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.