The first cake I have is a Black Forest Cake, or "schwarzwälder kirschtorte," which I clearly enjoy saying. This was a chocolate sponge in three layers. In between the bottom layers, is a layer of creme d'or (chocolate whipped cream) with a cherry compote. The top layer is whipped cream with the cherry compote. It was really good, and I wish I had a picture of the layers, because they were really nice looking.
Next up is a chocolate roulade with pistachio cream. This one was really interesting for a couple of reasons. First, unlike a roulade you normally think of, this was not a log; rather, it looked like a normal cake that swirled in to the middle. Take a look at the picture I have of the layers to see if you can get an idea. Fun!! The other interesting part of this is that we got to work with fondant icing. Now, fondant isn't necessarily the best tasting icing out there (kind of like sweetened sawdust), but it does make for a pretty cake. Plus, you always have a layer of frosting underneath, so you can always just peel the fondant away. Anyway, it was really fun to learn the technique of covering a cake in fondant, and I'm sure that's something that will come in handy in the future. Also, sadly, I didn't get a chance to decorate this in class. We learned several fun techniques, including ribbons and bows, but I ran out of time starting my midterm cake, which I deemed more important. Oh well, at least I got to practice writing on it at home!
Next up is a NY style cheesecake. I'm a huge cheesecake fan, and I'm pretty excited to try this. Hope it's as good as Junior's!
Now, we come to the pièce de resistance...my midterm cake. Now, I know this isn't the nicest cake out there. I know that my writing needs work, and that I should've put a border around the bottom, but that's neither here nor there. The point is that I was actually able to make a neat cake with squared edges. That itself is something I'm really proud of. One would think that it's simple, but for me at least, it took a lot of practice. Anway, here it is, in all its glory...or gory.
For our midterm, we had to make a "special occasion" cake, which is pretty vague. Our only note was that we couldn't do a divorce cake. I had to make a chiffon cake with fruit mousse and buttercream, and as the theme for it, I chose to do a Happy Prom cake taken off the Stephen King story, Carrie. I have a lemon chiffon cake with a cherry mousse and vanilla buttercream. On top, I have a marzipan rose bouquet, dripping with raspberry jam "blood." Around the sides, I have marzipan tiaras and pigs, covered in silver luster dust. I dunno, I thought it was clever, anyway! Here are some other views!
And as a special bonus, here's a picture of my friend Kristie wearing one of my marzipan tiaras. Not pictured: the aftermath when we dumped pig's blood on her and she tried to kill us all with her ESP rage. Good times!
Well, that's about it for now! It's been an amazing and crazy 4 1/2 months in Pastry 1, and I look forward to seeing what our new instructors and kitchen have in store for us. Next up, chocolate!
Dark but old so clever! Fits in with your family history, a Stephen King theme, blood, gore and prom night! Actually think that was like my senior prom!
ReplyDeleteOh how I love these posts, they'll make a terrific, coffee table book one day! Love ya, Eileen