Superior Patisserie Lesson 22 [Marzipan Modeling]

After a terrible week of chocolate, chef decided to give us a little “break”. A simple class of marzipan modeling~

Each person is given loads of marzipan, food coloring and modeling sticks. And what you need is your imagination!!!!!

What I had in mind is an angel and a christmas present as it was going to be the oh-so-merry-christmas-season. But after that I changed my mind and made ducks and ducklings wearing christmas hats..== because christmas present seems like it’s to easy to make and can’t show off my oh-so-superior modeling skills XD

To handel marzipan, you need icing sugar. Whereas with fondant, you need cornflour.

somehow, i like this pig alot!!!! hahahahaha

this looks really nice too~ finished nicely with snow on top too!!!

now for ♥val's masterpiece ^^

╚angel╝

mommy duck and 3 baby duckies

me and my friend's masterpiece~ don't they look cute together~

Superior Patisserie Lesson 17-21 [Chocolate Week]

Lesson 17: Dark Chocolate Bonbons with Filling

DO NOT PUT IT INTO THE FRIDGE (a little while in the fridge is still fine but not too long). let it cool outside the fridge and it will shine perfectly. pop the mold into the fridge for too long and you will have a oh-so-sad-it's-not-shiny surface.

Lesson 18: Milk Chocolate with Filling

Earl-Grey Ganache~♥♥ Lovess~♥~♥~♥~♥

we have to temper milk chocolate for this practical which is totally different from tempering dark chocolate. the technique used is still the same (tablage) but the tempering temperature is totally different. same goes with tempering white chocolate. why? because there are different amount of cocoa butter in different types of chocolate. confusing? hehe

for dark chocolate, we need to melt it to 50-55˚C and then cool 2/3 of the amount to 27˚C on a marble table, and mix 1/2 of the 2/3 back into the 1/3. after that, we have to cool the leftover 1/2 from the 2/3 to 25˚C and then mix it all back into the bowl. mix well to avoid fat bloom. you can only use the chocolate at 31-32˚C. if temperature is too low, reheat on bain-marie.

whereas for milk chocolate, we need to melt it to 45˚C and then cool 2/3 of the amount to 26˚C on a marble table, and mix 1/2 of the 2/3 back into the 1/3. after that, we have to cool the leftover 1/2 from the 2/3 to 24˚C and then mix it all back into the bowl. mix well to avoid fat bloom. you can only use the chocolate at 29-31˚C. if temperature is too low, reheat on bain-marie.

Chocolate Showpiece

Lesson 19: Chocolate Showpiece (1)

the first chocolate showpiece we have to make. obviously the showpieces in the pictures are not made by me. i didn't get to finish mine on time...boohoo...only 2 person from my class get to finish their showpiece on time.

what i learnt from this lesson is not to waste time. before going into class, make a drawing of the showpiece you wish to make. try not to make it too fancy and make sure the showpiece is stable enough to move around. when you temper your chocolate, be precise with the temperature or you won't have enough time to finish your showpiece.

difficult...very difficult...
oh yea, remember to get a plastic apron. you will understand why *wink*

Lesson 20 & 21: Chocolate Showpiece (2)

this showpiece requires 2 practicals to finish.

for the first practical, we have to make a chocolate box, the "centre piece" of the showpiece and other decorations for the showpiece.

and the second practical is to make one or two chocolate flowers to decorate the showpiece.

end results:

christine's

♥val's

showpieces made by my classmates

a very very very very triring week for us. tempering chocolate is definately not as easy as you think.
so if you wonder why chocolate bonbons are so expensive, think about the time and effort needed to make one small piece of bonbon.

no more chocolate for me~ ^^

Superior Patisserie Lesson 10-16

Lesson 10: Macaroons

Lesson 11: Macaroons

my style of macaroon, i say it looks like eyes but according to TOP, it looks like boobs..(ehem..hem..). looking back now, it really looks like something different from eyes XD

Lesson 11: Souffles (calvados souffle)

Lesson 11: Souffles (crepe souffle)

for the souffle lesson, we get to choose to present the calvados souffle or the crepe souffle. as other groups chose to present the crepe souffle. my group chose to present the calvados souffle. challenging!!!!

it's easy to make souffles, just ensure your meringue is stable enough (which means not to fiddle around with it too much, not to fold too much) and you'll come up with a beautiful puffed up souffle!!!! yumsssss~

the challenging part of the calvados souffle is the apple. overbake the souffle a little, and you'll end up with a mashed up apple cup. good thing we stood infront of the oven while we were baking the calvados souffle, pheww~ our apple cups are still nice and stable, and the souffle inside are nice and puffy!!!

but our crepe souffle weren't that lucky though...we were all busy decorating our calvados souffle and totally forgotten about our poor crepe souffles that are baking next door!!! a little burnt but still yummy!!!

Lesson 12: Transparence of creamy chocolte, brownie, raspberry with cocoa bean "nibs" crisps

Lesson 12: Transparence of creamy chocolate, brownie, raspberry with cocoa bean "nibs" crisps

this dessert is not difficult to make, for the layers: creamy chocolate - creamy raspberry - fruits in cubes - tempered dark chocolate disc - creamy chocolate - cocoa glaze

the chocolate disc that have to be measured and cut accurately is placed on top of the fruits and have to fit perfectly so when we add the layer of creamy chocolate on it, it will have a really nice transparent layer in between the fruits.

we though we just need to present the larger glasses and not the small ones, so we focus more on the larger glasses, slowly decorating, cleaning the plates repeatingly so theres no fingerpints on it. but at the end, where there is only 15 minutes left, we were told that we have to present both big and small glasses. i was like "WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT WE HAVE NO MORE COCOA GLAZE!!!!". everyone in class panicked. but for the sake of our results, we managed to ishh up some chocolate glaze in 5 minutes.

Lesson 13: Frozen nougat served with apricot financier, raspberry coulis

Lesson 13: Frozen nougat serve with apicot financier, raspberry coulis

we worked in groups again. a type of cold dessert. the most important thing when you serve cold dessert is not to fiddle around too much. the dessert have to be served immediately after it is taken out from the fridge or it will melt really really fast.

Lesson 14: Spiced tropical fruit kebabs with orange soup ad sweet couscous

COUSCOUS!!!!! something like rice i think....i don't like it.

the whole class works as a team for this practical. at first, it was relaxing and everyone was wandering around trying to find something to do (actually..it was only me. everyone was busy XD)

we have to scoop up ice-cream quenelles (oval shape) using a spoon. the spoon used is "deeper" than normal dinner spoons. soak the spoons in lukewarm water before using. to scoop, "imerge" the spoon into the ice-cream and scoop, scoop twice to get the shape. urgh...hard to explain in words. youtube!!! hehe

Lesson 15: Strawberry jam with raspberries and balsamic vinegar

Lesson 15: Rose Loukoum

for this class, stand and stir constantly.thats my only advice.

Lesson 16: Honey Candy

Lesson 16: Praline and coffee berlingots

first time pulling sugar. i was so high i oversatinised (pulled too much, incoporated too much air in it, causing it to lose it's shine). we then have to wrap the filling in a thin piece of sugar and wrap again with a sugar ribbon. after that the sugar is cut in small pieces.

obviously, the products in the pictures are not done by me, but mine looks similiar!!! for real!!