as vanilla slices go, the Sorrento version from Just Fine Foods Delicatessen (23 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, Victoria) has got to be one of the better ones. I do have a slight criticism though. They are very hard to eat!

Layers of crisp puff pastry barely contain the indulgence of creamy custard, which has a decidedly comforting whipped vanilla pudding taste to it. A seam of sweet strawberry jam gooeyfies the bottom layer of pastry, and the top is liberally caked in a blizzard of icing sugar.

One quite doesn’t know how to tackle its consumption though. A fork can pierce the flaky pastry when tackled from above, but attempting to remove a portion forces the custard to spurt outwards like some divine halo. And picking it up and taking a bite has its perils as well. An untimely inhalation could have one high on icing sugar for days!

At $5.00 a pop for takeaway, it certainly isn’t cheap. And for the purist, it probably doesn’t fulfill the criteria of the traditonal vanilla slice. But it is well worth a drop in should you find yourself in that part of the peninsula.

I’ve been tagged by Ed over at Tomato for my first ever meme - Five Food Challenges for 2006. It is good to set some goals for the year. So here they are!

1. Cinnamon Buns
My mission in 2006 is to replicate the amazingly delectable cinnamon buns I was lucky enough to consume when I was in Vancounver, Canada. Solly’s is a small bakery that supplies Jewish delights such as bagels, noshes and schmears. Their crowning glory, in my opinion, would have to be their ooey gooey cinnamon buns.

I had ventured out of the CBD to visit a specialist travel book shop to pick up a new travel guide. The snow was falling ever so gently around me when the heady aroma of yeasty cinnamon goodness hit me like a ten tonne truck. I literally followed my nose - which I soon found was pressed against the steamy window of Solly’s. These buns are seriously the eighth wonder of the modern world. I think the dough is danish/brioche, with scrolls so finely worked to be as thin as a sheet of pasta. Each layer is sandwiched with a buttery/cinnamony gloop that caramelises on the outside during baking, but stays deleriously moist on the inside. There is the option of cream cheese frosting, but being a purist I find this somewhat sacrilegious. It must be consumed as crafted, and it must be ooeily gooeily warm. If I can crack the recipe I’ll be an extremely happy girl!

2. Mole Sauce
Mole is essentially a red chilli sauce from Mexico. It is thickened and enriched with nuts, seeds, fruits, tomatillos, bread, chocolate and various spices. I became addicted to it once again on my travels, and am yet to find a great mole in Melbourne (although I’ve heard whispers that a restaurant called Los Amates is meant to do a rather good version). The sauce has an amazingly long list of ingredients and the preparation is very involved. It is usually served with chicken, but can be used with seafood, pork and even vegetables. It may be difficult to source some of the ingredients, but that is half the fun!

3. Jam
I have never attempted to put fruit and sugar into a pan to make jam. And I love jam - whether it is pure on a slice of toasted sour dough, on scones with whipped cream, or partnered with peanut butter on a toasted bagel. Yum! So this year I would like to have a crack at a few different batches. Actually I should get cracking on this considering so much amazingly wonderful fruit is in season (and cheap!).

4. Sour Dough Bread
I have been inspired by quite a few blogs / recipe books of late to attempt making my own sour dough bread. From what I understand this is somewhat akin to rearing a child, and one must feed, burp and talk to the sour dough starter. Some even go so far as to name their growing little prodigy. Perhaps I’ll nickname mine “Little Johnny”.

5. Everything Else
I guess 2006 is going to be a huge cooking year for me. I will be learning many wonderful new things / techniques. I’m leaving number 5 blank for everything that I will learn and hopefully share on this blog.

Sometimes a recipe just grabs you by the apron ties and begs to be baked. A Pistachio Layer Cake with Nougat Cream led me astray this weekend. Oh my.

The method and ingredient list is rather impressive, although I had to tweak a few of the ingredients as to what was at hand. So out went the Amaretto di Saronno and orange / almond extract. And in came Frangelico, orange rind, orange blossom water and some almond essence. But I must say, this is a really spectacularly yummy cake (despite my cheapass substitutes). What a winner.

The cake was super easy. I had the food processor, the mix master and the hand held mixer all going at once. Yolks and sugar were beaten to a pale yellow ribbony consistency, and the whites and sugar aerated to a glossy cloudy puff. The pistachios, shelled, were blitzed to a fine powder with plain flour and baking powder. Then the three mixes were combined together and poured out into a large tray. A quick stint in the oven, and out she came, twice as high and smelling divinely of toasted nuts.

The soaking liquid and nougat cream were easy as. I contemplated throwing in some chunks of leftover glace citron, but couldn’t be stuffed once I remembered how difficult it is to cut the damn stuff.

Anyway, the assembly was purely pleasurable. Four layers of pistachio cake were drenched in a nutty orange soaking liquid, and then pillowed with generous layers of honey nougat cream. Crushed nuts decorated the side (a la continental style), and I even adorned it with a retro piped star cream border. I wonder if I’ll learn about those in culinary school

My apprenticeship starts on the 30th January 2006. I went and purchased all the required duds from Dura-wear…traditional chef checked drawstring pants, white long/short sleeve jackets, white/yellow jacket studs, aprons, profi birkenstocks, skull cap, bakers cap and white/yellow neckerchief (how the heck do I tie it?). At work I can dress up in whites, but at school the required uniform includes yellow jacket studs, yellow neckerchief, bakers hat, short-sleeved jacket and short apron. I got dressed up in the new gear on Saturday, and must admit to feeling a slight thrill as I looked in the mirror. I looked like a true blue dinky-di chef. But I’m sure it won’t take long to dirty those crisp new whites though!

So here I am. 31 years of age. And I’m about to have a huge career change.

After plugging away at local government/health care type work for the last ten years, I have decided I want to do something I am a little more passionate about. And what is that? Well it is cook! So at the end of January 2006 I am commencing a new career as an apprentice patissier (aka. pastry chef). I am super-excited and ready for those 4am starts. Bring it on!

I am thrilled to bits about food. I have always enjoyed every aspect of it. Whether it be sourcing, preparing, cooking, eating or appreciating. If the TV is on, it’s the Lifestyle Food Channel. If I read something it’s a cook book, Gourmet Traveller or Epicure. If I go anywhere at all, my heart skips a beat when I stumble across an artisan producer or a farmers market. And I go absolutely weak at the knees for a killer restaurant experience. It’s a sickness I tell you.

Anyway, the purpose of this blog is to document my experience as a newbie apprentice patissier. And I’m sure it will also overflow into my obsession with and passion for food. There will probably be a few recipes, perhaps some trade tricks and maybe even some restaurant/product experiences. I really don’t need any excuse to talk about food. None at all.

So feel free to post any comments, share recipes, or tell me why sticky cinnamon scrolls are so damn addictive!