Day Four

I went ahead and skipped posts to Day Four, because Day Two and Three involved some lectures on sanitation, learning Pate Brisee (like American Pie Dough), and making Creme Patisserie, both of which were saved to make a Banana Cream Tart, which unfortunately I do not have a photo of. We also made lovely Gingersnap cookies, from an excellent recipe, which leaves a bit of softness in the center, with a crisp edge. Quite nice with a hot cup of holiday (or in this case - leftover holiday) tea. We also prepped for Day Four, by making an Almond Cream.
On Day Four, we made and assembled a 9" Fresh Fruit Tart, a Tarte Bourdaloue, and Chocolate Pots de Creme.
The Fresh Fruit Tart was an exercise in several things - knife skills, fresh fruit assembly, and copying the head chef precisely. The school has a nice balance of practice making an exact replica of the chef's pastry (great practice for the industry) and creative freedom. In this instance, we were copying the chef exactly. The Fresh Fruit Tart is another classic - Pate Sucree, with Vanilla Pastry Cream and Fresh Fruit.

The Tarte Bourdaloue consisted of a tart shell, an Almond Cream, and Poached Pears (in a delicious white wine and vanilla bean poaching liquid) and sliced almonds for a finishing touch. The Almond Cream rises in the oven, and becomes almost cake-like , while the poached pear slices nestle neatly in, tucked between crisp edges of Almond Cream and sprinkled with the Sliced Almonds, which become slightly toasted in the oven.

We finished the day by baking off some Chocolate Pots de Creme. The Pots de Creme is a baked custard, often chocolate in flavor, that due to the ratio of eggs and yolks to milk and creme is incredibly silky on the spoon. Thicker and less rich than Creme Brulee, but more rich than Creme Caramel or Flan, this again, classic French dessert sits nicely in the middle of the richness scale - rich enough to be decadent, but less likely to put you over the edge, like Creme Brulee can do so easily. Again, we had creative freedom on the decorating. Whipped cream had to be involved, but other than that we could do anything we liked.

Cheers.