** Chaussons aux pommes (apple turnovers)
** Pithiviers (puff pastry with almond cream)
Palmiers (puff pastry biscuits)
Feuillantine (sweet puff pastry with raspberry jam)
Millefeuille
Bichons (puff pastry with pastry cream)
What Chef N created were simply works of art, especially the millefeuille (see the photo below). It takes a lot of skill to be able to make the millefeuille even in size and in layers, and Chef N showed us the techniques (and little tricks of the trade) professional pastry chefs use to achieve the even layers and neat pieces of millefeuille.
At the end of class, we had the chance to taste all the pastries, as per usual. The pastry was superb - it looked good and tasted good. I think it was because everything was handmade, and was fresh from the oven. I look forward to tasting the chef instructor's creations every time - it is the ultimate reward for sitting in class for over two-and-a-half hours, watching the chef's demo and getting hungrier by the minute.
Here are examples of what I made in the practical class supervised by Chef T:
Apple turnovers - puff pastry with apple compote inside. The pattern you see on the puff pastry is made by lightly scoring the surface before baking.
This is a pithivier. It is a round puff pastry filled with almond cream (which we had learned to make in Lesson 3). I quite like the taste of this one and I can see myself making more of this in the future. The rum in the almond cream gives it a lovely flavour.
Of course, my creations were a far cry from what the chef instructor made, but I was quite happy with the result because the puff pastry turned out nicely in the oven. It was a tremendous relief to be able to do something right (because, a few weeks ago, I wondered if I would make it as a pastry chef).
One really important thing I learned from this lesson was how differently the different chefs do the same recipes. I have seen two different ways of making apple compote so far (from Chef N and Chef H) and I can see the advantages in each method (e.g. whether you want to enhance the taste by caramelising the sugar first, or you are short on time and need to produce something quickly). It is good that we are shown different ways of making the same thing, so that we understand our options.
Next lesson, we learn how to make one of my favourite cakes, the black forest cake. Yay!!!
