Hi guys!!!
Welcome back!!! Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. I spent mine baking tartlets for most of it. After the first few trays, trust me, you don't want to make anymore.
So, last week we celebrated Valentine's Day worldwide. It was a busy day in the kitchen, preparing the desserts for the celebrations. The special of the day: Fraisiers. I trust you recall them, from my previous posts. It was one of the exam desserts for Intermediate Patisserie. A fraisier, typically, is made with a genoise sponge, creme mousseline and strawberries, of course. We tweaked the style a bit. Because the weather here is more on the hot and humid side, the mousseline has trouble keeping its consistency, hence why we opted to use Chantilly cream instead. And, I mean, Chantilly and strawberries make a great dessert, don't you think?
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| Strawberry Scrumptiousness |
So, apart from the thousand tartlets I make daily (they really are a much lower number...) and the other chocolatey desserts involved, I spent V-Day in the kitchen, preparing individual fraisiers. They looked absolutely divine. And boy were they popular. I showed up the following day and found an empty dessert fridge ready to be refilled. So more chocolate mousse, more crème brûlée, more tartlets (naturally) and more fraisiers. Friday's batch was much prettier and by Saturday they were gone. Now, you'd think I'd be gaining pounds by the second, working in Pastry, but the truth is, I find myself thirsty most of the time. There's too much sugar around me. With a bottle of water next to me at all times is how I spend my days in the kitchen.
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| Les Petits Fraisiers |
It's funny how time flies. I dreaded starting the week, as I'd be working for seven days straight, 8-9 hours standing, with a hot oven behind me. Now it's Monday again and finally, a day off. My schedule has also changed and I won't be going in at noon. It's an 8 o'clock start for me now. Personally, I prefer this change. For some reason, you don't feel time pass in the morning. It happened the other day, as I looked at my watch and realized it was already 2 pm and it had felt like half an hour had passed since I got in. It's a busier time in the kitchen as well, so probably why I don't realize the time.
Weather here is getting hotter and the other day I got home around 1o pm...a little late for actual dinner. I saw a watermelon at work earlier and I was craving the fruit so badly. I guess my dad reads my food thoughts, because he bought one that day. I would have waited for it to chill, but my tummy was grumbling and complaining about being empty, so I went ahead and murdered the melon. Wow...it was like a a gulp of fresh water after a day at the beach. Weird analogy, but that's what it felt like. It was red, juicy, sweet and oh! so delicious.
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| Watermelon: the epitome of fresh delights |
Lately, I've found that my creativeness has been overrun by thoughts of work and the dreaded fruit tartlets I have to make daily, however, I made two things I'd never made before this past week. And both went hand in hand. Firstly, I made raspberry jam (Honduran raspberries are quite acid, but it was fantastic!!!) and secondly, I filled my first Sacher Torte (ever) with it. I know...a pastry chef who has never attempted making raspberry jam or a Sacher Torte before. Remember, I only just became an official Chef and I'm more willing to try new things now, than I did before. Now, sadly, one of the two ovens in use is broken, so we have to work with one oven, both Cuisine and Pastry and there hasn't been a day I haven't complained to my boss about it. They keep ruining my things!!! Because of this, my Sacher Torte came out a bit too tight, due to high temperatures, but the jam was great. Overall, the taste was nice and both cakes were gone.
So, on my next day off (hopefully this coming Sunday), I'll make a mess of my kitchen to create something new or try something different. For the time being, I need to cope with the idea of making those tartlets on a daily basis and find a way to enjoy it. Hehehehe.
Anyway, thanks again for stopping by. I'll keep you updated on my pastry kitchen adventures.
Until next time.
xx
P.S I'll be posting some recipes for jam, Sacher Torte and Fraisiers in the following posts, so be sure to stop by.
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