they're small, take a handful...

The dreaded Petit Four block is in the homestretch. It's turning out to be fun but it's wearing me out. In this picture are Battenburg cakes (pink, yellow sponge cake), Opera Glace and Petit Four Cakes in green fondant.  The Opera Glace petit fours were very decadent. Layers of sponge cake drenched in rum syrup, chocolate ganache and espresso flavored buttercream. Yikes.

Our final project is due Friday. We have to produce 6 different petit fours (10 each for a total of 60) over a 3 day period (Wednesday - Friday).  You may not hear from me until Friday! 

no pictures, please....

Carrie and Caleb came for a visit. They were in town from Thursday through Sunday. I guess when you wear dinosaur pajamas, you tend to shy away from the camera. Apparently he has heard that parents or grandparents like to drag out embarrassing photos when you are grown.

Some of the highlights for Caleb was a trip to the Austin Zoo, Boggy Creek Farm, Chuckie Cheese Pizza and the new Pixar movie - Up.  It was in 3D, which was kind of fun.

is anybody hosting a baby shower?....

Today was macaroon day. I went with a strawberry flavored macaroon. The French butter cream in the middle came out perfect in terms of taste and color. The macaroon, on the other hand, looks like Pepto Bismo in pill form. If only I had a friend that was having a baby girl.  They were very tasty but I don't think that they would be a big seller.  I'll try to get it right next Monday on the practical test.

I went to a seminar on eggs this morning. I am now an eggspert.  giggle.

tote that barge, lift that bale....

When they finished the remodel, they left a nice pile of construction waste in the backyard as a parting gift. The previous Steve (with a job) would have hired someone to make it go away. I decided to take care of this the old fashioned way. A friend from Samsung dropped off a trailer last week and I've been moving the pile one load at a time. I did a little bit each night. I made the last deposit today and we'll haul it to the dump on Wednesday.  I hope there's nothing in there that I need...

landing a plane was easier....

Week 1 of petit fours is history. The practical exam products were lemon tarts and madeleines. It required tart crust, lemon filling, Italian meringue, madeleines and tempered chocolate. Throw in measuring, mixing, baking, cooking and cleaning. Yikes.  It is definitely a good feeling when it is done but the actual production time is a little hectic.  I'm going to put a madeleine cooking tin on my Christmas list. They're yummy.

the meringue olympics winner is....

Donald Rumsfeld would love the fact that old Europe has 3 different kinds of meringue. There is a French, Swiss and Italian meringue with Italy winning the gold medal in the meringue olympics. It's a little harder to make but the Italian meringue is more stable and it has a better consistency. Those little canoes are lemon tartlettes with Italian meringue. There's a thin layer of lemon filling under the meringue.  The round petit fours are Linzer cookies with jam in between the layers. The remaining treat is a Whiskey Pecan tartlet. Busy day.

petit fours times the work....

Petit fours are small desserts but they are very labor intensive. The 3" fruit tart required Pate Sucree for the crust, pastry cream for the filling, sliced up fruit for the topping and apricot glaze for the preservative and sheen. The batter for the Spritz cookies was mixed a little too long so they spread in the oven and lost their shape. Ruined.  Nuts.  This block is definitely different than the mix, knead and wait world of bread....

how long do we bake it for? ....

The bread block is history. For my "Design a Bread" project, I went for tomato garlic challah bread.  It turned out quite good.  I think I'll have garlic oozing from my pores for awhile.  The country white loaf also came out good for my Friday practical.

We start petits fours and tarts on Monday.  We switch instructors which reminds me of kindergarten to 1st grade anxiety.  We had Chef Michelle for the 1st 6 weeks and she was a great way to start the program. My favorite Chef Michelle quote came very early in the program.  She was putting something in the oven and someone asks "how long do you bake it for?" She immediately replied with "until it's done".  She was my hero from that point on - just like Ms Platt in kindergarten.

does anybody still use marmalade?....

We made bagels, bread sticks and english muffins today.  Making english muffins is an adventure but they are really good. It was a 2 day process and they are cooked on a hot skillet.  These turned out thicker and fluffier than Thomas' muffins.

Confession - as a youngster, I hated orange marmalade. I thought plain jam was fine.  I always thought marmalade was fancy, expensive jelly so I pretended to like it. 

Whew - I feel better getting that out after all these years.  giggle...

and your delta fraternity name is flounder...

All of our fermenting sourdough loaves were removed from the cooler during the night by accident which destroyed the dough. I skipped lunch in anticipation of Fig Anise bread and Walnut bread.  Nuts!  As a result, there aren't any bread pictures for today. 

After class, I noticed that they were having orientation for the next crop of students. It's only been 6 weeks but I won't be part of the Freshman class after this Friday.  They start on Monday. yeah. 

on your mark, get set, starter....

Three loaves from a sourdough starter came out of the oven yesterday. My favorite was a Country loaf which is the size of a slightly deflated volleyball. Bakers let these "artisan" loaves ferment in baskets (bannetons) which is the source of the pattern on the crust. We also did a chocolate cherry bread which was pretty outrageous. We opted for the small balls (boules) of bread rather than a loaf. Not pictured was a loaf of Rosemary Olive Oil.  I decided to skip dinner last night because of all the bread I ate.

tick, tock...

We started the bread block 2 weeks ago with quick breads.  The breads that we made last week were yeast breads which took about 2-4 hours to make.  We are making sourdough breads this week.  Even if you disregard the process of making the sourdough starter (Levain for you french majors), these breads still represent a 24+ hour process.  These are typically the more favorable breads due to the long fermentation time.  Good things come to those that wait...

rose to the occasion...

I had practical test #2 in the yeast bread block today. The Challah (Holl-a) bread braid went pretty well but the Brioche is still a work in progress.  Our final exam next Friday is a bread of our own creation.  The only requirement is that it be a yeast bread and it needs to represent the things we personally desire in bread - flavors, texture, etc.  Yikes.  I'm not quite sure where to start but I'll let you know how it goes.

mojitos in cake form....

Baba and Savarin cakes are soaked in a rum spiked sugar water flavored with citrus and cinnamon sticks.  They are literally soaked in a large pot until completely saturated. The Savarin is a plain, ring cake (about the size and shape of a small donut). The Baba cake has marinated raisins in the dough and it is typically topped with fruit or creme chantilly (whipped cream). It's the size of a small cupcake but much more fun.

not your basic fruitcake....

We made Stollen and Kugelhopf bread today. Stollen bread is typically served at Christmas and it has German roots back to the 1300s.  It is full of fruit that has been marinated in sugar and rum. Yikes. 

Kugelhopf is from Austria and it is baked in various versions of a bundt tin. It's a light, sweet cake with shaved almonds on the edges.  Both breads are better suited for breakfast than for dinner. What a way to start the day.

i can braid bread but not hair....

Challah (Holl-a) means "offering" in Hebrew and it is commonly served at Jewish holidays. The original Challah bread was braided with 3 strands of dough which represented Truth, Peace and Justice. The Challah loaf that I did was with 8 strands.  The loaf in the picture is about 10 inches in length. If you like the taste of butter, you'll like this bread.

not bad buns for an old guy....

The breads from last week were lean breads (yeast, water, flour, salt). This week, the breads are enriched, with the emphasis on rich.  We did sticky buns, cinnamon buns and a cinnamon swirl loaf today. Life was more fun when I didn't know how much butter and eggs went into these guys.  I'm just doing my part for the dairy industry.  Note: we have been told, in so many terms, to erase the word margarine from our vocabulary.  OK; done

happy feet....

Week 4 is history. Today's practical exam included baguettes made from standard French dough and dinner roll knots made from Pain Au Lait dough.  It went very well.

I spend the majority of each day on my feet. The standard issue shoes are heavy, steel toed clunkers. Some of my running buddies chipped in and got me a gift certificate for some Birkenstock chef shoes.  They are very comfortable - and fashionable, too. They go very well with my checked chef pants!