OK, so what has been happening? A LOT! We did modern cakes, dessert plating, wedding cakes, had our final assessment (YES, I PASSED!!), and are now at recap week - where I have had the chance to do a couple of new recipes, and also refresh my memory on some recipes not tried for a while. There are too many pictures for me to put them all up, so let me just put up a small selection:
Dessert Plating: Here are two, done by me (with some suggestions from Chef Fred). I like how they turned out!
1) Marshmallow, sandwiched with chocolate and with nougatine in between, with sorbet, and with green tea jelly.
2: Vanilla coconut mousse, with crystallised rose petals, and sorbet.
The WEDDING CAKE!! I have to say I do NOT like doing wedding cakes. However I am pleased with how this turned out. Gift boxes, with matching ribbons, one on top of the other, with a stylised heart to represent the happy couple holding hands. Simple, but pretty (at least I think so!)
My ASSESSMENT: All the assessment items, arranged on the table, for the chefs to 'assess'. We had 5 days to prepare, bake, put together, and finally display on the Friday. IT WAS EXHAUSTING! And I am glad it is over. So, what's on the table? Check it out:
1) From left to right, first, on the long black tile, 6 pieces of Religieuse, 10 glasses of my own verrine concoction (pina colada verrine), then the St Honore on the right. In front of that, on the left (next to the knife) is the Mille Feuille with traditional fondant frosting design. The plate in front of that has my cold dessert plate - banana choc pudding in a choc ball, with caramelised banana on choc sponge, with vanilla ice cream. Then on the raised plate in the centre is 7 individual pieces of Japanese cheese cake, with one piece on the small plate in front. On the right of that, is the Pierre Herme tart, topped with a simple chocolate disk. Below that is hand dipped chocolate with coffee ganache filling. Then we have the breads - double hydration ciabatta on the left (in the pink serviette lined bowl), and rye bread on the right. Behind the ciabatta is the Green Tea/Raspberry Opera Cake. On the same tile as the Opera cake you can JUST about see my macarons, and, in front, a tiny part of my HOT plated dessert - chocolate fondant.
2) And here is a better picture of the Green Tea/Raspberry Opera cake, with the macarons in front. One of the FEW times my macarons came out pretty good!
3) Close up of my Pina Colada verrine - the bottom is a coconut mousse, topped with a circle of choc sponge, then fresh diced pineapple which had been soaked in rum, then coconut mousse on top, and finally topped with fresh baked crumble. VERY yum :-D
4) Close up of the Mille Feuille! I'm very happy with the way the design turned out!
And now, the recap weeks... a few new things made:
1) Le Livre - supposed to be bread that looks like a book :-). The shape did not QUITE come out, but my nephew guessed correctly that it was a book!
2) Pain Ecossais - a French name, but apparently a Scottish bread. VERY light, very tasty. I loved the taste!
3) Pain a la tapenade! A simple croissant dough (simple, only because fewer folds!), spread with black olive tapenade, rolled up like a swiss roll, sliced, proofed and baked. This was LOVELY! Light, flaky, tasty.
4) CHURROS! Oh YES, I am so happy I know how to do this. Light and YUM, YUM, YUM! These were tossed in cinnamon sugar, but I am going to do chocolate sauce for dipping when I make it at home :-).
Today is a public holiday in Malaysia, so no classes (hence I have time to update this blog!). And then I have just TWO MORE DAYS to go, and this course is over for me! No idea what I will be making on those two days... will have to wait and see if the chefs have any new recipes for me to try. I am considering making almond/chocolate galette, as it has been a while since I did invert puff pastry... hmmmm....
So, what else is new? My parents are off in India (since 15th Oct), returning on 4th Nov. They went to attend a cousins wedding, and I figured if they are going to go all the way there, they might as well take the time to visit their close relatives and friends, because God only knows if they will have another opportunity while they still have the strength to do this trip! The house is VERY quiet without them around to bug me :-D, so I am enjoying the peace and quiet.
Oh, yes, in addition to that, on Friday, my sisters ex-maid (whom we have been in discussions with for some time as she wanted to come back to work and we need a maid) turned up :-). She has not changed at all, other than having put on a bit of weight! Tiny, cheerful, talkative, HARD WORKING. I told her to relax these two weeks, as she will be kept busy once my Mum is back, but she has been in full swing since Sunday! The house is the cleanest it has been in a LONG time. Even the back retaining wall (between our house and the house at the back) has been thoroughly scrubbed! I am really happy she came back, as she and my Mum get along well, and, having worked for my sister for 2 years and having been originally trained by my Mum, she is very familiar with Malayali style cooking - which makes it even easier for us!
So, all in all, it has been a good few weeks. And now, in just over 2 months, we will reach the end of this year. In between then and now, I have my friends from the Netherlands and Scotland (Ben, who is Dutch, and his wife, Christine, who is Scottish) coming for a month - Yay!!!! They arrive on 4th Nov (same day as my parents return) and I have the pleasure of their company all the way through till 4th Dec... then comes Xmas...
That's it for now folks - a very long post to make up for the long silence. Till next time, have a good day, every day!
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