Fun with Dad and Tina

What a great weekend we had! My dad and Tina have been here since Wednesday and, since I had class all day on Thursday and Friday, they found some great ways to have fun in the city. They got a 3-day pass for the Sightseeing Bus (hop-on/hop-off)and did the Downtown and the Uptown Tours on Thursday and Friday. Todd and I met them on Friday after I got out of class for drinks and dinner. A few of my friends from school joined us for the fun! On Saturday, Todd and I got tickets for the sightseeing bus and all four of us did the Brooklyn Tour (by way of the downtown tour which was also good). The weather was great and one of our guides on the bus (TOM) was fantastic. It's really nice to be able to sit on the open top and take advantage of the breeze and the sun, but you also get to see a lot more of the buildings from up there!! (It's rare that you walk around in the city looking UP or else you'd get trampled, but there is a lot of neat stuff to see on these old buildings.) We got off the tour just before the Brooklyn Bridge and walked across back into Manhattan.







We rewarded ourselves with a big pizza from Lombardi's (oldest pizza - and some argue, the best - in NYC). On Sunday, we got up pretty early and caught the uptown tour, through Harlem and getting off at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and the Guggenheim Museum.



















The cathedral was amazing (largest in the WORLD), and the Guggenheim was "OK." Many of their exhibits were empty, but we got in free with our Bank of America card so we weren't as disappointed as we'd have been if we'd PAID! Sunday night, Todd and I met up with one of our friends we met in Africa (she was on the last leg of her "around the world" tour) for dinner and drinks. My dad and Tina stayed in and relaxed. Yesterday, both Todd and I were off from school and work, so we joined Dad and Tina at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. They were AMAZING! It was a perfect day and the great way to cap off a wonderful weekend. Hope you all had a good holiday!

Plating Desserts

Once we finished with cakes and cookies, we have now moved on to Dessert Presentation (otherwise known as "plating"). This is the art of putting the dessert together on a plate that makes it appealing to the eye and palate. Pastry chefs consider taste, but also texture, temperature and layout in composing a nicely plated dessert. On Tuesday, we spent all day preparing the items we'd need for plating desserts on Wednesday. Then, on Wednesday, we set up the items and plated four desserts: Phyllo Nests with White Chocolate Mousse and Raspberries, Chocolate Mascarpone Tart, Lemon Curd Tart and Tart Tatin.







We finished class by preparing all of the items we'd need for today and then, today, we plated four more desserts: Chocolate Lava Cake with Toasted Almond Amaretto Ice Cream, Pineapple Upside-down cakes with banana Ice Cream, Dacquoise (meringue cake made with egg whites, sugar and finely ground nuts) with chocolate and white chocolate mousse and candied hazelnuts, and mini Angel Food Cakes with Fresh Berries.










This is what most of us are going to be doing A LOT of once we graduate, at least initially if we work in restaurants.

In non-food news, my dad and Tina arrived yesterday afternoon from North Carolina. Since I had another trail (previously planned), Todd got them settled in to their apartment and the three of them went to see the Yankees play Boston. I ran into them on the tram on my way home. They have a couple of days of sightseeing planned before the weekend. Since I have Monday off from school, we'll get to spend a long weekend together also.



Our last plated desserts included these crepes with Chocolate Pots du Creme, homemade Mallomars (lemon, coconut and rose marshmallows on shortbread covered with chocolate) and our take on pancakes with maple syrup (thin sponge cakes with maple ice cream, caramel sauce and maple walnuts).









After class on Friday, my dad, Tina, Todd and I went out with a couple of my friends from school. Here we are at the ever-popular Trailer Park Lounge. (We love that place!)

Cookies and more cookies!

Today we finished making the cookies we started on Friday, and...we made even more from scratch. All in all, I'd estimate we made close to 1000 cookies. We had about 5-6 different varieties of biscotti, chocolate chip cookies, checkerboard cookies, oatmeal raisin, almondines, chocolatines, macaroons, paletes aux raisins, linzers, spritz cookies, mamoul, sicilian fig cookies, shortbreads, Tennessee Icebox cookies and pecan sandies. (I think that's it, but I'm not sure. I might be forgetting some!) I could have used a tall glass of skim milk when we were all done. My dad and Tina are coming to visit (they arrive on Wednesday) and they LOVE biscotti, so I'm sure they'll help get rid of some of them. Tomorrow we begin the "plated desserts" section and we'll continue that until the end of the module.

Celebrity Chefs and Ribbon Cake

On Thursday after class, we went to a book signing with Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain and Marco Pierre White. They were all very different during the open forum and it was fun to see what they are like in person.





On Friday, we finished "cakes," ending with the dramatic Chocolate Ribbon Cake. It was the perfect thing for me to take with me to meet Alisha and George for dinner. We ate at a nice little Italian place in the theatre district and had a wonderful time! I'm so glad we got to see them before they went to their show.



Today is Saturday and this morning I spent time trailing at a great bakery. I liked it very much and it will be difficult now to make my final decision for my externship. Todd met me at Union Square once I was done working and we tried to go see a movie because it was yukky and rainy. When we got into the theater, though, it was oversold and there weren't any seats left. We got our money back from the surly man at the counter and took the train down to Century 21 to go shopping instead. Apparently, everyone else in NYC thought that would be a good thing to do on a rainy Saturday in May, and it was MOBBED. We didn't last very long before we were ready for some mar-ga-ri-tas. Andale, andale, arriba, arriba.... It will be great to sleep in tomorrow. Next week in class, we are making cookies and then switching to a week of plated desserts before we end Module 3. Here is a picture of my chocolate ribbon cake:

Cakes are winding down

We are finishing up the basics of cakes. Yesterday we constructed Charlottes, which are classic French cakes, usually built by lining a ring mold with either lady fingers (a form of sponge cake called Biscuit) or using biscuit batter to decorate more elaborate designs (like the swirled chocolate on vanilla we did here). Once the edges are lined, the middle is usually filled with a bavarian or a mousse. My partner and I were assigned Praline Bavarian filling. Today, we unmolded the Charlottes and also made three other Italian desserts that use biscuit batter. First, we made something called Zuccoto (from "zucca," the Italian word for pumpkin). Special sponge cakes (called Pan Di Spagna) that we made on Friday are sliced thinly then cut into circle, then cut again into small wedges and used to line the inside of spherical silicon molds (these were the same molds we used to make the "boobies" a couple of months ago for those of you who have been reading all along). Once the molds are lined with cake, they are filled with a ricotta,pistachio, chocolate filling and then topped with another cake round. The whole tray goes in the fridge to set, then they are unmolded, covered with whipped cream and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. Second, we made Tiramisu - no pictures as it has to set overnight in the fridge. We will finish it and taste it tomorrow. Third, we made Zuppa Inglese, kin to a traditional English trifle (literally means "English Soup"), made by layering cut cake pieces with chocolate and orange pastry creams, then topping with meringue (which we quickly hit with the butane torch). These are the ones served in martini glasses. Tomorrow, we finish Tiramisu and make two other desserts (called Grenoblais and Symphonie). More pics tomorrow!

Photos from our Weekend

Todd and I had a great weekend here in the city. Nothing but carefree days - great weather, no homework! We went to the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum (for my $$ the best museum in NYC), walked all the way around Central Park, did some shopping in SoHo, ate some great meals.

More Cakes, Our Anniversary, Trapeze School and the James Beard Awards

Well, I have had a busy week, and I know it's been a while since I last posted. Since Module 3 is all about cakes, guess what we've been making all week? CAKES! (You are so smart!) The first photo is the first of our genoise cakes, mine was mocha flavored and is the one with the coffee cup on it. Genoise is an egg foam cake, make with no butter, lots of eggs and really not too much sugar. It's spongy and usually a little dry and relies upon the flavorings to "make the cake." The Mocha cake is a plain genoise (yellow), soaked with a rum syrup, filled with rich chocolate ganache and iced with mocha buttercream. It was good, but I liked our butter cakes (from last week) better. On Tuesday, we finished the chocolate genoise - mine was chocolate cake, soaked in a syrup made from framboise (a clear raspberry brandy, or "eau-de-vie"), filled with whipped cream and fresh raspberries and iced with more whipped cream. I decorated it using a really contemporary design - chocolate and raspberry sauce criss-crossed on the top and sides. My partner and I also made a simple and quick lemon meringue cake using another genoise that we had "extra." On Wednesday, we made roulades (roll cakes) using genoise that we'd made in sheet pans. Basically the same as the previous genoise, but instead you soak the sheet cake, fill it and roll it up long ways, then ice it or finish it in some way. My group was assigned the Bouche de Noel (Yule Log), which was perfect because I've made this before and it wasn't nearly as cute as ours came out this time! We learned to make the marzipan mushrooms, pinecones and holly leaves. The picture also shows the other roulades in our class.










On Thursday and Friday we made Miroirs and they were so much FUN! I think I liked this more than anything else we've made (although it's been close on SO MANY other days). The miroir (means "mirror" in French) is made using a cake called "Genoise Mousseline", which is almost the same as the basic genoise, but with butter added. (Mousseline is a tricky term because it sounds so "light," but really all it means is that there is MORE BUTTER in it!) The cake is cut a little smaller than your ring mold, then laid inside, soaked with syrup and topped with bavarian cream (ours was raspberry so the syrup and the bavarian were made with raspberries) and glazed with a nappage (jelly, fruit puree, gelatin mixture that gives the cake a shimmery top). When the bavarian cream is spread on top of the cake, it also goes on the sides, so that it completely covers it all. The whole thing goes in the fridge to "set," and then the glaze is poured on, then in the freezer to set again, when unmolded, it looks like THIS.



On Friday, we made more miroirs (this time passion fruit), but we did it in PRODUCTION mode, meaning we made a ton of them as a group.



Outside of class, my week was just great! On Monday afternoon and evening, I volunteered for the James Beard Awards (equivalent to the Oscars of the culinary world). I got to meet and work with some great chefs! Tuesday was our 3 year anniversary and Todd and I went to a very special dinner out at Restaurant Daniel. It was an amazing experience, probably the best dinner I've ever had. We had a very romantic evening and were taken GREAT care of by the staff there. On Wednesday, I took a trapeze class at the NY Trapeze School. WOW! What a rush. Their slogan is "Forget Fear, Worry about the Addiction." How true. I will definitely be back for lesson 2. My dad said, "So are you joining the circus??" No. This is for fun ONLY!



Todd and I have had a wonderful weekend here in NYC. The weather's been great and we did a ton of walking around. We've had a few snags lately in the dog care area, but we're optimistic that we'll have a solution really soon. Have a great week, EVERYONE!