Afternoon Tea 2

Our Delectable Spread

It's our turn to host Afternoon Tea: the week leading up to today was spent practicing our prep which had to be completed in record time on service day.

I find this menu more appealing than the last: smoked salmon and roast beef sandwiches "loosely" translates to extra treats for the chefs, and with the previous week's experience, our petit fours came out extra petit and adorable.

Sizzlin' Beef

For a pastry chef, I really dig my meat and fell in love with the huge cut of cow flesh we were given; and can there be any sound sweeter than that of meat sizzling on a hotplate? *swoon*

SANDWICHES & CREPES

Soft Roll With Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese & Chive

Mini Baps With Rare Roast Beef, Horseradish Cream & Rocket

Rye & Linseed With Brie, Cranberry & Pea Sprouts

Crepes

PASTRIES & TEACAKES

Coffee Eclairs With Pastry Cream

Breton With Caramelized Chibouste

Lemon Tart With Fresh Fruits

Date Scones With Double Cream & Raspberry Jam

MOUSSES & CUSTARDS

Pistachio Brulee

Dark Chocolate Mousse With Chocolate Shavings

MINI GATEAUX

Brasilia

Gateau Concorde (Gluten Free)

PETIT FOURS

Raspberry Fruit Paste, Moulded Chocolates With Orange & Grand Marnier Ganache

Fruit Plate

SERVICE DAY

The Crepes Crew: Me, Sunny Smiles Smital, The Talented Erica

Fighting Over The Grand Marnier

I scored a job on the crepes station, which was as close to cooking as one can be on the service floor. With me are Erica and Jing, and Smital as our trusty assistant. :)

Caramelizing Sugar, Butter, Lemon & Orange Juice

Preparing To Flambee With Grand Marnier (Photographer Simon Backing Up For Safety)

KA-BOOM!!!

Voila! So Worth The Torched Eyebrows

After Service Wedgie :p

Winding Down With Drinks & Food

Ivan The Terrible

(Just Kidding, He Was Great!)

Afternoon Tea 1

Spot The Difference

Towards the end of each term Superior students (I say this without a hint of arrogance, just quiet pride) slog through 10-hour workdays over 2 weeks to put up indulgent Afternoon Teas for the paying public. A great chance for us to recreate products learnt over the entire course and a little more, the good people of the community also get to enjoy the fruits of our labor for the low low price of $20 a pop!

Here's a glimpse of what we've been busy preparing this week, mostly for practice; all products are made fresh on service day itself. See what I mean by value-for-money?

SANDWICHES & CREPES

 Wholemeal Pagnotta With Ham, Cheddar Cheese & Dijon Mustard

Mini Baguette With Grilled Chicken, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayonnaise Dressing

Olive Focaccia With Goats Cheese & Roasted Capsicum (Vegetarian)

Crepes

PASTRIES & TEACAKES

Vacherin Meringue Served With Chantilly Cream & Fresh Fruits (Gluten Free)

Almond Shortcake With Crème Diplomat & Pistachio Croquant

Choux Pastries With Chocolate Mousseline & Chocolate Fondant Garnish

Scones With Cream & Raspberry Jam

MOUSSES, CUSTARDS & MINI GATEAUX

Tiramisu With Sponge Fingers, Mango Jelly With Fresh Berries & Cointreau Sabayon Cream

Opera Gateau

PETIT FOURS

White Chocolate Fudge

Moulded Chocolates With Honey Ganache

SERVICE DAY

Crepes & Drinks Station, Coffee!

Sunny Flambeing Crepes

Crepe Suzette For Service 

Crepes With Chantilly Cream & Raspberry Jam For Lunch :p

Piccolo. MY Piccolo. :)

I have a confession to make: I am a Hopeless. Degenerate. Coffee Junkie. Case in point:

1. I am particularly, painfully fussy about my morning joe: I gotta have it on time (within 30 minutes of waking up), steaming hot (how do you wake up with cold coffee??) and strong, real strong ("triple shot cappuccino with ground cinnamon, no sugar please" is how I roll). 

2. If I go cold turkey for just one morning, I get grumpy - granny-pushing, puppy-kicking grumpy. I walk around with a black cloud hanging over my head, furious at the world, punching everything and everyone in sight as I sink dangerously deeper into dark despair and depression, all while managing the worst pounding migraine ever. 

So you see, not only do I love my coffee, I need it. In fact I'm sipping a double shot long black as I write this. Now you know. Don't judge me.

P.s. I'm kidding about the granny and puppy abuse, really! I love 'em! So please, hold off the hate mail. :p

Gâteau Mille Feuille De Chocolat à L'orange, Crème Diplomate, Petits Fours Glacé, Preserved Fruit Peel

Chef Gert's Mille Feuille & Petits Fours Glacé

Mille Feuille or "a thousand leaves" describes the feathery light layers (48 in this case) created from the underlying lamination. Known fondly as Vanilla Slice in Australia and Napoleon in France, it made with layers of puff pastry and a creamy filling, topped with fondant and "chocolate feathers". First mentioned in 1651 by François Pierre de La Varenne, it was later improved by Marie-Antoine Carême in the 18th century, noting it of "ancient origin."

Petits fours were probably created in the 18th century, when wasting heat was unheard of: tiny cakes would be baked during the cooling process of the ovens, hence the name which means "little ovens". Cute, eh?

But that's not all. Petits fours glacés are cakes iced  and decorated in fondant or glacé icing, petits fours secs are its dry cousins such as biscuits and meringues. Then there are the petits fours salés, savoury  appetizers commonly served at cocktail parties or buffets.

Inversely Puffy Layers Of Feathery Lightness

Chocolate Reverse Puff & Crème Diplomate

Due to its dark appearance, baking the chocolate puff requires extra care to ensure it bakes without burning, and today's Crème Diplomate was made with orange zest for extra oomph.

Components all in place, it's time to get cracking!

Layering Puff & Crème Diplomate

 Drizzling Chocolate & Feathering

Chef Gert left out his favorite ingredient in the above demonstration: apricot jam. Sacrilege! He cried inconsolably. For all you perfectionists out there, the jam goes on the top layer of puff, before the fondant is poured on.

Beautiful Layers

Covering With Fondant, Chocolate Piping

 

The petit fours are structurally similar to the Mille Feuille, and yet so different. Look closely and you'll note the latter has layers of dark chocolate puff against the sunshine-yellow cream, while the former, layers of golden jaconde and dark chocolate ganache. 

Both however, are finished off with fondant and decorative chocolate piping.

Semi Petits Fours Glacé

Goofin' Around

My My Mille Feuille

I found Chef's Crème Diplomate quite bland so I added more sugar (A first!), zest and kirsch in mine. Margarita later pointed out there was no kirsch in the recipe. :p

I've never been a fan of Mille Feuille, as it makes such a mess when you slice into it. But the more I tasted it the more I liked how the mild chocolate crunch of the puff complemented the soft Crème Diplomate with its fresh hint of orange. It's slowly growing on me.

My Petits Fours Glacé

The fondant was too sweet for my liking, no matter how much water I thinned it down with. Nonetheless, they look absolutely adorable and make the sweetest gifts. :)