Pastry Demons and their Fancy Pants Desserts

(Continued from "Under Pressure" Tuesday, April 11th)...

Speaking of pressure, it didn't help that Melissa and I had been out of the pastry loop for the past 6 weeks, as we had been in two introductory hot foods classes for our degree program.  Thank goodness Aleisha had taken Careme's before, so at least she was there to help us understand how the class worked.  Basically, you have all morning to prepare anything you might need for that afternoon's service.  The prep work was a big guessing game as we had no idea what would get ordered, even if the guests would order dessert at all.

When first reading the dessert menu, the work ahead seemed gargantuan:

- Pear Frangipan Tart with Spiced Plum Ice Cream, Cinnamon Syrup, Honey-Almond Tuiles

- Chocolate Lava Cake with a chocolate liquid center, Dried Cherry Compote, and Mocha Anglaise

- Ginger Crème brûlée topped with Stone Fruit Chutney and Mint Chiffonade

- Ice Cream Trio (3 different ice cream flavors) with Honey-Almond Tuiles

Not only were we tasked to make four desserts, each dessert had multiple components.  Some things were easy: like mint chiffonade, just pick some mint from our backyard herb garden and chop into strips; and cherry compote, chop up this and that, add cherries, mix it all together.  But oh good gravy, it's been at least six months since we made ice cream in class, and a year since we did frangipan and tuiles!  Now was not the time to freak out. We had to dust off the cobwebs from the basic pastry corner of our brains and remember how to make a classic french style ice cream, using real cream and none of that processed, fakey substitute ice cream you find at the supermarket.

As my old chemistry teacher used to say, "Plan the work and work the plan!"  We made up a list of essential things to get done the first day in time for service the next day when the restaurant would be open.  We agreed to set to work making the basics, like short dough for the pie tarts and a batch of frangipan, a classic French, sweet, paste-like filling made of almond, sugar, flour, eggs, and butter.  Meanwhile, Melissa and I reviewed the method of making Creme Anglaise, the mother dessert sauce of the pastry kitchen so to speak.

From Creme Anglaise, you can make custards, like Creme Brulee, and French Vanilla Ice Cream, or any ice cream for that matter (we'll be making Creme Anglaise and turning it into ice cream for a future "Whip of Dole").  From multiple batches of anglaise, we were able to get the Mocha Anglaise sauce made, Crème brûlée prepped, as well as 4 flavors of ice cream (Spiced Plum, Mocha, Chocolate, and good ol' Vanilla).

Melissa, Aleisha, and I really surprised ourselves those first few days of Careme's.  After the freaking out, and asking ourselves "Uh, what the heck are we doing?" on the first day, we successfully made each of the desserts on the menu.  The skills we had learned in our classes, leading up to making desserts for a real working restaurant, came back like magic.  Chef would occasionally check up on us and ask, "How are my little pastry demons doing?"  We would reply with a spoonful of deliciousness.

He found our chocolate ice cream and spiced plum ice cream to be, and I quote, "Phenomenal."  Though all the credit can't go to us. Chef gave us such a great guiding hand and helped us realize his vision for these desserts, while also letting us get a little creative with our own ideas.  He was really pleased that we did such a great job those first few days, and that the restaurant could serve some fancy pants desserts made by actual student pastry chefs.

I still can't get over the fact that we made this happen.  I don't like to toot my own horn, but we really rocked it out at the pastry station!  As they say, a picture's worth a thousand words:

Pear Frangipan Tart with a scoop of Spiced Plum Ice Cream, a drizzle of cinnamon syrup, Honey-Almond Tuile corkscrew, and a sprig of mint for color

Chocolate Lava Cake with Dried Cherry Compote on a pool of Mocha Anglaise.  We got confused and put the chiffonade mint on this one, but it was a happy accident as it came out nice!

 Chef's special recipe: Ginger Crème brûlée with Stone Fruit Chutney and Mint Chiffonade.

Ice Cream Trio with Honey Almond Tuile. This was actually probably the 4th day, as only one person ordered the trio the 1st day of service and I forgot to take a picture.  Seen here is our Watermelon Sorbet, Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream.

Stay tuned for future adventures from Careme's, with Chef's Pastry demons; haha.

- Sandwich

Under Pressure (cue Queen)

Part of the culinary program at my school is to work in the school's on campus restaurant Careme's, named after Marie Antoine Careme, one of the very first "celebrity chefs" back in the 1800s.  The end of the baking and pastry major's education for those in the degree program consists of working in the front of the house (server/hosting) and the back of the house (kitchen).  I just started my three week course in back of the house last Friday, and I have to admit I was a bit terrified.  You're basically thrown right into the midst of everything, and you only have your noggin to rely on for getting everything done.

 Marie Antoine Careme himself.  Image from http://www.famoushotels.org/article/984

The head chef, our instructor, wrote up a menu. On our first day, he told us his bosses said it was too difficult and it should be trimmed a bit, so we would not get overwhelmed; but Chef stood his ground and kept the menu the same.  He made a good point, that he was brought on to challenge the students and not let us slide by.  I was glad he believed in us, but a bit more anxious that we had to make this menu happen...the pressure was on!

If you've seen Ratatouille, or any restaurant kitchen themed movie/show, you know there are stations in the kitchen: the cold foods, soups and sauces, vegetables, fish, roast, saute, breads, pastries, etc.  I have to admit, it was pretty cool being like the chefs on Ratatouille. I was eternally grateful that Chef assigned myself and my friend, Melissa, in the pastry station, as we were the only two baking and pastry majors in the class.  We were also joined by our friend Aleisha, who was in our very first class then left us for hot foods classes.  It was like a reunion! 

Speaking of such, the school restaurant is typically run by mainly the culinary hot foods majors since (1) Careme's is only required for the degree majors and (2) the baking and pastry majors are few in number.  Typically, the students are rotated throughout the stations to get a try of everything, and nearly every hot foods major hates the pastry station.  So when Chef found out that he was getting two baking and pastry majors in his kitchen, he said we could stay there the whole block (yay!), and drew up a lovely little menu of some fancy pants desserts...no pressure. :-/

I met Chef at the beginning of this school year back in October 2010, and throughout the year he had always been asking me, "When do you have Careme's?" or "I have you in Careme's for Block 4!" So he was pretty excited that I was coming.  Again...No pressure, right??

So as you can see, I was terrified of screwing up on my first day...(to be continued, come back on Thursday April 14th for the exciting conclusion!)

- Sandwich