The cake is lined with coffee lady fingers (done with the cartouchiere technique - piping the lady fingers like a cartridge of bullets) on the side, and the bottom is a disc of the same lady finger mixture, imbibed with pear liqueur syrup. Then the disc is covered with a layer of caramel bavarian mousse, studded with diced canned pears, then another imbibed disc of cake goes onto the mousse, and we top the cake with a pear mousse. After that, we put a thin layer of natural clear glaze, and decorate it with canned pear, chocolate decorations and caramel sauce (which is served on the side too).
Here's what my full-size Delice Caramel looked like:
Chef liked the way I marbled the glaze on the cake. I used the caramel sauce and some drops of coffee extract to create the effect.
Side view of the same cake.
Chef said I still need more practice with the chocolate decorations -- it is quite hard to make the chocolate fans and the two-toned chocolate cigarettes, because one has to temper the two kinds of chocolate and then complete a series of steps before using the metal scraper to create this "chocolate curl" (which we call "chocolate cigarette"). I still haven't quite mastered this technique yet.
My delice caramel as a plated dessert. I served the mini-cake with the caramel sauce, and a quenelle of caramel bavarian mousse. I was pressed for time to complete this, so my plated dessert didn't look all that special. I basically created this plated dessert in 5 minutes - I threw a few things together and served.
Chef wasn't impressed with this plated dessert, but at least I served on time. He also said my lady fingers were a bit too thick, which, I realised, made lining the outside of the cake a bit difficult.
Anyway, I am not a big fan of pear cakes. You might recall my least favorite cake in Basic Pastry was the Pear Charlotte.
I gave my cake away to the neighbours when I got home. I kept the caramel sauce for myself, though. :)
Then I went out to lunch with a friend at a sushi restaurant, called Banc Sushi. It is a nice restaurant about 10 minutes' drive from Wilbrod House, where it is all-you-can-eat for around $14. As a foodie, I have tried out many restaurants before (esp. in Sydney, Australia), and I rate this as one of the better restaurants I have ever visited.
After lunch, I went back to School for a demo class, where Chef CF demonstrated how to make a showpiece with pulled sugar, something we will be doing when we get to Superior Pastry (we are just getting a taste of things to come).
Chef CF's sugar showpiece, with a flower, a bird of paradise, ribbons and an apple (demonstrating a number of techniques for working with pulled and blown sugar).
I have to say Chef CF's demo was inspirational. I loved the way he got us all excited about making a sugar showpiece in Superior Pastry, even though I know working with pulled sugar is a "torture" - you work with sugar that is over 70 degree Celsius with your bare hands. (The hot water from your hot water tap is usually below 60 degrees Celsius, so you can imagine 70 degrees would most likely make you say more than just "ouch!")
