Christine's Pastry Blog

Sugar 1: Week 1: Nougatine Baskets with Marzipan Fruits

2009-09-11T13:50:00.005-04:00

We started on the Sugar 1 section of Pastry 2 and learned how to make a Nougatine Basket and how to shape Marzipan fruits. The fun of marzipan is that when you shape it, it doesn't have to look "real". They are meant to look kind of cartoon-y (not sure if that's a word, but you get my drift, right?!) and fun. We shape it without color, then we just air brushed the color on. The cool part is that we learned how to layer color. And yes, even though it is not supposed to look "real", we tried to make the coloring look real by making sure that different colors kind of peaked out, like the real thing.

The Nougatine Basket was fun, but a little difficult and hot to make! You have to shape the nougatine while it is still hot and maleable. And if the nougatine gets too cold, off to the oven to heat up again, then try again... =( BUT - yes, there is always a but, isn't there? You can only reheat and try molding only a few times, because as the sugar caramelizes and gets darker, it exponentially gets less maleable and hardens much, much faster each time. In other words, try to get the job done within the first 3 tries - MAX!

Anyway, here's the final result... Chef Toni told us to try decorating it with the houndstooth and classically it is further embellished with royal icing - as seen here!

Day 65, 66 & 67 - Chocolate Candies and Chocolate Candy Stand

2009-08-20T23:02:00.005-04:00

Tonight we finished up our Chocolate Candy Stands. I have to say I was extremely impressed with my class!!! I thought everyone did a WONDERFUL job! I've posted the pics on Facebook, so take a look when you have time!

On day 65, we made the chocolates to go into the bowl of the stand. We made 4 different types of candies: Chocolate Nuts, Rochees, Carres and another one I can't remember the name of! Shame on me... I know... I do know that it is basically a little bit of chocolate and then before it completely sets, we put 3 different pieces of either nuts or dried fruits on it. It's nice to make them kind of colorful, so we did combos like Pistachio, Coffee Bean and Dried Apricot. The Chocolate Nuts were bad. Well, bad for me because I couldn't stop eating them! It's one of those things that you just can't have one of... They are basically nuts, with crystallized sugar, then coated in chocolate, then rolled in either powdered sugar or cocoa powder. (cue in heavenly "ahhhh"). The Carres were also quite the delectable treat! This looks like a chocolate sandwich of sorts. It is a layer of chocolate with praline paste and feulletine (this stuff tastes a lot like crushed sugar ice cream cones) sandwiched between 2 layers of straight chocolate. Yes, it made the tummy happy!!! As for the Rochees (translated as "rocks"), can I just tell you that I am SO addicted to the Orange and Chocolate and Almond combo, that I finished all the ones I brought home almost all by myself and I still ate more of these at school tonight... And - I still want more!!!

Okay, so on to the Chocolate Candy Stand. We basically spent the last 2 classes completing these. They are made of all chocolate and need to have 2 kinds of chocolate. I chose dark and white chocolate. Another requirement was that it be at least 4 inches high - no problem with mine for this category since it was 8 inches high. Finally, the last requirement was that it should be at least 700 grams. Well, unfortunately, mine turned out to be about 462 at my final weigh in, so I was scrambling for ways to "pack the pounds". In the end, it still didn't add up to the 700 grams, but what can you do? The first picture is me scrambling put more chocolate in my already chocolatey chocolate stand! Then you have pictures of the final product. It's simple but I like it a lot!

Day 59: Fondant Chocolate Roulade Cake with Pistachio Butter Cream filling and New York Cheese Cake

2009-08-01T19:24:00.006-04:00

We are another day closer to the end of Pastry 1. I can't believe Tuesday will be our last day in the crowded and warm Pastry 1 classroom! Today we baked New York Cheese Cake with a graham cracker crumb base. Truthfully, I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to it! =)

We also had a recipe for a Neopolitano Cheese Cake, but we didn't get around to make it. I don't think I have ever had that kind of cheese cake before, but it sounds kind of interesting, except that it has raisins in the recipe. Yes, if you have been following my blog, you know that I'm not a big fan of raisins. Actually, my mother told me that I used to LOVE raisins as a child, but being the very impressionable child that I was, I followed my brother's lead with the raisin hating... He used to say things like, "Ewww... you like raisins?! YUCK!" and that was the end of my raisin eating days.

Anyways, we also finished up our Chocolate Roulade with a Kirsch (cherry for those of you who may be wondering) soak and Pistachio butter cream filling. It was fun finishing it off with the fondant. Unfortunately, though, I didn't have time to decorate it at all. *sigh* Well, at least I think I did a pretty decent job actually putting the fondant on the cake. Fondant is kind of fun to work with... I was secretly reminiscing back to my younger days playing with Play Dough! Take a look at my handiwork. Then take a look at the cake itself - pretty cool, huh?

This one was definitely a fun cake. My husband liked this one a lot because the cake was not too sweet (though the fondant was extremely sweet).

Now, it's time to crack the books and start studying for my mid-term written test. We already started with the practical test by baking and building our cakes. I wanted to do a Kahlua soak, but I couldn't find any, so I went with an Amaretto soak with coffee butter cream. I was a little nervous about the combo, but when I actually tried it, it tasted pretty good! YEY! So, again, wish me luck and send all your happy and studious thoughts my way! =)

Day 58: Back to cakes! White Cake with Peach Butter cream filling and Marzipan Frosting and Black Forest cake

2009-07-31T22:56:00.008-04:00

We are back to cakes and quickly approaching the end of Pastry 1! I can't believe it... In fact, we have the start of our Mid-term tomorrow and I'm a little nervous about it. We get to bake our cake and build it up tomorrow then finish it off on Tuesday. For the mid-term, we pick the kind of cake we have to make out of a hat, or rather in our case, a quart container! So, UNfortunately for me, I picked a Chocolate Genoise with Butter Cream filling (that's not the bad part) with CHOCOLATE GLAZE frosting. UGH! I'm terrible at glazing... *sigh* oh well, c'est la vie... Not like there's anything I can do about it now except pray to Saint Honore for a pastry miracle!

So, on to happier things before I get myself all worked up over this darn mid-term!

Let's start with the oh-so-yummy White Cake! I really liked this cake a lot, I just couldn't stop eating it!!! Luckily, I didn't get a tummy ache like my poor partner from all of our snacking on the scraps. We filled our cake with a Peach Butter Cream. Yes, you read that correctly - PEACH! We learned how to make fruit flavored butter cream and I'm uber excited about it! The bonus is that it tastes absolutely divine! The extra bonus is that we got to learn how to work with Marzipan as a frosting. Can I just say that I'm addicted to marzipan as well? I'm surprised I have not gained 5 pounds in class just making this cake - because you know where the scraps go, right? Yes, that would be my stomach... Anyway, I digress... I have always wondered how it was done and lo and behold, I now know! Not too shabby, right?

The next cake is our Black Forest cake. Traditionally, this is frosted with whip cream or stabilized whip cream, but the classroom was SO hot, all of our whip cream kept breaking! Luckily, we didn't throw out our Creme D'Or which was used as one of the fillings, so Chef said we could use that to finish up our cakes. Traditionally too, it should have chocolate shavings on the bottom, but as you can see from the pic, I didn't quite get around to it. Now, for your added viewing pleasure, I'm adding a picture I took of the Black Forest when I was in gorgeous Germany. =)

Now, back to work on my sketches for my mid-term cake! Wish me luck - I need it...

Ube Petite Four Experiment and the Unbroken Egg Yolks

2009-07-13T12:29:00.017-04:00

I am utterly and completely in love with Gerbet Macaroons. Actually, a few years ago, we had a baby shower for one of my dear, dear friends Natacha and we ordered food from Wegman's for the party. We ordered some of these scrumptious macaroons, but they called them Nicolettes. Ever since then, I have been searching high and low for some where else I could purchase these. Never did I imagine that I would be learning to make this at the FCI! (yay!)

And so, I tried making this at home using Ube for the filling. I am a HUGE fan of Ube (I think it is also called a water yam or purple yam). I love the result! It was just heavenly - at least for me. So here's a pic that I snapped before I gobbled up the rest!

As for the next picture - I was just so fascinated with the fact that I did not break 1 yolk in this tub of egg yolks! Mind you there are more than 50 egg yolks in that container! That has never ever happened in the history of my egg cracking! I know, I'm a dork sometimes... I just couldn't resist taking a quick pic!

Day 46: 5-Grain Rolls, Sweet Potato Brioche, Ciabatta, Soft Rolls, Pissaladière, Banana-Crumb Bread

2009-07-02T04:26:00.012-04:00

Yes, day 46 was a rough day to be bringing home the fruits (or rather - the breads) of our labor! I was so exhausted when I got home, I went straight to sleep - a rare occurrence! It seems that the 5-grain rolls alone weighed it's weight in healthiness... =)

I haven't tried the 5-grain rolls yet, but I've been told that you actually feel healthy when you're finished with one! So what are the 5 grains included you ask? Flax seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and rolled oats. These rolls used the sour dough method (liquid levain).

With our Sweet Potato Brioche dough, we made 2 different items: Shallots and Craqueline. In the Shallots version, well, of course, there were shallots cooked in butter and olive oil. We also added Bleu Cheese - a very welcome addition. Everyone who tried this one loved it - EVERYONE!

In the Craqueline, we added sugar cubes which had been marinated in orange liquor and orange zest. Because of its name, I thought that it would be crunchy somehow, but the places where the sugar cubes were turned out to be kind of gooey (in a good way) instead.

I'm going to skip ahead to the Banana Crumb since it is in the picture above with the Craqueline. So, this really had a lot of bananas in them! I think they would have been even more spectacular if we added some walnuts to them, but I suppose I could just try that on my own someday... Anyway, I was a little worried that these wouldn't turn out so good because our bananas looked a little green and of course, the perfect bananas would be ripe to over ripe for banana bread. However, they turned out to be just fine and rather delish in fact! This was our quick bread of the day, using the creamed butter method.

Now, for the Ciabatta, this was probably one of the easiest, but messiest breads we've made so far. For those of you who don't know, Ciabatta actually means "slipper" and this bread is named so because supposedly it is sort of shaped like a slipper. Okay, just to warn you before you see the picture, these are probably the ugliest Ciabatta you will ever see... Chef said not to fuss with it, so I didn't. I'm thinking I probably should have fussed with it, at least a little...

The Pissaladière is a French-version pizza (at least that's what I think Chef told us...). It has onion, anchovies and Niçoise olives. We used pizza dough so I was really, really excited because I wanted to toss it up in the air like in my favorite commercial, but unfortunately, we didn't have enough time for fun and games... =( Anyway, the toppings on mine got kind of burnt (I'm guessing it was on the top rack of the oven) so we ended up composting it. I did manage to take a picture before saying farewell, simply because supposedly this will be on our final and I want to make sure I keep a record of how everything needs to arranged - "classically".

And finally, the Soft Rolls. These were so good! I had a lot of fun making these and eating them too!!! We used this dough to learn to make different shapes. I wish we had more time so we could play more, but of course, we are almost always rushing (I guess sort of like a real kitchen) NO DILLY DALLY!

Allergy Foodie!!!

2009-06-29T22:23:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! My friend Anu has started up a new blog which is really a GREAT resource for anyone with food allergies. She's got a degree in food and nutrition, which really came in handy when at the age of 4 months, her son was diagnosed with allergies to all of the following: wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, tree nuts, fish and shell fish. She is truly amazing and she has done all kinds of experimentation in the kitchen. She even shares some wonderful recipes along with tips for people living with these food allergies. I love her motto: "Thrive with the top 8 food allergies!" So, if you have food allergies or know someone who does, I truly recommend this site!

ALLERGY FOODIE

Day 45: Tarte Flambée, Oat Bread and More Croissants!

2009-06-28T20:57:00.003-04:00

Day 45 was a good day! Tarte Flambée, also known as Flammenkuchen is wonderful! When I went to Germany for work back in 2005 (I think - it's been a while) I tried this for the first time and I was hooked! I never thought I would ever have it again, let alone make it myself! Oh happy day!!! So the Flammenkuchen has a sort of custard base comprised of sour cream, creme fraishe, and egg, then toppings of your choice, we used carmelized onions, bacon and gruyere cheese. Oh, and did I mention that the dough we used was the delicious Baguette dough?! Yes, it sort of looks like a pizza but I think this tastes better. Mind you, I am a total pizza fan, but in the battle of Flammenkuchen vs. Pizza, Flammenkuchen wins in my book. And yes, I ate about 1/3 of this all by myself when I got home from class!!!

I haven't tried the Oat Bread yet - I put it in the freezer for now since I've got way too much bread to finish up already! When I get around to trying it, I will update my blog.

Croissants gallery! Yes, we made croissants already, but I guess we are sort of reviewing them since our Chef-Instructor told us that croissants will be on our test. We also learned different shapes for different fillings. The packet looking ones have ham and cheese in them! I didn't actually get to try this one because I gave it to my wonderful husband Mike who said that they were really good (yey!). He's not too into the sweet stuff that I bring home so I was happy that we had some meaty/savory stuff this class. The long one with the almonds has - you guessed it Almond Cream in it! And yes, that was scrumptious! Ahh... almond cream. Maybe one day I'll write an ode to Almond Cream and the joy it brings me!!! =)

Oh, we also made 5-grain rolls which looked really good, but since they just came out of the oven, I didn't want to bring them home while they were so hot, especially since I had a bunch of other things to bring. Our teacher offered to put them in the freezer for us for next class. I'll take pictures on Tuesday.

Day 44: Baguettes, Bagels and Austrian Danishes

2009-06-26T22:56:00.004-04:00

This class was bittersweet for me! Everything we made was delicious - all my favorite carbs! The bitter part was that I was one of the 2 bakers for the week, so unfortunately, I left late and just missed the 9:35 PM train so I ended up getting home after 11:00 PM! The good news is that I got to enjoy 1/2 of a WARM and mouth-watering baguette on the train ride home! =) So here are pictures of the whole baguettes and also a pic with the one that I picked at on the ride home...

I have to admit that I haven't tried the bagels yet, however I'm sure that they are scrumptious. They are authentic hand-rolled bagels, boiled and baked in the traditional way! I have those in the freezer for a day when I'm desperately looking for something to eat. We received recipes for a whole grain and the regular version. My team was chosen to make the regular and my classmate Jen's team made the whole grain version so we swapped so we could try each. Can you guess which ones are mine - yes, the boring sesame ones are. What can I say, I like sesame bagels!

Now, for the danishes. Oh my! These were the Austrian version (according to the recipe) and there are no words to describe these! I am a total danish fan and so, I was in danish heaven! I especially liked the swirly looking ones. We put almond cream, cinnamon sugar and chopped walnuts in the dough before swirling them, so those have an extra yummy surprise in them! Those were definitely my favorites... Unfortunately, since I was kind of rushing through finishing up all the different danish shapes, I didn't remember what I put in which danishes! The different fillings we used were pastry cream, almond cream (my personal favorite), cream cheese filling, cherry compote, blueberry compote, apricots, cinnamon sugar and chopped walnuts. We were allowed to make up our own combos which was nice and if you've been reading my blog, you can guess that I had a lot with almond cream and chopped walnuts! =) Sorry the pictures are not so great, but I was rushing (trying to get to the train that I missed anyway)!

I'm excited for tomorrow when we make flammenkuchen!!!! Ah... takes me back to Germany! =)

Day 43: Back to Breads!

2009-06-24T02:23:00.002-04:00

So tonight we went back to breads! We made Petit Pains and Pain de Provence. Our quickbread for the night was Irish Soda Bread.

So, let me tell you about the Petit Pains - OMG, they are SO good! They kind of remind me of the bread I had when I was in Europe. I already ate 2 of them since I got home tonight!!! They are sort of like mini baguettes... sort of...

I haven't tried the Pain de Provence, but it certainly smelled very good! It had olives and a special assortment of herbs supposedly native to Provence. I'm sure that it will be delish!

And finally, the Irish Soda Bread. Sorry, but I wasn't really into this one. The texture was nice and tender as a quick bread should be, but I just wasn't feeling the taste and I can't quite put my finger on what exactly was bothering me about it... *sigh* I really wanted to like it! I remember my second grade teacher (Ms. Bernadette Boland - yes, can you believe that I remember?!) made some for us on St. Patrick's day and I remember loving it!!! I haven't been able to find a version like that ever since... Oh well...

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about next class because we will be making bagels - regular and whole grain! Yes, FCI is now becoming more health conscience! We even had our first "nutrition" class today. This is a good thing.

Chef Cynthia Peithman

2009-06-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

So, let me tell you about our wonderful Chef-Instructor: Chef Cynthia! I like her a lot. In addition to being incredibly talented, I think she is a great teacher too. I was trying to explain to my brother why I like her, saying that she is very nurturing but kind of strict at the same time, but in a good way. My brother's response to that was, "oh, sort of like you!" and I guess that's true! I suppose that's why I like her! =) Anyway, she is a wealth of knowledge and she makes some pretty awesome cakes too - here is her website - Cakeline. Oh, and did I mention how humble she is?! She has never once mentioned that some of her wedding cakes have been featured in magazines such as New York Weddings and Marth Stewart Weddings. Hopefully someday I can be even half as talented as her!

Day 42: Cakes 1 Test Day

2009-06-20T21:45:00.001-04:00

So, today marked the end of our Cakes 1 unit. We had our written exam and our practical exam. It was back to the basics for our practical exam. Here is a list of all the elements we needed to include:

Basic Genoise
Butter Cream icing
Raspberry Jam filling
8 Rosettes piped on top
Bottom border of nuts
Plaque with "Happy Birthday" inscribed
2 Marzipan roses with leaves

I think my cake was nice to look at but unfortunately, I over heated my genoise so it was kind of crumbly inside, then I didn't cut my layers evenly, even though when I was scoring the cake it looked even to me! There was also the issue of too much icing on the top and not enough on the sides. Chef Peter could tell that I was fitzing with it... What else? Oh, and apparently I put too much filling. On the bright side, Chef Peter did say that I was very organized and very clean and it was evident in my work. He seemed pleased with the overall appearance of the cake.

Day 41: Fraisier and Lemon Chiffon Cake

2009-06-18T23:42:00.000-04:00

Hurray, hurray for the Fraisier (pronounced fre-see-ay)! OMG! This one was REALLY REALLY good!!! I think it helped a lot that the Strawberries were perfectly ripe and just delectable! So, the cake we used on this was the American Milk Sponge and the butter cream was a Mousseline (also known as German Butter Cream). The green top was made of Marzipan and we practiced our piping with royal icing. I'm so happy about how mine came out! It's by no means perfect, but it came out a lot better than I imagined! And yes, I did pipe that all by myself (but thanks to Chef Peter for showing me a nice but simple border for this one)!!!

The next cake was the Lemon Chiffon Cake with Lemon Curd filling. We really just used this cake to practice our decorating on, so here's a sample of what I did. I know this one is not so great, but hey, I'm learning!!! So we learned the basketweave, Swiss dots and swags (I think that's what they're called). Our teacher told us that the swags come out much better with Royal Icing compared to Butter Cream - thus all the lines that fell... =(

Well, regardless of how it looks on the outside, the cake on the inside is very tastey! And I'm so sad that I forgot my scraps in class! I was SO planning to snack on them on my way home *sigh*. Oh well... The class tomorrow is probably going to put it in the compost. *bigger sigh* Well, at least I've got the recipe and can make it again! =)

Thus ends the CAKES 1 unit! So day 42 = TEST! Wish me luck!!!

Day 40: Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake and Bouche Noel

2009-06-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

The Nate Update!

2009-06-16T00:00:00.001-04:00

So one of my cool classmates has volunteered to be a "reporter" of sorts for the Pastry Program at the French Culinary Institute. He is an extremely gifted writer, so I just wanted to share his blog with all of you!

Enjoy!

Day 39: Sachertorte & Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Meringue logs

2009-06-14T13:20:00.000-04:00

So today we finished up our Sachertortes that we started last class. We didn't get to finish up the glaze because we were having issues with our Apricot Jam... Okay, so for those of you who don't know, this cake is basically a very rich cake - creamed butter chocolate cake with apricot jam spread as the filling and an outer seal and then finally the final chocolate glaze made with fondant (not the rolled version). The back story on this cake is something along the lines of the Austrian King looking to send a cake to his embassies during a war. He was looking for a cake that wouldn't spoil easily since it would have to travel far. And because this cake is so rich, it doesn't spoil right away!

Our second cake for this class was the Flourless Chocolate Cake! This one is yummy! We actually used Almond Meal or Almond Flour. Since this cake has no gluten (since there is no wheat), the middle kind of sagged down. You really don't notice it though because of all the chocolate meringue that we put all around it! I liked this one a lot. Our teacher told us that they sometimes use this cake for a lava cake and they just inject the middle with some ganache so that it is runny! Ah... another cake demystified! =) Anyway, feast your eyes on our creations:

Day 38: Dobos

2009-06-11T23:56:00.000-04:00

This is pronounced Do-bosh! When I read it I almost want to say ADOBOS! =) Anyway, this is an Austrian Cake composed of 5 layers of Biscuit Dobos with a Chocolate Butter Cream. The top is another layer of cake with caramel on top. That's my favorite part!!!

Day 37: Cassis Mousse Miroir, White and Dark Mousse Gateau, Chocolate Cupcakes, Carrot Cake and Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake

2009-06-10T19:43:00.000-04:00

Whew! That sure was a mouth full! Okay, so actually, we made the last three today and just finished off the first two (we made those last class minus the tops)! The theme of today's class is liquid fat cakes. I know, it really doesn't sound very appetizing, but that is the reality folks! Yes, this is one of the basic types of cakes. There is also whole-egg foam cakes, meringue cakes and all colors of different combos in between. Gosh, that sounds so "Paula", but you get the gist (I hope!).

So let's begin! Below are the pictures of our "Liquid Fat" cakes: Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze and Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake.

Okay, so here are the mousse cakes that we did! The first is our Fruit Mousse Miroir. Our teacher picked Cassis for the "Fruit". For those of you who don't know what Cassis are, Cassis are Black Currants. Don't feel bad because I didn't know!!! For those of you who did know, smart aleck! =) Oh, and those are little blueberries we dipped in the puree/nappage mix on the top, arranged to look like the currants. I thought that was pretty cool. We also did a White and Dark Mousse Gateau. This one was fun to make. The outside is a Pate a Cornet with the chocolate part made with a stencil (no, I don't pipe quite that perfectly, far from in fact). This was actually very easy to make and you can use colored batter instead of chocolate if you want! From that, we cut a piece to fit into a mold. The bottom of the cake is a kahlua soaked chocolate genoise then we carefully layered the chocolate and white mousses so that when you cut it, it looks like a checker board! It looked pretty cool (wish I took a picture of it cut *sigh*) and it also tasted very good! It was light and mmm, mmm good! I was nervous that the mousses didn't turn out too good because our chocolate had cooled down by the time we were folding them into the rest of the ingredients and it looked lumpy. But, you know what, when I cut into the cake, you couldn't tell!!! And the bonus is that tasted pretty good!!!!!!! Oh, and those scrumptious looking chocolate curls are a hazelnut chocolate! I forgot what it is called (bad student!), but they kind of remind me of Huny chocolates found at your local Filipino Grocer! =) Enjoy the pictures!!!

Day 36: Charlotte Royale

2009-06-06T20:54:00.000-04:00

So today we finished up our Charlotte Royale. I've seen pictures of this before and always thought they looked pretty cool, up until class. Well, I still thought it looked cool in the picture, but then our instructor told us that they call it "brain" cake and now, it just doesn't look too appetizing to me anymore... =( I know, I probably shouldn't have posted that because now you will think that it doesn't look appetizing despite it's fabulousness! So, on to the yummy description: the "swirls" are made of a cake called Jaconde which is basically an almond sponge cake rolled with an apricot jam filling. We then lined a bowl with slices from the roulade and then filled it with a Creme Anglaise Bavarois (a bavarian cream), then a piece of Genoise for the base. You're supposed to finish it off with some Creme Chantilly shells piped along the bottom and a small circle on the top.

(I'm keeping the picture small because it's kind of blurry. Sorry.)

Day 35: Marjorlaine, Charlotte Russe, Lemon Cake

2009-06-03T19:50:00.002-04:00

Clear the lane for Marjorlaine!!!! Yes, I know, you're probably tired of my little rhyming attempts, but sorry, you'll have to live with it!!! =) So, wow, the Marjorlaine, where do I begin?! This is a rich cake so you only need a little slice, but it is a little slice of heaven! So I don't really remember the story behind this one, but I think it is safe to say that it is named after a lady... Alright, I know you are dying to know what is in this delectably delicious cake! Okay, you really have to pay attention because there's a lot of layers! Sorry I didn't get a chance to take a picture of a sliced piece... Ready?! We're going to start from the bottom going up: Chocolate Genoise soaked with Hazelnut flavored Simple Syrup, Chocolate Ganache, Dacquoise, Creme D'Or, Dacquoise, Hazelnut Praline Butter Cream, Dacquoise, Stabilized Whipped Cream and finally another layer of Dacquoise. The whole thing was crumb-coated with the Praline Butter Cream, then finally, Glazed with more Chocolate! Is your mouth watering yet?! =)

Note that I did a really bad Glazing job and also as I was moving my Marjorlaine to get it ready for transport and it's portrait, I accidentally dropped some of those hazelnuts on top. *sigh* I'm going to have to learn to be more careful in the future!

Now, for those of you who are more into fruit, we have the luscious Charlotte Russe. We learned about Bavaroise and for this Charlotte, we used White Peach as the base. Oh, BTW, for those of you who don't know what a Charlotte is, it is a cake made using a mold. There are both cold and hot Charlottes and this one is a cold Charlotte. Anyway, the outside and bottom of this is made of Lady Fingers! This combo with the White Peach Bavarois was SO good!!! I really, really, really enjoyed this one!!!!! Maybe I'll make this one for the shop... I just don't know if our customer base would be interested... We'll see.

And finally, the quick bread style cake of the day - Lemon Cake! This is an interesting cake which I thoroughly enjoyed! It had bits of real lemon in it! We sliced up some lemons supreme style and added it to the mix. I froze these and enjoyed them for a quick breakfast on my super hectic mornings.

Day 34: Chocolate Ganache Cake

2009-06-03T19:50:00.001-04:00

Chocolate Genoise Cake soaked in Hazelnut flavored simple syrup, layered with lightly whipped chocolate ganache, then glazed with even more chocolate and finally topped with candied rose petals (yes, they are edible!). Chocolate lover or not, you only need a small slice! =)

Day 33: Angel Food Cake, Dacquoise au Cafe

2009-06-03T19:49:00.002-04:00

Day 33 was a heavenly day! Angel Food Cake - need I say more? Then there was also the Dacquoise au Cafe! This is a dried almond meringue with coffee flavored butter cream. Yum! For those of you familiar with Sans Rival, this is sort of a Mocha Almond version! It is mouth-watering! In fact, I'm thinking about selling these in our shop... =) Unfortunately for you, I wasn't able to take a picture because I didn't get to finish my up (since I ran out of time being the baker). BUT, my wonderful classmate Claudia gave me hers!!! Oh, it was a home run in my book!

Anyway, here is a picture of the Angel Food Cake...

Day 30: Speedy Vol au Vents, Dartois, Mille Feuille (Napoleon)

2009-06-03T19:47:00.000-04:00

Day 27: Stollen, Croissant, Croissant Au Chocolat, Savoy Scones

2009-06-03T19:45:00.000-04:00

Stollen has literally stolen my heart!!! *queue in fake laughter* This bread is unbelievable! Of course, I'll admit that there must be like a zillion calories in each slice from this loaf, but when eaten in moderation, it is SO worth it! It's got some dried fruits and lots of nuts (again with the nuts!!) and then it is coated with melted butter and a quick roll in powdered sugar. I forgot to take a picture of it, so SORRY! But it is definitely worth writing about. I don't remember the story for this one, but I think I remember our teacher saying something to the effect that it is shaped the way it is because it is supposed to symbolize a swaddled baby (since I think this is a Christmas bread). Anyway, I have it in my freezer at the moment and every so often, I'll take a slice for dessert! =)

Croissant and Chocolate Croissants are pretty self explanatory, but I must say that these are probably the best croissants I have ever had! And I'm not just tooting my own horn (or rather the school's since it's their recipe), but honestly, these were delish!

And finally, we come to the Savoy Scones. These are the traditional scones made with dried currants. Nowadays, you can find scones in all different varieties, but my teacher told us that a dried fruit is usually used. With that thought, I went ahead and made my own version which I make on Sundays and sell at the shop: Mango Scones! =) I love them! They are like biscuits with bits-o-mango in them. I think it's an interesting combo!

Day 26: Brioche, Kugelhopf, Blueberry Muffins

2009-06-03T19:44:00.002-04:00

Day 25: Challah, Danish, Fruit Cake

2009-06-03T19:44:00.001-04:00

Challah (pronounced "HALLA" for those of you who don't already know). Yes, I was going around pronouncing it just the way it was spelled, but my partner corrected me gently and didn't openly laugh at me in my face (thanks Amanda!). Oh, and yes, I did braid it myself, thank you very much!

These Danishes were really yummy!!!! I think I ate like 3 of these - not all at once, though I really wanted to! =)

Fruit Cake is not one of my favorites, but this was good! I guess it's because our teacher told us that we could put anything we wanted in them! My partner and I opted for more nuts than fruits and that was an awesome choice! Oh, they were delicious!!!

Day 24: Viennoiserie!! Pecan Sticky Buns, Sally Lunn Buns, Orange Cinnamon Swirl Bread

2009-06-03T19:43:00.002-04:00

Yessirree, Viennoiserie!!! Here is our intro to breads! This unit is somehow wedged between Puff 1 and Puff 2, but I just don't see why... I'm not complaining though! Anyways, the bread world is quite different from everything else we have learned so far. There's more "waiting" time between steps. It's good, but bad. We really had to learn to manage our time well, because once you start something when something else is proofing, you'd better make sure that you don't forget about that thing that's proofing. And being a baker during this unit is not a happy task. Thumbs up to our bakers for this unit!!!

And now, without further ado, I present the start of our Viennoiserie!

First up is the Pecan Sticky Buns! Move over Cinnabon!!! Oh, this was really, really good. I'm a total sucker for Sticky Buns and I was not disappointed! =)

Sally Lunn, oh Sally Lunn! I loved these buns. So did my little one! It was a good bribing tool while it lasted!

And finally, the Orange Cinnamon Swirl Loaf. This was good, but it would have been great without the raisins. Sorry peeps, I'm just not a raisin fan (you can thank my bro for that)! Though I have to say that letting the raisins soak in rum makes it more tolerable! =)

Day 23: Jalousie, Pithivier

2009-06-03T19:43:00.001-04:00

Ahh... This day was one of my favorite puff pastry days! Actually, most of the puff pastry days were my favorites! =) Anyway, the Jalousie and the Pithivier were both uber scrumptious! And both have juicy, scandalous back stories to go along too!

The Jalousie, which supposedly means a slatted blind is named accordingly because it looks like a slatted blind! The story goes that a baker/pastry chef had a suspicion that his wife was cheating on him, so he would try to peek through a slatted blind to see if he could catch her cheating... Well, when you look into our slatted blind pastry you won't find a cheating wife, but you will find almond cream and raspberry jam! The combo was pretty good!

Now for the Pithivier, supposedly there was a king who wanted to go meet with his mistress, so he disguised himself as a commoner. On his way to see his mistress, he was kidnapped by a gang and they brought him back to their town - Pithivier (in Orlean, Fance)! Well, when they got back to the town, they realized that they had the king!!! Oh no! And so, to make the king feel better, they made him this wonderful treat so that he won't throw them in the dungeon (or something like that)... Okay, I don't really remember all the details, but you get the gist of the story. Anyway, this one is also called a "Twelfth Night" cake served on the Epiphany. They can be baked with a whole nut hidden in it and whoever gets the nut gets to be the King/Queen for the day - fun!

Day 22: Conversations, Poire En Cage, Galette de Saison

2009-05-07T00:46:00.001-04:00

Alright, I have to say that I am enamoured with the Conversations! Lucious almond cream encased in puff pastry with a layer of royal icing on top, then decorated with more puff pastry, and baked until brown. The traditional design on top should be a simple "x" but we were allowed to get creative to a point (we didn't have any cool cutters so we had to make do with the round ones that we had). I was a little disappointed that some of them cracked and broke, but I certainly was not disappointed with the taste! Absolutely and utterly delicious!!!

The Poire En Cage (literal translation is Pear in a Cage - the glamourous flow of the French name is definitely lost in translation!) was pretty good too and I think they look fabulous. We poached our pears using caramelized sugar, water, white wine, fresh ginger and cinnamon. I think the pears turned out pretty good. Now, with a tiny bit of almond cream on the bottom, this dessert was as yummy as it was attractive.

Our Galette de Saison on the other hand.... Well, we made an apple compote with rhubarb. It was my first time trying rhubarb and apparently, the rhubarb we got was not completely ripe yet and we kind of put a lot and, well, the compote turned out to be kind of sour. At least too sour for my taste. No, I did not throw them out, they were actually finished up by our army of workers! They all seemed to like it, or if they didn't they certainly didn't tell me and they finished them quite quickly! Just not for me...

Day 21: Mille Feulletage, Fruit Bar, Papillion, & Vol Au Vent

2009-05-03T09:02:00.000-04:00

So I think I'm going to make a new work-out video called "The Perfect Body - Pastry Way". The only catch is, you make everything, but you can't eat it! Anyway, I'm kind of sore today in the ab area. Yes, the abdomen area. Rolling Pate Feulletage (puff pastry) will give you a work out! Actually, my shoulders and arms are kind of sore as well, though that could be from carrying my back pack around...

The Mille Feulletage is basically a round Napoleon, but it has powdered sugar on top with the burnt on (or rather branded on) Quadrillant design on it. The traditional Napoleon has Fondant and Chocolate on the top.

The Fruit Bar was delicious!!! I guess it helps when the fresh fruit is uber fresh and sweet, PLUS it has almond cream and from past experience, anything with almond cream is yummy!!!

Papillion is French for Butterfly. These are basically made the same way the Palmiers were made, but it was cut and shaped differently. Mine do not necessarily look like butterflies, but again, they sure were fun to make and eat!

Vol au Vents are basically casing for a filling. These can be used for both savory and sweet fillings. In class, we made savory fillings which were quite delicious! Check out the rise on my puff pastry!!!! Not too shabby, huh? =)

Day 20: Tomato Tart, Fruit Strip, Palmier & Apple Tartlettes

2009-05-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

Today we completed a bunch of things! The Tomato Tart I think was more for practicing our knife skills. Currently, my knife skills still need a lot of improvement, though at least I am not as scare of the knife as when I started! Our Chef Knife looked so intimidating to me! But now I have to say that it is my friend. =) Anyway, this savory tart was very good. Strange as the "tomato custard" sounds, which is essentially what it was, it was quite good!!! My mom took a good portion of it home and I had a nice sized slice for lunch the next day!

We also made a Fruit Strip and the Apple Tartlettes - more knife skills cutting up fruit! The Fruit Strip has a little Creme Legere on the bottom and I thought it was really quite tasty! The Apple Tartlettes were also very good since we sprinkled some Vanilla Sugar on top before putting it in the oven. It was a very good combo!

With our puff pastry scraps, we made Palmier. It is also known as Elephant Ears. This was fun to make and even more fun to eat!

Day 19: Paillettes (Cheese Straws)

2009-04-29T13:48:00.000-04:00

Puff the Magic Pastry...

So we just started on Puff Pastry! It's rather interesting, but definitely a labor intensive dough to make! I can see why people charge a lot for Napoleon and things like that... Most of the class we spent just making the dough. The only thing we were able to complete was the Cheese Straws which were quite yummy. Our teacher said that they should be a little spicy so that it will make people drink more. Apparently, it's nice to serve these at the bar of restaurants so that they buy more drinks! =) Anyway, I'm not too much into spice, though I did put some in. Maybe next time we have a party, I'll make some of these for snacks...

Day 17: Croquembouche

2009-04-27T01:31:00.002-04:00

Yes! The croquembouche!!! This is the traditional wedding cake in France!!! Ever since I saw this on Desperate House Wives, I have wanted to see one up close and personal. I never imagined that by getting up close and personal, I would be the one making it! It is a lot harder than I thought and since I haven't really seen more, I wasn't too sure about how to decorate it. I made a bunch of decorations, but I made them too thin, so a lot of them broke when I tried to attach them to the croquembouche. Since this is a wedding cake, I went ahead and made me and my husband's initials with the heart. Well, I made lots of hearts, but again, they broke. =( Actually, Mike's "M" broke too, but I just put it on anyway...

Without further ado, I present my very first Croquembouche!

Here is my partner's croquembouche. I think she did an awesome job! Go Gina!!!

This one is a picture of the whole classes' croquembouches! I think we all did a pretty good job! Chef Cynthia seemed impressed!

Day 16: Gateau Saint Honore, Gougere

2009-04-27T01:31:00.001-04:00

Oh Gateau! So apparently, Saint Honore is the patron saint of pastry chefs! I went over to the Saint Francis of Assisi Church Bookstore to see if I could find a Saint Honore medal, but I guess he's not that popular... At least we have this wonderful Gateau (pronounced ga-tow with the accent on the tow part) to commemorate our saint! This was made with a Pate a Choux base and as you can see from the pictures, caramel topped cream puffs! The filling for both the puffs and the center was a wonderfully delicious Chiboust. A chiboust is a combo of pastry cream, gelatin and Italian meringue.

The Gougere was also yummy! It is basically a classy cheese puff!

Day 15: Paris Brest, Profiteroles, Cygnes (Swans)

2009-04-27T01:24:00.001-04:00

So here is the Paris-Brest, a Pate a Choux ring with a hazelnut praline Creme Mousseline filling (that's a type of butter cream). This one is one of my many favorites. My family was rather happy when we had to make this for my test, so they all got a taste! I was thinking about adding this cream to our product line, maybe pairing it with chocolate cake or something like that... We'll see... =)

Profiteroles, profiteroles, who does not love profiteroles?! These were made in the traditional way - with Vanilla ice cream and Chocolate sauce. I still love these as regular cream puffs, actually, the best profiteroles I personally had were in France (go figure)! When I can make the perfect Creme Legere, I will hopefully add these to the product line too, substituting the ice cream for the Creme Legere. Maybe a flavored one? Hmmm...

Cygnes or swans. I love the way these look! I was so excited that my swan bodies came out pretty decent! We actually used to sell these at the bakery early on - Chantilly Swans. In class we did not used Creme Chantilly, but rather Creme Martinique - Creme Legere with Rum and Brunois cut pineapple.

Day 11: Mini Tart Tatin, Caramel Nut Tart, Bourbon Pecan Cookies

2009-04-20T22:23:00.001-04:00

Day 10: Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Bavarian, Pate Sablee Cookies

2009-04-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

Day 14: Eclairs

2009-04-20T22:18:00.001-04:00

Here are the Eclairs we made on our first day learning about Pate a Choux. We learned a lot about eclairs, for example, the standard size of an eclair is 4 inches. Also, there are 3 traditional flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate and Caramel. In class we made Vanilla, Chocolate and Coffee. I have to admit that the coffee one was my favorite! It should be one of the new traditional ones!!! Anyway, everyone seemed to be having trouble with the Creme Patissiere that day, and so the next class, Chef Cynthia gave us some great tips to help with making non-lumpy Creme Patissiere! That's the advantage of having an experienced instructor.

Day 12: Quiche Lorraine, Linzer Torte

2009-04-20T22:03:00.000-04:00

More Yummies

2009-04-06T18:36:00.000-04:00

Again, I'm playing catch-up!

So, I did promise a couple of things in my last post didn't I? I think I will address the "Chef Uniform Secrets" as I wait for my hard boiled eggs to cook for my son's Easter Egg project in school tomorrow. So, I don't know if I really should be writing about this, but I figure that my 2 faithful readers may actually find it interesting, if they don't know this already. I hope that I am not breaking some chef code of honor by divulging this information!!! If I'm not in class on Thursday, you'll know why!!! I was taken by the Chef Uniform Police! =) Okay, so a few posts back, I was saying how I liked my uniform sans the checkered pants... Well, it turns out that this particular pattern on the pants hides stains very well. Basically the way the uniform was designed was to hide stains since as we all know (or may not know), things can get quite messy in the kitchen. The goal is always to keep it clean, but if you happen to get swiped by someone carrying a bowl of chocolate ganache, it won't be easy to take that off without throwing it in the washing machine!

As for the double breasted chef coats, well, it turns out that they are double breasted for a reason! If you happen to get a stain on your coat and then a customer wants to meet you to pay you their compliments, of course you don't want to go out to the dining room with a dirty chef coat! You just switch over to the "clean" side and voila, nice and clean!

And so, there it is my friends... chef uniform secrets revealed! =)

Now, for some "yummy" business!

First up - the Blueberry Clafoutis (I think it is pronounced KLA-FOO-TI). Traditionally, it is made with black cherries, but here we used blueberries. My son LOVED it because he absolutely LOVES blueberries! It is basically blueberries in a baked custard.

Here are some cookies we worked on. In the front we have fig newtons. No, not like the ones you can buy mass-produced. The shell is more "pastry-like" and well, the figs we cooked up ourselves. My husband usually doesn't go for fig newtons, but after he tried these, he changed his mind! Well, I still don't think he will eat the ones from the grocery, but if I make these again, I'm sure there is a good chance he will eat it! =)

In the back are the Spritskakor (Scandinavian Butter Cookies or they are also know as Thumb Print Cookies) with some raspberry jam. I personally liked these a lot! Maybe because I love almond paste and there was lots of almond paste in this recipe! I was thinking about making these for the bakery also, but haven't decided on what jam to put in the middle. We'll see... I guess that may just be another "Coming soon" product.

Here is a French Nut Tart or the name in our text book is "Tarte Aux Noix". Don't ask me how to pronounce this one! I know a little French, but truthfully, I'm extremely rusty. I tend to blend Spanish, Italian and French altogether... *sigh* Anyway, I also found this one to be quite tasty, though I think I put too much raspberry jam in mine. This was made with the Raspberry jam on the bottom with a thin layer of Almond. On top of that was a batter made with almond cream mixed with almond and hazelnut flours. A definite must for nut lovers!

The next 2 pictures are the little Lemon Tarts we made! We even made the lemon curd ourselves! Yes, that was our first "stirred" custard. We also learned how to make Swiss Meringue to finish them off and how to torch them. Yes, you read that correctly - TORCH them! I used a blow torch for the first time! I was quite nervous about it, especially when I started a small fire on one of my tarts, but I got over it once I saw that the mini-flame burned itself out rather quickly and you can't even tell that this happened. Apparently, the blow torch is a something we will be using a lot, so I really do have to get over it!

Okay dear readers, the eggs are finally ready and I'm thinking I'm going to make me some deviled eggs with the extras! 'til next time (hopefully this weekend)!

Still working on it...

2009-04-03T21:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've been experimenting with our Egg Custard Pie at the bakery... I tried a few different recipes and after some modifications, I have finally settled on the one I like best. So now it is a matter of technique... I think I have it somewhat down pat, though my main problem at the moment is figuring out when to take it out of the oven! I always think it is not finished baking yet, so I keep adding a few minutes, but then I just completely miss it and it turns out over baked! *sigh* Anyway, I think I have finally come close to figuring out the approximate bake time ~ 53 minutes. We'll see at the next trial!

So, let me tell you about the new things I learned at the French Culinary Institute I was able to apply to my Egg Custard Pie experiments! Luckily, we are currently learning about custards so, my timing was perfect! So, let us start with burning eggs with sugar... Yes, you read that right, burning eggs with sugar! The first time I made the custard pie, part of the recipe says to scald the milk. In order to save time, I went ahead and started mixing the eggs with the sugar to get that ready to go before adding the milk part. Well, by the time the milk was ready, the egg/sugar mix had turned a dark color. Apparently, I had burned the eggs... =( Because of the hygroscopic nature of sugar, it absorbed all the liquid from the egg, thus burning it! Another thing I applied to my method is adding some of the sugar to the warming milk so that it doesn't burn. And finally, the third method I used was tempering the egg mixture with some of the scalded milk before complete integration.

Here is a picture I snapped with my phone of the final result from today. Of course, it is the nicest of the bunch... Hopefully I will get it perfect the next time!

A few more goodies!

2009-04-02T00:06:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to catch up on the things we have made, but of course (just like in case), I'm falling behind! =)

Okay, so last Saturday, we made some Fresh Fruit Tartlettes. I didn't have enough time to garnish my 4 little tarts so I brought the fruits home. I let John decorate one of them and I did the other 3. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take a picture of John's tart before he started eating it, but it's quite easy to imagine - he put 2 slices of oranges and then proclaimed that he was finished and wanted to eat it. He actually took the oranges off when he ate them too!!! He's so silly... Anyway, here is a picture of the other 3 that I was able to garnish sans the apricot glaze. It was a pate sucree shell with yummy creme legere (yes, I may just be spelling these wrong again!!!) with the fresh fruits on top! I loved them! I'm thinking about making them this summer at the bakery but using mangoes as the fresh fruit. I'm not sure which other fresh fruit would match well with the mango, so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way!

These next 2 cookies are Chocolate Dream Cookies (and yes, they are quite dreamy) and Vanilla Kipferl Cookies (Viennese Vanilla Crescents). My teacher very accurately described the Chocolate Dream Cookies as a cross between a Chocolate Cookie and a Brownie. I thought they were divine! Lots-o-chocolate and a sprinkling of pecan nuts throughout made these cookies irresistible to me! And the Vanilla cookies - made with Hazelnut flour - need I say more?

Last Tuesday (3/31/09), we did a savory tart - Tarte A L'Oignon (Rustic Onion Tart). I loved, loved, loved this one, though my poor husband... He didn't hear me explain that it was a savory tart with caramelized onions, bleu cheese, walnuts and plum tomatoes and he was totally expecting to eat something sweet like all the other tarts we have been making up to this point... Well, needless to say, he took 1 bite and put it back in the fridge (at least he didn't throw it out!!) wondering what it was that he had just eaten. The good news of that is - I had the rest of that bitten piece for my dinner tonight! YUM!

We did get to bring home some cool stuff tonight, but I will make another posting probably this weekend. Mike took some pics for me but I can't get the files yet because he's a little pre-occupied at the moment (sleeping)...

Oh, before I go, I have a couple more things... First off, we had our ServSafe test today and I really hope that I passed. Second, I wanted to say that I felt like a celebrity at school today with paparazzi taking our picture - during our fire drill today. Yes, I know, it was totally unglamorous, but it must have been quite a site seeing a small sea of pastry and culinary students (in full uniform) on the corner of Broadway and Grand. Of course, there were people all over taking our picture... As we were going back into the school, a guy with a big camera (sorry Mike and photographer friends - I didn't see what kind of camera or lens he was using) came running up to us and taking our picture in quickfire mode! I turned away, thus I did not see what camera it was, but it did kind of sound like a canon... maybe... Anywho - I'm signing off for now. Some things to look forward to in my posts - of course, more goodies, but I want to give my teacher a plug because she is uber talented and she also happens to be a great teacher! Oh, and some chef wardrobe secrets! =)

Revlon Run/Walk for Women - 5/2/09

2009-03-30T01:22:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Okay, so this post is non-FCI related, but it is important to me. I usually try to participate in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women's Cancers, but since I've got school on Saturdays now, I won't make it this year. Even though I won't be there physically, I will definitely be there in spirit. And I'm still trying to help to raise money by registering and collecting donations.

Last year I wrote a little blurb for the e-newsletter and suprisingly, they posted it on this year's Your Stories section.

Anyway, if you are interested in supporting Women's Cancers, you can visit my Fundraising Site.

Here is a pic of me and Nelle from last year!

And here is what I originally wrote for the e-newsletter last year (they made me pare it down to ~100 words).

I walk for a few reasons, one being that I would like to raise awareness of Ovarian Cancer. I myself am an ovarian cancer survivor. It was back in February of 1997. I started having some pain in my abdomen. Most of my symptoms seemed like gastro-intestinal problems, but after 3 weeks, the pain was just too much. Throughout this time, no one was quite sure what it was. Initially, I was sent home with a prescription for some strong antibiotics, but the pain just kept getting worse. My very good friend Renelle happens to be a nurse and she knew that something was very wrong. She made an appointment with my doctor right away. After my doctor examined me, he sent me straight to the hospital. Two days and several tests later; there I was in surgery getting a full hysterectomy. I was diagnosed with an ovarian germ cell tumor at the age of 22. In that span of approximately 3 weeks, it had grown from about the size of a golf ball to the size of a football. It turned out that the tumor had burst and the fluid was everywhere, even my lungs. Lucky for me, the fluid turned out to be benign, even though the tumor was not. My treatment was 9 weeks of chemotherapy – which were probably some of the hardest weeks of my life. Well, here I am now, 12 years later and healthy as can be. I urge all women to visit their doctors regularly. Preventive maintenance is very important. Ladies, please listen to your bodies, ovarian cancer is not called the cancer that whispers for nothing.

I also walk to honor those who fought to the end, but did not make it. Hopefully with the money raised through this yearly event, research can advance further and the mortality rate of women’s cancers will drop.

Another reason I walk is to maybe bring hope to those who are still fighting the battle. I personally had a great support group – my family, my friends and God. In particular, my mother and Renelle were always there through it all. I was so blessed to have these 2 angels throughout my journey. I know that others are not so lucky; however, I believe that seeing all the survivors and supporters who come out to join the Revlon Run/Walk really gives hope to those who may be feeling alone in their battle. Whenever I arrive at the Run/Walk, I always feel this surge of energy and emotion that gives me an overwhelming sense of hope, which almost always brings tears to my eyes.

On that note, I want to share a passage that I “found” one day while I was in the hospital which gave me hope (truthfully, I believe there was divine intervention in my “finding” this – I happened to open my Bible right to the page and my eyes just went straight to this passage):

Job 11:13-18

“Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God. Put away evil and wrong from your home. Then face the world again, firm and courageous. Then all your troubles will fade from your memory, like floods that are past and remembered no more. Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon, and life’s darkest hours will shine like the dawn. You will live secure and full of hope; God will protect you and give you rest.”

So far...

2009-03-26T23:36:00.000-04:00

So today we had class #5! I haven't had a chance to blog because I've just been SO busy! And since I've been busy, I keep falling asleep so I don't get to finish all of my goals for the day - blogging included.

Since it is rather late and I still have some other things I need to take care of, I'm just going to post pics and a short description of all the things we have done so far. Unfortunately, there is 1 thing I didn't get to take a picture of - the Banana Cream Tart (which was scrumptious). I put my tool bag next to it in the locker room and sadly, my bag tipped over and squashed the tart... *sigh* I did learn an important lesson from that though - take a picture before you leave class!!!

At the moment, we are learning about tarts and cookies, so most of the things you will see are just that! BTW, everything I tried so far was pretty good. I haven't tried the last 2 yet, but I have to admit that they smell really good! Tomorrow I'm going to dig in.

First up - the Apple Tart! Of course, I kind of messed up the design when I was applying my apricot nappage (or apricot glaze), but it was still pretty good. It is a sugar crust with apple compote (that we made from scratch) and then the apples on top.

Next up is the Tarte Bourdaloue. This one is a poached pear and almond tart. It has almond cream on the bottom. I really like the almond cream!!! We poached the pears using a mix of water and white wine (and all the other necessities of poaching). This is really yummy!

Here we have a fresh fruit tart. Apparently there are many different ways to make a fresh fruit tart. For this one we used a flaky crust with a thin layer of the almond cream, then some creme leggere with the fresh fruits on top. We got to learn some knife skills on this one - learning to do a supreme cut on the oranges. Our chef-instructor told us to make sure there was no white on the oranges (the pith) because that was the difference between a 5 star meal and a 3 star meal. Of course, then I just had to make sure that I got rid of all the pith!

And here we have some gingersnap cookies! We didn't get to take too many home because the rest went to the restaurant L'Ecole for the little "goodie bag" that all the guests receive. I actually think that these taste better a couple days later because they are more chewy in the center.

This is a Pots de Creme Au Chocolat. Okay, so I didn't actually make this one, but I went ahead and ate mine before I remembered to take a picture! Luckily one of my classmates didn't want to eat hers, so I took a picture. This is a baked chocolate custard. To me, it tasted like a cross between a chocolate mousse and chocolate pudding.

This one is a picture of some little fruit tartlettes that we made today. These have apricot with pastry cream underneath. Yes, I ran out of apricots, so mine look a little sparse. Also, my wonderful partner - Brie gave me some of hers since she has no one to share with and I have a ton of people I can feed!!

Finally, here is the Tarte Alsacienne (Alsatian Apple Tart). It is basically flambe (yes, I flambed my own apples, I was quite terrified, but my chef-instructor was by my side to guide me) apples baked in custard. This one really smells GOOD! I can't wait to try this one!!! =)

And so, that is all we have made to date. Hopefully I will be able to update sooner, rather than later! Enjoy and don't let your mouth water too much! =)

A Bien Tot!

Going on Day 2!

2009-03-19T01:12:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I didn't get a chance to update on my first day of class yesterday. It was great, though I must say that I feel like I totally have no right being there! I felt like such a klutz and totally awkward in my uniform. I'm hoping that it was just first day jitters and that tomorrow will be much better... Gosh, trying to figure out the complete uniform alone was a disaster (like, how the heck do you tie a neckerchief?) So, for our first class, we took a tour of our classroom and learned about a lot already! We even started our Apple Tart! I can't wait to finish it tomorrow - the apple compote alone was delish! Yes, I got to taste a little bit of it - I needed to check that it was tender. =)

We also got our tool kits. Our Chef Instructor told us to put different colored electrical tape on all our tools, so I spent the night doing that. I think my husband Mike thinks that I went a little overboard with that assignment and commented, "You know you have to wash that right?" I'm hoping that the electrical tape won't come off in the wash... Chef wouldn't ask us to do this if it hasn't been tested already, right? I suppose I'll find out tomorrow.

Anywho, I'd better get to sleep soon so I won't fall asleep in class! Hopefully my apple tart will come out nice enough for a snapshot appearance on my blog!

Tootles!

Orientation!

2009-03-14T11:39:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I had my orientation! I'm so excited and nervous about starting class next week. The commute from Jersey was not too bad, however, coming home during rush hour on a Friday is definitely not fun, especially when you are lugging around the huge duffle bag containing the uniforms and text book! I'm actually a little sore today just from carrying that bag. Hopefully when I get everything organized into my backpack, it will be easier to carry.

Okay, on to the good stuff. So, I have been looking all over the internet trying to figure out which text book they use at the FCI. I searched and searched and searched, and did not find any answers. Well, if I had put 2 and 2 together in the first place, I probably would have figured out that they have their own book (binder bound) which they use as the text book! Duh!!!! Any idiot could have probably figured that out... Anyway, it really is quite thick and it seems like this is only for Pastry I! I wonder if the text books for Pastry II and Pastry III will be just as thick... Hmmm... If that's the case, I think I need to make more room on my bookshelf!

As for the uniforms, they are so cool, though I'm not really into the pants too much (small black and white check-ish design). My husband was teasing me saying that I look like a guido (or would that be guida?!). I don't care, the rest of it is pretty cool. I am in love with the chef jacket! And, it has my name on it!!!

Well, we already got our assignment for the first class, so I'd better get cracking on the reading and look at the recipes for the infamous Apple Tart! I hope mine comes out decent! Wish me luck!

Moist Chocolate Cake

2008-10-26T22:55:00.000-04:00

So, I was at a party last night and someone asked me how she could make her chocolate cake more moist. My answer was, "I don't know". The only baking experience I have at the moment is what I have learned from my mother. I have done a little experimentation on my own, but nothing that would qualify my answering this question... And so, I told her the plain truth - I don't know. What I really should have answered is "I don't know - YET!" Hopefully after I'm finished with the French Culinary Institute, I will be able to answer her question. Actually, I have been doing a little research lately, yes, the nerd in me is coming out again... There's a book that I am thoroughly enjoying - The Cake Bible. I highly recommend it for those of you who want to know the science behind the baking. And from the reviews I have seen on Amazon, the recipes work. I haven't tried any yet since I've been so busy lately, but I am hoping to try some out in the near future. Will keep you posted when I do... =)

Fondarific

2008-09-24T00:32:00.001-04:00

I went to the Bakery Expo in Atlantic City this past Monday on the hunt for a good tasting fondant (among other hunts...). Currently, there are not many on the market, and it can get to be quite expensive buying each one, just to taste it! Well, as I went around asking if I could try a bit from different vendors, I came upon a booth with a nice lady holding a basket full of little samples of - FONDANT! Apparently, they are a new company and according to their website (www.fondarific.com) they are the only ones with a buttercreme flavor! In addition, they offer many different flavors of fondant. I was lucky enough to try the buttercreme, chocolate (which tasted a lot like Tootsie Rolls - yum!) and the cherry flavor. All of them were delish! =) Actually, I went ahead and ordered some of the chocolate already along with the free sample pack (you do have to pay $1.50 though for handling). I can't wait to receive my order and try out all the flavors! I'm excited to try the tutti frutti - if it tastes anything like Jelly Belly tutti frutti jelly beans, I think I will be in heaven! They seem to have many advantages. It seems the only downfall is that it is pricey, but then, as the cliche goes, you get what you pay for here. Anyhoo, I will keep you posted and let you know if it is worth the money - I certainly hope so!

Cut Out cookies

2008-09-10T02:19:00.000-04:00

My son's 3rd birthday was on September 4th. Last year we brought cupcakes to his daycare and that turned out to be way too messy! I felt SO bad for the teachers because they had to clean up each and every kid. And so, this year, I decided to make some cut-out cookies (thanks Maricel for the idea!). Our theme was fire trucks, so I found a fire truck cookie cutter and a #3, which was absolutely perfect, and then all I needed was the recipe. There are so many recipes online, it was quite difficult to try to pick one. I don't remember which one I ultimately ended up with, but the best tip I read during my research was to use powdered sugar instead of flour when rolling out the dough. This way the dough does not get too tough to work with and you don't end up with any waste! This worked perfectly! I topped it off with some fondant and voila we had some pretty cool looking cookies! Definitely better than the cupcakes!

Excited

2008-08-20T22:39:00.000-04:00

I was driving a friend home today and as I was driving alongside some railroad tracks, one of those newer double decker trains came by. Of course, that got me thinking about how the train looks inside because I had never been in one of those, which got me thinking about my train ride into the city once I start classes at the FCI! Then I started daydreaming about what I will be learning, what new creations I can come up with... My daydreaming came to an abrupt stop as I realized that I completely missed my turn off! Anyway, I'm still so very excited about the classes that I can hardly contain myself! =)

Organic Sake

2008-08-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

So I went to the liquor store today on the hunt for Sake - Japanese rice wine. I am planning to make some Salmon Teriyaki and Sake is one of the ingredients. I had never bought or even tried Sake before so I didn't really know what to look for. And so, after I picked up my son from school, we went looking around town for a liquor store. I was able to find one not too far from our house. From the outside, it looked like a tiny store so I was a little concerned as to whether or not they would have it, but once I walked through the double doors, the place was actually quite big and very clean and organized! When I got to the Japanese wine section, I was confronted by a huge selection of Sake. I didn't know which one to pick!!!! Again, I know absolutely NOTHING about Sake, so I had no idea which one to get! The nice sales lady made a few suggestions, but I happened to see the word "organic" on one of the bottles, so I took a look at that one. I was so surprised to see Sake made from organic rice! And to top it off, it was only $5.99!!! That was great! And so, I went ahead and bought it - Sho Chiku Bai brand. That's SO cool! =)

Is expensive really better than cheap?

2008-08-18T21:04:00.000-04:00

Not always, but I'm sure that you already knew that! I am kind of picky when it comes to lotions... I had purchased one of those big packs of Eucerin at Costco because I have extremely dry skin. Well, it seems to help, kind of, but it is just too greasy and after I take a shower, I feel like my skin is back to square 1. A while back, I had purchased a bottle of Jergen's Ultra Healing (a whole lot cheaper than Eucerine, mind you) and I had completely forgotten about it. Well, I stumbled upon it and gave it a try and I love it! I really feel a difference and to top it off, it has a nice mild scent. It smells like nice clean laundry to me, which I adore! And so at probably about half the price of Eucerin, Jergen's Ultra Healing does a better job for me, and smells better too!

The beginning...

2008-08-17T20:31:00.000-04:00

Well, I have made the decision to go to the French Culinary Institute and take the Classic Pastry Arts course! I am uber excited so I started this blog to document my journey, even though I won't be starting until probaby March of 2009. In the mean time, you will probably just see random things, like maybe how I am a big closet (or is it out of the closet?) fan of The Backyardigans! Or how my little one amazes me almost everyday by saying something wise beyond his almost 3 years... Or how I made Banana Nut muffins for my mom today using a recipe from Annabel Karmel's cook book for children called First Meals (substituting the sugar with Splenda of course)... Or, maybe you'll just see me venting about a bad day or gushing over a wonderful day that I had! Or I may post an "A-ha" green idea I saw on the Green Planet channel since Mother Earth needs all the help she can get... And so dear reader, I hope you enjoy! =)