Happy to finally publish all of the details of our wonderful trip with Mardi from Eat.Live.Travel.Write and La Cuisine Paris!

A culinary adventure in Paris! 23-28th July, 2012

If you like to get your hands dirty in the kitchen experimenting, love exploring specialist food shops and taking historic walking tours, this is the tour for you. Paris is one of the world’s top destinations for gourmands and this tour includes a week of hands-on culinary classes. Working side by side with classically trained French chefs you will learn to make some of the most desirable French treats like macarons, croissants and baguettes. Mornings will be spent in class and in the afternoons you will participate in themed walks and activities, taking in some of the city’s most atmospheric districts and markets. In the evenings you will dine at some of the city’s best-kept gastronomic secrets and have plenty of free time to explore on your own the world-class museums, galleries & wonderful shopping districts.

Group size is limited to 10 people for an intimate experience.

Arrivals in Paris 
You are welcome to arrive a few days early, to explore Paris on your own before your culinary adventure begins. Our tour manager will provide you with a welcome package at your hotel full of information, helpful documents and information for the rest of your week with Le Dolci.  A one-week Paris Metro pass will be included in this package for you to hop on and off the easy to navigate public transportation system. Our tour manager will also be available to answer any questions or recommend places for your first days in Paris.

DAY 1 Monday 23 July

On your first morning with us we welcome you to the culinary school La Cuisine Paris for a breakfast briefing where you will get to know the culinary school that you will call home for the next week. Café au lait and traditional French pastries will be served. We are super pleased to be partners with this fantastic culinary school in the heart of Paris.

After that, we roll up our sleeves, put on our baking hats and start the week making the much loved pain au chocolat and the buttery, flaky pastry named for its distinctive crescent shape; the croissant. After class, you can enjoy your buttery creations during a lunch break along the Seine River, located opposite the school.

In the afternoon we’ll take in a “Sweet Tour” discovering delicious, hidden treasures of St Germain.  You’ll discover elegant pastries, silky, full-bodied chocolates and even the delights of a tiny, quaint “viennoiserie,” home to amazing Alsatian strudel.

A welcome dinner will be arranged where the group will get to know each other better and talk about the day’s kitchen adventures and tastings over vin rouge and traditional French fare.

DAY 2 Tuesday 24 July

This morning, we’ll head off on a macaron tour of Paris visiting some of the world-renowned macaron houses like Laduree and Hermé. This research and taste testing is all in preparation for an afternoon of making your own macarons back at La Cuisine Paris.

Your evening is free to explore Paris’s wine bars, bistros and restaurants at your leisure. Recommendations provided on request.

DAY 4 Wednesday 25 July

Learn how to make some of France’s most famous desserts. You will discover (and master) the art of the French chocolate desserts and also learn the technique of the ‘Choux’ pastry, which is the base for many famous desserts such as éclairs, profiteroles, and more!

Free afternoon to explore the city.

In the evening, there is an optional Wine Tasting Dinner (100€). Enjoy a gourmet three-course meal, paired with four outstanding French wines, one Champagne and a digestif.   Your sommelier will build up and refine your wine knowledge, teaching you how to taste wine properly, navigate a wine list, and how to choose wine at a restaurant. He will also expertly guide us through the main wine regions of France, explain how to read a French label, and how to pair wine with food.  An informative, fun and delicious evening you won’t want to miss.

DAY 5 Thursday 26 July

Spend the morning with a chef from La Cuisine Paris touring one of the oldest markets in Paris, the Marché Maubert! Learn how to pick the best products and compose your luncheon menu with our chef. After our market visit we take a pleasant walk through the Île Saint Louis and return to La Cuisine where you will have a hands-on cooking class and work with the chef to create a gourmet lunch using your fresh market products. There is no set menu in this class; it is up to the group and the chef to be creative and choose their menu based on the fresh fish, meats and produce that they find at the market! After preparing your fabulous French meal, we enjoy it as a group with some wine. This is a four-hour session of market tour and eating so you have the afternoon free to walk off the calories or laze by the Seine in preparation for the evening’s optional activity.

In the early evening, there is an optional Champagne cruise on the Seine (45€).  During the cruise you’ll taste three different Champagnes: Brut, Demi-sec and Rosé – served by a sommelier who is there to answer all your questions about Champagne… or Paris!

Evening is free.

DAY 6 Friday 27 July

In our last class of the week, we learn the secrets of the French baguette and breads. You will learn to knead and work your bread by hand; all breads will be baked fresh and can be taken from the oven to your hotel room, if they make it that far!

In the afternoon, there will be an optional bike tour (30€) for those wishing to see more of Paris and burn some of the calories we’ve consumed this week! Or take this opportunity to do some last minute shopping.

On our final evening, we have a final Farewell Celebration Dinner where we eat splendid food and toast the end of a fabulous foodie week.

Tour price:

• SPECIAL EARLY BIRD PRICE – $1,300 CDN until 15 May, 2012
• After 15 May: $1,500 CDN
• Payment via Paypal, cheque or e-transfer
• 50% non-refundable deposit to secure your space
• To register your interest please contact lisa@ledolci.com to reserve your space.

Your hosts:

Mardi & Lisa

Mardi Michels is a full-time teacher of French at the elementary level at an all-boys’ school in Toronto. She lived and worked in Paris for over 5 years and speaks fluent French.  Mardi, our macaron class teacher here at Le Dolci, writes the blog eat. live. travel. write. where she chronicles her culinary adventures near and far and is a contributor to Food Network Canada.  Mardi will be escorting the group for this inaugural tour and cannot wait to share the Paris she loves with you. All photos on this page taken by Mardi www.eatlivetravelwrite.com

Lisa Sanguedolce is a passionate foodie and the owner of Le Dolci in Toronto. She spent the last ten years working and living in her favorite city London, England and in that time traveled the world experiencing the cultures and foods of many fabulous places. She loves to travel, eat and share and has met the most wonderful food producers, suppliers, farmers and wants to introduce you to this inspirational bunch. Le Dolci’s foodie trips will show you some of her favourite hidden gems in the world; her favourite cities are London, NYC, Singapore, Madrid, Florence, Palermo and Paris! (Stay tuned for trips in some of these cities in the future).

Our Hotel Partner
Participants are welcome to book their own accommodation, however, we encourage you to check out our lovely hotel partner and the deal we have secured at this charming hotel.

The Hotel du Jeu de Paume is a delightful four-star hotel on the Île St Louis within walking distance to some of the most famous areas of Paris like le Marais and le Quartier Latin and just a quick stroll along the Seine from our home base of La Cuisine Paris. As its name suggests, the hotel is housed in a renovated former Royal tennis court, built under Louis XIII, at the beginning of the 17th century.  All rooms are elegantly decorated and equipped with a full bathroom, minibar, TV, phones, and free wifi access.

We have secured a block of rooms at a special rate, which will be held for us until May 15th.

• 4 single rooms at €153/night
• 4 double “standard” rooms at €234/ night
• 2 double “superior” rooms at €261/ night

Please contact Mardi at mardi @ eatlivetravelwrite.com for instructions on how to book your hotel room

Included in tour price:

• All classes and tours unless otherwise stated
• All meals and drinks in group dinners
• One week Paris Metro pass
• On call staff to answer any questions before or during trip.

Not included:

• Flights or accommodation
• Meals, drinks, transportation outside of tour’s itinerary

Other:

• Deposit is non-refundable; therefore we strongly suggest the purchase of travel & cancellation insurance.
• Deposit to be paid to secure a booking, remainder to be paid by 23^rd May, 2012 via cheque, etransfer or Paypal to Le Dolci Ltd.

We love surfing the web for the latest trends in cupcakes and cake decorating using our favourite trend website: Trendhunter.com Today we stubbled across fab cupcake jewelry trends and found this particular “Who Ate My Cupcakes” necklace made by Shimrita! Small and sweet, this lovely little necklace has everything you’ll need – an adorable golden cupcake pan, with matching measuring spoons, piping bag and pink mixer! The “Who Ate My Cupcakes” necklace is available on Etsy.com – It’s so cute we’re thinking of getting one for each of our lovely Le Dolci Ladies!

But if real deal kitchen accessories is more of what you are looking for take a peak at our online store to stock up on piping bags, cupcake liners and food coloring for all of your baking needs! Shop.ledolci.com 

Le Dolci is happy to provide you with fun and exciting ways to celebrate your next Bat Mizvah!

For the special day, we offer a variety of experiences including introduction to cupcake decorating workshops, an Iron Cupcake Challenge and the Creative Cupcake Buffet!

• The Introduction to Cupcake Decorating Workshop follows our standard format, which involves working with our fresh buttercream icing and sugary fondant to create individually designed cupcakes for you to enjoy with your family and friends! Guests will work with an experienced teacher and learn the basics in icing and fondant design.
• The Iron Cupcake Challenge is designed for larger parties and allows guests the ability to participate in fast paced timed challenges at different stations, where they have fun trying different cupcake decorating techniques.
  
• The Creative Cupcake Buffet experience includes cupcakes laid out on cupcake towers and trays. Assisted by the Le Dolci staff, guests will have the chance to make their own cupcake works of art using a variety of toppings and buttercream icing.

We can accommodate small or large groups and bring the Le Dolci experience to your home or venue! Mazel Tov!

For a fun, creative and interactive experience contact Le Dolci at info@ledolci.com today!

Et voila! More information regarding our July  Foodie Trip to Paris! Our partner hotel is The Hotel du Jeu de Paume situated in the romantic Latin Quarter.

Guests who join us on our trip can stay in any accommodation they wish. The city has hundreds of options; from the Hotel Intercontinental to quaint B&Bs or even renting an apartment for the week living like a local, for those wishing to take the guess work out of finding accommodation we have organised a partnership with a local hotel as an option for some of our guests who want to take the guess work out of finding and booking a place to stay.

More about our partner hotel:

• The Hotel du Jeu de Paume is a charming four star hotel on the Île St Louis within walking distance to some of the most famous areas of Paris like le Marais and le Quartier Latin and just a quick stroll along the Seine from our home base of La Cuisine Paris.

• As its name suggests, the hotel is housed in a renovated former Royal tennis court, built under Louis XIII, at the beginning of the 17th century.  Offering 27 rooms 27 rooms and 3 suites, all of which are elegantly decorated and equipped with a full bathroom, minibar, flat screen LED TV, phones, and free WiFi access, the Jeu de Paume is a comfortable base for your week exploring Paris.

We have secured a block of rooms at a special rate which will be held for us until May 15th.

• 4 single rooms at €153/night
• 4 double “standard” rooms at €234/ night
• 2 double “superior” rooms at €261/ night

Find out more about this lovely hotel on their website (http://jeudepaumehotel.com/ile-saint-louis/)

The Atmosphere in the Latin Quarter!

The hotel terrace

Interior shots of the hotel.

Hotel restaurant!

A culinary adventure in Paris!

If you like to get your hands dirty experimenting in the kitchen, love exploring specialist food shops and taking in historic walking tours, then this is the tour for you. Paris is one of the world’s fabled destinations for gourmands! This tour includes a week of hands-on culinary classes, working side by side with classically trained French chefs you will learn to make some of the most desirable French treats like macarons, croissants, and baguettes. After you have mastered the art of French baking you will participate in themed walks and activities, taking in some of the city’s most atmospheric districts and markets and dine at some of the city’s best kept gastronomic secrets.

Group size is limited to 10 people for an intimate experience. There is also plenty of free time scheduled for visits to world-class museums, galleries and to savour some of the wonderful shopping, restaurants and brasseries that the city has to offer.

For gourmet food, there can be no other country in the world quite like France, and Paris, of course, is the capital of it all. There is so much to see and do, you will leave Paris with sore feet, but having had a taste, you will want to come back for more. It is everything you imagine it to be, romantic, inspiring, vibrant even outrageous, but best of all Paris is simply unique.

We’d love to send out a special Valentine’s Day shout out to all of our fantastic fans and followers! This week the Le Dolci studio has been filled with love, laughter and lots of fondant and candy hearts! Whether you are spending today with your special someone or getting together with the friends you love the most, have a Happy Valentine’s Day from the team at Le Dolci!

To celebrate, here are some of our favourite cupcake and cake-pop creations from this weekend! Feel free to send in your own Valentine’s Day creations and tell us what you love the most!

  ♥ ♥ ♥  WE LOVE OUR STUDENTS!   ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Here at Le Dolci it’s no secret that we LOVE cotton candy! So when we heard about the Cotton Candy Martini being served up in Liverpool, England our hearts skipped a beat! This particularly tasty beverage comes from Indigo Hotel, a famous hotel in Liverpool best know for their cotton themed decor.  Playing on a little bit of the town’s history, the hotel features light fixtures in the shape of cotton-balls, cotton artwork and you guessed it cotton-themed delicacies!

So if you are in the mood for something extra sweet try making your very own Cotton Candy Martini!

Your sweet tooth will thank you!

Cotton Candy Martini Recipe

Tom, the mixologist at the Hotel Indigo helped create the drink. Here’s the recipe:

Start with a Boston shaker glass & add

• 50 ml, 1.5 oz of vodka
• 25 ml, .75 oz of Black Raspberry Liquor
• Splash of Grenadine
• Couple of squeezes of fresh lime juice.

Get a martini glass and put the cotton candy in it. (He made the cotton candy fresh-we luv!)

Fill your Boston Glass with Ice and give it a good shake.

Strain the mixture over the cotton candy which will melt the sugar.

Top it off with Prosecco

and ENJOY!

CHEERS from Le Dolci.

Gucci, Chanel, LV, Tiffany & you – Designer Cupcake Class!  Designer Cupcakes is for those who LOVE their brands. Fashionistas have flocked from NYC and Paris for this class where we create deliciously designer toppers to adorn a sinfully calorific cupcake. In this hands on fashion class, students use cupcakes as a canvas and fondant to create handbags and clutches from top fashion houses like Gucci, Prada, Hermes and a few pieces of jewelry from the classic Tiffany collection.

Bring your bling and get ready for some designer cupcake making fun!

If you’re too busy on the catwalk we also deliver pre-made orders backstage for all fashionistas to share with their Hermes toting friends.

When: March 16th, 6-8pm

 Where: Toronto’s Fun, Foodie Studio in the heart of the old garment district – King & Bathurst

On February 18^th The Harbourfront Centre – Canada’s leading centre for contemporary culture will be hosting its 2012 World Stage launch party presented by The Power Plant. This year’s launch party will be following the opening performance of Everything Under the Moon, which is said to be a “moving, absurd and heroic adventure” created by two talented Canadians, Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows. Everything Under the Moon will run from February 18^th-23^rd, ticket prices start at $10 for this 50 minute show and we hear it will be one not to be missed.

Join Le Dolci as we celebrate this fabulous launch with our friends at The Harbourfront Centre—a special cupcake buffet will be unveiled for all you sweet lovers out there to experiment on your own mini, edible canvas!

For more information or to buy tickets visit the Harbourfront Centre website

A big hello to all the fit, fabulous ladies turning 40 this year!  Let’s face it, we all know it’s true, our fabulous over forty ladies are actually superheroes! Mothers, business women, wives and the best friends you’ll ever find – there’s no doubt that these ladies love to go out and explore what Toronto has to offer!

Here at Le Dolci we love hosting your ladies’ night, so get out of the house and come down to the Le Dolci Studio for some much needed fun with your closest girlfriends! We offer iron cupcake challenges, introduction to cupcake decorating, cake-pops, Parisian macaron and mini-cake decorating classes! Each class offers a fun, interactive experience for you and your closest friends, so round up the girls for some buttercream fun.

Our most popular class, introduction to cupcakes, lets you work with our fluffy vanilla cupcakes,  gives you the chance to play with fondant and  introduces you to the basics of piping deigns using our fresh buttercream icing. Best of all, when the night is over you have 12 of your ever own perfectly decorated and delicious cupcakes to take home to your family!

For a perfect ladies’ night bring your closest friends to Le Dolci or celebrate your Fit, Fabulous and 40th Birthday with us!

In the meantime, check out our friends at Fortylicious.ca, where the 40s come to play. @fortyliciousCa

http://www.ledolci.com/class-schedule/