An easy class this evening. Not much on our plate. We delved further into creams and custards by making pate a choux (and subsequently eclairs) and two kinds of pastry cream.
First, this is the flan (left) and creme brulee (right) from yesterday. I was quite surprised at the outcome. When I made them yesterday I feared that I undercooked the brulee and overcooked the flan but I think they both turned out perfectly. I did err a bit slightly in the flan though. I was unaware that the caramelized sugar we put first in the ramekin should be only a tiny bit-I put a fair amount in and so it didn't really come out when I plated them, but rather was all hardened in the ramekin. Though that may have alternatively been another error in prep yesterday. I prepared the syrup before doing the flan and so it sat and hardened in the ramekins before I added the flan-I thought it would remelt during baking but I guess not. Now I know.
We also made some pie, apple cranberry to be precise. We had made pie dough yesterday so used that. The filling was really nice, apples, cranberries, brown sugar, lotsa cinnamon (Chef said too much, there can never be too much cinnamon), and other stuff. After par-baking the crust we filled it and then topped with some streusel topping from a couple weeks ago. I only had a bite and it tasted good; it certainly looks pretty. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, hopefully I can bake all this stuff then. We also made more pie dough for next week, that's just chilling in the fridge.
Our final item was eclairs. We first made two custards, creme patissiere (pastry cream) which is vanilla-y, and then creme anglaise, chocolate flavoured. We then made some pate a choux for the eclairs. They unfortunately didn't turn out the greatest. The eclairs were taken out before they were fully baked and put back in and so some collapsed a bit and didn't have great cavities. The creme patissiere was also a little runny. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the eclair shells or the finished product; I forgot to in class and gave them away on my way home so don't have any with me now. Though we'll be making more throughout the quarter (they're part of the final) so hopefully then I'll have more presentable items.
First, this is the flan (left) and creme brulee (right) from yesterday. I was quite surprised at the outcome. When I made them yesterday I feared that I undercooked the brulee and overcooked the flan but I think they both turned out perfectly. I did err a bit slightly in the flan though. I was unaware that the caramelized sugar we put first in the ramekin should be only a tiny bit-I put a fair amount in and so it didn't really come out when I plated them, but rather was all hardened in the ramekin. Though that may have alternatively been another error in prep yesterday. I prepared the syrup before doing the flan and so it sat and hardened in the ramekins before I added the flan-I thought it would remelt during baking but I guess not. Now I know.
We also made some pie, apple cranberry to be precise. We had made pie dough yesterday so used that. The filling was really nice, apples, cranberries, brown sugar, lotsa cinnamon (Chef said too much, there can never be too much cinnamon), and other stuff. After par-baking the crust we filled it and then topped with some streusel topping from a couple weeks ago. I only had a bite and it tasted good; it certainly looks pretty. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, hopefully I can bake all this stuff then. We also made more pie dough for next week, that's just chilling in the fridge.
Our final item was eclairs. We first made two custards, creme patissiere (pastry cream) which is vanilla-y, and then creme anglaise, chocolate flavoured. We then made some pate a choux for the eclairs. They unfortunately didn't turn out the greatest. The eclairs were taken out before they were fully baked and put back in and so some collapsed a bit and didn't have great cavities. The creme patissiere was also a little runny. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the eclair shells or the finished product; I forgot to in class and gave them away on my way home so don't have any with me now. Though we'll be making more throughout the quarter (they're part of the final) so hopefully then I'll have more presentable items.
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