Things have been going very well lately. Bright blue skies, cool breezes, and a warm sun have thawed out ol' Paris from the dark, frigid, depressing winter. Spring is in the air, my friends! Hooray! Nice weather just makes life easier.
I graduated from Intermediate last week, had a quick vacation with Mom, then jumped right into Superior yesterday. MUCH more to come on all of that later!
As I was searching through the 6,500 pictures on my computer trying to sort out where I should begin with the updates, I realized that I hadn't mentioned anything about pastry in quite a while. Intermediate pastry has focused a great deal on chocolate, mousses, and creams, which as I have learned over the past 3 months, can be pretty tricky...
The first cake is called, well, Opera, as the writing on the top indicates. It is basically a tiramisu - French style -- with several tiny layers of sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, chocolate ganache, and coffee butter cream. Does it get any better than that? Unlike tiramisu, however, it is so incredibly rich that even a chocoholic like myself could only handle a few bites in one sitting. You can still find them in pastry shops around Paris, but they are often displayed as only individual portions rather than whole cakes.
We had to write Opera on the top of the cake in chocolate. A LOT harder than it looks, folks. This was just practice, though, because that was actually the technical portion of our final exam. As always, more to come on that later.
Next up, we have a Three Chocolate Bavarian Cream cake.
It wasn't too difficult, although a blind person could have done a better job with the amoeba thing on top. I tried to channel my inner Picasso, but it just didn't really work out. The entire thing was also practically liquid when I was finished because the gelatin did not have a chance to freeze and set properly in the Bavarian cream. This cake made it as far as the trash can.
We spent a few lessons on tempering milk and dark chocolate to prime us for the wonderful world of chocolate that we will face in Superior. Great! (Insert sarcastic tone here)
In order to work with and mold chocolate, you must run it through a particular temperature curve so that it is in it's liquid form, the molecules are heated to de-crystallize, then cooled to recrystallize, then re-heated, then harden to become the beautifully shiny, brittle chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand. Got it? Yeah, neither do I. Superior will be fun!
This is what the milk chocolate should have looked like after we ran it through the temperature curve...
Gorgeous, right?? I didn't even take a picture of mine. My first catastrophe (pronounced the French way...think: cat-a-stroff) of the session. Literally. That's what the chef said to me. At least it was with a smile on his face...so he was laughing with me...or at me.
Fortunately, I was able to redeem myself with the dark chocolate. I vowed not to let it get the best of me AGAIN, and I prevailed! We ended up having the same chef that we had for milk chocolate, so I was able to show him that I wasn't a complete failure in the kitchen. He kept telling me it must have been a fluke that they turned out so well (with a smile on his face), but then he gave me lots of très biens, so it all worked out in the end.
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| Voilà! |
We had to temper more milk chocolate (my arch nemesis) in the next cake, appropriately named Heavenly Chocolate.
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| SO DELICIOUS! |
The chocolate part actually turned out well. Disregard the crazy piping job on top. How hard is it to pipe a straight line?! Apparently pretty difficult!
This cake is called Plaisir (or pleasure in English). I don't really remember too much about it except that I think it sat in my freezer for a week or so until I threw it away. It was also one of the choices on the exam, and I am really glad that I didn't get it.
For some reason we spent a lesson on savory petits fours. I'm not sure why, but here they are!
Meet my second arch nemesis: Wild Strawberry and Vanilla Treasure. Look at all of the pretty Treasures that the chef made in demo.
If he can make 8 cakes in 2.5 hours, then I could at least make one, right? Wrong! It was a disaster!
Things that went awry with my Treasure:
1. The vanilla Chiboust cream was literally liquid as I was trying to spread it on the cake. In case you were wondering, the last thing you want is for it to be liquid. It should be thick and fairly firm. In fact, it was so liquid that when I had to flame it and then put the glaze on, it was literally sliding down the dome in the center. If you look at the edges closely, you can see the pools of cream.
2. While I was browning the cream with the torch, I set my cake on fire...as illustrated with the appetizing, charred goodness on the rim.
3. I. SET.MY.CAKE.ON.FIRE! I feel like that deserves more recognition. There were literally flames that I had to blow out. I can't even make this stuff up.
Fortunately the chef was really nice and understanding and told me that typically Chiboust cream is made with an Italian meringue which is much stiffer than a French meringue (which we used), so he could see why it turned out the way it did. As for the flames? Well, he had no excuse for that.
The next cake went much smoother. It was a chestnut mousse cake, and we got to play with a chocolate gun!
I loved the cake below because it combined practically everything we have learned thus far. We had to make three different types of cakes, passion fruit cream, raspberry mousse, and a raspberry glaze. It was a lot of fun to make it and then piece everything together!
Next, we made a walnut cake, which was pretty simple (walnuts plus caramel), but SO GOOD! I think I ate the entire thing...
The chef didn't appreciate the caramel designs or the glaze on the top. My artistic ability strikes again.
We spent the next two lessons on the epitome of French cakes: Croquembouche. I remember when I was in Basic and seeing the masterpieces that the Intermediate pastry students made and I couldn't WAIT to try it! These cakes are very traditional and often served at French weddings and other formal functions.
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| This is what the chef threw together during demo. Ours wasn't quite as elaborate. |
There was no way I was going to be able to walk home with this beast, so I left it downstairs for the hoards of hungry students. After I changed and got ready to leave, I noticed my Croquembouche wasn't sitting on the table with all of the others. I was a little confused until I turned around and saw a girl taking the whole thing home! I felt quite flattered that out of all of the cakes on the table, she chose mine! I hope it tasted okay...
I had been waiting for the last practical of Intermediate since I got the schedule at the beginning of the session. Why, you ask? Because it was BAGUETTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was heavenly! As soon as they came out of the oven, someone in class pulled out a packet of butter and we all stood around eating our fresh, hot, incredible baguettes!
The last demo of the session is a chance for us to sit back, relax, and enjoy what the chef makes since our last practical is the final exam. To end Intermediate pastry, the chef made a dessert called a Praline Millefeuille, and let me tell you, it was absolutely incredible.
Millefeuille literally means a thousand sheets, and this was many layers of puff pastry, chocolate praline crisp, and mousseline praline cream. It was really messy to eat, but TOTALLY worth every bite.
So there you have it! Intermediate pastry is officially over. Well, until the final, that is...but more to come on that later.
- a tout à l’heure!
Ok so the baguette is the first thing I want you to teach me how to make when you get back to the States!! All your cakes look beautiful!
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