Professional Pastry Chef Cristina Nishioka created this Fudge Brownie Baking Kit as way to raise funds for #MakersforMae, which is a fundraiser for the
Society of Women Engineers - Hawaiian Islands. This non-profit organization supports women in Hawaii who aspire to succeed and advance in the field of Engineering by providing training and development programs, networking opportunities, scholarships, and outreach activities. When Cristina announced on Instagram that she was selling these kits, I jumped on it immediately for two reasons. First, when a professional pastry chef creates any kind of baking kit, you know it's going to be good! Secondly, profits were going to a great cause, so I was happy to purchase a kit to support Cristina and the non-profit she was donating the proceeds to.
Each kit came with everything needed to bake the brownies. Ok, almost everything - you needed to provide your own mixing bowl and oven!
But kidding aside, here's what it came with: brand new 8 x 8 baking pan and spatula, parchment paper (pre-cut!), pre-scaled sugar and vanilla bean mix, cocoa mix, organic eggs (3), butter, and sous vide fruit compote and almond crumbles.
Everything was pre-measured, wrapped or bottled, and labeled.
My baking apprentices were equipped with aprons and toques (chef's hats), courtesy of Cristiana!
Instructions were included and easy to follow ... easy enough for 6 year olds!
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| crack the eggs |
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| add the sugar/vaniall bean mix |
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| mix until fluffy and light yellow |
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| add in the cocoa |
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| looks yummy |
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| add to the baking pan (lined with the parchment paper) |
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| bake for an hour and viola! |
After the brownies were done, I plated my brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (not included), almond crumble and fruit compote. The crumble and fruit compote were amazing compliments to the brownie. It turned the brownie into a dessert that you would get at a fine dining restaurant!!
Cristina generously included extra fruit compote, li hing lemon peel gummy bears from @Bearcrack808 (once you eat these, you'll know why they're called bearCRACK), and a package of sea salt & caraway sourdough crackers - these were perfect for snacking on while our brownies were baking.
And just a side note about the almond crumble, while these were included for the brownies, they are actually delicious as a snack - it's like crumbled almond cookies - to-die-for!!!
Our family enjoyed every part of this brownie making experience, from opening the box to devouring the finished product! Follow her on Instagram at
@beyondpastry and
@beyondpastry_studio to see what she's up to!
On a side note, if her name sounds familiar to you, it may be because she won The Cookie Corner's My Cookie Corner Creation Recipe Contest in 2018, with her recipe "Kakimochi Crunch with Chocolate Chip" cookies!
I can say that Cristina is amazing at what she does. I snatched up one of these kits from her and can honestly say these were the best brownies. With the compote and almond crumbles it was that much more delicious! Thanks to Cristina and writing this blog!
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