I thought the sweet tastings we get to do after class was enough, but alas, I still crave for cakes and other desserts even after school! I have to really work out though! I just saw a recent photo of myself, taken by my friend and it showed that I have huge arms again!
I.NEED.TO.WORK.OUT!!
That aside, check out what we have learned during Tuesday's demonstration class!
Chef Marc showed us how to create fleur en pâte d'amandes, which is the making of marzipan flowers to decorate cakes and what not. The above that you've seen, shows the simple shapes which you have to shape out, before handling it in different ways to create, in this case, a rose.
First, we roll out a long log, cut about 3cm and shape it like a cone with a heavy bottom to create the 'core', before cutting out 5pieces or more 1cm thick dough to roll it into a ball. Then we press the ball and using our palm, fraiser (smearing action) 2/3 of the ball into a thin 'petal' and wrap it around the core. We continue creating the petals and wrapping it in opposite directions on the core till it resembles a rose.
5 petals is enough to resemble a rose, but of course, anything more will make a realistic rose!
Next, Chef Marc run through the process of making succès, pronounced as "Sue-say" which is a meringue baked type of cake. Here, we have the succès mignardise as seen above and succès as seen below.
The mignardises are really small bites, filled with praline butter cream and coated with fondant, nuts and almonds. The succès , is also piped with the same butter cream, sprinkled with almonds flakes and icing sugar on the top. The layers is actually piped on baking paper as spirals and the batter consists of almond powder and meringue, which we've beaten by hand.
Another pastry made using meringue and almond powder, is dacquoise, as seen below. The difference between the succès and the dacquoise is the texture and number of layers, only 3 for the former, and 2 for layers for the latter. dacquoise is baked at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time to make it crispy on the outside but soft on the inside, whereas for succès, it's baked at a longer period of time using low temperature to make it crispy throughout.
The dacquoise is also filled with praline buttercream, but is also spread with the filling of caramelised almond sticks, which adds to a crunchier bite.
Recently, we've been beating meringues so much that I've been walking up at 10am instead of my usual 8.30am, simply because I'm just too exhausted when I'm done for the day. There's so much whisking to do, and gosh, the balloon whisk is so darn heavy, by the time I incorporate enough air into the egg whites, I felt like I am as red as a baboon's ass, and totally breathless because I used that much energy that I forgot to breathe.
Coupled that with making your own butter cream. Double whammy. I think my classmate Mew, has effectively taught Sonya how to scold a bad word in Chinese, and deep in me, I just felt like my arm wanted to disconnect itself if it could, away from me.
There's so much more communication between me and my body nowadays ah!
Speaking of which, Chef Marc made meringues using different methods. He shown us meringue Française and meringue suisse, of which, I'm more familiar with meringue suisse. I have done Swiss Meringue Butter cream before, and I like how easy it is as compared to French and Italian.
The difference between the French and the Swiss meringue, is that the sugar is added gradually into the egg white mixture while beating, and includes the usage of icing sugar, while for Swiss meringue, the sugar is boiled together with the egg white by bain marie and once the temperature reaches 55degrees, to whisk till it firms up and is at room temperature.
Chef Marc also shared that meringues is usually white, if it ever turns brown after baking, that means that the temperature is too high; I didn't say oven, because the meringues can be slow baked using the heat from the oven from the top or inside, even after the heat has been turned off, as meringues needs to be baked at a low temp for 1-2 hours.
Here, Chef Marc made some Misc En Place for decorating the Christmas Yule Log in the next demonstration; there's snowmen, mushrooms and Christmas Tree. I get to pipe some Christmas Trees and mushrooms as well during my Practical Class!
Ah, well. The revealing moment is here! I'm pleased to present my own marzipan rose & succès!
I must say, I'm actually quite pleased that my piping of the succès came out pretty well. But that came with practice! I scraped and piped again when there is loopholes or uneven pressure in the spirals because I didn't want to take risks during the baking process. It was bound to spread a little, and if it's uneven, the layers will be uneven, and if there's loopholes, well, it won't be pretty.
And who would want to eat a ugly succès? Not me, for sure!
How's the rose? It looks like a rose doesn't it? Of course, it's nothing like Chef Marc's rose because he used more than 5 petals, whereas he imposed a 5petals only rule on us. Blah. But nontheless, I'm looking forward to working more with marzipan!
Look at the praline butter cream! So shiny and gloriously yummy!!
Don't be fooled by the thought of "oh, it's praline and butter, must be super heavy", the truth is a thousand miles away from that. It's actually quite light and not too rich! Of course, take everything in moderation. If you were to take the whole damn pastry on your own, obviously you'll find the butter cream is too much!
That aside, look at my consistent piping sizes! I'm jumping with joy when I managed to pipe equal size with batter or butter cream. That's where all the grading goes to; being uniform and being neat.
I'm also getting Ben to purchase some piping bags from Singapore for me. The bags here are seriously pricey, 10 pieces for 150baht, which is about SGD $6! Piping bags are frequently used during classes, so I'm not going to throw $6 away this often! Anyway, Ben is visiting me sometime next week and I cannot wait! =)
We're going to celebrate our belated 1st year anniversary together, and I'm just so happy at the thought that he'll be here to spend time with me! Too bad he's missing the Yule Log and Cheesecake I'll be making this week, but that's okay, I'm sure the tarts next week should be able to satisfy his sweet tooth!
Till then!
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