by Patti Denton

     [ the inside dish ]

     What's your ideal Valentine's Day sweet treat?

     "A homemade piece of Mud Pie. I love the coffee and chocolate combination."

     Where do you like to eat out? "Mediterrano CafŽ and R Bistro."

     What is your favorite cookbook? "Joy of Cooking. Mom is missing pages

     out of it."

     What is your most important tool in the kitchen? "My senses - hands,

     nose and taste buds. I rely on my taste buds."

     What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? "Running, often with Winston (her standard poodle), and reading."

     What do you least like doing in the kitchen? "Nothing. I love making mistakes in the kitchen, which can lead to a new idea."

     Clare Welage envisions a clear goal in her mind and on her tastebuds each time she starts to make a cookie.

     "Flavor explodes in your mouth," Welage says of her process. "A visual shoots out of your skull."

     Welage's description, like her creativity, results from efforts to break away from conforming to traditional baking rules.

     "That's where the whimsical comes out to me," says Welage, who has been experimenting in the kitchen since the age of 7 - shortly after her parents gave Welage her first cookbook.

     "I don't follow my own recipes - even the ones I've written," Welage says. "I'm so hands-on. Somehow things just work out."

     That philosophy is part of the self-taught pastry chef's can-do attitude. Welage apprenticed with some well-known local pastry experts and later held a pastry position at the now closed Peter's, A Restaurant & Bar.

     Today, Welage is president and pastry chef of The Whimsical Whisk, a family-owned business she started in 2004. Her father, Vince, and her mother, Phyllis, often join her in the commercial kitchen. They lend a hand in cutting out cookies, organizing orders, making deliveries and manning a farmer's market booth at the Indianapolis City Market.

     Welage often credits her current success to her mom's willingness to give a child the run of the kitchen at a young age. She also was inspired by that first cookbook, Easy to Make, Good To Eat, by Martha Olson Condit.

      "Thankfully that allowed me to experiment when I was young," Welage says. "It added a little fuel to my fire."

     Customer favorites

     The Whimsical Whisk finds its sales steadily climbing because of such favorites as the Awesome Colossal cookie, a concoction made with peanut butter, chocolate and oatmeal; the Blackberry Flats, which are filled with blackberry jam, pecans, cinnamon and sugar; and Sugar Ribbons, which are dusted with vanilla sugar.

     Welage keeps her customers happy by constantly sampling her recipes. A baker, she says, needs to have a good sense of taste. She keeps her taste buds busy on the job, often tasting raw dough.

     "What's the point of baking it up if it's going to taste foul?" she asks. "It can be remedied if you catch it."

     While Welage spends hours baking, the Meridian-Kessler resident doesn't do a lot of cooking at home. Meal preparation can be challenging because Welage is a vegetarian and her husband, Andy Aiken, is not. However, the pair do agree on one favorite dish - Aiken's recipe for an African Stew made with butternut squash.

     Welage, who has a degree in English and secondary education, says she sees clearly an educational aspect in her pastry work. She strives to show consumers how much better something can be if it's made from scratch with quality ingredients.

     "It's a lost art, because very few people are doing scratch baking," Welage says.

     With that in mind, she occasionally bakes with her sister's stepdaughter, Lily Stein - passing on her love of the art to the next generation.

     Ideas from the Chef

     If you're using nuts in a recipe, toast them first. "They're crunchier and the flavor is better," Welage says. An oven broiler provides the quickest results. However, be careful to remove the nuts as soon as they begin to turn light brown.

     Always use unsalted butter. Avoid margarine. "It will change the way the end result of your product tastes," Welage says.

     When a product calls for extract, add extra - 4 teaspoons instead of 1 teaspoon. The alcohol in an extract cooks out.

     A Cup of Lemon Tea

     This recipe is similar to a lemon tartlet without the crust. Serve it in a favorite pretty tea cup. You'll need a small blowtorch, pastry bag and the tea cups.

     6 eggs

     1 cup or so granulated sugar

     1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

     4 tablespoons butter

     3 tablespoons lemon zest

     For the meringue:

     3 egg whites

     3/8 cup sugar

     1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

     In a medium to large saucepan, combine eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and butter. Over medium heat, stir until all the ingredients until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a container. Cover with plastic wrap and let mixture completely cool before refrigerating.

     To serve: Spoon lemon curd into your favorite tea cups and begin to prepare the meringue.

     To make meringue: In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Stir constantly until warm to the touch. Immediately remove from heat and turn on mixer on high speed, beating whites until stiff peaks form, approximately 5 minutes. Then spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe on top of the lemon curd. Use a small, handheld blowtorch to brown the meringue. Serve alone or with a piece of shortbread. Makes 4 servings.

     Peanut Butter and Chocolate Drops

     These small bite-size cookies packed with flavor are pastry chef Clare Welage's rendition of the classic peanut butter cookie you made as a kid. It's based on one of the first recipes she acquired growing up. Go for peanut butter that's natural. A brand with hydrogenated oils will alter the taste and texture.

     1/2 cup butter, unsalted and softened

     1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or chunky

     3/4 cup granulated sugar

     1/2 cup brown sugar

     1 egg

     1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

     1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

     1/4 teaspoon salt

     Milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate (of your choice), melted

     Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

     Cream butter and sugars; add egg until blended. Add peanut butter and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 2 to 3 hours. Remove dough from refrigerator and unwrap. Pinch off about 1/4 inch of dough and roll into a ball and slightly flatten on cookie sheet with palm of hand. Bake 9 to 10 minutes until lightly brown around the edge of the cookie. Rotate pan at 4 minutes.

     Cool cookies and dip into milk, semi or melted bittersweet chocolate of choice and top with another cookie to make a small sandwich. Makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies.

     Chocolate Silk Truffles

     Truffles are one of the most sought-after candies to give a special Valentine. Once made, says Clare Welage, the rich truffle mixture may be rolled in a variety of coatings. Roll in cocoa, crushed wafer cookies, crushed chocolate cookies or chopped nuts.

     3/4 cup heavy cream

     4 tablespoons butter, unsalted

     12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or half milk chocolate and half bittersweet)

     2 tablespoons liqueur such as Kahlua, Baileys, Grand Marnier, bourbon or cognac

     Cocoa, crushed wafer cookies or chopped nuts, for rolling truffle

     In a saucepan, heat heavy cream and butter. When cream begins to come to a simmer, pour over chopped chocolate. Stir mixture with a spoon until smooth and lump free. Add favorite liqueur and stir. Cool to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for at least 12 hours. Roll 1/2 to 1 tablespoon truffle into a ball. Roll balls in cocoa, any crushed wafer cookie or chopped nuts, as desired. Makes about 4 dozen truffles.

     Rich Chocolate Caramels

     These caramels were a signature item of Bacchus Chocolates, the former chocolate company Clare Welage started right out of high school.

     1 cup butter, unsalted

     2 1/4 cups sugar

     2 squares unsweetened chocolate

     1/4 teaspoon salt

     1 cup light corn syrup

     1 can (14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk

     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

     1 cup roughly chopped pecans

     Lightly grease a 9- by 9- by 2-inch pan.

     Melt butter in medium size saucepan. Add next five ingredients and stir constantly over medium heat. Clip a candy thermometer on pan and continue stirring until thermometer reads 248 degrees. Remove mixture from heat and add vanilla and pecans. Spread into prepared pan and let cool to room temperature. When cooled, flip pan over so caramel block falls from pan to counter. Cut into 1/2 to 1-inch squares or in rectangles and wrap in waxed paper or dip in melted chocolate and top with a whole pecan. Makes 60 to 70 caramels.

Article appears as published in the IW issue.