Into 4th month of baking already!

It is hard to believe that I have already finished the first three months of this 9 month Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Bread Making course. If anyone has been thinking about doing something like this, I would definitely recommend this place. Yes, they are still a very young academy. Yes, they are still learning as they grow. Yes, they do make mistakes (um, who doesn't?). BUT, they are responsive, they are flexible, they have great chef/teachers, and, best of all, we have a lot of FUN while learning! You can refer to their web-site (http://pastry.com.my/home.html) to find out more, or you can always drop by to check them out in person.

Anyway, so what have we done since we started again on 9th May. First of all, we actually covered quite a bit of theory as well - sensible things like food hygiene; detailed knowledge of the various ingredients we use in baking; learnt about various famous chefs; more information on the different types of kitchen equipment used in baking; etc. We also found time, in between the theory, to bake some things too... and here they are:

1) Croquembouche! Constructed with nougatine base, and in between 'platforms', and cream puffs filled with pastry cream, held together with caramel, and finished off with caramel 'threads' twirled all round it.

2) Braided breads! The two on the right are 4-strand braids, then, from top to bottom, we have the 5-, 6-, 7-, and 9-strand braids.

3) Hot cross buns! Traditionally made for Easter. Well, Easter was not toooo long ago, so it was nice to make them. And they definitely tasted RATHER nice :-)

4) Semolina Bread. Hmmm, OK, this is not one of my favourites. You can either bake it or pan fry it, and we pan fried it with butter.

5) Currant Loaf. OK, I admit it. Apart from the semolina bread above, I LOVE anything with raisins, sultanas, currants!

6) Les Craqueline! YUMMY! But a diabetics nightmare! RICH brioche dough, with loads of sugar and caramelised orange peel in the centre, with more sugar sprinkled on top!

7) La Brioche Vendeenne. Rich brioche dough again, shaped into 80gm balls, packed gently into bread tins, and baked. Light, but rich, and tasty. Nice!

8) La Pastis Landais: Again a brioche dough, but very soggy! Had to be put into a ring mould to hold its shape. But it comes out incredibly light and soft!

9) Les Pognes de Roman ("Roman Fist"??). Don't ask me about the pink nuts! Apparently that is how it is done, though nobody could tell us why PINK!!

10) Caramel Pocket! Made with croissant dough - cut into squares, with a half circle cut in the middle, a wedge of caramel placed on it, the pastry folded over, and baked. If you like caramel, you will like this. I do NOT like caramel!

11) Raspberry Chausson. Also using croissant dough. Rolled like an empty swiss roll, sliced, flattened, each flattened sliced is then rolled oval, raspberry jam dolloped into the centre, folded over, and baked! Yummmmm. Kinda like a sweet 'curry' puff :-).

12) Hazelnut pastry cream roll. OOOOH so RICH. Kinda like a cinnamon roll. Made with croissant dough. Layered with pastry cream and caramelised hazelnuts, then rolled like a swiss roll, flattened, placed into mould, and baked.

12) Orange Marmalade Chocolate Twist: Again with the croissant dough. Layered with orange marmalade and chocolate chips (we used choc rice!), cut into strips, underside egg washed, the strip is TWISTED, and then baked. Surprisingly nice! Light and crisp, and the orange marmalade flavour nicely complemented by the chocolate!

13) Allumette: This is done with puff pastry dough. A layer of royal icing spread evenly over the puff pastry dough sheet. Cut into slices, and baked at a very very low temperature so that it does not take on a brown colour. OK, we didn't do it QUITE right, as the icing did get a slight colour, and the puff pastry all kinda tipped over as they rose, but it tasted very nice - light, crisp, sweet. Must try it again!

Had a hi-tea get-together yesterday - made chilled cheesecake with raspberry jelly inset into it; lemon meringue tart; rich chocolate tart (with fresh whipped cream to go with it); and mushroom/bacon quiche. Also had some of the raspberry chausson and the allumette. Surprisingly, I didn't eat any of what I made, other than a tiny slice of the cheese cake. I DID eat the prawn fritters that another hi-tea member brought, but luckily, after I told her what I would be making, she also had the foresight to tell all the others NOT to bring anything else to eat... otherwise there would have been enough food to feed at least 100 people :-D.

Another week starts tomorrow, so hope everyone has a good 'rest of the day' today, and a good REST today too.

Till next time, have a good day, every day!