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!