Thursday, May 6, 2010

So much to catch up on!

Okay, so looking back I realized it has been a while since I posted. I honestly thought I was kind of caught up through at least the week before last. Oh well!

So, the week after the Baklava and Almond Macaroons we made tarts. We had made sugar dough the week before so it was ready for us to use right away the next week. (It was frozen for a week of course). I was the only one that wanted to make Strawberry mini tarts so I ended up working by myself which was fine with me. I hadn't really worked by myself before. So, I rolled out the dough, cut the rounds and put them in the mini tart tins. Easy enough. The idea was to make 10 individual tarts that we chose (technically assigned) and then 5 fruit tarts which are tarts with pastry cream and topped with fruit and apricot glaze.

My strawberry tarts turned out really cute. I was very proud. The only problem I had was that even though I measured everything properly, the base of the strawberry mixture didn't really set up as much as it should have. It was heated to the right consistency (Chef even came over and helped out with that since it was my first time heating up a puree to thicken it) but after being mixed with the strawberry chunks and placed in the tarts, even with refrigeration they didn't set the way they should have. We decided (Chef and I) that the recipe definitely needed a bit more cornstarch for thickening. At any rate, they turned out super yummy and everyone that tasted them raved. So, I might just have to make more over the summer when my Dad has his summer BBQ's. :-) Here is a picture of them topped with banana whipped cream and a white chocolate disc.



Then there were the regular tarts which I actually think I did a good job with. I was happy with them. And they also were super yummy. Picture:


Okay, so the following week we started Honor's Night prep. Honor's night at the school is a reception and ceremony for those being honored with scholarships. The culinary department does all the food and baked goods/pastries for the event. I cannot even explain to you how much stuff we are making! Last week I worked on my own making eclair shells. So, I made choux for the eclairs and piped them out. The idea with Honor's prep is we treat it like a professional catered event so we really have to do things perfectly (or almost). So, it was essential that I piped the shells as identical as possible. I didn't do too bad at that. I baked them off and then the rest of lab was me helping those prepping the mini tarts.

This week was another Honor's Night prep. I made white chocolate mousse to help fill roulades with and then rolled them and put them in the freezer. It was quite a stressful day in the bakery and things were quite insane to say the least. Yelling from Chef, personal drama brought in to class...at the end of class Chef told us to go home and forget about the day but that we were still her A Team. lol It was definitely one of those days.

On the bright side, I finished my marzipan project for Honor's Night. The theme is "Mastering Your Dreams" with the idea of art masterpieces. I ended up chosing Profile of Time by Salvador Dali. It turned out pretty good. It is due Tuesday and will be displayed with the others on the dessert tables during the reception. Here it is! I am pretty proud.


So, next week is Honor's week. We will be finishing up prep and Wednesday I have signed up (we have to put in extra hours) for the few hours leading up to the reception so I will get experience plating and doing catering set up. I am happy about that! After next week we have one week making ice cream and sorbet and then it is finals week! I cannot believe the semester is almost over. I am actually kind of sad about it. Then it will be off to find a bakery job. Next semester will be Baking 3 which is cake decorating, chocolate work, sugar pulling, etc. I can't wait!!

1 comment:

  1. Wow Harmony, congrats! And those tarts look so friggin' good. I'm a huge fan of tart anythings.... love them! Way to go honor student. hee hee hee

    ReplyDelete