Then in December, things came to a close and  I graduated from The French Pastry School. My classmates and I worked together on creating a graduation banquet and buffet including all the desserts we had learned in the course of our time at school. My class in particular created the wedding cake displays and petit fours. My friend and classmate Carolynn and I paired up to make opera cake (similar to tiramisu) and raspberry pate de fruit. Our graduation ceremony was held in at the Union League Club downtown in Chicago and the banquet followed afterwards in our kitchen classrooms down the street.

It seems like ages ago that I graduated. Since then, my time has been spent interning at Floriole Bakery, traveling to Boston, spending time with friends family, and keeping myself busy with a lot of baking in my kitchen. Really though, it has been a time for adjustment and for figuring out what I will do with my time and my future. I miss school a lot, I miss my friends, but I especially miss the structure and purpose to my days. I hope to find a place in the culinary world and to continue to work hard and be creative.

I’m also looking for any suggestions on ways I can refocus my blog, in hopes that I become inspired and motivated to keep posts coming more regularly. I’m thinking maybe a new layout our design to the site (thanks Pete?), any thoughts? If anyone has any tips on bettering my photography I would be very grateful – I’m looking for ways to improve the lighting in my photographs.

So thats my story. I have plans this week to update you even more on the projects that have been keeping me busy. So check back soon!

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A Bit of Motivation

I know, I know…it has been far too long. I apologize for not keeping you posted on my pastry school happenings, so how about we play a bit of catch up? Since we talked last, I was doing sugar showpieces and taking my first exam. Well, a lot has happened since then. There has been ice cream & sorbets, plated desserts, sugar candy, tarts, my second exam and now I’m on to breads & breakfast pastries. Besides school I have also been busy with internships and “stages” (1-day internships) where I have gotten the opportunity to see the inner workings of kitchens, bakeries, and small businesses. School has been a whirlwind and I’m loving each section that we cover, I can’t believe it’s already more than half way over.

In the ice cream section we learned to balance an ice cream  recipe so that we could create any type of flavored ice cream that would have the correct amounts of fat, sugar, non-fat solids, and emulsifiers. By balancing each recipe the final product result in a very creamy texture. Along with learning ice creams we were also taught how to make sorbets and ice cream cakes. The picture below is an ice cream “bombe” which is a molded ice cream cake of vanilla parfait, raspberry coulis and chocolate ice cream. At the end of this traveling home on the bus and the train was not an option, everything had to be well packed with ice and whisked home in a taxi or fear of melting and a great mess!

After ice cream came plated desserts where we got to see how desserts seen mainly in restaurants are put together in an artistic way. Some dishes that we learned included: souffle, creme brulee, flan, chiboust, and chocolate lava cake. Since I did not have my camera with me during this section, these photos are courtesy of my amazing partner at the time, Erica!

We also were introduced to sugar confections including: caramels, marshmallows, hard candy, pate de fruit, and gums. Out of everything we have made, so far caramels have given me the most frustration with getting the right set (either it would be too soft or too hard), so if any of you have made caramels successfully before I would love to get your imput! I must have made the caramels over ten times and still haven’t gotten them right.

After sugar candies we moved to one of my favorite sections: tarts. We learned three types of dough that we would blind bake and fill to make our tarts: pate sablee (fine and delicate), pate sucree (sweet dough), and pate foncer (for sweet & savory tarts). Shown in the photograph is a blueberry tart with a streusel topping, Mille Feuille (puff pastry with pastry cream), and St. Honore (puff pastry, pate choux, and vanilla creme legere) tarts.

Whew, that was a long post, next time I promise to get back to you sooner! Plus, I have to tell you all breads & breakfast pastries and the apple pie competition I entered happening this Sunday.

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It’s been too long

This past Friday I completed the chocolate showpiece unit in class and then traveled home with this large and extremely fragile sculpture. It felt a bit like Food Network Challenge carrying it around, but luckily my boyfriend was nice enough to pick me up (only a decorative curl fell off in transit). In this section we were able to take a nice break from production and concentrate on learning and practicing new decorative chocolate techniques.

The components of this showpiece include: molded spheres (for the base), leaves, curls, two different flowers, and a large molded s-shaped curve. It was easy to get frustrated when handling the fragile pieces, getting caught up in wanting to make something perfect, but I had to just relax and remember that is was my first attempt and I know it will get easier as I continue to practice. It’s pretty  amazing to see how versatile a medium chocolate is and to realize that  the creative possibilities are endless!

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Chocolate Showpiece

I just finished up a two-week long intensive chocolate course at school. I was admittedly a bit anxious for this section at school because chocolate candy making is a bit daunting. I’ve never really worked with it previously and was new to the science of chocolate and the methods of making it, plus its extremely messy (I’ve come home with dirty uniforms and aprons everyday).

There was also a ton of information thrown out at us that we tried our best to practice and retain. The methods we learned and practiced again and again in this section included: tempering, setting ganaches, casting shell molds, piping, dipping and enrobing chocolate. In the past couple days we consolidated all our collected candies and set up an assembly line to package the chocolates.

These are some our finished products in the pictures. In the top photo (from left to right) the chocolates are Peanut Butter Pavé, Creamy from Normandy, Grand Marnier Caramel, Columbian, Earl Grey Tea Ganache, and another Peanut Butter Pavé. In the second photo (left to right) are Chocolate Covered Almonds, Rum Truffles, Swiss Rocher, and Butter Masses.

Even though chocolate may not be my favorite pastry, I feel as though I have really learned a lot and now can appreciate the work that goes into making such a meticulously made confection. I also feel so fortunate being able to learn from Chef Sebastien and to learn how to make artisanal chocolates using the highest quality ingredients. I was able to bring lots of it home, so if you’d like to try some just let me know!

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Chocolate

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What I Learned Today: Gianduja

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What I Learned Today: French Meringue