And so begins my final quarter in culinary school. The first class that I am taking this quarter is European Cakes and Tortes. I don't think that there are specific topics through this quarter like there have been in previous classes, just more tortes after another, so I can't really categorize the weeks. Whatever. Since there is so much to these items, I can't really work on every recipe like I had in previous classes but rather each person takes a recipe and for the most part does it themselves.
We began with four items this week. First up is an Opera cake. It is a thin cake layered with coffee flavored buttercream and topped with a thin layer of coating chocolate. Looks alright. I'm not the one who did the terrible piping on top by the way.
Next was tiramisu. I don't really know much of what went into it, as I didn't make it (I'd never make something so rough and messy and call it a final product). I know it's rimmed with ladyfingers and I think the layers are the same, but don't know what it's filled with. It looks like some kind of buttercream.
Third is a Pithivier, which I guess is a very classic, well known European cake, which the chef says also tastes very bland. I helped make some of it, particularly the filling, which is a mix of pastry cream and almond cream. I for one wouldn't really call it a cake, it is just puff pastry filled with that stuff, more like a big pastry to me.
The final item is the one that I worked on, the St. Honore cake. Like the previous, I wouldn't really consider it a cake. It is a puff pastry base with pate a choux piped around the edges and a spiral inside. It is then topped with more pastry puffs crowned with caramelized sugar. The puffs are filled with Creme Chiboust, which is pretty much Italian buttercream with rum and a few other ingredients. The same fills the inside of the cake. Creme chanantilly is then piped on the center. I guess it's supposed to look like a crown. Kinda lame to me.
We began with four items this week. First up is an Opera cake. It is a thin cake layered with coffee flavored buttercream and topped with a thin layer of coating chocolate. Looks alright. I'm not the one who did the terrible piping on top by the way.
Next was tiramisu. I don't really know much of what went into it, as I didn't make it (I'd never make something so rough and messy and call it a final product). I know it's rimmed with ladyfingers and I think the layers are the same, but don't know what it's filled with. It looks like some kind of buttercream.
Third is a Pithivier, which I guess is a very classic, well known European cake, which the chef says also tastes very bland. I helped make some of it, particularly the filling, which is a mix of pastry cream and almond cream. I for one wouldn't really call it a cake, it is just puff pastry filled with that stuff, more like a big pastry to me.
The final item is the one that I worked on, the St. Honore cake. Like the previous, I wouldn't really consider it a cake. It is a puff pastry base with pate a choux piped around the edges and a spiral inside. It is then topped with more pastry puffs crowned with caramelized sugar. The puffs are filled with Creme Chiboust, which is pretty much Italian buttercream with rum and a few other ingredients. The same fills the inside of the cake. Creme chanantilly is then piped on the center. I guess it's supposed to look like a crown. Kinda lame to me.
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