Week 2 (Basic Patisserie)

This week seemed to come and go really quickly. It's been quite full on, but really enjoyable. 

We started off on Wednesday with a lecture in the morning, on teamwork and how best to write recipes up from the demonstration classes, so they're easy to understand in the kitchens and when we come to write out some for the exam. Then in the evening we had a lecture on cheese. Now, I love cheese, I make no secret of that, so I was really looking forward to the lecture (despite it not starting until 6:30pm and then finishing at 9:30pm!), however I don't think any of us were quite prepared for how truly amazing it was! I should say here that whilst writing this blog I decided not to single anyone out, because it wouldn't be fair (e.g. if a chef was having an off day and the lesson wasn't great), but in this case I'll make an exception. The lecture was taken by a chap affectionately known as "The Cheese Man", and after only a few minutes into the lesson it was clear why! What this guy doesn't know about cheese isn't worth knowing. In short, he was absolutely brilliant. He had such an enthusiasm and passion for the subject and he got excited about everything he was telling us. When you combined that with a touch of eccentricness (if that's even a word!?), it lifted the whole class.  

I lost count of how many different cheeses we tried but it was at least 10 (ranging from mozzarella, to goat, brie, cheddar, blue...and some god awful rock hard thing), mostly really good stuff. He also made two soft cheeses in front of us, which were fairly bland as you'd expect however they still tasted nice. He got a round of applause at the end of the lecture and I left there really excited for another class with him next term! I heard a few people say it was the best lecture they've ever been to in their lives, and I can hand on heart say I completely agree with that. It was fantastic. Got home late on Wednesday night barely able to sleep because the lesson was so good - and that was even after a 2 hour bus journey!

Thursday we only had one demo class - baked custards and other things. Namely; creme caramel, creme brûlée, creme anglais, tuille biscuit batter and fruit coulis - just a few things! We were shown how to make it all in this demo and then wrap it all ready to use in the next class. 

Had to hot foot it back from London as soon as class finished ready for a charity quiz in Aylesbury - our team didn't win but lots of money was raised for a very worthy cause so a good (albeit late) night, and we had a good laugh. 

Friday I woke up and could happily have slept longer! But there was another demonstration class in the morning. This demo involved plating up the creme caramel and making decoration for the plates - baking the tuille biscuits, cutting fruit, piping the coulis and creme anglais, sugar work, and a bit of chocolate piping thrown in for good measure as well. Oh and they showed us how to actually make piping bags out of baking parchment! It was a lot to take in, but chef created some really nice looking plates, which fortunately provided some much needed inspiration! The lesson was a little late ending so we had to rush to collect our knives etc (shovel down a quick sandwich to avoid passing out!) and then assemble outside the kitchen. We'd just started the lesson brief with chef, so we knew what order to do everything in, and a fire alarm went off! So out we all trudged (luckily in the sunshine) for 15 mins before being allowed back in again. Once back in we got cracking with the creme caramel and creme brûlées....unfortunately another set back befell us though - the oven the creme brûlées were in had been set too high and came out curdled - bugger. So we were late starting, no-one had eaten properly, the brûlées were curdled and we were time pressured to finish other things. Its the type of situation where you either pull together and make good the situation or fall apart and lose it completely, I'm happy to say everyone rallied round, worked together and got a new batch of creme brulees ready in record time...and they all came out great! Times like that define a team, and I think we can all be really proud of what we achieved and how we pulled together to rectify the situation. I've said previously how nice everyone is, but its a great pleasure to be able to say, that its a genuine privilege to work with them all. Everyone in the group is great, and I hope we'll be able to achieve some really amazing pieces of work together. 

We finished up by making a creme anglais each (mine seemed to take forever...until I realised that for a minute or two it hadn't been on the induction hob properly and wasn't getting any heat. Fortunately I don't claim to be perfect!) and the fruit coulis and tuille batter, then wrapped everything up ready for the plating up session early saturday morning. Came away feeling really good about the lesson, really enjoyed it (despite the unforeseen stresses!) and starting to find my feet in the kitchen as well, so despite not getting back to Oxford until late and then going on to a colleagues' retirement drink (who will be greatly missed!), I wasn't as tired as I expected to be. 

That all changed when the alarm went off Saturday morning at 4am though! It was an abrupt awakening however I made it in on time, although still completely unsure how I wanted to plate anything...I then realised I hadn't left myself enough time to design a plate! Still, the tuilles came out ok (must keep working on improving my piping!), and the piped decoration on the plate wasn't a bad attempt for a first try! The creme anglais was a good consistency, although the coulis could probably have benefitted cooking down a little more it was a tad on the thin side. The brulees were good and managed to get a good caramel layer on top. The only slight cock up was the creme caramels - they weren't the easiest things to de-mould and as they were a bit overcooked they weren't the best looking examples in the world. So I made a sugar cage over the back of a ladle and stuck it over the top! 

Plated creme caramel - They were slightly overcooked and had trouble getting them out of the moulds, but at least they held their shape. We also had to practice piping chocolate, the fruit coulis we made and also the creme anglais. On top of the creme caramel is our first go at sugar work - a sugar cage and also a tuille biscuit along side. 

This was the plated creme brûlée, it had a good crack when we broke through the caramel layer and it was just cooked in the middle! On top is a shaped tuille biscuit with fruit sat on top. It tasted really nice!

It was a busy week, but made really good progress to feeling excited for week 3 now....and ready to sleep all day Sunday! 

Week 1 (Basic Patisserie)

What a first week!

We started out on Wednesday morning with a lecture on Health and Safety in the kitchen and then in the evening a wine lecture followed, with a couple of wines to taste. Not a bad start!

Thursday we finally got into the kitchen, but not before the demo class. It introduced us to how things work, what was in our knife kits (they are amazing...and razor sharp!), told us horror stories of other students' first attempts at using the knives and them promptly showed us how to make a spice infused sugar syrup. We were also told of the 11 stages of sugar syrup and their corresponding temperatures (think we're expected to remember about 5/6 if not more!), but most worryingly we were shown how to test the stages of the syrup without a thermometer...by plunging our fingers into the boiling syrup and seeing whether it made a thread, soft ball, hard ball or had a crack. Needless to say we were all feeling a bit apprehensive about that bit! We were also shown how to cut up fruit and assemble a fruit salad. I can honestly say that I've never written so many notes on how to make a fruit salad in my whole life - it's like I'd never cut an apple before!
The practical came around in the evening and we FINALLY got into the kitchen. Making fruit salad has never been as stressful! it came out well though, even though the syrup was slightly too sweet. This lesson was mostly about getting used to our knives and avoiding cutting ourselves - which luckily I've managed to do so far! The best part about the lesson though was dipping our fingers in the sugar syrup - which was boiling at over 100 degrees C! We had to hold our fingers in iced water until they started to go a bit numb and then very quickly grab some of the syrup and back into the iced water, and see whether we could roll it, pull it or crack it! We managed to feel 4 of the stages - thread, soft ball, hard ball and crack, and didn't feel anything or get a single burn. The kitchen is going to take some major getting used to, not only do we have to make everything, but also clean down (no problem there), but also set up for the next class - however we don't know where anything is!

I forgot to take a picture before boxing it up, but there's only so much you can do with a fruit salad!

Friday was a bit of a change of pace, we had our demo and were shown three different types of meringue (French, Italian and Swiss) and creme patissiere, followed by three further pastry creams (creme mousseline, creme chibouste and creme diplomat) you make with creme pat as the base, and finally creme chantilly! We were then told we had to reproduce the swiss meringue, the creme patisserie and then (working in pairs) one each of the three pastry creams, and the creme chantilly. Quite a lot! especially considering some of us have never been in a professional kitchen before! That said, the point of the lesson was to get us used to recipes that will form the base of lots of dishes going forward, and also different techniques and piping. It's so nerve-wracking in the kitchens, getting used to how everything works and where everything is, and remembering to tidy your station (must get better at that!). Not only that but trying to remember everything you'd seen in the demo and how to do everything. I'm sure I could do better at home, but at the same time a few more practicals should hopefully get me a lot more comfortable in the kitchen and used to how everything works (which should see an improvement to where I want to be...hopefully!).

Swiss meringues on the left and creme chantilly on the right. I made the creme diplomat which ended up being a little loose, but nothing a bit of practice won't improve on...much like the piping!

We've been working together in pairs on various dishes during the practical lessons, and I've been really lucky to be put in a group with some great people. It really helps make the practicals that bit more enjoyable. The staff at the school have all been great - especially the guys that wash the pots and pans as you finish with them and grab more to dirty, they must have a lot of patience, and I'm sure everyone is extremely grateful for the brilliant work they do. The chefs have all been great as well, they've eased us in and been really helpful...although that still doesn't take the pressure off wanting to please them!

It was a lot of information to take in, it feels like a tidal wave has hit and we're expected to memorise it all - I have to confess to feeling a little overwhelmed going home on the bus and wondering what I'd let myself in for over the next couple of months in Basic Patisserie itself, let alone the other 6 months after it. Luckily though when I started to go through it in my mind Saturday morning, on the early bus into London, I realised I'd absorbed and remembered more than I thought!

Saturday saw us in the classroom all day learning about food safety and how things get contaminated and various types of bacteria gets spread - ultimately culminating in us doing a test so we could all get the food handling safety certificate. A test in week one was a bit of a shock but luckily it was on everything we learned that morning so when the papers were in front of us it was fairly simple - with a fair few of the questions relying on common sense - not wishing to tempt fate! We'll find out in 10 days or so if we passed or need to retake. It was a good day, and I left feeling like I'd really enjoyed the first week overall. I know where I need to improve and practice, and on the bus home I even managed to cram in the last few stages of sugar syrup and their corresponding temperatures!

Getting the coach too and from London isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm slowly getting used to the alarm going off at 4am (on days where our first lesson is at 8am!), and then not getting to bed until nearly midnight on the days when our last classes finish at 9:30pm!

It been a full on first week, but very much ready for the second one now, can't wait for Wednesday to come round again and get back there!

Orientation Day Complete!

It was a very long wait from when I submitted my application....or at least it seemed it!

Then all of a sudden I wake up this morning to this! Orientation Day was here! I got up early and got the coach to London, I was mega early and luckily the weather was nice so I had a wander around before going in. More and more people arrived and then we were all called to register. The staff there were great and really helpful, we were ushered upstairs to collect our uniforms and schedules and heard a speech from the Principal. It sounds like its going to be a hard nine months, but extremely rewarding. After that we were split into our respective groups and given a good tour of the school and all the kitchens and classrooms we'll be working in. We were then shown our lockers and given our knives, and a chance to check the uniforms fit. And as soon as it had started, the day seemed to be over! If everyday goes as quick as today Christmas will get here in the blink of an eye! On the plus side, everyone in my group seems really nice as well. 

When I got home I tried the uniform on all together...

Very proud to finally be wearing this. Almost the complete uniform, got a couple more bits to pick up next week. 

Wednesday is the first class and we start off with a wine tasting, could be worse! From the look of the schedule the first few weeks will be quite intense, but I'm really really looking forward to them. Can't wait to get into the kitchen now! 

First Post! And how we got here...

So how does an Auditor decide to suddenly switch to become a Pastry Chef? I'll try and keep it brief...ish! I always said if I was going to study again, after doing my first audit qualification, it'd be something I enjoyed and could give 100% to. I'm at the stage in my audit career where I'm being encouraged to think about doing the next qualification to progress further, trouble is I'm not overly excited by the thought. I've enjoyed my job (most of the time!) so far and am content with the level I've reached, however do I want to be an Auditor for my whole career - not really no, but doing the next qualification all but ties me into it for the foreseeable future at least. The crossroads started looming Autumn last year.

Why patisserie? Over the last few years I've developed a huge passion for baking. I applied for the Great British Bake Off three years in a row and each time progressed further through the audition stages, I could have kept trying and hoped it happened one day, but there was no guarantee. I'd also entered a local charity baking competition in 2013 and won, being crowned Oxfordshire Star Baker! A few cooking experience days and lots of practicing really reinforced that this was something I thoroughly enjoyed and wanted to pursue further, hopefully eventually earning a living from it. I should also say here that a trip to the Dancing Trousers Cookery School (which I won for winning my category in the charity bake off!), run by the brilliant Alexis Thompson, really helped get me thinking. After appearing on Masterchef she followed her heart and pursued a career in food - her story really inspired me and I owe her huge thanks...maybe I could take a different path and follow my passion as well.

How did I settle on Le Cordon Bleu? It started as a pipe dream, a quick look on the internet for ideas and possible routes to pursue. But the more I looked at their website the more I fell in love with it. I looked through all the courses and got really excited. I slowly started looking into the various options; part time hours at work, different courses, asking questions about what the courses involved etc. and after a visit to the school in September last year I fell in love and was completely sold, and I knew then I wanted to do the full Patisserie Diploma. I talked it through with work and they were extremely accommodating and let me adopt part time hours temporarily to allow me to do the course. Once everything was in place I submitted my application and it was accepted! When I was accepted I also downloaded a countdown app to my phone - Only 173 days to start!

I need to say a huge thank you to family, friends and colleagues, all who have helped support me and encouraged me to follow my passion and heart and do this, it's enormously appreciated. I'm not sure I'd have the confidence to do it without them all supporting me and believing in me. I'm also indebted to work for allowing me to reduce my hours temporarily! That debt should be paid through a continual supply of baked goods though! With the crossroads ahead of me its time to forge a new path - you only get one shot at life, might as well enjoy the journey!

I've been reading other students blogs that have already been through the journey and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bricking it a bit - can I really do this!? But equally I'm really excited for the challenge ahead, and for the skills I'll hopefully develop along the way. Keeping my eyes on the prize and going to work really hard to make sure I'm standing at the graduation ceremony with a hard earned certificate and medal at Christmas - only two days to go until day one when writing this...BRING IT ON!!