This was truly a bittersweet week. This week I had my last final practical, essentially my last time cooking at the Art Institute. We have one more week of class, but the cooking is done. For the final we made the Special Macaroon with a crème brulee insert and Lemon Raspberry Tart with a Coconut Shortbread crust topped with Italian Meringue. We also made a melted Isomalt garnish. I was worried about the Special Macaroon. The first time we made it, I had lots of trouble. I actually made it four times. This time I only made it once! I could have gotten more rise in the macaroon, but both the texture and color were quite good. I thought I might have over baked my tart shell, it had a bit more color than I thought it should have. It was ok but I did over fill my shells with lemon curd. I was not thinking about the weight of the meringue. I was happy that the meringue was a very good consistency and Chef Elizabeth stated that they were very evenly browned.
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I am friends with fondant!! This week we made a high-ratio yellow cake with a simple buttercream covered in fondant. We then each made colored band and flowers with a 50/50 mix of fondant and gum paste. I started making Briar roses and very quickly became frustrated. I then switched to Hydrangeas. Out of all of our choices, those were the easiest because it was the only option using a stamp. However, because of their size, I had to make quite a few to have an impact on a two tier cake. I also made a lot of black fondant/gum paste mix for my dummy cake. For that cake I have taken on the additional challenge of painting on fondant and making Peonies. It will be quite a challenge.
This week I had another chance to make the wedding cake that I made for my final practical last quarter. My High Ratio Cake, Diplomat Cream and Italian Buttercream were much improved. My Fondant band was good and the Gum Paste roses were passable. My icing of the cake however, was still terrible. I just can't seem to get the hang of it. I really do try my best. My sides aren't even and I can never seem to get it smooth enough. It was made worse when another Culinary student pointed out how bad it was. I know my greatest strength is in breads. I am confident in everything I have learned in school except decorating cakes. I graduate in three weeks, I should be better than this.
This week we made a Celebration Cake. Devils Food Cake to be exact. It was a basic straight forward cake, and it was fantastic! It was rich and moist, certainly something to make again. We used Italian Buttercream as a crumb coat and a Silky Ganache Deluxe as a finishing touch. My pouring was good, but I scraped a little too much off of the top and had to add more. As a result may cake was not completely smooth. We also made modeling chocolate. I had never made it before. It was a little to hard, but I managed to make some fairly decent flowers. Over the weekend I will get a little more practice with me flowers in the form of Gum Paste. We were going to make them in class it use on our Wedding cakes next week, but we ran out of time.
Week 5 was our last week working in groups. For the rest of the quarter we will work on individual projects. Our final group was quite demanding. We made Orange Souffles with a Dark Chocolate Syrup and Almond Brittle, Salted Caramel Macaroons with Praline Cream, Almond Sable with Chocolate Mousse, assorted Cremeaux Tarts, White Chocolate Mousse Cake, and Fruit Tarts. I enjoyed making everything, however there were a few glitches in the formulas. The Chocolate Syrup was too thin. We had to cook it for almost 20 minutes longer than the formula stated just to get the right consistency. Also the Almond Brittle formula was just odd. The brittle was far to dry. I actually made it three times. On the third attempt, I just cooked to less. If I made it again, I would toast the nuts before hand in order to get a better color.
On week 6 we made a High Ratio Chocolate Cake with Italian Buttercream. The focus was decorating. As a baking and pastry student, I understand the need to develop this skill. But truthfully, I don't like it. I appreciate it, but I don't like it. Give me yeast and I am a happy girl. After much frustration, I managed to make a few roses. Frankly, I surprised myself! The key I suppose, is to just be patient. I need to work on that skill as well! The three main desserts we made this week were Roasted Pears with Chamomile, Baked Alaska and a Lemon Raspberry Tart. The Roasted Pears were served with a Hazelnut Financier, Chamomile Jus and Pear Sorbet. It was really good, but I would have used a Bartlett pear instead of Bosc. The Bartlett has a better shape and structure. The Financier had a fantastic taste and the sorbet was bright and tasted very fresh. We could not finish the Baked Alaska. In order to properly "bake" it, the Alaska needs to be frozen solid. We will finish it later. It was filled with Vanilla Ice Cream, Blueberry Sorbet and a Vanilla Cake. All of those tasted very good. Finally we made a Lemon Tart with Raspberry Preserves, Raspberry and Mango Coulis, Coconut Shortbread Tart, Italian Meringue and Isomalt Lace. The lemon curd was phenomenal! Super sharp and fresh. The meringue was smooth and shiny and the crust was light and crisp. Great week!!
This week, despite the number of recipes we made, this was a lighter week. We made a Mango Trifle, Chevre Panna Cotta and a Orange Chocolate Souffle. As usual each dessert was made of several components. The trifle was comprised of a reduced fat fig and orange pound cake, dried strawberries, chocolate rings and isomalt lace decoration. The panna cotta featured a thyme gelee, nutmeg tuile nests, vanilla apples and a tawny port sauce. Finally, the orange chocolate soufflé was served with, casis sorbet and feuilletine. The trifle was the most beautiful. The isomalt lace was very easy and would male any dessert look glamorous. I really thought the fig would dominate the taste of the cake. Figs are one of my favorites but I would never think of putting them in a pound cake. They gave the cake a lovely texture and added a subtle flavor. I will definitely make this cake again! I loved the taste of the panna cotta. The texture was a little grainy despite the fact that the goat cheese was melted before it was incorporated with the rest of the ingredients. The soufflé was great. The texture was very creamy, although I did not get quite the lift I was hoping for. The fueilletine tasted like a homemade kit kat, yum!! We also switched up the groups this week. I am thankful that my new group works well together.
This class is proving to be the class where time management is paramount. On the surface, we made three plated desserts. In reality we made Seventeen separate elements. For the Baba au Rum we made the Baba Savarin, Baba Syrup, Tuile Cookies and Vanilla Ice Cream. Our second dessert was comprised of: Orange Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Tart Dough, Nougatine Curls, Kumquat Sauce, Chocolate Caramel Sauce, Baked Streusel, Orange Sorbet and Dried Orange Slices. Finally we made Profiteroles with Shortbread Tart Dough, Pistachio Ice Cream, Chocolate Rings and Mango Coulis. Despite all of the work, everything was straight forward and not to complicated. The Baba au Rum was my favorite. I have seen it made on the PBS series "Baking with Julia" and I always wanted to try it. I thought perhaps it would be a sweet soggy mess. Instead it was not to sweet and was moist but still had structure. Our sorbet was a little to icy to scoop but had a great sharp flavor. I could have rolled the nougatine a bit thinner, but the taste was pure butter and nuts, totally addictive!!. This is a class of rich flavor, moderation will be needed.
This is a very involved class. The first half involves making plated desserts. All of these desserts have several components. The three finished plates had a total of thirteen recipes. The first was a Chocolate Grapefruit Tart. The components are: grapefruit-infused ganache, cocoa nib sable breton, grapefruit curd, Campari caramel and grapefruit tuiles. The Donut components are: spicy raised donut, chocolate donut, spiced sugar, layered hot chocolate, vanilla bean parfait and dark chocolate plaques. The final plate was a Special Raspberry Crème Brulee Macaron . In theory the macaron was the easiest to assemble, but it gave me the most trouble. I made it four times. The first time would have worked for the final presentation, but the color was far to light. On day two, I used previously frozen egg whites. BIG MISTAKE! But the fourth time was a charm. This class will be a challenge, but a lot of fun.
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AuthorKimberly-baker and food history enthusiast! Archives
March 2015
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