Mara Jernigan

4 medium eggs

4 tablespoons flour

For the pudding:

1 cup blueberries, washed

1 cup hulled and quartered strawberries

1 cup raspberries

sweetened whipped cream

In the work bowl of a mixer, combine the sugar and eggs and whisk over a pot of simmering water until the egg and sugar mixture is warm and foamy. Transfer to the mixer and turn on high speed until the mixture is pale in colour, about triple in volume, and holds a stiff peak.

Remove from the mixer and sift the flour over the mixture in three additions, folding with a rubber spatula after each addition. Be careful not to over-mix or leave lumps of flour.

Pour cake mixture into the springform pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the centre springs back. Remove the cake from the oven, allow to sit for 5 minutes and then remove it from the pan and transfer upside down to a cooling rack.

For the berries:

Combine the sugar and water in a wide saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the black currants, red currants, and blueberries and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the hot mixture over the strawberries and allow to sit and cool. When the mixture is room temperature, add the raspberries.

Assembling the pudding:

Wash the springform pan and line with plastic wrap for easy removal of the pudding. (Aluminum could impart a metallic flavour if the berry juices come into direct contact with the metal.)

Slice the sponge through the centre into three rounds of equal thickness. Place the first round of sponge on the bottom of the springform. Ladle in one third of the juicy berry mixture and press down firmly with the back of the ladle. Continue the next two layers in the same fashion, making sure the top layer of berries is evenly and abundantly distributed as this will be the top of the pudding. (If you use an old fashioned pudding mold, you want to make sure berries are on the bottom as you will invert the pudding.)

Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and weight the pudding with a side plate. Place in the refrigerator and chill at least 6 hours, or preferably, overnight.

To serve, slice with a serrated knife and serve with sweetened whipped cream.

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Culinary Bootcamps with Chef Mara Jernigan

12:00pm Tuesday, May 17th – 12:00pm Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Note: This program runs again in September
instructor: Chef Mara Jernigan
cost: $1995 + HST (meals and lodging included)

Created in 2007 and listed as one of the world’s 45 Top Culinary Getaways in Gourmet magazine, Chef Mara Jernigan’s Culinary Boot Camp is a five-day intensive, hands-on, field to table cooking program.

You will learn:

• Knife skills
• Soups and stock making
• Hand made pasta
• Basic butchery techniques
• Sauces
• Baking
• Plate presentation
• Preserving techniques and much more

Mara is more excited than ever to create menus inspired by the bounty of the beautiful fields and gardens at Foxglove Farm, where fruit and vegetable varieties have been selected and grown for ultimate flavour, lovingly cared for and nourished by healthy soil. Knives, aprons and over 25 printed recipes are all provided. During the five days, participants will have the opportunity to help with the harvest, take field trips to visit local wineries, cheese makers, and the famous Salt Spring Farmers Market.

We will also learn to forage for wild foods, prepare local seafood, and bake in the new wood burning brick oven at the farm. While the course is intensive, it is suitable for all skill levels from beginner to seasoned cook. Meals are usually served family style, and although we will prepare some meat, poultry, and fish, there will be options for vegetarians. Breakfast will be prepared for you, but you will be involved in the preparation of all other meals, including a grand buffet dinner for producers on our final evening together. You’ll have time each afternoon to relax on the farm or explore on your own.

The bootcamp starts at noon on Tuesday and finishes before noon on Sunday to allow travel time to and from Salt Spring Island.

Visit Foxglove Farm and Register for Culinary Bootcamp – May 2011

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Last month, while visiting  Florence Italy with my son Julian, I was awoken in the middle of the night by a call from my ex husband in Canada who said he just had to tell me something! Before I even had a chance to imagine bad news, he blurted out that a friend and former colleague of mine, Kurt Ebert and his partner Claude Blanchette had just won 50 million dollars in the lottery! What an incredible surprise! In the following days I downloaded the news footage of the press conference where Kurt and Claude calmly and quietly told their story and picked up their cheque.  http://video.yahoo.com/watch/8513036/22801571

But as I googled his name to find the footage, I was sad to see that there was virtually nothing on line about Kurt’s brilliant career, so I felt compelled to say a few words about a man who was absolutely the best pastry chef I have ever had the pleasure to work with.

Kurt is German and old school. He was apprenticed to Sprüngli pastry shop in Zurich as a young teen and has had a career that has included pastry chef at the Vancouver Four Seasons, the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans and many other fine establishments around the world. I met him in 1994 when we both taught at the (then) Dubrulle French Culinary School. He had  his own pastry kitchen downstairs and an office across the hall from mine and I took a liking to him right away. Highly opinionated, discerning and incredibly creative, I found myself drawn into his warm, sweet smelling pastry kitchen where we would speak German together and he would always get on a rant about something and get me laughing. He could be a little outrageous with his students but he took them all under his wing for the 17 week course and truly transformed even the most clumsy, awkward student into a competent apprentice with a solid knowledge of pastry fundamentals and all the components that are so necessary to the workings of a pastry shop.

One of the most amazing examples of his skill as a teacher was his method of teaching pastry students how to pipe fine filigree work around  borders and writing salutations on cakes. He did this by giving the students a cardboard disc and piping chocolate each Friday afternoon and having them carefully pipe a message with a decorative border. From St. Patrick’s Day to Easter and Christmas, the students would pipe their best and if it was better then the last week’s practice they could put their disc up on the wall. If it was not better, they had to wait until the next week to try again. The improvement in the students work was absolutely miraculous and I am sure today many of Vancouver’s best wedding cakes are created by former students of Kurt.

A young Julian watching Kurt pipe during a class at Engeler Farm

My son Julian also knew Kurt and Claude, they even babysat him in Vancouver. When he came to Engeler Farm to teach a pastry class Julian, sweet tooth that he is, was mesmerized by his pastry skills. This year, on Julian’s 19th birthday, we planned a special trip to Vancouver to eat at Tojo’s, and Julian asked if we could go see Kurt at Boulangerie Cho Pain where he was working. We had a great visit.  As usual, Kurt was enthusiastically working his craft, but later when we went out for cocktails after work he confessed to me what a difficult few years he and Claude had had financially. They had sold a beautiful Vancouver home they owned for years to move to Squamish and open a pastry shop. It had not worked out and they had to return to the city, rent an apartment and start again. With the high prices in Vancouver it had not been an easy comeback. He told me that their fridge had broken down the previous month and they could not afford to replace it, but, survivor that he is Kurt cheerfully said it did not bother him, he had no problem stopping to pick up ingredients for dinner every day!

So when I heard that Kurt and Claude won the lottery, I really could not believe their reversal of fortune and I am so very happy for them but I honestly have to say this pastry chef was already worth his weight in gold! Here’s to you, Kurt and Claude!

PS I have several of Kurt’s beautiful handwritten recipes and will publish one here before Christmas.

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