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

Tartelettes Individuelles Aux Fruits, Tartelettes À La Frangipane, Tarte Linzer, Frangipane, Crème Pâtissière, Almondine, Fruit For Fruit Cake

Chef Luigi's Tartelettes À La Frangipane

Tartelettes Individuelles Aux Fruits, Tarte Linzer

While the Frangipane and Fruit Tartlets are basic assembly jobs, I found Tarte Linzer most interesting, being the oldest-known torte in the history of tortes. First recorded in 1653, this Austrian holiday classic with its characteristic lattice top consists of a hazelnut-based pastry and a filling of berry jam or preserve. Cookie sized tortes are also known as Linzer Sablés.

Happy Hour Fruits

From Bûche de Noël to Panattone to today's Fruit Cake, I do think the semester would better suit Christmassy December then the middle of February, but that's class planning for ya.

I'm no fan of fruitcake, with its tongue-numbingly sweet raisins, sultanas, currents (yew, yeew and yeeew!), glacé cherries, apricots and pineapples (yuck, yuck and yuck). Brandy is the only saving grace in this onslaught of sugar, so much so I added twice as much Brandy and an equal slug of Kirsch to hopefully drown out the sweetness and leave the mix to macerate over the weekend. I also added more pineapples and angelica to brighten up the dull appearance of the cake.

 

Mise En Places: Crème Pâtissière, Frangipane

Almondine (Egg Whites, Brown Sugar & Flaked Almond Mix)

Piping Apricot Jam & Frangipane Into Unbaked Pâte Sablée Tart Shells

Topping Off With Almondine Before Baking

Touching Up Baked Tartelettes À La Frangipane 

With Icing Sugar & Apricot Jam

Tartelettes À La Frangipane With Icing Sugar (Quite Sweet)
& Apricot Jam (Too Sweet! Way Too Sweet!!)

Assembling Tartelettes Individuelles Aux Fruits

Filling Baked Pâte Sablée With Crème Pâtissière, Fruits & Dusting Of Icing Sugar

 

Tarte Linzer Dough Mix, Chilled & Firmed Up For Easy Rolling

Butter and sugar are creamed together, orange juice and zests then added to brighten up the flavors, eggs, flour and ground hazelnut mixed in to form the heavy dough with Bi-carb for lift,  finally ground cloves, cinnamon and salt to give the Tarte Linzer its distinguished flavor.

Rolling Out Tarte Linzer Dough, Lining Tart Case & Trimming

Filling With Raspberry Jam, Topping With Dough In Lattice Pattern

Baked Tarte Linzer, Way Way After

The guys in class got to the tarte before I could take a picture of the finished products. Seriously, guys?

My Tartelettes Individuelles Aux Fruits, Tartelettes À La Frangipane, Tarte Linzer

My fruit tarts could have used more berries, but we had to make do with our ration of 1 punnet which I stretched over 8 tarts. Well if you have lemons... I sprinkled on flaked almonds before baking the frangipane tarts for a contrasting  look and added crunch and finished with apricot jam for shine and a longer shelf life. 

I like both tarts, the former for its crunchy tart shell, rich pastry cream and fresh berries, the latter for the almond paste, of coz.

This is the first time I've made Tarte Linzer, and unlike the ones I've tried in the past which were nondescript (think boring, dry jam biscuits), this recipe was a revelation: The tarte was moist and fragrant with the cloves and cinnamon, and the jam, not too much and not too sweet, was a beautiful accompaniment.

Tartelettes Individuelles Aux Fruits With Dollies On A Silver Platter: Fancy!

Sneak Peek At The Tarte Linzer, Finally :p

After School Snack: A Slab Off My Chocolate Box

Tarte Au Citron, Macaron À La Pistache Et Diplomate Au Citron Et Fraises, Pâte Sablée, Diplomate Au Criton, Macaron À La Pistache

Chef's Macaron À La Pistache Et Diplomate Au Citron Et Fraises & Tarte Au Citron

We continue the week's individual desserts theme with pistachio macarons and lemon tarts, the former a fancier version of the macarons made in Intermediate Patisserie, and the latter a must-have in any self-respecting patisserie from Paris to Sydney.

Head Chef Andre Making Pâte Sablée

Chef Andre gives me the jitters whenever he's in the vicinity: I'm either in trouble or about to be when head honchos/disciplinarians are around. ("What have you done now?" sighs Chef Gert once, when I was called up by Chef Andre for not labeling my mise en place correctly. Yes I have been responsible for various classes of misdemeanors back in the day.)

That's not to say he's the scary brute and bully some chefs are prone to be. Instead he was an extremely informative instructor, patiently explaining the hows and whys behind a good product. When I did stuff up in the kitchen (more on that later) instead of ripping up his chef's jacket in green rage, he repeated the process with me, explaining where I went wrong and how to fix it. I like him. I respect him. But the delinquent in me still fears him and I have to stop myself from making haste in the other direction whenever he's in sight.

From Dough To Tartlet Moulds

Pâte Sablée is a "short" sweet paste pastry similar to the one used in Pear Bourdaloue (one of my Top 10 fav desserts). As the butter is rubbed into the flour, it shortens the protein strands, preventing gluten from forming and ensuring a crisp, crumbly tart when baked.

Ready For Blind Baking

Mixing French Meringue For Macaron, Massaging Down Meringue Mix

Some experts believe Italian meringue makes the best macarons, which may be the case, but today's French meringue is easier to make and when it comes to macarons, it's as much about the technique as it is the ingredients.

Into the meringue goes TPT (Tant Pour Tant: equal amounts of icing sugar and almond meal) and pistachio paste conditioned with some egg whites for a more even incorporation. Here's where it gets interesting: the macaron mix, with the aeration so carefully built up in the meringue, is slowly "massaged" down in a folding-over action, until the mixture is soft, loosened and of piping consistency.

Massaged & Ready For Piping, Baked Macaron

Smooth, Crispy Shell & Soft, Chewy Middle

Bar-Mixing Lemon Curd

First made in the 19th century, the very English lemon curd was traditionally served with scones or as an alternative filling to jam in cakes and tarts. This thick, velvety cream is more sour than sweet, so for those of youse who like your lemons, pucker up!

Lemon juice, zest, sugar and eggs are brought to a boil (stirring vigorously to prevent the eggs from scrambling), then butter is thoroughly incorporated with the aid of a hand held mix (so sexy, these gadgets), whizzing at the bottom of the holding vessel to prevent bubbles from forming. The curd is now ready for use.

Filling Baked Pâte Sablée Shells With Lemon Curd

Various Finishes: Caramelizing Sugar For Brûlée Crust

Torching Meringue Top, Piping With Chocolate

Tarte Au Citron: Thin, Crisp Tart & A VERY LEMONY Curd!   >o<

Piping Macaron With Diplomate Au Criton & A "Surprise" Jelly Center

Like in previous classes, gelatin and whipped cream are mixed into the lemon curd to make creme diplomat, a more stable filling that will keep its shape and hold up the macaron "top" when piped in the center.  

What A Mouthful

Macaron Dissected: Full Of Flavors & Surprises

I *heart* pistachio anything man, well, except the nut itself. I'm a sucker for its funky green hue and almondy flavor and fragrance, if you do not know by now. The light lemony creme and fresh berries were a perfect match in color, texture and flavor to the macarons, which made them a real delight to recreate in the kitchen today.

My Dainty French Bites

I'm quite pleased with my macarons, Chef Andre commended the smooth surface, nice foot and bright green hue of my lovely babies (they brown very easily if baked a minute over). 

Remember the screw up I mentioned earlier? In the process of cooking curd I made lemony scrambled eggs instead, which Chef Andre helped me rectify by sieving out the cooked egg bits and replacing the lost volume with fresh eggs before carefully cooking it through again.

Stamped (Or Spooned) For Approval

My twice-cooked curd was tried and tested by Chef Andre, who found it satisfactory. In fact, the lemony zing was less intense (which I prefer) and the curd had a more well balanced flavor overall. Hmm, maybe that's the key to really good curd, no?