Chef's Corner: Pastry Artist

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- A talented pastry chef turns simple ingredients into extraordinary works of art. One of the world’s best shows you how a few ingredients you might already have in your pantry can become a dazzling holiday treat. Recipes follow report!

You could say pastry chef Susan Notter lives the sweet life. She says, “I’ve been to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, all over Europe, Australia, teaching sugar and chocolate work.”

She studied under European pastry masters and chocolatiers and earned gold in the Culinary Olympics. Her secret lies in making desserts that look as good as they taste. “Desserts especially have to be visually appealing so you have to have color, flavor. But you also want to look at something and have it talk to you, and it has to say, ‘Eat me’ basically,” Notter says.

Case and point: Chef Notter’s cranberry nut tart … It requires only seven ingredients and takes minutes to assemble. Mix eggs, corn syrup, and melted butter. Add brown sugar, cranberries and nuts. Notter says you can pour it into a pie crust that has been pre-baked and then bake for 30 minutes.

Now, she says it is time to arrange the presentation. “A good trick to stop ice cream and sorbets from rolling around on the plate is to take some chopped nuts, and just sprinkle them down. Put vanilla ice cream, a little bit of vanilla sauce, you're going to drop just a few cranberries. And everything else with vanilla sauce goes really well so it's nice and tasty."

Chef Notter continues to build on a reputation for sinful creations with an eye for design and a range of recipes for all who crave the sweeter things in life.

She most recently ran a culinary academy, but missed the sweet things in life. That’s why she’s back in the kitchen, and partnering in a pastry shop and a fine dining restaurant.

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If you would like more information, please contact:

Chef Susan Notter
(205) 581-9599
http://www.AMBArestaurant.com 

Chef Susan Notter's Recipes: