Week 3 (Intermediate Patisserie)

This week was the return of the cheese lecture!

Monday we started off with only one lesson, a demo on the gateau Sabrina. It was a dish invented by the chefs of Le Cordon Bleu Paris in honour of the Audrey Hepburn film of the same name (Sabrina).

Essentially it starts off with a sweet pastry disc as the base, spread with a thin layer of raspberry jam. A genoise sheet sponge is then baked, cut into long strips, then a strawberry mousse is added to the top and allowed to partly set. The sponge strips are then rolled up and placed on top of the disc. The cake is then masked around the outside and top with more strawberry mousse. A small border of crushed pistachios is then added to the bottom. The top is decorated with a disc of marzipan, which is coated twice in chocolate (which we needed to temper ourselves) then a serrated knife was dragged along the top to make a nice pattern. This had to then be cut into 8 pieces, as the cake would be too fragile to stay in one piece if it was cut with the disc fully intact. These 8 pieces were then placed on top, with strawberry cream piped along the lines, chocolate piped over these and then a strawberry added on top. Lots of processes but each one broken down should be ok….emphasis there on should!

There’s no doubt it looked lovely, and being a marzipan lover I thoroughly enjoyed the marzipan top. I didn’t really think it went with the strawberry mousse though. The strawberry mousse and sponge were nice, it had a bit too much of a dairy flavour for me though (a bit like the strawberry mini milk lollies I used to have a child!).  It looked good though! That was it for Monday.

Tuesday it was a 4am wake up to get in for the early lesson at 8am. It started out reasonably well. We were working in pairs again, I made the sweet pastry while my partner made the genoise. The genoise was spread on a tray flat – which is much harder to do than the chefs make it look. The chef in the practical showed us a good way of levelling it out though, which was a very handy tip.  These were then baked, meanwhile it was on to the strawberry mousse. My partner heated the icing sugar and strawberry puree, and then dissolved the gelatine in it (to help set the mousse), while I whisked up the cream to soft peaks (it was only fair, he’d got the tough whisking job for the genoise, couldn’t ask him to do it twice in one lesson poor chap!). The cream was then folded into the strawberry mixture. Then we had to roll out the sweet pastry, I was getting on well with it until it stuck to the worktop! I put it back in the chiller, then the chef showed me a really useful tip for getting it rolled out quickly and easily! These were then baked, then a circle cut out halfway through baking, to make the base for the gateau. Then it was on to the marzipan disc and chocolate tempering! It was really hot in the kitchen, so it took everyone a while to get the chocolate right. To temper it, it has to be heated to 45C, then cooled to 27C, then reheated to 32C – all without the use of a thermometer! We had to do it by sight, touch and feel. We got it a bit too cool first time (my fault, should have listened to my partner!), so had to heat it to 45C again and then cool it again. Second time lucky though! This was applied to the marzipan disc, then after a while it set enough that a second coat could be applied. A serrated knife was then dragged in a wavy motion across, to leave a nice pattern on the top.

The strawberry mousse was spread atop the cut sponge, I had to cut a couple of small crispy bits off the edge, but there was more than enough good sponge to use! This was allowed to set a bit while strawberry jam was added to the pastry disc. Now it was time to assemble! The sponge strips were rolled up, a delightfully messy job, and placed on top of the pastry disc. The cake was masked, we used a comb to make a pattern on the edge, added the pistachios, placed the marzipan on top, piped the mousse down the cut lines and then piped chocolate over these. I got the first line good, then as has happened before, the chocolate seized in the bag and I had to cut it to get it flowing again, which made the lines chunky and didn’t look as good – I will get this right at some point!!  Unfortunately we were late again (the heat in the room delayed us massively), so late in fact that the other class were stood outside waiting to come in, as their lesson was about to start in 5 minutes! It was a Superior class, one girl looked in, caught my eye and started shaking her head, I gave her the ‘sod off’ glare until she looked away sheepishly! It happens, you’ve just got to accept it and deal with it, we’re all in the same boat. Only last week we were late starting because a Superior class were late finishing, that’s life unfortunately and the nature of things. Still, it’ll hopefully be a good rocket up the backside for next time, and despite having to rush the finishing of the dish I got mostly good feedback from the chef.

Straight after the practical was a demo lesson.  We had to rush to put stuff away and then run up all of the stairs to the top floor, and then promptly collapse into the chair for the lesson! Luckily we had the chef in our practical, so he delayed the start for 10 mins to give himself and us chance to catch our breath and get ready to start. Chef showed us how to make a fruit cake (which we’ll be decorating later in the term) – we’ll see how it compares to Mary Berry’s (the best I’ve tasted so far in my 28 years on Earth!). He also showed us everything else we’d be expected to do in our next practical, in the form of a skills test;

Sweet pastry tart shell,

Buttercream rosettes and shells (again!),

Chocolate piping,

Royal icing piping,

Marzipan rose.

It all looked good and I was quite looking forward to doing it, but unfortunately the usual suspects that seem wholly incapable of keeping their mouths shut while the chefs are demoing were talking, which made the lesson a bit of a chore because you have to try that bit harder to pick up on everything the chef is saying. It’s taking every ounce of common decency I can muster to not be rude to the inconsiderate little gobshites! I really feel for the chefs in these situations, they’re there trying to do their jobs, most of us are there desperate to absorb as much knowledge and as many hints and tips as we can from them. But there are some that just insist on chatting – I hope their crème anglais splits when it matters most.

Wednesday was a very long day!  We started off with a lecture at 11:30am on verrines. It was with my favourite chef, so it was a good lesson. He demonstrated how to make a couple of different verrines, with lots of different little processes and elements. Verrines are small desserts, usually served in little shot glasses. He made a variety of creams, mousses, a crumble, a sorbet, a praline paste ganache thing (forgotten the name!), a lime and mint jelly and speculos biscuits, which all came together in two tiny shot glasses, layered up! It was really interesting and good to know from a business point of view, because you can make a lot and fairly quickly if certain elements are pre-prepared. My favourite was definitely the jelly one, I really like jelly – never really grew up properly, childhood favourites are still very much adulthood favourites! The speculos biscuits were amazing as well, I managed to polish off 7 or 8, they were tiny, and a few of the trimmings as well. I wasn’t alone and that wasn’t the largest amount consumed by one person!

Then from there we were straight into our practical. Unfortunately the lesson beforehand was overrunning quite significantly, we were 20mins late getting in – nice to know its not just our class! I think the demands are either too high for the time, or the classrooms are suffering from the heat and everything is subsequently taking longer! It was a Superior class and they were preparing for their tea party event, which, having sampled the delights from last term, is clearly an almighty military operation, so they were instantly forgiven! While we were waiting to go in we had to organise ourselves and get the fruit cake jobs distributed to everyone. I was on orange zesting and juicing duty with another, while others did the weighing up of cherries and other dried fruit. This had to be done quickly and then put on the heat to cook, so the fruit could plump up with the lemon and orange juices and a good half gallon of rum. Admittedly the people organising us couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery, however we got there in the end! It was a nice moment, we started working together as a team, I think we’re finally heading in the right direction…next week we’ll be able to test that, two exam dishes back to back!

We worked in pairs after the fruit was on the stove. I finished the cake batter and my partner did the sweet pastry. Once these two things were done the lesson slowed slightly and we could breathe a bit. We moved onto the main elements of the skills test. Starting off with the marzipan roses, the first one started well but went a bit wrong at the end, so was squished back up and then made a second time! I still wasn’t completely happy, so I made a third, much better! Then it was on to the shells and rosettes again – I’ll never be rid of those bloody things! Still, I got 5 out of 5 for them for my Basic exam, so I’ve beaten them once! They were done quickly, so not my best effort, not the worst either though. Then it was the sweet pastry. Clearly I didn’t learn my lesson from the day before, because it buggered up again and had to have an unscheduled second rest in the fridge to firm up again (its so hot in those kitchens – really rubbish for sweet pastry making, and my big hot hands are no good either!). Still, it eventually made its way into the tart ring and I managed to produce a passable tart shell. Then the real test – chocolate piping and royal icing piping! I opted to pipe the OPERA wording in chocolate (we could have done the ALHAMBRA wording, which is the other exam dish – not content on just making the dishes, we actually have to pipe the names of them on top, just in case the chefs forget presumably!).  After a few practices ones, I was actually quite happy with how the wording came out. The bordering needs a lot of work though! Still, I can practice that lots, so it’s ok.  FRAISIER was then piped in royal icing, it was a little harder to control, but it wasn’t too bad. For a first attempt I was quite happy! It was then all presented to chef. Got some really helpful feedback on spacing etc. so I will certainly be taking it on board and practicing hard. Despite the initial stresses the lesson was a good one.

From there we rushed down to put everything away in our lockers, then up to the demo room again into the CHEESE LECTURE! It’s finally returned! It was as amazing and brilliant as before, and we had a good selection of cheeses to try. Only two I didn’t like, out of between 10 and 15, I didn’t think that was too bad! The chap promptly poured some brandy concoction over one of then, which surprisingly was very nice. I made a bit of a piggy of myself though and got to the end of the lesson feeling a bit ill, to the point I was craving fruit and anything fresh. I downed a handful of grapes when I got back to my locker (no time to eat lunch during the day). I could go on and on about this lesson and the guy’s passion for cheese, but I wont, because this entry is already getting a tad wordy! Needless to say the lecture lived up to expectations and I cant wait to see him again in Superior.

Chef said something very interesting in the skills test/fruit cake practical. They lose a lot of people after Intermediate Patisserie, I completely understood why, even after just three weeks of the term! I would never disagree with anyone that said it’s a huge step up from Basic and we’re being pushed hard. Its very hard work and much more stressful than the last term. What it has done though, is strengthen my resolve and make me look into myself, to find something more, I’m digging deeper and pushing myself harder – who knows what I can truly achieve, I’m going to keep giving everything I’ve got to meet their high standards and expectations. Partly out of curiosity, I want to see how far my abilities extend, or can be extended! Also partly because I really want to get my certificate at Superior graduation and feel an overwhelming sense of emotion and pride every time I look at the certificate, that I truly earned it working immensely hard and giving everything. This is my passion, and I’m not giving up, no matter how hard it gets. If I cock up, I practice harder until I get it right – and not just to an acceptable standard, its time the inner perfectionist got his own way and started dictating how I work! Plus I’ve never actually graduated from anywhere (didn’t go to uni), so this is my big chance! This weekend will be used to practice and get better, so I’m more prepared for the exam practice dishes next week! Really want those lessons to go well to help focus the mind and get ready. The exams are still 7-8 weeks away, but I’m not someone that can cram at the last minute or wing it, I need to focus and get myself fully prepared, then I can relax a little bit in the exam and that’s (usually) when I produce my best work…well that’s how it worked out for Basic anyway, and I don’t see the point of changing a formula that works!

The Gateau Sabrina, I've included the cross section image so you can see the effect the rolling up of the sponge strips has. It creates a nice vertical pattern of sponge and mousse. It actually tasted quite nice on second tasting, I'd definitely change the strawberry for more chocolate or possibly even passionfruit or something next time. One question though, why, after cutting the disc into 8 equal pieces did it not go back on the top of the cake in a perfect circle. There was a bit sticking out and not lined up properly - one of life's great mysteries! 

The skills test (the fruit cake was out of shot still in the oven, we'll see how that turned out in a few weeks...after its been drowned in another few gallons of rum! My preference is brandy in a fruit cake, so I'm intrigued as to how the rum will complement it and change the flavour. The 'Fraisier' piping is almost impossible to see, but at least the 'Opera' writing can be seen. The rose was quite fun to make to, so I'll practice that a lot to get it right. You have no idea how frustrating and equally uplifting it is being told you're "almost there with it" - good on one hand because it was a first attempt with marzipan, but bad on the other because I'm not quite sure what else I needed to do to it!

Week 2 (Intermediate Patisserie)

Week 2 carried on the laminated dough theme and added sweet dough into the mix as well. 

Monday started with a demo lesson, during which the chef made croissant/danish pastry dough, brioche dough and bun dough. The brioche and pastry dough was to be chilled overnight and used the next day. The bun dough was used to make Devonshire splits, hot cross buns (we made these two in the practical) and chelsea buns (demo only). I really like bread, there's something almost majestic about being able to turn a few simple ingredients into amazing looking and tasting breads. This lesson we had the master baker taking the demo, so it was a real privilege to watching him work with the dough. The laminated dough was much like a puff pastry, but with less double turns and yeast added. And the bun and brioche doughs were also similar to the basic bread dough, but with eggs, more sugar, and lots of butter added! The splits, hot cross buns and chelsea buns looked really really nice. They all tasted great as well! The only change I'd have made was in the chelsea buns, there was rum in there somewhere which was completely unnecessary. Inside the chelsea buns the chef had spread some almond cream and cinnamon sugar. Once baked, they were glazed and then nibbled sugar was added to the top. Really really nice! I was very excited for the practical. 

Straight after the demo we were in to the practical session. I was one of the two team leaders this week, which means we had to go into class early and help the chef set up. I was on bun wash duty(!) (making a syrup to brush over the buns at the end) and the other team leader was making the mixture for the crosses on the hot cross buns (equal parts flour and water). We had to pair up and work together on the bun dough and brioche dough, however we had to make the laminated dough on our own. My partner and I had issues from the start, to try and save a bit of time I weighed out some of the ingredients and she weighed out the others for our laminated doughs. Unfortunately when we came to bring the dough together it was really dry and difficult to knead. We should have just started again quickly, however we kept adding a dribble of water and kneading, eventually we managed to get the dough soft and elastic but it took much longer than it should and put us behind quite a lot. Whether it was the wrong flour, or not enough liquid weighed out, I'll never know. A good lesson in double checking or taking responsibility for weighing out your own ingredients! I hate getting behind, it really stresses me out and that's when I start to panic and feel useless, chef even commented at the end that I looked really tense at the beginning. However with both of our doughs finally in the fridge resting we rallied together and split the next tasks, I took command of the bun dough, for the Devonshire splits and hot cross buns, and my partner did the brioche dough. I assured the chef we'd be able to catch up, a bit of a wing and a prayer moment!

There was a shortage of bowls to weigh stuff into so I had to hunt down more which felt like it was sapping time as well, however I finally got everything weighed out and into the mixer and that was when things started to turn around and work out better. The dough came together really nicely and we started to catch up with the others. I split it in half and set one lot aside in a bowl to prove and then quickly mixed the mixed spice, currants and candied peel in another. That was then set aside to prove as well, then it was back to the laminated dough, which actually seemed to roll out ok, and took the butter inclusion and first double turn well - there's still hope for it! My partners did as well, so we have fingers firmly crossed! It's quite difficult in the lessons sometimes, working in pairs, because you want to support the other, however you're so busy its not always possible. I looked across and checked she was ok and noticed she was using the paddle and not the dough hook on the mixer. I queried this with her and she said someone had taken ours. This really annoyed me, because at the beginning of the lesson I went and got us both a mixer bowl and dough hook because the set up hadn't been done properly from the last lesson. I accept that in the heat and speed of the kitchen its easy to take stuff from the wrong workstation, especially as they aren't directly behind you, however if it was taken deliberately, out of sheer laziness, then that's totally unacceptable. What I should have done was taken a name and then thrown the culprit out of the window, to rid ourselves of that snake in the grass for the rest of the term...however it wouldn't have done my teamwork points any good! All that said, the brioche dough looked ok (never made it before so can't really judge it against anything!), we'll find out for sure in the next lesson though. Once the bun dough had proved we split it in half and shaped it into rounds each, put the two doughs in the prover and then did the next double turn on our laminated doughs, they looked ok, so fingers doubly crossed we managed to salvage it!

When the dough was ready we piped the crosses on the hot cross buns and got both sets into bake. Once the Devonshire splits were done they had to go into the blast chiller to cool, ready for their jam and whipped cream filling. It was a creme chantilly, so it had to be whipped over an ice bath with vanilla and icing sugar added, I took charge of this to give my partner chance to catch up on a couple of things. Once the buns were cold they were filled, had the cream piped in, and a light dusting of icing sugar applied on top. The hot cross buns were glazed and they were ready then (which I initially forgot to do when I took my buns to chef to be judged!). Good feedback on the buns, which I was happy about, just a little talking to on organisation and preparation, which I totally accept and appreciated. We should have acted quicker the second we thought something was wrong, not left it and keep fannying around with the dough hoping it'd be ok! 

The whole class seemed a bit slow in this one, we finished 50 mins late...which, when you have the 6:30pm lesson is not ideal, especially when you have another hour and 40 mins at least on the coach home (I got to bed very late!). 
I finished this lesson a bit downhearted and utterly exhausted, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to this one. At least the buns came out well though (and went some way to working as consolation for a bad lesson on the bus ride home!), plus some valuable lessons were learned from it. So not a total loss. There was also a tiny glimmer of hope that we might yet still be ok for the laminated dough and brioche lesson the next day!

Tuesday we had a demo, and the chef used the laminated dough from the day before to make a wide variety of medium sized pastries; croissants, pain au chocolat and Danish pastries. He showed us different shapes and fillings we could do. With the brioche dough, there was a mammoth weighing out session, which culminated in four different loaves being produced. A walnut loaf, a chocolate loaf, a round loaf with a nubbin/head on top and a loaf made out of 8 balls snuggly tucked into a loaf tin. The chef promptly announced we had only 30 minutes to weigh out, shape and get the doughs on a tray ready to prove, or there may not be sufficient time to bake them! I tried a bit of as many as I could in the lesson and the pain au chocolat was my favourite. They were really light and tasted great. 

We went straight from the demo into the practical again. This was the moment of truth, had the paddle affected our brioche, and had the laminated doughs buggered up completely!? Fortunately the answer to both was no - massive relief! We quickly got to work on the brioche dough. Luckily having the practical straight after the demo means everything stays fresh in your mind, so after yesterdays debacle I made sure I was clear on how the shaping should be done and set out to prove a point. 30 minutes was the time limit, but I made sure I got it done in 20, I feel far more relaxed if I'm ahead of the game! Then it was straight on to the laminated dough. This had to be rolled out, cut in half, half put in the fridge for later and the other half rolled out thinner. This rolled out half was then cut into two strips, the first strip was used for the pain au chocolat, with which I layer chocolate batons along the middle and folded it, then cut it into 6. The croissants were cut into triangles and rolled up. I made sure I tucked the pointy end sufficiently under the croissant so it didn't burst open and flap up when proving/baking, but not too far that it inhibited the dough from rising nicely. These were then set aside to prove while we got on with the Danish pastries. 

Generally we only have to present one or two dishes to the chef for judging and feedback. Today was the exception to that! We had to present the 4 brioche loaves, 3 croissants, 3 pain au chocolat, 3 different types of Danish pastry - of which there had to be 3 of each. That's 19 bakes to be presented in total! This was a lesson in consistency. Moving on to the Danish pastries, I made 4 of each shape to make sure I could pick 3 that looked most consistent. I chose to make windmill, parcel and lattice shapes and filled them with a variety of things; pastry cream, almond cream, chocolate, walnuts, mirabels (little french plums), pear and apricots - most of what was on offer! Trying to balance what would work well flavour-wise. The chef in the demo told us we had to be generous with the filings, proving the point by plonking a giant pear half on top of a lattice Danish, which completely dwarfed it! The reason for this is that the pastry rises and if you don't put enough in, it'll look very stingy once baked...and the dwarfed pear actually looked good proportionally, once he'd finished! He then told us he wouldn't be returning to our patisseries if we were stingy with the fillings! So with that threat looming over us I made sure I was heavy handed with them! They were then egg washed and set aside to prove. Meanwhile it was time to get the brioche out, give them an egg wash and then get them in the oven. They looked like they'd risen really well, although the nubbin was a bit lopsided on one of them! Having said that, once they'd baked I was happy with them, they were very light and had a really nice colour. Next up was the croissants and pain au chocolat. These could have been a total disaster given how the dough was only 24 hours before, however they'd risen beautifully, so I was over the moon. They were egg washed and then baked. I was really happy with how they came out. The Danish pastries were then put in to bake and they also came out well. Fortunately I'd been sufficiently heavy handed with the fillings so they didn't look dwarfed - I'll put the chef down as a returning customer when my patisserie opens! I got good feedback from the chef on everything, good colour, consistency, bake, well filled. Given how bad the lesson could have gone, I was very proud of what I'd produced. 

After the difficult lesson the day before, this one really helped to fully restore harmony and happiness. Although the couple of pastries I ate on the bus home may have contributed to that somewhat as well! 
Wednesday we had a lecture on purchasing, storage and control. I'm sure it could have been a good subject to learn about, however it was rattled through very quickly, seemed to completely lack any structure and appeared to leave well over half the class confused about what was going on! I'll need to go over the notes again to try and make sense of it. A couple of things I do remember though is that the main aim of a business is to make profit, even if that means skimping on the quality sometimes. However, a great chef can make even mediocre ingredients amazing - so something to strive for at least!

A mixed week all in all, ups, downs, but good lessons learned. The Intermediate term is tough, but an excellent challenge all the same. I'm excited for what next week has to offer. 

The Devonshire splits and hot cross buns. Both buns were really light and tasted amazing fresh. I'll definitely be making the Devonshire splits again, they were by far my favourite. 

The Danish pastries, croissants, pain au chocolats and brioche loaves. My favourites here were the pain au chocolats and the chocolate brioche loaf (notice the theme there!). Really proud with how these came out, given they were my first attempt at all of them! 

Week 1 (Intermediate Patisserie)

After what felt like a really long week off (I was working all of it, so it felt like time slowed down without the opportunity to go to school), the Intermediate term finally came round and started very quickly. Earlier in the week before starting again we got our new class schedules, I'm in Group B this term and all of our lessons are on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. Luckily it fits in really well with work. 

Monday we were thrown straight in at the deep end with a demo and practical. As we got into the demo rooms our new folders were there, I had a quick flick through and there are some exciting lessons coming up, lots of chocolate work too, later in the term. The first demo was the Hungarian dobos torte and a block of puff pastry. Traditionally the dobos torte is a round cake made up of layers of sponge, chocolate buttercream or ganache and topped with some form of caramel decoration. However, it wouldn't be Le Cordon Bleu without an added level of complexity! Instead of a round cake, we were making a triangular prism shaped cake. The chef started making a sheet sponge, then it was on to a chocolate ganache, sounds fairly simple, but at the same time he was also making puff pastry and giving it several double turns so you eventually build up just over 1000 layers of butter and dough! The puff pastry was made and wrapped ready for the next lesson. The complexity for the dobos torte came in its assembly. The sponge had to be trimmed down into strips, layered with ganache, stacked up, chilled and then trimmed to make it neat. Then it was on to the impossible task, cutting it diagonally down the middle lengthways. The chef made it look easy and had the top half stood up and sandwiched together with ganache as quick as anything! Then it was masked twice with ganache and a chocolate glaze poured over and left to set. It was very nice and looked impressive - no pressure! Tasted really nice too!
Straight from the demo we went into the practical, it was quite a quick start, we started making the dough for the puff pastry, and rolling out the butter so it'd fit across two thirds of it. That was then put into the fridge to chill for a bit before starting on the sheet sponge for the dobos. It was made using the creaming method, fortunately we're now being allowed to use the kitchen aid machines! We worked in pairs and one of us worked on that while the other did the ganache (I did the sponge). Then it was back onto the puff pastry, we did the English inclusion, using the thirds folding method and then switched to the french method to do the double folds. We did four turns over all and chilled it for a good 30 minutes between (two lots of two turns, otherwise we'd have been there all night!). The sponge was then trimmed into strips, layered up with ganache in the middle and then chilled to firm up a bit. Now time for the impossible task! Slicing through on the diagonal, I decided the best way to do it was just go for it, as it was crumbling a bit when I started timidly and I had visions of it completely disintegrating. The bottom edge was fine, because I was keeping the knife flat against the workbench edge, however the opposite diagonal corner was not easy to keep lined up at all! Needless to say when I prized the two halts apart there was a bit of a wavy line down the middle - fortunately it was all to be covered in ganache so it wouldn't have been seen! The two halves were stood on end, ganache down the middle to hold it together, and then the first mask of ganache on the outside. From there it was chilled, a second masking applied and then a chocolate glaze poured over the top. I trimmed the edges and presented to chef and he was happy. Could have done with a bit more of a point on top however the ganache was applied evenly and it was masked ok, so hopeful of a decent mark for it!

Tuesday it was a demo and practical again, we were warned at the end of last term that this term would be tough. After the second practical I understood and fully appreciated that statement! The second demo was using the puff pastry made in the first demo, to make Millefeuille and a pithivier. The pastry was split into one third and two thirds, both rolled out and chilled. The millefeuille third was weighed down with another tray and baked, to keep it nice and flat. In the meantime chef made a pastry cream and almond cream. Circles were marked out on the pithivier two thirds of the dough, and the almond cream piped in the middle. The puff pastry top was added and it was trimmed to shape, using half the cap off a rum bottle to make a nice pattern around the edge! This was then egg washed, scored and then baked. Chef then mixed up the cooled pastry cream in the kitchen aid and added butter to turn it into a creme mousseline. The baked sheet of puff pastry was cut into three circles, jam was applied to the bottom layer, a second disc added to the top, then it was built up in a ring mould. The creme mousseline was added to the top of this and then a few chopped strawberries, topped with more creme mousseline and then the final disc of pastry. Now came the tough part, an apricot glaze was added and then the dreaded fondant that haunted our eclair lesson and the Basic Patisserie exams! The fondant was poured on top and smoothed over really quickly, chocolate piped on top quickly and then a tooth pick dragged through to make a nice pattern - quickly! It all had to happen quickly, quickly, quickly. No pressure there then! The pithivier had a glaze added to the top and then it was time to taste, both dishes tasted very very nice and I was excited to make them! 

Straight into the kitchen from the demo and it was time to go. The puff pastry was rolled out and chilled, straight onto the creme pat and almond cream (in pairs, I did the almond cream). The millefeuille sheet was baked while the pithivier was assembled. The scoring was quite tough to get even, but I was pretty happy with the job, and the pattern around the outside came out well as well. I was very hopeful when I put it in the oven! While that baked the millefeuille was cut into three discs and the creme pat turned into mousseline. It was then assembled in the same way chef assembled his and then put in the blast chiller to set. Then it was time to get a chocolate piping bag ready, a palette knife and tooth pick. Chef came round and dolloped a load of fondant on top, it was really difficult to do, it slid around a bit on the apricot glaze and then was drying so quickly it started getting dragged off the top as I tried to spread it! I got to the stage of just leaving it alone and luckily it settled nicely while I was piping the chocolate on top. That was drying ridiculously quickly and I had to do the tooth pick dragging at lightning speed! The very middle didn't look amazing, fortunately that was where I could put the strawberry decoration on top! I applied an apricot glaze to the top of the pithivier and demoulded the millefeuille (very carefully!), added the crushed leftover pastry on the outside of the millefeuille to finish and then it was ready for chef to judge. He was happy with the pithivier and the baking of the puff pastry, luckily he was also happy with the millefeuille so that was lucky! At the end of every lesson we have to write down the chef comments in a journal, which gets reviewed at our mid term reviews. This term however they've introduced a self evaluation element as well, so far my comments have been harsher than the chefs feedback...I don't think theres anything wrong in striving for perfection, or at least as close to it as I can achieve! Its the only way I can improve and push myself be the best I possibly can!
This was a very quick practical, barely time to stop and think what needed doing next, however we got to the end and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Looking back I really relished the challenge and can't wait for the next sessions. On the plus side also, the new Group B seen really nice. A mixture of old group D and other groups and a couple of new people that have either transferred from another LCB school from the other side of the world, or come back after a break.

Wednesday afternoon we had a lecture, and launched straight in with the exam procedures one. Chef rattled through this lesson quickly on account of the tube strike. We now know what the three potential exam dishes will be in roughly 8 weeks time. It'll be either; the Alhambra (no, I hadn't heard of it either!), the Opera gateau and the Fraisier cake. I'll elaborate on these in the coming weeks as we'll be doing them all as dedicated practical sessions...luckily! Getting the Opera one deadly straight, as it was in the picture, is going to be a tougher mission than scaling Everest (which I haven't done, so can't really compare, but still!). 

The dobos torte! Yes, it tasted as good as it looks! This was a nice cake to make (and eat), as the glaze was setting in the fridge it cracked very slightly, fortunately chef didn't see it when marking! 

The Millefuille and pithivier, both of these tasted amazing! The creme mousseline was really tasty - probably the half tonne of butter that was added! Out of the two I'm most happy with the pithivier, the puff pastry rose really well and it was a pleasure to eat. Very simple (in theory!) but very tasty. 

A very big step up from Basic Patisserie, but I enjoyed the first week. Intermediate Patisserie is going to be a huge challenge, but one I'm very much looking forward to.