Eggbeater

She now lives in London. Let’s get her back here to teach!

I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon learning the tricks of seasonal fruit desserts at the elbow of Shuna Fish Lydon (who also writes the award-​winning «eggbeater» blog).
Shuna’s enthusiasm for this subject matter is infectious, and the class style is so intimate and inclusive that — even if you choose a topic that’s all demonstration, as I did — Shuna shows you all the tricks and gives everyone enough hands-​on time with the ingredients along the way that you’re ready to fly solo in your own kitchen.
Even if you think you know it all, you’re sure to find some hidden gems. One example: I make fruit crumbles almost weekly once summer strikes, but I learned a great trick for keeping the oven clean from bubble-​over messes and discovered a new secret ingredient to add to my topping.

I took Shuna’s Baking with Fruit class last week, and it was amazing! Definitely defied expectations. Shuna is a very experienced pastry chef who has worked at many fine places like Citizen Cake, The French Laundry, and Gramercy Tavern in NYC. This woman clearly loves to teach and share what she has learned with her students. As a result of taking her class, I feel like my understanding of baking grew exponentially, and my confidence grew. I love how available she is to her students both during the class and after, being willing to answer questions at any time. And that we got to eat all the things we learned about (cornmeal cake with rhubarb, pavlova with strawberries, lemon verbena/​meyer lemon ice cream, roasted strawberries, poached rhubarb with cream, stawberry rhubarb crisp, and bonus pannacotta…)
Two things to know about her classes:
They are not for absolute beginner cooks/​bakers, at least this one wasn’t. I had not taking a baking class before, but have baked quite a bit, and was already familiar with most of the techniques used. She went into great detail about the techniques and ingredients, but not in a «this is how you do it» the first time way, more of a she assumes that you have the basic concept and this is how she has found to get it to the magical oh my god this is amazing level!
The other is that if you want a very linear step by step formula, this class is not for you. I loved the fact that she would go on tangents and we would learn the chemistry of a particular technique, or hear about how it’s done when in the French Laundry kitchen, I learned so so much from those little sideways journeys, but for those «just the facts» types you might get a little frustrated.
That being said, it was a fabulous experience for me, and if I had the money and the time, I would be at every Sunday class, enjoying the orgy of the efforts after wards!