PreGel 5-Star Pastry Series® – All Things Chocolate: Bean to Dessert with Chef Michael Laiskonis

In the ten-year history of PreGel’s 5-Star Pastry Series®^®, Chef Michael Laiskonis is the sole chef, out of an impressive roster, who has graced PreGel’s International Training Centers – NC almost annually, and for good reason. With credits to his name such as: appearing on “Food Network Challenge” and “Iron Chef America: The Series”; eight-year tenure as executive pastry chef at Michelin star restaurant Le Bernadin in New York City; named as one of America’s Top Ten Chefs by Pastry Art & Design twice; Bon Appetits Pastry Chef of the Year; earning the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef; writing for countless blogs and publications such as Saveur, Gourmet, and The Atlantic; becoming the first-ever creative director for the Institute of Culinary Education, New York, leading the helm of ICEs on-campus bean-to-bar chocolate lab, and now running an evening dessert bar in New York City, Chef Laiskonis is truly a chef with a passion for the art of culinary creation.

As a devout student and teacher of chocolate, and eight-time 5-Star Chef, Michael Laiskonis says, “one of the things I’m trying to do in these classes, in particular, is to show pastry chefs how chocolate is made to better understand how to use the finished product, and really understand the complexity and the variability in what makes each chocolate different from another.” With the knowledge Chef Laiskonis has cultivated on this topic, students can be excited to learn about:

• The science behind chocolate, cocoa butter, tempering, and knowledge relevant to working with chocolate in every day applications
• The bean to bar process, resulting in small batch chocolate production that the class can taste, analyze, and utilize in chocolate desserts
• A variety of techniques applicable to using chocolate in many facets of the pastry industry
• Skills to produce and decorate a variety of dessert items and create an upscale chocolate dessert presentation

* For the price of this class, you will receive a customized class recipe book featuring original recipes by Chef Michael Laiskonis; 3-night hotel accommodations; transportation to and from hotel lodging facilities; daily lunch provided by PreGel; professionally taken photographs of the entire class experience; a PreGel certificate of completion; and 24 Continuing Education Hours certified by the American Culinary Federation. To maintain an intimate learning environment, class sizes are no larger than 20 students max.

Length of Class: 3 days

Class cost:  $995 per person
3 nights hotel accommodations are included in the cost of the class

Cancellation Policy:
Cancel less than 30 days before the class start date: no refund
Cancel 30-60 days before the class start date: 50% refund
Cancel more than 60 days before the class start date: full refund

Register