And welcome back. Can you believe it?!?! November is almost over, paving way to one of the most glorious months of the year. With a hand in my pocket and the other clutching my purse, I have walked the busy streets of London this past weekend and found myself ogling at all the beautiful Christmas displays and lights that have taken to adorn this charming city. To be honest, my idea of a peaceful walk does not involve Oxford Street in this time of year. Thousands upon thousands of people, both locals and tourists have taken to the early Christmas shopping, making my walks next to impossible. A sense of loneliness and claustrophobia, both, simultaneously envelope me when I see the massive crowds. However, this happens in every big city, in every country in the world that celebrates the joyous occasion of Christmas. London is no stranger. But I digress...
The week began with a technical class; the second part of a two-part technical demonstration on how to make a croquembouche: a towering structure made with pastry cream filled choux. I find this dessert a bomb of elegance and classiness and very regal. I have known it to be a traditional French wedding cake my whole life...although I've never seen one at a wedding back home.The chef made two different towers and decorated one with pulled sugar flowers. I hope to have one on my wedding day...but that's another subject hehehe. A croquembouche can be whichever height you want it to be and they are fairly easy to make. The tricky part comes when you pipe the choux, as they have to be similar in size to make the assembly easy and level. They are then dipped in caramel and stuck together in prism form with a hollow center. They are quite yummy. Have you ever seen one? If not, I hope the picture entices you to try one.
 |
| Chef's Festive Croquembouche |
We turn our heads back to the kitchens, where this past week, we found ourselves elbow deep in chocolate. Yes, folks, we finally entered the module I feared. Don't take me wrong here. I live for chocolate...a fact my skin likes to remind me every so often. But I do hate the look of my lovely chef whites after a session with chocolate and let me tell you something I never understood at home when the laundry was being done. Chocolate is a nightmare to deal with.
Last week we found ourselves divided into three groups, each making a set of six different chocolate varieties. Molded truffles, slab ganaches and confectionery. My group in particular worked on Nougat Truffles, Lemon Curd Truffles, Lavender infused, slab ganache Chocolates, Spiked Rum Truffles, Caramel Mou and Nougat de Montelimar. The work was divided into four workshops, with the work finished by Friday morning, when all that was left for our group to do was slather the Caramel Mou with tempered milk chocolate. It was then cut into small logs. It was delicious. We had also made the previous day, each a set of molded truffles. This was to practice for our Chocolate Module Assessment, which will include producing a chocolate box and twelve identical molded truffles.
 |
| Lemon Curd Truffles |
Thursday afternoon, as I headed home for a baking session at home. We were to have a birthday dinner the following evening and I needed to start my preparations. I whipped up a batch of the Vanilla Bean Birthday Cake, all courtesy of The Cake Merchant. http://cakemerchant.com/2012/11/07/vanilla-bean-birthday-cake/. The recipe called for cake flour, which I cannot find to this day in the supermarkets near by, so I made a substitute, like I did for Juliana's Red Velvet cake, with a 1/4 cup of corn flour instead of the plain flour. It worked on the other cake, but it compacted the cake batter in this one. I ended up with a cake that in texture seemed more like a tight brioche dough. I still made use of it, and the following afternoon I whipped up the frosting and masked my cake. The result was lovely, very girlish and I headed to dinner.
 |
| Fluffy, cloud-like buttercream frosting |
We met at The Living Room, in Heddon Street, in a lively and boisterous atmosphere. I hadn't been there before and I enjoyed cocktails, a starter and a main dish. I ordered a butternut squash, Dolcelatte, walnut and honey tart for starter and a pan fried sea bass, with orange scented broccoli and lentil casserole, which was quite tasty; every bit of a great meal. Drinks all around, laughter and even the occasional dance moves from Miss Kendra, all encompassed our festive evening.
 |
| Pan fried sea bass with orange scented broccoli and a lentil casserole |
The time for dessert approached and as the candles were being blown, anxiety hit me. I was sitting with a table full of future pastry chefs, and I alone would face the scrutiny of my cake...tick-tock, tick-tock. Cake was being passed around and I held my breathe for what seemed forever. I breathed with relief as the first words I heard were Brava!!! The taste of vanilla made for the tightness of the cake. A small piece would have been enough, as it was quite dense, but our gracious birthday girl insisted on small brick-sized pieces. So my work had not been in vain. The cake was enjoyed and that was my only worry. I headed home a little after midnight, with sleep in eyes and dozed off in seconds.
 |
| Birthday girl blowing out those beautiful angel flames (Seriously...they are the coolest candles ever!!!) |
Check it out:
The Living Room
3-9 Heddon St
London
W1B 4BE
020 7292 0570
I'm still trying to recover some lost sleep, as Thursday night, after a busy day in the school kitchens and a busy afternoon in my own kitchen, I arrived at the cinema for a midnight screening of the Breaking Dawn. I know, I feel it too. But I had made a promise of going and I kept it. Not a fan of the story, I have to say the movie wasn't bad. I was lost in parts, as I didn't read the book (again, I am not a fan...), but it was ok. I paid for it the next morning when I had to go to school.
So we returned to the kitchens Friday morning to finish it all. We arranged our products on a paper lined tray and our Chef came round to try our molded truffles for the exam and the six other chocolate varieties we produced. We received good comments on everything, with small tweaks to be amended here and there. All in all, it was a fine week, with the slight annoyance I have with tempering chocolate, as I still need to master this skill.
 |
| Lemon Curd Truffles, Lavender Chocolate, Nougat Truffles Spiked Rum Truffles, Caramel Mou and Nougat de Montelimar |
The amount of chocolates we took home that day was enough to last until next year. I have given most of them away, and it's always nice to hear how good they are/were. It goes to show we all did a fine job. I got home and assembled a long overdue cake. A cake that had been ordered in June. A birthday cake. I'm still embarrassed to know it's taken me so long to do it. In a few words, the cake was a raspberry, macaron cake. Friday evening I baked the macarons, and I assembled the cake on Saturday. It was a vanilla bean macaron layer, topped with a raspberry chantilly (the original recipe was with strawberries), topped with fresh raspberries and this done again on a second layer. The result was pleasant.
 |
| Vanilla Bean and Raspberry Heaven |
Try out the recipes. All credits go to Annie's Eats and Brave Tart.
Saturday evening I joined an enthusiastic crowd for a celebratory dinner. A few friends took part in the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest run here in London and they wished to commemorate the act. We headed to MASH (Modern American Steakhouse), a Danish chain with a venue newly opened here in London, two weeks to be exact. I ordered a magnificent Danish, aged, sirloin steak and as a big meat eater, let me tell you, no other word fits my state: WOW...it melted in my mouth...something I though impossible. But yes, they managed to do so, when I ordered my meat medium rare (my apologies to my vegetarian followers). We didn't order any starters and simply went for the red. We did however order several sides and sauces. No dessert was needed on my part. A good red wine had accompanied the dinner and I finished with a double macchiatto (like I said...I was sleep deprived). We headed for a last drink to Novikov, which isn't really my kind of place, but in good company, all is well.
Check it out:
MASH
77 Brewer St
London
W1F 9ZN
020 7734 2608
After a few hours sleep, Sunday greeted me with a sunny side and I joined the masses for some quick shopping on the bustling streets. It was a long day overall and I was only to happy to find myself home again, being surprised by my friend Lucas at the door, as he picked up his macaron/raspberry cake. His verdict: AMAZING!!! So don't be shy and try out my version of both recipes. It doesn't disappoint ;).
 |
| Layer upon delicious layer... made mini macarons on the side as well |
Sleep came sooner than I thought and I drifted off to finally catch some rest. Rays of sunshine received me this morning as I headed out. Rain is scheduled for tomorrow, but it doesn't matter. My days here in London are counted and I aim to make the best of them. I head to South Kensington tonight, for a farewell dinner for a dear friend who also leaves London soon.
This week we shall continue to dip our fingers in chocolate as we attempt to create elegant chocolate boxes and trains. Wish us luck!!!
Until next time.
xx
No comments:
Post a Comment