Summer's around the corner, Time to cool things down

We're on to Cold Desserts! The final paper of the course :( The year's gone by in the blink of an eye! As we wrap up, here are some photos...

 Panna Cotta with Wine Jelly

 Empress Rice Pudding

 Gula Melaka in sugar cage

 Lime Coconut Bavarois

 Vanilla Kirsch Bavarois

 Choc Mousse Teardrop

 Choc Marquise

 Tiramisu

Choc Mousse Tea Cup

Too Hot to Handle...

Hence, we're moving onto Cold Desserts next week (ice creams and sorbets-yum!) but till then here are a couple more shots taken in class as we wrap up Hot Desserts.

 Sponge Pudding

 Orange Souffle

 Tart au Citron

 Pumpkin Orange cake

 Tarte Tartin with Creme Anglaise

 Lemon Meringue

Part of the final assessment for this module- Sponge Pudding and Apple Strudel, Souffle not shown

Whoops!

Just realised I had forgotten to post up pix from our Shop production module. Following our Professional Experience/Placement we're back in Uni again, but instead of our regular classes we're stocking up the Uni cafe with gateaus and pastries for 2 weeks! Here's a sample of some of the items we produced:

 Brioche, Sausage Rolls and Pies

 Assorted cookies. Different flavours each day.

 Slices, these also differed each day.

 Quiches and Pizza slices.

 French Pastries- about a dozen different types every day...

 The display cabinet, stocked with our pastries!

 Fruit tarts.

 Black Forest Gateaux.

 Choc Divinity Cake.

 More assorted French Pastries.

Hello, Hot Stuff!

The second half of Semester 2 has commenced and we're now moving into Hot Desserts and how to plate them up attractively. Decor/Finishing is left mostly to our own 'creative interpretation' and we make use of whatever serveware and mis en place that's available (fruits, sauces etc). So here's some of the stuff we made this week:-

 Banana and Apple beignets with Creme Patisserie sauce and Chocolate Coconut Cream

 Poached Pears, dried apricots and figs with a White Wine Sabayon sauce

 Rhubarb and Pear crumble

 Tamarillo and Apple crumble with Streusel topping

 Crepes Normandy with Caramel Sauce

 Waffles with Strawberry Sauce

Creme Caramel

Taste Test of Life as a Baker

Part of our Course included 2 weeks of Work Experience in a Bakery/Cafe/Cake shop to give us a little teaser of what's instore for us if we do continue with our dreams (delusions?) of being a Pastry Chef. I think we were all a little nervous- would I love it? Hate it? What if I'm not cut out for life in a patisserie kitchen? I hope I'm not completely incompetent! Ahhh! What if the employer doesn't like me?!

Anyways, we're each assigned to a business, selected by our tutors based on whom they think would be a good fit. And i got placed into The Little Cake Kitchen, which was exactly the type of business i was hoping for- a small cafe that specialises in little cupcakes and such :) Very girly, dainty and so damn cute!

Just some of the yummy things they make. From scratch. Every day. I was a little sad on the last day, having met such kind, sweet people at the Cake Kitchen. But now i know where to go for the most delicious Red Velvet cupcakes when the craving arises! :)

Random Cute-ness

Before our Practical Assessment today we made these in class, Marzipan critters! In case you can't make out what they are: Elephants, Bunny and Pigs :P

Quite possibly, Too Much Bread!

Just concluded my Practical Assessment for Breads tonight! Looking forward to passing out and sleeping soundly without any more nightmares of forgetting yeast in my dough/dough that refuses to knead! To cap off our last few classes:-

 Savarins- this dough is quite bizarre. You'd never think anything could be made with it! It has the consistency of gooey ectoplasm (the kind that was sold in plastic tubs, as marketed by the Ghost Busters cartoons :P). They're piped into donut shaped moulds, baked, soaked in a citrus rum syrup, glazed with apricot jam then filled with cream and fruit. Eating it, it seems like a dense, soggy donut :P

 Brioche. Nuff said.

 Danishes and Croissants (i stuffed mine with chocolate ;D)

 More Danishes...

 Quickbread, made with baking powder instead of yeast. Once you've had bread made with yeast, this type of bread  just feels wrong in your mouth... It's meant to be bread, but feels like a muffin of some sort.

 Irish Soda Bread. This also had a crumblier texture... but went well with Tomato Soup!

Buttermilk scones. Love. I just ate one before typing this all out!

Finally, today's Assessment: Dinner Rolls (Round and Bridge); Savarins; and Scones. DONE!!!