Adult version of Play-Doh. This one is really edible!

Making marzipan fruit brought me back to the old days when we played with Play Doh. The marzipan fruit was airbrushed to give it that life like look and then nestled in an almond nougatine basket. It's a shame that arts & crafts isn't scheduled into our day anymore, right between milk and cookies and nap time.

Confessions of an Inner Fatso

I think fast food is kind of gross. Don't get me wrong. I have been caught a few times leaving these establishments stuffing my face with a burger and fries like a dog in heat. Good food is so easily accessible in NY, why would you want to eat greasy chemical enhanced slop. But father I have to confess that I LOVE Taco Bell! As we speak now I am licking the sour cream off my pants from a plate of Nachos Bell Grande. I love tex-mex. Too bad there aren't any good tex mex places around me. Oh what I wouldn't do for a chimichanga. I don't think that Taco Bell has high quality food. I wouldn't go there if I was craving real meat. But man that ground beef slop they serve sure hits the spot. I only eat crunchy taco supremes. It's perfect. I think they put crack in it. And it just so happens that my local taco bell is located right next to my gym. It's a taco bell/kfc joint so I go and pick up 2 crunchy taco supremes and an extra crunchy drumstick with cole slaw. I always go with the FIRE hot sauce. For some weird reason my taco bell doesn't put it out. You have to ask for it and they take it out from behind the counter. I guess they have to ration the sauce for the crackheads. I do wish taco bell would use high quality meat and start making some high quality tex mex food. Wouldn't it be awesome if they had some decent gauc too?!

Creme Brulee

We have moved onto plated desserts. Everyday I eat 2-3 plates of sweets. It's crazy!

Creme brulee is one of my favorite desserts. It's simple yet very delicious. Burning the sugar on the top is also very fun. Here is my recipe for creme brulee:

1 qt cream
1 vanilla bean
110g sugar
200g yolks

1. Boil cream, vanilla bean, and sugar in a pot.
2. Cool over icebath.
3. When cooled strain and whisk in yolks.
4. Pour into shallow dishes and place in a pan.
5. Place in a 250 degree Farenheit oven. Pour hot water half way up.
6. Bake until just set.
7. Refrigerate. When ready to eat sprinkle granulated sugar on top and brulee.

Where I Am From

For our final chocolate showpiece we were given the theme "where I am from". Since being born and raised in NYC I had to pick something that was a New York landmark. Thoughts of doing a memorial for the World Trade Towers swirled through my head. I even drew up blueprints for a piece depicting a carriage ride through Central Park in autumn. How about the unisphere globe in Flushing Meadow Park? No, it has to be something that represents New York City in all of its nitty gritty. It has to be something that I live with everyday, something that really truly defines living in New York for me. And it hit me. I was on my way to school stuck in traffic. Being the procrastinator that I am I hadn't done my drawings that was due that day. I quickly sketched this piece in the locker room and handed it in. After all was said and done I think my piece came out great! Who says something that reminds me of home has to be a big monument of some sort? I sit in traffic everyday and it pisses me off. But it is what I go through if I want to live in this great city. My chocolate showpiece comes with a three car pile up and profanities (kept PG for young audiences).

Choco Loco

We've been working on truffles and bonbons in class. I know I said I love chocolate. But now I am so sick of it. I feel like the smell is imbedded in my skin. The smell follows me around like a ghost. I can't stand to eat another piece of chocolate. Is this an occupational hazard? Am I destined to never want to eat a piece of chocolate again? I wonder how many pastry chefs actually eat pastries?

Craving Anchovies

So I just got back from the gym and I am sooo craving anchovies! I love them, salty and fishy they are deeeeeeeeelicious! I love them on pizza, in sandwiches, in my salad, in a Caesar dressing, in dips, in pasta sauces, and straight up on a cracker! I just made an awesome impromptu pasta with the things I have in my fridge. It totally hit the spot!

Anchovy Pasta for one

1 clove of garlic sliced
5 anchovy filets
3 tablespoons olive oil.
1 tablespoon lemon juice
black pepper
parmesan reggiano

1. On low heat sautee one clove sliced garlic and 5 anchovies in 3 Tbspn olive oil. Break up anchovies slightly with spatula. Once the anchovies have slight softened and melted into the olive oil turn off heat. Don't brown the garlic!
2. Drizzle in 1 Tbspn lemon juice and a couple of grinds of black pepper. (none of that pre ground black pepper in a bottle business!)
3. When the pasta is al dente ( I prefer the toothyness of linguine) toss it right in the same pan with the sauce.

Soooooo good! It would have been better if I had some freshly shaved parmesan reggiano. You don't need to add any salt to this dish because the anchovies are already salty. Let me know how you like your anchovies!

My Stripper Name is Cocoa Bomb

How kick ass is chocolate! The first day we learned how to temper it looked like a chocolate cocoa bomb went off on me. Being a pastry cook is not only about baking and frosting. It's about being an artist, a sculptor, a painter, an architect. The first half of pastry school is about being precise, being able to duplicate what your chef makes and being consistent every time. *I remember the chef measuring our eclairs with rulers to see if it was exactly 4 inches. This half is about creativity and showing off what school can't teach you, talent and thinking outside the box. Everyone can bake an apple pie, but who can make that apple pie into a new mind blowing experience?

Our first project was to design a chocolate showpiece that can be used as a candy bowl. I decided to use a chess motif because we had chess chocolate molds at school. Shit buying your own equipment is expensive! My piece is a three dimensional and can be seen from all sides. I was afraid the steps wouldn't hold but it did. The entire structure with the staircase reminds me a lot of M.C. Escher's works of art (shown here, Escher's House of Stairs). You can see in the picture my paper model behind the actual piece.

Midterm

Wow I can't believe half of the semester is over already. It is going by so fast. It's been an unimaginable experience thus far. Waking up every morning and doing something I love rather then something I dread has been a blessing.

This is the cake I made for the midterm. We had to work with the medium we picked out of a hat. I got chocolate genoise, buttercream filling, and chocolate glaze. The flavor of the filling and decorations were up to us. I chose to do two fillings for my cake: pistachio flavored buttercream with bits of toasted pistachios and cherry flavored buttercream with bits of brandied cherries. Since the colors were green and red I thought it was fitting that I decorate the cake with a Christmas theme. The flowers here are made with colored marzipan and some gold dust.

Petit Four Practical

This is the first time that we were given free rein to be creative and make whatever we wanted for the practical. Usually during a practical we draw out of a hat one to four items that we've made before to make again on our own. My theme for the petit fours were tropical flavors. From left to right: Jasmine Lychee Bavarian Cream Tartlettes, Coconut Macadamia Nut Toffee Bars, Chocolate Genoise with Coconut Buttercream, Lime-Mint Mojito Cookies.

Coconut Macadamia Nut Toffee Bars
Shortbread:
110g packed brown sugar (1/2 cup)
113g butter (1/2 cup)
135g AP flour (1 cup)

1. Cream butter and brown sugar.
2. Add flour.
3. Press into pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 min. Allow to cool before adding the topping.

Topping:
2 eggs
220g brown sugar (1 cup)
2 T AP flour
1t baking powder
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
90g shredded coconut (1 cup)
130g chopped macadamia nuts (1 cup)

4. Beat eggs, Stir in remaining ingredients.
5. Spread over shortbread.
6. Bake 25 min. Cut and rebake until golden brown.

Petit Four Factory

Petit Fours can also be called friandises and mignardises. They are small enough to be eaten in one or two bites. Most are very time consuming and elaborate in decorations. Typically petit four plates include pate de fruit, macaroons, financiers, nougat, madeleines, tarts, and truffles. In class we made some simple ones.

My Marjolaine

Out of all the cakes we've made during this section this cake is my favorite. Created by the great Chef Fernand Point and named after a special lady. This cake is time consuming to make because of its many different layers and complicated techniques. Perhaps Chef Fernand fell in love with a girl who was complicated (aren't we all?) and drove him crazy, so crazy that he invented this insane cake to remember her forever. The layers consist of: (from bottom to top) Chocolate Genoise, Chocolate Ganache, Dacquoise (crunchy nut meringue), Creme D'Or (chocolate mousse), Dacquoise , Praline Buttercream, Dacquoise, Whipped Cream, Dacquoise, and then finally the whole cake is covered with Chocolate Glaze. How can this cake not be good? It has everything delicious in it. Marjolaine, I don't know who you are, but I love you.

Meringues

There are three different types of meringues. Each is used differently in pastry making.


French Meringue
Raw sugar is beaten into egg whites creating a meringue that is high in volume and low in stability. Because it is made with raw eggs it needs to be baked. This type of meringue is usually folded into a cake batter such as a chiffon cake. It can be mixed with a nut flour, piped, and put into the oven to dry out producing a crunchy layer that can be added to a cake. This is essentially a dacquoise and I used it in the dacquiose cake with coffee buttercream and marjolaine cake.

Italian Meringue
Water and sugar is boiled until 235 degrees Fahrenheit (soft ball stage) and then beaten into egg whites. The egg whites cook in the hot syrup. This method produced a meringue that has medium volume and medium stability. Since it doesn't need to be baked it is used in mousses and buttercreams. This method was used in my Raspberry Mousse Miroir cake.

Swiss Meringue
Egg whites and sugar are heated over a bain marie until it reaches 130 degrees Fahrenheit and then beaten. This meringue has the least volume out of the three methods yet it is the most stable. Since the eggs have already been cooked it does not need to be baked. This meringue is used in the lemon tart showed above.

The Gateaux Gallery

Dacquoise with Coffee Buttercream and Candied Almonds


Pear Bavarian Cake


Chocolate Ganache Cake with Candied Rose Petals


Raspberry Mousse Miroir


White and Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake


Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting














Dobos Torte














Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream and Chocolate Meringue Sticks














Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream and Chocolate Meringue Sticks














I don't remember what this cake is. But it sure looks interesting!

Living in the Gateaux

I'm sad to be leaving bread making but I'm super excited about cakes! This is the reason why I signed up for pastry school. I want to make fabulous cakes! Today was our first time making genoise sponge cake. Genoise is a cake that is not leavened by a chemical agent. Eggs are heated and beaten to give it its light spongy texture. The chefs decided to have us make cakes the old school method, like back in the days when they didn't have electricity and had to power their ovens by cranking a handle. (yea right!) We had to whisk eggs over a pot of simmering water until it tripled in volume. This took about 10 minutes of constantly whisking. If you stopped whisking the eggs would turn into scrambled eggs. I could not beat the eggs fast enough to get the volume needed! My arms were exhausted! I think culinary school is going to put some muscles on this skinny little girl! My cake turned out flat, dense, and disgusting. Good thing they let us use the hobart mixer the second time! My cake came out much better. We also made buttercream which I'm not a fan of. I'm more partial to fresh whipped cream then just sweetened whipped butter. So here it is! The first cake I made in school! It consists of three genoise layers, raspberry jam, and vanilla buttercream. Isn't she pretty?