The Entremets aux Fruits Rouges is essentially a mousse cake, something we make quite a lot of in Intermediate and Superior Pastry. The base of the cake is a pistachio dacquoise (which tastes fantastic, by the way), and there is a layer of jellified raspberry coulis studded with fresh raspberries in the middle of the cake. It is sandwiched between layers of white chocolate mousse, and finished with a white chocolate glaze.
I really have to show you the Entremets aux Fruits Rouges made by Chef CF (photo below) because it was so pretty. Even one of my housemates (a cuisine student), who saw the photo, said it was gorgeous.
The entremets aux fruits rouges by Chef CF. To me, the marbling on the cake was simply amazing. Just a few strokes with the offset spatula and there it was. I wish I could do it so easily.
This was what Chef CF's cake looked like inside. The layering is nice and even (i.e. good montage).
And here's what mine looked like. I confess I went crazy with the raspberry puree (which I *love*) and raspberries. I used the raspberry puree for the marbling on the cake, instead of the dark glaze, which I didn't really like the taste of, and which I was trying to avoid using.
Chef said the top of my cake was "too red" and "too heavy" (his exact words), but the rest of my cake was fine. I managed to temper the chocolate nicely, and my white chocolate mousse and white glaze were just right.
I felt relaxed in my practical class today. I always feel quite relaxed when Chef CF is supervising the practical class. I don't know why, but it has been this way for me since Basic Pastry.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I thought I should use my timer to remind myself to put gelatin into the pastry cream, and it worked. I think I will stick to this special reminder from now on. :)
The second cake we had to make was the Pain de Gènes (Genoa Almond Cake). Here's mine:
We ran out of mascarpone for the cream on top of the cake, so I ended up making chantilly cream and piping it with a St Honoré tip. Chef said he liked my decoration in the middle of the cake. I was pleased with the effect too. I have to admit it's the first time I actually liked my own piping. (Usually my piping is so ugly that I am somewhat ashamed.)
As for my plated dessert, Chef said it was too big a portion. And he was right. I think I over-compensated for my small portion in the last lesson, and went the other way. When I weighed my plating this time, the food on the plate came to 200 grams altogether. It was 80 grams over the standard 120-gram serving. I didn't say anything, but Chef knew instantly. I joked that it was a dessert for two, and he laughed. Oh well, I just have to learn to serve a 120-gram portion the next lesson.
