I Can't Live Without It....

This was the theme of our final chocolate project. It didn't take long for me to decide on what I can't live without. But I held off, trying to come up with something serious and meaningful, like how to display faith through chocolate. Too complicated, so I went to something silly instead, and something a little more concrete. Like chicken enchiladas with chips and salsa. Obviously.


One gal did manage to portray her faith through chocolate, though it was no easy task, as can be seen by this picture:

Or, something meaningful:


Most people chose something light and funny though, like the following:

Vacation - the hammock was made by piping chocolate around half of a banana peel. Pretty cool!(high heels)

We are all so thankful that we have no more chocolate units ever. I tried hard to challenge myself with this cake, which I painstakingly painted every single music note on, plus as many details of the violin as I could. I think it turned out quite well, and a guy in the hallway even complimented it. I love how everyone in the school gets so excited for each other's work, instead of constantly competing against each other (though there is a fair amount of competition).


Last week I also attended a demo given by the famous Jacques Pepin. This man is a culinary genius and a legend - when he and the other deans of the school (Alain Salhaic, Andre Soltner) are no longer around, it will truly be the end of an era. They are extremely kind and giving men who love to share their wealth of information with everyone around them.


And - we have moved back to (and finished today) plated desserts, which completes two of three units devoted to this subject. It always makes for a fun week, because we get to eat everything as soon as it is plated, but it also makes me realize more and more how much I do not want to work in a restaurant. We had an afternoon of desserts yesterday, which went well, but it's stressful trying to get all of the orders plated up carefully yet quickly. My partner and I were in charge of tiramisu, which is such a pain to wiggle out of the molds nicely and then get it on the plates without it toppling over. But it was a hit with the crowd because of the cute little chocolate cup and tuile spoon. So precious!

White Chocolate Citrus Parfait

Chocolate Mint Dome with Orange Mint Salad

Mendiant with Sour Cherry Compote (essentially it is chocolate mousse on top of a chocolate-hazelnut cake round)

White Chocolate Hazelnut Semifreddo with Raspberry Compote

Plum Soup

Another version of plum soup, but pureed with creme fraiche added to the light pink side of it

Exotic Fruit Soup with a Sesame Tuile

Pineapple Cilantro Soup

Another version of pineapple cilantro soup

a sabayon

Pannetone and zabaglioni with earl grey sorbet on top of peach-ginger-raisin compote

Kataifi napolean - phyllo dough nests with cream between, with a balsamic reduction drizzled on, surrounded by roasted nectarines

Phyllo dough surrounding a square of chocolate genoise, raspberries, and chocolate ganache. I don't usually eat the entire dessert of anything we plate up, just because we eat so much of it. But I licked my plate clean on this one.

The butterfly up close from the previous dessert.

We have our largest project of the program coming up - we have to start working on it now, but it's not due for another few weeks. We have to create a business and develop the dessert menu for it, and then we have a 3 day practical recreating two of the desserts from the menu, chosen by the chef. I am utterly excited about this project and have my main idea down, but I need a name, a logo, colors, etc. Not to mention the menu, which must have eight desserts on it. I'll keep you posted on the progress and might request suggestions in the near future.

Also, can I say how much I love spring, again? Look at these peonies! I was walking into my little corner market that I love so much and was overcome by their sweet smell. We don't get peonies down in Texas because the weather is too warm for them, so I think I'll be buying them every week until they are out of season. I had them in my wedding bouquet, and I just LOVE them.

Pastry 3 and Spring!

We have moved into our very last level in the program, of which I am so excited about. Time has absolutely flown by! Here is how we ended Pastry 2...these are our pastillage (sugar decoration) cake stands:

This is my stand. The theme was First or Last Initial. Birds don't start with an M, but they are pretty, and "monogram" does, so hey, it works.

My cake that went on the stand.
They even kept a few stands (minus the cakes) to display in the theater, and mine was one of them!

The following are various classmates' stands:

Our first week in level 3 has brought us back to chocolate - it's not going so well this time because the room is so hot! 2/3 of us have constant problems with tempering, so that makes us worried because we have another chocolate stand project coming up this week. I have yet to pick my idea, but the less I have to use as structural support, the better. However, it's been so fun to learn candy-making. We made caramels, toffee, and bon bons. Yum! We also had to come up with our own bon bon flavor, so I chose s'mores. They were fabulous!

My partner dipping peanut butter nougat squares.

Also, now that I'm interning on weekends, I have my afternoons during the week free again. Spring here is absolutely gorgeous, as depicted in the following pictures from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

She Works Hard for No Money

Started my internship at Bouley Bakery today - I'm exhausted. It was a good day overall, and I think it will turn out to be a great experience. I'll be in class all week, and then working all weekend as well. So - literally no more days off for me until graduation.

The weather in New York is perfect right now and has been for the past few days. It's in the 60s-70s everyday, with a cloudless sky, and all of the trees and flowers are blooming. People are out enjoying the sidewalk seating at restaurants, and everyone is just generally in a good mood. Yesterday afternoon I hung out with a gal from class and then we met up with some of her friends at this cute rooftop bar. It's days like yesterday that make it hard to think about leaving this city. Lots of decisions to make - I'd love to stay here for a little while longer, but at the same time it's so expensive, I miss my family, and I really want Mexican food. I guess it will just depend on job situations for the both of us at this point.

Had a fabulous week in class. Ron Ben-Israel, the go to guy for wedding and specialty cakes, came into class on Thursday and Friday. Look what he taught us to do!





Yes, I made all of those, and they are all made out of sugar. Powdered sugar at that. Amazing!! They dry out and harden, so they feel like porcelain. I loved making these so much that I would consider making cakes if it meant I got to do sugar paste flowers all the time.

Culinary Adventures

The past few weeks have been nothing but exploring the culinary side of New York City. Or at least that's how it seems. When Mom and the cousins were up, we grazed our way through the city one day, eating street food all day. Yum! I finally got the pictures from that weekend, so enjoy!

We miss you Cheryl and Pam!

Soraiya and Azim came up to visit last weekend, which was fantastic! I've really missed Soraiya - we used to see each other every single day, so it's been weird not having her around all the time. The weekend started out with brunch Saturday morning, with cupcakes and cookies from my old internship and ice cream sandwiches from Milk and Cookies immediately following, with the best dinner that night at wd-50. I was so full by the end of the day! We were seated at the best table in the restaurant, with a perfect view of the kitchen where we could watch the chef work. Then, 4 hours later, at the end of our fabulous meal, we were taken back to meet the chef and the pastry chef. Here we are with Wylie Dufresne:
Honestly - this dinner was one of my best New York experiences so far. And I love that Soraiya and Azim's idea of seeing NYC is eating at as many restaurants as possible. Sunday we had brunch at Prune, another restaurant I've been dying to try. I think I'm still full.

We are getting quite creative in class right now...just completed a unit on plated desserts (I gained at least 5 lbs last week), and now we've moved into pastillage, which is sugar decorations. Not tasty, but very creative. First, the plated desserts:

Creme Caramel with candied kumquats, strawberry-orange-mint salad, and a tuile cookie

Classic creme brulee with chocolate dipped shortbread cookies

Pineapple Tart Tatin with Lime Sorbet, Pineapple-Passion Fruit butter sauce, and a pineapple chip

Cold green apple charlotte (ladyfingers filled with green apple bavarian), topped with cranberry sorbet and an apple chip, dotted with red currant sauce and clear vanilla bean sauce

Warm Apple Charlotte with Apple Caramel Sauce, Green Apple Sorbet, and a caramel design

Cutie patootie marzipan fruit!

Marzipan fruit in a nougatine basket

Next Steps

If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said that we were definitely staying in New York. The job opportunities are much greater here, at least for me...it would be silly to pass up the chance to work in some of the world's best bakeries or restaurants. But - today I'm feeling homesick. We both are.