Day 77 - Yeah! It's Friday

Here is Brest. This is Pâte à choux, filled with a praline butter cream and topped with some almonds. This was pretty good.

Then I had fun with the torch, finishing the Creme Brulee. This was excellent.

Above is my plated Creme Carmel (aka Flan).

Day 76 - Custards

Today we continued working with custards. Above is a plated Mini Cheesecake. On top is sugar and strawberries. Drizzled on the plate is raspberry and lemon purees.

Above is panna cotta platted with raspberry and lemon purees. I really liked the panna cotta.

From left to right (above) is Rice Pudding (big round pan), Creme Caramel, Creme Brulee, and Pot du Creme. I didn't care for the rice pudding at all.

Day 74 - Custards

Today we were working on custards. Above is Commander's Palace Bread Pudding that I made using Croissants instead of French bread. It tasted really good. Too bad you can't taste it. Sorry!

Above is Panna Cotta which I made. It's kind of like a milk jello for lack of a better way to describe it. I didn't get to taste it as it hadn't set up before I left class. I'll try it later. I also made some mini cheesecakes, but we did not finish them yet so I will take pictures later. I also made Creme Anglaise which will be turned into ice cream later. Can't wait to taste it.

Today I received a Honors PIN (see top picture) in class for having an overall 4.0 grade point average up to now in the Baking and Patisserie Course. I'll try to keep this up.

After class, I went to my 4th Wilton Cake Decorating Class (1st course). Above is the cake I made at home and then decorated in the Decorating class. I think my roses came out better. I was pretty happy with all the decorating. I enjoyed taking the Wilton class. Next Thursday I'll start the 2nd Wilton Cake Decorating Class. Always more to learn.

Day 73 - New Class

Today I started a new class which is International Patisserie Custards and Fillings. We got assigned a new class room which I don't particularly like. A culinary class used this class before us and they aren't particularly clean. The walk-in smells which isn't the type of smells you want to impart into your pastries. Oh well!
Today I made St. Honore which are cream puffs with caramel and in the center is chiboust. Chiboust is Pastry Cream with gelatin mixed together with Italian Meringue. Then it has whipped cream piled on top. I was supposed to have a sugar cage on top but I ran out of time today and was unable to complete it. I'll have to make this on my practical next Monday.
On my practical last week, I received a 97. Yippee!

Saturday Baking

Today I felt like making some cupcakes. The icing is a recipe called Harvest Moon Seven minute frosting that I got out of a Good Housekeeping cookbook. On top I put some little shapes I made by melting Jolly Ranchers. The cupcakes came out good and they taste great.

Day 72 - Friday Practical

I started out my day at class by cutting my right thumb knuckle on a scrapper while reaching in my tool kit. Ouch!

Above is the production I turned in for my practical. At the bottom of the picture is seven Bouchees which are empty shells made with puff pastry. In the center is a Pithuier which is the French version of a King Cake. It's filled with almond cream. At the top of the picture is a Mille Fenile which is filled with mousseline.

Day 71 - Baking

Above is the Apple Tart Tatin I made today. This was a little different than what I've made in the past. But this is how the chef wanted it. Below are the Peach Turnovers I made. Although the open turnover in the front looks cool, it wasn't supposed to be open. Oh well, it tasted very good.

Below is a Brie en Croute, which is a savory pastry. This is the first time I've tasted Brie. Just the Brie by itself was very strong to me. After it was cooked, I thought it tasted milder and better. Besides the Brie, it also contained onions, garlic, parsley, basil and pepper.

Day 70 - Puff Pastry again.

Today I made some Cheese Straws, as the chef calls them, which is made with puff pastry, Parmesan cheese and black pepper. I didn't much care for them as they didn't really have much taste. You could hardly taste the cheese.

Then I made a Fruit Band, which is also made with blitz puff pastry filled with almond cream and blueberries. This was pretty good.

I also made Tart Tatin. It was too hot to take out of the pan before I left school. So, I'll take it out of the pan and take pictures tomorrow. Also I started a savory Brie en Croute, with onions, garlic, and black pepper. I had to sit over night before I bake it. So, I'll take pictures of this tomorrow also.

Day 69 - Puff Pastry Dough

Above are the Cream Horns I made to day. I thought they tasted very good.

Then I made Palmiers. Both the items above are made with ordinary puff pastry dough. The Palmiers were very good. They are rolled out in sugar, so when baked they are very sweet. Yum.

Next I made Mille Fenile which is made with a Blitz puff dough. It's made in a Napoleon style with mousseline inside.

Tuesday night after school I went to my 3rd Wilton Cake Decorating class. I brought the cupcakes with me to decorate. I really liked the clown, it was very cute.

Day 68 - Sweet Success Career Day

Today was the First Annual Sweet Success Career Day at Le Cordon Bleu in Atlanta. Local Pastry Chef's, Restaurant, Bakery owners, etc., where invited to tour Le Cordon Bleu, indulge in a Pastry & Dessert presentation by the students and participate in an Employer-Alumni Panel Networking Session. Of course as luck would have it, 5 minutes after the employers walked into our kitchen to see us working, the power went out. The power remained out for about 30 minutes. It was the first time they did this and I would say it didn't come off to good.
I found out the I earned a 93 on my practical test last Friday. Sorry, no pictures today.

Day 67 - Practical Test

Today was my practical for the week. Above is a picture of the production I turned in for grading. Going clockwise from the bottom left, Nid Abeille, a tete, croissants, chocolatte croissants. They turned out good. Actually, I had to remake the a tetes, because the first time they didn't have good shape. Fortunately I had time to remake them for turn in.

Day 66 - Stollen

Today I baked Stollen. This is a dense bread which has dried blueberries, dried cherries, almonds, brandy and rum. A little melted butter and confectioners sugar on top. It taste very good.
I also made my croissant dough and brioche dough for my practical tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Day 65 - Berliner

Today I made Berliners, which is a filled doughnut. They came out good. I don't have any pictures cause I ate them. I also made Brioche shapes - Fruit, Bressone and Modane. These are rolled up dough with dried fruit and nuts.

Day 64 - Croissants

Today we made Croissant Shapes. Looking at the picture above, the top left is a chocolate rectangle croissant. The top right is a classic French Croissant. In the middle is supposed to be a crescent croissant, but I didn't do to good. The bottom left is a ham and cheese croissant. The bottom right an almond croissant.

This is a side view of a Nid Abeille. It has a Mousseline filling with pineapple, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Below is a picture showing the filling without the top on.

Tonight was my second Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 class. This isn't at my school, but I thought I would take the class, to learn more techniques for decorating cakes. Last week for the first class, I received my material. The second class tonight I had to bring in a cake with icing. I just bake an 8" chocolate cake with icing made with the Wilton decorating butter cream recipe. In the class we learned to make transfers with piping gel and we learned about pressure, consistency using a piping bag. The yellow, purple and green icing was done in class. We also learned about using star tips, writing and the beginning of making a butter cream rose.

Day 63 - Test Results

No pictures from today. I did find my score from the practical last Friday. I made an 88, which is not what I wanted to make. I had to take my written test while my Bearclaws where in the oven. Of course I couldn't get to the oven to check and the Bearclaws were way over golden brown. That really brought my score down.

Day 61 - Apple Strudel & Spanakopita

Today I made Apple Strudel. It was ok, but not my favorite.

Above and below are pictures of Spanakopita, which is a Greek savory pastry containing spinach, tomato, onions, garlic, and feta cheese.

Day 60 - Beginning Viennoiserie & Laminate Dough

Today was my second day back to class after spring break. Notice, the title is Day 60. You ask, "What happened to Day 58 & 59?" Well, I missed Day 58 of class. One the first day of school the instructors passed out a calender, which listed April 5th as the last day of spring break and the new class beginning on April 6th. So 4 students missed class on Monday because they didn't get a notice in the mail that the calender had an error. I was not excited about that. On Tuesday I played catch up, so I didn't get any pictures. So I'll had to go into school early today to catch up.

Today I made Bear Claws (bottom left above), Vol au Vent (top left above), Snails (top right above), and Pin Wheels (bottom right above). The Bear Claws where a little dark, but the others where fine. These are all basically just Danish.

The Sticky Buns (above) tasted terrific. They have Sticky Bun Smear on top which is maple syrup, brown sugar, butter, rum, salt, vanilla extract and pecans.

Lemon Meringue Pie and Coffee Pots De Creme

Today I baked Coffee Pot De Creme.

I also baked a Lemon Meringue Pie. I'm enjoying my week off for spring break.