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.
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