Nearly two months have passed since my last (and only) English post, and i've decided it's time for a new one!
This one is going to be a lot more complicated for me, since I have a lot to write about.
My last Hebrew post was all about my new Superior Pastry course here at the Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Well a week and half has passed, in which we did a lot of new, beautiful and challenging cakes and desserts.
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| My Tarte Creole |
First was the Tarte Créole. It's a very modern tart with coconut mousse, a layer of savoie biscuit, Malibu induced pinapple and Italienne maringue. The making of it was not very hard, until we got to the last part of the Maringue piping.
I actually practiced this piping at home numerous times, and even the night before the class, and it was still not at all easy. I had to remove my Maringue twice and start again. You can see in the picture that the last part of the cake on the left is nicer. That's the point where I finally got it perfect!
Well, almost perfect.
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| Ugly piping on the right, nice one on the left |
On the next Demo, we had a new chef that we haven't met in the last two semesters. He demonstrated the making of a Mango and raspberry cake.
What can I say? He is just a chef to admire. His work was so organised, relaxed and clean. His explanations were thoroughgoing and yet he worked really fast. Of course, his final cakes were masterpieces!
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| Two of the chef's amazing cakes |
The same evening we had the practical class for this cake. Most of the class was pretty calm, but I guess my Mango cream was too soft, which made my cake sit fot longer in the freezer.
I ended up glazing ant decorating it in the last minutes for the class, with the chef rushing me and the other late students.
In the end he complemented my cake and work so I was pretty happy.
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| My Mango-Raspberry cake |
The taste of this cake is just amazing! Everyone who tasted it loved it. I froze some of it for my father to taste when he comes to Paris, and I'm seriously thinking of combining these flavors for one of my next baking experiments.
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| The chef's chocolate and Pistachio cakes |
The next practical class was for the Chocolate and pistachio Macaron cake. In this class, we started working in pairs, which is a new thing for the Superior course. The chefs explained that the reason for this, is that in a professional kitchen you never work alone. The work is divided between different work stations and each is responsible for a certain part of the final cake or dessert. Another reason is that for some recipes, working in small quantities is impossible, and doubling them makes it easier and possible.
My first pair was with a guy from Taiwan, and the working together went pretty well. Our main obstacle was the language, but we somehow managed.
I have to admit that my partner worked well, and I blew it with our Macarons, which came out really ugly. I ended up using one of my friend's Macarons in chef's advice, because I didn't want to put some Macarons at all when I saw mine.
The 4th and last class for this week was the New style choux pastries class. The chef made four kind of choux, out of which we made three in the practical class.
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| Chef's Choux |
In this class I worked with a friend that I already know from my basic course, and working together was great. We had a good cooaperation and we worked organized and clean. We had a similar work pace so we managed to divide the work evenly.
At the end we both had nice results with our choux. So...It was fun!
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| Matcha Eclair |
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| Victoria pineapple choux |
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| Praline and Liquis caramel choux |
What I learn mostly about myself during the working in pairs, and generally in this course, Is that i'm too harsh with myself. I already had two chefs telling me they trust my abilities more than I trust myself and that i'm giving myself a hard time. I also heard that from my friend in the last class.
So, for next week I decided my goal is trying to let go a bit. To stay focused and obtain my normal results, but without all the pressure I put on my own shoulders. We'll see how it works for me.
I think we're all a bit to harsh with ourselves when it comes to the things we wish to make perfect at. It's good to have someone looking from the outside once in a while, to reflect the things we don't see.
Next week is again school and work, but the week after is Passover and my father is coming to visit! I am so excited :)
In addition, I booked a vacation in Brussels for May and already started exploring Patisseries and Chocolateries there. It's going to be my first trip out of Paris this year and a lot of fun. Of course, If you have any reccomandations concerning this city, let me know!
For this post's recipe, I decided to translat for you my Peanut butter Rochers from this week's Hebrew post. They are based on LCB recipe, in which I substituted the Praline to Peanut-butter and the Hazelnuts into salted peanuts. I'm crazy for this combination.
They are super easy to make, and the result is absolutely terrific.
I wish us all a wonderful week, a week of success and of self beliefe :)
Peanut Butter Rochers/ (20 rochers)
Based on Le Cordon Bleu recipe, with my own changes
Ingridients:
For the Rochers-
100g Dark chocolate (preferably at least 60 % cocoa solids )
150g smooth Peanut butter
50 g crushed Crepes ( pailletine ) / Rice Krispies / Cornflakes- or any other crunchy addition
For coating-
150g Milk chocolate
1 Teaspoon of vegetable oil
50-100 grams (as you wish) salted peanuts , shredded or chopped - not ground !
Preparation:
1 . Over a Bain Marry or in a microwave , melt the dark chocolate until completely melted.
2 . Transfer the melted chocolate into a bowl , add the peanut butter and stir until they're well combined. If peanut butter is hard , you can mix it a little to soften before the adding to the chocolate.
3 . Pour in the crushed crepes / Rice Krispies / Cornflakes and mix just until they're evenly combined into the mixture. Don't over-mix.
* Note: If you choose Cornflakes , you should break it down a little before (By hands or with rolling pin / other heavy tool).
4 . Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for half an hour - 1 hour.
5 . Take out the cooled mixture and form balls of 2-3 cm diameter . Mixture should be doughy and pliable . If it is too sticky , it should be returned to cool a bit more .
6 . Place the balls on a baking paper or tray and chill until dipping in chocolate.
7 . Meanwhile, prepare a tray with baking paper , for laying the chocolate dipped rochers .
8 . Over a Bain Marry or in a microwave , melt the milk chocolate. Then, put it in a small bowl that'll fit the dipping of the rochers.
9 . Add the oil to the melted chocolate and mix well.
10. Add the chopped peanuts and stir so that they will be covered and spread evenly to the chocolate .
11 . Dip each ball in the milk chocolate-peanuts coating. Roll to cover all sides and remove with a fork .
12 . Remove leftover chocolate (scrap the fork on the sides of the bowl) and place on the prepared tray .
13 . Dip it all the balls . When finished , place the tray in the fridge to harden the chocolate . this should be ready after about half an hour.
14. Transfer to a sealed box and keep refrigerated uo to a week.
אנגלית, עברית או צרפתית- לא משנה באיזו שפה תכתבי, תמיד אהנה לקרוא ולחוות את החלום דרכך!
השבמחקאירנה!
מחקתודה, תודה ותודה!!!
אין עליך :)