Master Class with Master Chef Australia 2011 ~ Kate Bracks | Whitefield Baking Company | Marriott Bengaluru

Master Class with Master Chef Australia 2011 ~ Kate Bracks | Whitefield Baking Company | Marriott Bengaluru

“Cooking is a creative art” as per Kate Bracks. Kate Bracks visit to Bengaluru, was hosted by Marriott Bengaluru Whitefield . Kate was here for the launch of Marriott’s newly launched specialty bakery - The Whitefield Baking Company. It was an awesome experience to be part of such a master class and the delight factor was doubled because I was lucky to attend the same along with my daughter. My daughter is a very big fan of Kate Bracks and has not missed watching even a single episode of her masterchef season 3.

A smiling energetic ~ Kate Bracks addressing us!

My daughter was so much excited to see Kate and listen to all that she shared for good two and a half hours. For my daughter it was like a dream come true. I felt extremely happy to see the glow in my daughter’s eyes , great sense of satisfaction for a mother when she sees her children happy.

The “Dessert Queen” or the “Dessert Specialist” as she is known seem to be generous and homely. She started the master class session with so much positivity. It was over all an interactive session with so much sharing and learnings from the master chef. We were lucky to have learnt three of her favorite desserts which she prepared and demonstrated to us with so much of patience.

It was impossible to click Kate in a single standing still pose , she kept moving and was so involved in addressing the audience. Such an energetic person I must say, always smiling. She loves berries and enjoys going in for berry picking with her kids in her farms at Orange. Her favorite ingredient is Chocolate. She spoke to us about her 3 kids and her understanding supportive husband. Also not to miss her Nana’s recipes that she learnt when she was 8 years of age.

While she was doing the demonstration of the raspberry muffins, she spoke about her love for baking and desserts. It comes to her so naturally. As per Kate the balance between Sweet, Savory and Salt is a must, and the texture needs to be creamy and crunchy only if there is a right balance of all the 3 S’s (Sweet, Savory, Salt), the texture will be perfect for any kind of Dessert.

She highly recommends Oven over Microwave for baking and her must have is the Kitchen Aid mixer, as it gives her the liberty to do multiple things at the same time by just “bunging in the ingredients into the kitchen aid ”!

She also introduced the outlet WBC to us during her session and was all praises about the food being served at the Marriott. She mentioned a couple of her favorite dishes from the hotel one being butter chicken .

The Chocolate Terrine with Spiced Praline

One of Kate’s favourite is The Chocolate Terrine with Spiced Praline. She loves the unusual combination of spice, chocolate and mandarin. Kate demonstrated to us this The Chocolate Terrine during the session.

Retro Coffee Cakes

Kate demonstrated to us this Retro Coffee Cake also. I loved the flavors of Espresso Coffee in it however my daughter found it little too sweet. The garnishing with blanched almonds made the cake look more richer. The butter cream tips which she shared are really helpful for future baking .

Chocolate Hazelnut & Raspberry muffins

Another favorite one of her which she demonstrated during the session The Chocolate Hazelnut and raspberry muffins, loved the richness in the muffins and the flavors of chocolate with hazelnut meal and raspberry puree. She used Hazelnut oil in the muffins but suggested us that we can use any other vegetable oil too if hazelnut oil is unavailable in India. The Muffins looked like small sweet light cakes.

The way Kate showed making of these Muffins, it looked so easy and hassle free . In fact while sharing her journey towards Master chef and her love for berries, she was done with the lining of the muffins also ( of course with the help of a little lucky girls from the audience ). Baking seems to come to her so naturally.

The Sweet Life - The Basics And Beyond ~ Book by Kate Bracks

Kate also spoke about her book - The Sweet Life - The Basics And Beyond. This book will soon be available in India and also you can buy it from WBC. She has kept the recipes simple to understand for everyone. The book moves from the basic to little advance level baking recipes. The measurements in her book are in cups, spoons and also in grams to avoid any confusion. She also has a reference section in her book for recipes that are gluten, dairy or egg free. To know more about Kate and her book, you can check out her website here.

Marriott was a wonderful host with the entire staff over welcoming. I really loved the ambiance of the hotel and specially the speciality bakery - WBC. My daughter loved their chocolate chip muffins and the colorful delicious Macrons. Got some useful tips from the Hotel chef as well during the session along with Kate. To know more about WBC, you can check here.

Overall a wonderful afternoon, learnt three favorite dessert recipes straight from the Master Chef and much more . We really had a great learning session and enjoyed it to the core. Loved the hotel hospitality too. Here is wishing Whitefield Baking Company good luck too, we will surely come back for some great bakes !!!

PS: This is not a paid review, views expressed in the above post are all mine as per my experience during the visit at The Marriott for the Master Chef’s Master Class Session. This one is specially for my Daughter !