Intermediate Pastry Exam Result

For the sake of completeness (because I did something similar for Basic Pastry last term), I am going to provide some additional information about the Intermediate Pastry final (practical) exam and the marks that I received for that.

For the practical exam, Groups A and B had the following exam cakes:
Group A:
Opéra
Délice Caramel
Douceur Chocolat

Group B:
Opéra
Petits Fours (pâte à choux)
Triple Chocolate Bavaroise

For the bon d'économat (i.e. memorising the ingredients in the exam recipes), every Group B student was given a different recipe. That means, there were 11 different recipes (taken from the exam list that I posted not long ago). I got the recipe for the 2 tarts, which I had studied, and I remembered most of the quantities of the ingredients. I had actually memorized the ingredient list for all the exam recipes except the Chocolate Bonbons (3 kinds).

Below is a photo of part of my student transcript:


I was quite surprised I did fine in almost all components (techniques, organization and presentation). I thought I had done badly with my techniques. What happened was, my initial batch of pastry cream was terrible (I don't know what went wrong, I just knew I wouldn't eat it, let alone serving it up to the judges), I made the decision to discard it immediately and make a second batch, which thankfully turned out fine. I thought the chefs would penalize me for having to make the pastry cream again. And, of course, I struggled with the fondant glazing - I couldn't get the right temperature and consistency for the fondant glaze and I was quickly running out of time... The fact that I managed to get the fondant glaze on the petits fours (I don't remember how) and serve them is incredible to me.

This time around, I didn't do so well on taste (I had scored highly on taste in my BP exam). But then, I knew the taste of my petits fours was not that great. Not when I had to take a few shortcuts with the flavoring of the fondant glaze. (Thank goodness the chef had shown us some time-saving shortcuts with the fondant glaze during the demo, and I remembered them. I am just sorry I had to resort to them.)

Anyway, I will make sure I am not under this type of pressure again. I cannot make food taste good when I am under so much pressure.

The way I look at it, I can either change the situation or change my behaviour. In an exam situation, I have no control over the exam conditions, therefore I will have to adjust my behaviour to cope with the situation. However, when I am out in the workplace one day and I have some control over the situation (e.g. my own business), I would adjust the situation.

Mean Chef

We had a really good time at the graduation ceremony this afternoon. What made me laugh the most was Chef H wearing his new name tag that we (Intermediate Pastry Group B) gave him (see photo below).

You see, this all started weeks ago, when one of my classmates was teasing Chef H and said to him (in jest, of course), "You're so mean..." Chef H responded by saying perhaps he should wear a name tag highlighting that "fact". I remarked that could be arranged. I had a name tag engraved about two weeks ago, and it was presented to Chef H by one of my classmates several days ago.

Well, here is what the name tag looks like:


And Chef H was such a good sport. He actually pulled it out of his pocket and put it on just as the Intermediate Pastry students went on stage to collect their certificates today. :D

Chef H, you're so funny!!!

"Playing" with Chocolate: My Catharsis

Yesterday I did my stage at Stubbe Chocolates again. I got to "play" with chocolate and it was fun! I used different kinds of chocolate molds to make easter eggs (hollow ones). I also made various chocolate items which were meant for children, for example:


These are some of the dozen chocolate bird houses that I helped make and assemble. I made some of the bases with molds as well. I had used hot cookie cutters to cut the holes in the chocolate easter eggs two weeks ago, and I decorated and assembled the roofs yesterday. Later, a marzipan chicken (see photo below) will be placed at the opening of the bird house.


The marzipan chickens I made two weeks ago. The bodies and heads of the chickens were air-brushed with yellow food-coloring, and then the red beaks and combs were stuck on with white chocolate. I am glad I got to practise some of the skills I learnt in Basic Pastry.


This is a race-car bunny that I helped assemble. Cute, isn't it? It is amazing what you can do with chocolate and marzipan (two of my favorite ingredients in pastry).


These are chocolate boxes in the shape of Easter eggs. I made the chocolate boxes with molds before lunch, and then finished off the product in the afternoon. The lid of the chocolate box is studded with dark chocolate almond clusters (which I made first thing yesterday morning). Then I piped the milk chocolate and white chocolate decorations on each lid. Finally, I dusted the lid with "gold powder" (the same stuff we use at School). I was surprised how attractive the finished product looked with a light dusting of "gold powder". These chocolate boxes will be filled with a selection of chocolate truffles later.


This was one of the cakes from the successful batch of Streussel I made last Thursday, to make up for the failed batch on Tuesday (where a vital ingredient was left out of the streussel topping by mistake).


It's the first time I'd ever tasted Streussel (this one has cranberries, blueberries and raspberries), and it is so good. I love the contrast in texture and taste. The base is moist and spongy, the fruits give it a lovely sweet-and-sour flavor, and the topping has a sandy and crumbly texture, with just the right amount of sweetness. I highly recommend this cake -- when I brought one home to share with my housemates, they all enjoyed it too.

All in all, yesterday was a good day for me (I hope I get to work with chocolate again tomorrow). Seven hours of working with chocolate was cathartic for me because it helped to rebuild a shattered self-confidence. At the very least, my enthusiasm for chocolate dulled the pain of disappointment with my exam performance. I am still trying hard not to think about the "evil fondant curse" (as I call it) ...

Seriously, I have had to use fondant for glazing 5 times in my life: BP lesson on pâte à choux, BP Open Lab (pâte à choux practice), IP lesson on pâte à choux petits fours, IP lesson on petits fours glacés, IP practical exam with pâte à choux petits fours, and I have not had a single success with fondant glazing. :(

Either I am too thick to learn from my mistakes, or fondant is just an impossible ingredient to work with for glazing (/sigh/). I would rather believe I am capable of learning, so I can only conclude that fondant is an impossible ingredient to work with! I know the theory about fondant glazing - optimum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, a smooth, shiny and liquid consistency, etc., etc., but getting it just right is pretty much hit-or-miss for me. No, make that 5 out of 5 misses.

Actually, I don't mind making pâte à choux at all because I know the recipe by heart (125-125-100-5-5-163-4/5 for the quantities of water, milk, butter, salt, sugar, flour and eggs, just like a number to a combination lock), but there was little I could do about the glazing on the petits fours. I felt I was in a no-win situation for the exam. If truth be told, I was found wanting, and that hurts the most. What made me extra sad was also the fact that my favorite cake in Intermediate Pastry -- the Opéra cake -- was in the exam; I just wasn't lucky enough to pick it or the other exam cake - the Triple Chocolate Bavaroise. I would also have been glad if the Blood Orange Mousse Cake had been one of the exam cakes. In fact, all of us from my group had expected this to be one of the three exam cakes, and we were confident we could make this cake in 2.5 hours.

[Aside: By a strange coincidence, I got envelope number 9 again for my IP exam. In my BP exam, envelope number 9 was Pavé du Roy - my favorite cake in BP. No such luck, this time around.]

Anyway, there's no point crying over spilt milk, as they say. I just hope I did enough to pass the practical exam. I think my mini-swans were ok -- at least I was able to make a decent chantilly cream for that.

To my family and friends, I just want you to know I will be fine. Life goes on ... even with the "evil fondant curse".

And if I ever have my own pastry or chocolate shop one day, fondant glazing will be banned!!! :D Besides, I'm sure pâte à choux tastes better with a chocolate ganache topping or just vanilla chantilly cream. Trust me! ;-)

Haunted by Fondant

Ever had that horrible feeling where you've been avoiding something (because you dislike it) and it comes back to haunt you one day?

Well, it happened to me today. You might recall I don't look forward to working with fondant, so guess what? I had to make pâte à choux petits fours for my practical exam today. I almost started hyperventilating when I opened the envelope and saw that recipe. Oh no!!! Not the fondant again! Arrrrrrghh!!!!!

I practised so many cakes and recipes at home in recent weeks, but I didn't get any of those. I just got one of the two recipes that I was hoping I wouldn't get. Life has a way of doing that to you, I guess. Just to teach you a good lesson.

The whole exam experience was really stressful. I don't even remember how I got through it without collapsing - it was like a nightmare, except this is one where I don't think I'd wake up and say, "Hey, that was just a nightmare. Whew!"

I struggled with a few things during my exam, mostly because my hands were shaking (probably from all the adrenalin pumping in my body) and my mind went blank a couple of times. I think I was on "auto-pilot" some of the time, because I must have been doing something, even if I don't remember what I did. In the end, I managed to present my petits fours (some were not so nice, but others looked ok), which is a minor victory in itself, considering how uncoordinated I felt today.

However, I still have to wait until Thursday to find out if I passed. One whole term of studying and practical effort hinging on one crucial performance (and I didn't even get to work with chocolate today; cocoa powder does not count).

C'est la vie! You win some, you lose some.

Intermediate Pastry Exam Recipe List

The following are recipes we have to memorise for our practical exam. The chefs will choose 3 or 4 from the list for exam day (and different groups will get different recipes). For each group, there will be a few students making one particular cake, and another few making another cake, and the remainder yet another cake. Depends on the luck of the draw. I think this is to ensure the exam judges are not faced with 12 identical cakes during the judging session. They will see and taste 4 of one type of cake, 4 of another, and 4 of a third kind... which is OK, I guess.

Intermediate Pastry Exam Recipe List
Session I, 2009
* Bavaroise aux trois chocolats (Triple chocolate bavaroise)
* Délice caramel (Pear-caramel mousse cake)
* Marquise au chocolat
* Tarte passion-framboise/tarte fraise-cassis
* Douceur chocolat
* Millefeuille praliné
* Mousse au chocolat blanc et aux oranges sanguines (Blood Orange Mousse Cake)
* Opéra
* Ambassadeur exotique
* Petits fours (pâte à choux)
* Croquembouche
* Chocolate bonbons (3 kinds)

IP Plated Dessert Workshop

Well, it was a rather fun workshop that we had today, even though it was a graded workshop (which I didn't know until I presented my plated desserts, so therefore I was quite relaxed the entire workshop). We worked in pairs to prepare the basic items (e.g. light cream, crème brûlée, craquelin, macaroons), then we plated our own desserts.

Below are photos of my plated desserts:


My plated desserts, just before I presented them to Chef N for feedback and grading


My crème brûlée au caramel (one view)


My crème brûlée au caramel (another view). Chef said I had too many decorations on my crème brûlée. He thought it would have been enough to just have the two-toned curved flower and leaf, without the chocolate triangles. (The two-toned flower and leaf were made with plain cigarette paste and chocolate cigarette paste. Plain cigarette paste = equal parts butter, icing sugar, egg whites and flour. Chocolate cigarette paste = same as formula above, but with some cocoa powder added.)


My craquelin aux fruits rouges, where I made a basket with almond tuile and plain cigarette paste, filled it with kirsch-flavored light cream (= pastry cream + gelatin + whipped cream), topped it with fruits and chocolate decorations. Then I served it with blackcurrant coulis and mango puree. Chef N reckoned my presentation of the coulis could be improved, but the "fruit basket" was fine. I wholeheartedly agree. I knew that the pattern I made with the coulis was simply horrible, but I ran out of time to fix it. So that was that.


This is my macarons à l'anis et aux framboises. Basically, it is macaroons with pastis-flavored light cream in the middle, presented with raspberries and other assorted fruits, plus chocolate and cigarette paste decorations. I wanted to make this one really colorful but abstract, and I think I managed to do it. Chef liked the look of this one. Pity the macaroons were a touch over-baked.

Oh well, I enjoyed the whole experience, and that's what is important. And I had the chance to try out a few (new) ideas for plated dessert; some worked, others didn't. That's part of the learning curve.

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PS. The winds are quite strong tonight. I am glad I am indoors right now.


Strong winds in the afternoon.

IP Lesson 18: Douceur Chocolat

This morning Chef H presented the demo for two cakes that are made with a dacquoise base: the Douceur chocolat and the Trésor des Iles.

The Douceur chocolat was the cake we had to make in the practical class. It is a cake with a hazelnut dacquoise base, followed by a layer of praliné crisp, a milk chocolate disc sandwiched between milk chocolate mousse. Then the entire cake is covered with chocolate jelly glaze, and decorated with handmade chocolate decorations.

Chef H's full-size (10-inch) Douceur chocolat and mini-cake for the plated dessert were simply amazing. He taught us a number of techniques for decorating the cakes:

Plated Douceur Chocolat by Chef H


The 10-inch Douceur Chocolat cake by Chef H


At this point, you might be asking: So how is it done? Well, I cannot divulge the secret here now, can I? (Those of you who know me can, of course, send me an e-mail to find out.)

Anyway, taking this Intermediate Pastry course has really made me think about not only techniques of baking and time management, but also what constitutes an *artistic* presentation. I'm not a naturally artistic person, but this course has taught me some valuable lessons about aesthetics.

The technique for making the Douceur chocolat is similar to that for a Marquise au chocolat, the cake with which I had considerable trouble a few weeks ago. This time, however, because I had practised making chocolate mousse several times at home, I had little trouble with the mousse, but the chocolate jelly glazing still presents a slight problem (I still find it tricky to know when it is the right consistency for pouring onto the cake). Anyway, this was what my cake looked like when I presented it to Chef N:


I have to admit I thought my chocolate decoration was ghastly because of a series of compounded mistakes. I'm sure you agree, but you also have to realize how hard it is to put chocolate decorations on chocolate jelly glazing. Once a chocolate decoration touches the glaze, you have to leave it there, because if you remove it (for example, because you changed your mind about the placement), it leaves a horrible mark/scar on the glazing. In other words, you have to know exactly what you are doing with the placement of the chocolate decorations. I have learnt my lesson now - the next time I do it, I know there will be no trial and error. A couple of simple decorations and that's it. To tell you the truth, it really takes experience to know whether an inserted chocolate decoration will stay in place or fall over into the chocolate jelly glaze and create a dreadful mess ... I guess that is part of the learning process here.

During the feedback session at the end of the practical, Chef N also pointed out a couple of mistakes I should correct for my cake (e.g. thinner glazing on top), and I can fix them by just being more careful or more mindful of potential problems. It is good that the chefs give us constructive criticisms so that we learn from our mistakes.

Having had that bad experience with the Marquise au chocolat, I was careful with my timing this time (I checked the clock regularly and paced myself), and managed to finish my cake on time. This is one minor success for which I am grateful. We didn't have to make a mini-douceur chocolat for plated dessert, so that made things just a touch easier too.

The other minor success I had today was with the making of the white chocolate cigarettes (the long, thin chocolate curls). I had been unable to make them before today, either because of bad technique(s) or because my chocolate was not tempered correctly (or both). But I finally got it today. Yay!

This is the final practical for the term. On Wednesday afternoon, we have a workshop on plated desserts, so more practice with presentation techniques. Pretty timely too, I might add.

[Aside: In Intermediate Pastry, a practical is assessed, whereas a workshop usually isn't. A practical is 2.5 hours long + 30 minutes for feedback and clean-up; a workshop is 5 hours, and is there for students to explore or practise or experiment with a number of techniques. With the guidance of the chef instructors, of course.]

IP Bread Workshop

Today, in our 5-hour Bread Workshop, Chef CP (who is in charge of Production Kitchen, and who is also a chef instructor in Boulangerie) showed us how to make a variety of breads. The whole lesson was fantastic - we learned so much (esp. techniques and bread-related facts) and it felt good to be able to make our own fresh bread. Completely by hand, I might add.

I was not a big fan of bread before, but now that I have tasted baguettes and breads fresh from the production kitchen and pastry practial kitchen ovens, I am hooked. Like I said before, coming to LCB Ottawa has really opened my eyes to all the things I can make at home in my own kitchen, and to the techniques to make them well.

Here are some of the breads I made and brought home to share with my housemates (I had given some of my breads away to the dishwasher, to fellow students, etc.):

The baguettes I made: (Bottom) three plain white baguettes, and (Top) a baguette made from bread flour, a special wine flour, red wine, raisins and pecan.




This is the Wine Bread I made, with diced onions and chopped pecan incorporated into the dough, to give it a somewhat savoury taste. This bread recipe was modified and tested by Chef CP, so I am very glad he chose to share it with us. You can see a lovely purple-grey colour inside the bread; it is from the wine flour and unsalted red wine. According to Chef, wine flour is made from grinding dried grape seeds and dried grape skin, so it is high in antioxidants and iron. The wine flour, in its dry form, is a light purple-brown colour.



This is the Rye Bread I made. I sprinkled some cumin seeds on top of the bread before baking. My mistake here was to overwork the dough slightly, so it was a bit dry and hard. You can tell my mistake from the way the slits did not expand properly (even after proofing for a long time), and from the very tough crust.






This is Nova Scotia Oatmeal Molasses Bread (shaped in two different ways). The molasses, corn meal, and oatmeal give a light brown-orange tinge to the inside of the bread.


The highlight of the lesson, for me anyway, was Chef CP's demo on how to make a Pain Soleil (literally, Sun Bread). First, you cut the dough as shown in the photos below. Then, you twist the "rays of the sun" before baking. It looks interesting, doesn't it? I really want to try making this at home after my Intermediate Pastry final exam.

Chef CP told us you can also incorporate dried fruits into the enriched sweet dough (dough with sugar, eggs and milk) before rolling it out and making the desired shape.




By the way, here's a bread fact we learned today: When the internal temperature of a bread that is baking in an oven is around 185 degrees Fahrenheit or 84 degrees Celsius, then the bread is done (i.e. the dough is cooked). After that, you can leave the bread to bake longer in the oven if you want more colour on the crust.


Of all the breads we made today, I have to say the wine bread was my absolute favourite. The texture was wonderful and the flavour was most unusual (but it was quite subtle).

Now I just have to see if I can source wine flour in Australia, because I definitely want to make wine bread in the future. (I'm sure my friends and relatives are rubbing their hands with glee now.)

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PS. Many thanks to Chef CP for teaching us how to make bread, and for making it an enjoyable learning experience. This was one of the most interesting things I have had the good fortune to learn about.

IP Lesson 17: Triple Chocolate Bavaroise

Last night, Chef N did the demo on the Triple Chocolate Bavaroise cake, and it is a triple (white, milk and dark) chocolate bavarian mousse cake, with a lady finger base at the bottom.

I made the cake in my practical this morning, but I was not impressed with my own effort. Here's what I ended up with:


My full-size Triple Chocolate Bavaroise, with chocolate fan decorations


A mini triple chocolate bavaroise, used for plated dessert. Here, it is held together by a sheet of acetate, and you can see the layering -- dark chocolate at the bottom, then milk chocolate, then white chocolate, and topped with a chocolate glaze and chocolate fan decorations. It was so hard to keep the mousse from melting onto the plate...

The chocolate fan decorations were made with melted chocolate pasted onto ice-cold marble boards, and then scraped off and shaped into fans. It was the first time I have seen this done. Chef N made it look simple, but it was not easy.

I find this cake too troublesome and difficult to make in 2.5 hours. My cake turned out ok (with a few minor problems that I can fix the next time I make it, e.g. imbibe the lady finger base with more syrup), but I didn't enjoy the experience much. But then, it could be because I was sleep-deprived this morning -- a housemate came home at 2am last night and woke me up by talking loudly outside my room. I ended up not being able to go back to sleep until 5am, and my practical was at 8:15am. /sigh/

Anyway, I am not a big fan of this dessert (I don't like the gelatin in the chocolate mousse), so I gave my cake away to a friend, who told me it was her favorite cake. I am glad someone can enjoy the cake/dessert.

IP Lesson 16: Opéra

Yesterday Chef N showed us how to make the Opéra cake and we did it in our practicals today.

The Opéra cake is one of my favourite cakes. I had never made it before today's practical class, but I used to buy it from the Lindt Chocolate Shop at Martin Place (when I was working in Sydney), so I know quite well what it should taste like.

The Opéra cake is rectangular in shape and basically has seven thin layers altogether. The total height of the cake should not exceed 4cm (or 1.5 inch). The seven layers are (starting from the bottom): joconde biscuit (generously imbibed with coffee syrup), coffee buttercream, imbibed joconde biscuit, chocolate ganache, imbibed joconde biscuit, coffee buttercream, and finally, chocolate glazing on top.

[Aside: It has come to my attention that readers of my blog see the word "biscuit" mentioned in my blog all the time and they think it means the dry, crunchy biscuits you buy from the supermarket. Actually, when I talk about biscuit (French pronunciation: "bis-kwee") in my blog, it refers to a type of soft sponge cake in French pastry. And joconde biscuit is a thin layer of almond sponge cake.]

Here's the Opéra cake I made:


The pattern on top of the cake was specified by Chef N, who told us this was the traditional pattern on an Opéra cake. Chef N insisted we include the accent mark on the "e" in Opéra (I forgot mine until a classmate reminded me). We had to serve a full-size cake, an individual portion, and some smaller pieces as petits fours. Chef N had taught us the techniques for cutting up the cake into individual portions and petits fours, so he wanted to check we could do it properly.

The feedback I got from Chef N was that I pretty much got all the major elements right in my Opéra cake. The taste, texture, glazing, imbibing, height of the cake, layering and so on were all fine. My cutting skills were still not quite up to scratch yet -- the right-hand side of my cake was not cut straight, and detracted from the presentation slightly.

Oh yes, Chef N told me I did well in my Intermediate Pastry written exam (worth 10% of total course marks) yesterday, with a score of over 95 out of 100. I was pleasantly surprised, and glad that my written exam marks will help make up for the low marks I got for some of my disastrous practicals (e.g. the Marquise au Chocolat and the Millefeuille).

All in all, it was a good day for me... I have another practical first thing tomorrow morning. We are making the Triple Chocolate Bavaroise (mousse cake). I hope it goes well.

IP Lessons 15: Pacific Cake

In the demo class this morning, Chef N made several versions of the stunningly beautiful Pacific Cake, just to show us a few of the possibilities with this cake. As I have said before, Chef N's cakes are always works of art -- his designs are simple but elegant, which is quite different from Chef H's more complex but warm/friendly designs. Two different chefs, two very distinct styles. I am glad we get both chefs teaching us at the Intermediate level.

What made it such a good demo today was the fact Chef N shared a lot of little tricks of the trade with us. I have to say he's improved out of sight as an instructor. I am not sure whether it is because he's built up a great rapport with us (perhaps he hadn't done so when we were in Basic Pastry), or whether he's made a conscious choice to enhance his teaching techniques, or maybe a bit of both. Either way, I enjoyed the demo very much. I came away feeling most inspired.

The Pacific cake is essentially a mousse cake, consisting of a colorful Joconde biscuit on the outside and bottom (with multi-colored cigarette paste marbled on the outside of the Joconde biscuit), a bottom layer of strawberry mousse and a top layer of lemon mousse. It is glazed on top with a neutral glaze, and then decorated with fruits. The Pacific cake is supposed to make you think of a Pacific Island holiday...

I cannot resist sharing photos of Chef N's Pacific cakes here, because they were so artistically constructed. I'm sure you'd agree the cakes are almost too pretty to eat.


Chef N made this as a plated dessert. It was fascinating to see how he put this plate together. It was like watching an artist at work.


Chef N's round Pacific cake


Chef N's tear-drop shaped Pacific cake

I was still a little slow in my practical today, but I managed to present both the full-size cake and the plated dessert to Chef N, just a couple of minutes after he called "time". I was a little late mostly because the eleven of us had to wait our turns with the blow-torch (for unmolding the mousse cake from the cake ring).

Below are my full-size Pacific cake and my plated version:







Of course, my designs were a far cry from the Chef's, but I'm happy with them. A beginner like me should always keep it clean and simple until we build up enough confidence to take some risks. And as we are exposed to more and more designs or examples from the chefs, we can gradually incorporate those techniques to enhance our own presentation skills.
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PS. I dedicate my Pacific cake to my beloved sister L, just because it is such a pretty cake, and because she and I both love fruits (including the ones I used to decorate my cake with). I will make her a Pacific cake when I get home later in the year.

IP Lessons 13 & 14: Croquembouche

We learnt to make the croquembouche (the French Wedding Cake) for Lessons 13 & 14. It takes quite a bit of time to make the croquembouche, that is why we have two lessons on it - the first is on how to make and shape the nougatine and the second is on assembling techniques.

Croquembouche literally means "crunch in the mouth". It is made of nougatine (toasted sliced almonds in caramel, rolled to the required shape) and choux puffs filled with pastry cream, and stuck together with lots of caramel (hence the "crunch in the mouth").

Chef H made a beautiful croquembouche -- complete with pulled sugar flowers and ribbon, royal icing, and spun sugar -- in the demo on Monday night:


Chef H's croquembouche was so pretty that no one in class wanted him to cut it (for tasting). We took some photos and left it at that.

Sometimes pastry chefs use a cone to help with the assembly of a croquembouche, but Chef H did it freehand, and we had to do the same.

For our practical this morning, we took about 5 hours (= two practicals back to back) to make our croquembouche. We had to use at least 50 choux puffs, the nougatine, and some royal icing in our croquembouche, but we did not make pulled sugar flowers (which is something we will do in Superior Pastry).

Here's what I managed, and I must say I'm happy with my first-time effort. Even though it is not as fancy as some of my classmates' croquembouche, I felt I had done my best. I wanted to make something neat and simple, and I achieved my goal. Chef H said he liked the nougatine ribbon I made for the croquembouche, so that's a bonus for me.


Anyway, I left my croquembouche in the staff dining room at School, because I didn't think we could finish that many croquembouche at Wilbrod House (there are four of us in Intermediate Pastry, so four times the cake every lesson).

Here are some examples of the croquembouche my classmates made:

Lovely works of art, I'd say. I have some pretty talented and creative classmates, and I'm glad I am in the same group as them (because they inspire me to try harder and be more imaginative).

The croquembouche below is also by a classmate. It is unusual for a number of reasons. The choux puffs in this croquembouche is filled with pistachio pastry cream, dipped in caramel and rolled in chopped pistachio. I didn't get to taste it, but I imagine it would be quite nice. Also, the butterfly made with white royal icing is so pretty against the green background.



This classmate is one of three selected by the chefs to compete in a pastry competition in May, and I'm sure you can see why.

All in all, it was a good day for me, even though I burnt my fingers a couple of times when dipping the choux puffs in hot caramel. In fact, everyone in my class burnt their fingers doing the same thing, so it is no big deal.

IP Lesson 12: Marquise au Chocolat

Last Friday Chef H showed us how to make the lovely Marquise au Chocolat, which is essentially a chocolate mousse cake, with a bottom layer of chocolate biscuit that has been imbibed with rum syrup, a middle layer of crispy praliné, and the rest of the cake is just dark chocolate mousse. The top of the cake is glazed with a dark chocolate glaze. I have to say, the taste of this cake is simply divine.

Chef H made it look so easy, but I found out otherwise. As I was making it for the first time this morning, I found it quite difficult to get the consistency of the chocolate mousse right.

We were supposed to make a full-size cake and a plated dessert of the Marquise, but I could only manage to complete the full-size cake in the given time of 2.5 hours. I had no time to plate the mini dessert at all. My other mistakes were the overworking of the mousse (resulting in a slightly grainy texture), and the temperature of the glaze on top was incorrect. The glaze should have been a touch warmer and more liquid, so that it covers the cake more evenly.

This was what my Marquise au Chocolat looked like at the time I presented it to Chef N:


It really was the best I could manage on the day, and that's all I can ask for from myself.

Chef N said I had nice ideas for decorating the cake, but that I will need to correct the mistakes I made in the making of the cake. Oh well, I live and learn...

Basically, there's nothing else to do but practice (and gain experience). I guess I will have to work faster in the future, but I worry that my attempts to work faster will result in more mistakes, so I will have to be very careful. I will have to review what I did today and come up with a plan for next time. I really do like this cake a lot and I want to make it well.

Anyway, I am heading back to class this afternoon to watch the chef demonstrate the making of the croquembouche, which we will have to make on Wednesday morning.

IP Lesson 11: Délice Caramel

Yesterday morning we made the Delice Caramel in our practical. The day before that, Chef H had shown us how to make this cake, which is basically a mousse cake. Chef said we had to make the cake in two versions - a full-size cake, and a mini-cake for plated dessert.

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!")

IP Lesson 10: Blood Orange Mousse Cake

Today's cake - the Blood Orange Mousse Cake - is supposedly the most difficult cake to make in Intermediate Pastry, but I beg to differ. Towards the end of the demo, Chef H said some people might find the Millefeuille Praliné harder, which I have to agree (given my lack of success there).

The demo that Chef H gave this morning was really good. He outlined all the things we had to do and showed us exactly how to use our time efficiently (since we have to do so many things in 2.5 hours). In the past, according to the chefs, students have always had problems with finishing this cake on time, but today we pretty much managed to finish on time (or just a few minutes late). All thanks to the way Chef H taught us to organise our time in the practical class.

The Blood Orange Mousse Cake is lined with a printed joconde biscuit (chocolate cigarette paste scraped with pastry comb and then overcoated with joconde sponge to give it the dark and light-colored stripes) on the outside, then the bottom layer is a disc of lady fingers biscuit that has been imbibed with blood orange syrup, topped with a layer of white chocolate bavarian mousse, followed by a disc of flourless chocolate biscuit, then topped off with a layer of blood orange mousse. The top of the cake is covered with clear glaze and a few drops of food color-tinted glaze (to give the attractive marbling effect). Then the fruit and chocolate decorations go on the cake at the last minute.

Here is the blood orange mousse cake I made:


You can see the printed joconde biscuit on the side. It is an attractive pattern, isn't it?


Chef H said my decoration on the cake was quite nice. It had "movement" (his word) in it.


The chocolate and fruit decorations were the things that took the least time to prepare, and I was lucky my placement of the various elements worked well today.


You can see from the side that the chocolate decorations has lots of curves and I think that's the "movement" that Chef H was referring to.

While my cake looked pretty and the montage was fairly good, Chef said there were a number of weaknesses I had to work on... Mostly to do with my forgetfulness. /sigh!/

First of all, I didn't use up all of my joconde mixture, and it puzzled Chef (I reckon I have a way of doing things that make the chefs here shake their heads in disbelief). Everyone else used up their mixtures, but I had a fair bit left over. I had simply made a thinner printed joconde, that's all. But that is risky, because you don't want the "walls" of the cake to be too thin, right? It might not be strong enough to hold in all the mousse.

Then I made a big mistake with my white chocolate mousse - I forgot to put the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture. I poured the mixture into the cake ring, and Chef H spotted it and asked me if I added the whipped cream. I said, "Oh no!!!" He said, "Scoop it out and add the cream! It is not too late." Thank goodness Chef H has eyes on the back of his head! :) Boy, am I lucky he caught it in time (or my mousse wouldn't have set properly at all)!

Later in the practical, I walked around the pastry kitchen looking for the blood orange pulp (I even asked Chef where it was), when it was right in front of me in my station. Chef had given each of us a bowl of blood orange pulp at the start of the practical, and I put it next to the mixer and simply forgot about it. Arrrrrgh!!!

OK, I basically had two "senior moments" in one practical. When it comes time for grading, Chef tells me I have to concentrate harder next time (and not to make the same mistakes should this cake turn up in the exam). I reckon I was concentrating so hard today that I forgot the little things. I think that's known as absent-mindedness.

Anyway, the white chocolate mousse didn't set as well as Chef H would have liked it, but everything else was basically OK.

What a day!!!

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PS. I am so sorry to hear that the death toll for the Victorian bushfires has risen to 173 today! It is so sad! I hope the grief-stricken communities recover from this tragedy quickly.