Fruity Tuesday

Tuesday came and went so quickly and we spent another busy day in the school kitchens.

We continue our culinary adventures in the plating of cold desserts. 

Today's Menu Special: 

Délices aux Fruits Exotiques

Yummy, right?

So in plain English, individual molds of coconut and mango mousse encased in an almond sponge with a red currant jelly center. Sounds appetizing? At first, it didn't, until I tasted the one we made. 

Verdict: WE LOVE IT!!! 

What's not to love? It's not overly sweet and the components in the entremet (in the chef's words: a multi-layered, multi-textured cake) complement each other well. I first thought the mixture of coconut and mango might be too heavy, but the chef explained the coconut is used simply to balance out the sweetness the mango puree adds. Made sense in the end. It was a fun practical. We got to make tuilles once again, color the paste and spread a colored pattern onto a silicon mat. We did this to make an imprint in the joconde sponge. The results: Groovy!!! 

Something new for me: adding chili to a fruit salsa; the result was amazing. I still find it weird to add spicy elements to desserts, but the end results are always great. And paired with the small entremets, the dessert comes to life. 

Still, the purpose of the last practicals are to see how we evolve and grow into plating desserts. Less is more according to the chefs. I have to say I agree. When you have a small dessert, unlike a wedding cake, one must think about not overpowering the dessert by adding unnecessary elements. Whatever is added to the plate must complement the dessert, or make it stand out. Simplicity is always a good way to go, but why not explore a bit? The tuilles we made today added a sense of height to the dessert. Complemented by the salsa and some mango puree, most of us did a good job. What do you think?

I try. I do hope I am not disappointing anyone. Feel free to comment, criticize and ask questions. After all, I am in the learning process.

I hope you guys had a nice Tuesday as well. Until next time.

Sweet Dreams xx