I've been dreading today all weekend - we'll be working with the temperamental fondant once again. I think it's universally acknowledged by pastry students that fondant is one of the most frustrating substances to work with. It can't be too hot, or too cold; too thick or too liquidy - it has to be just right. For me, at least, that seldom happens.
The demo was mesmerizing - Chef H was just a blur of movement as he whipped up recipe after recipe - pate sucree, almond cream, simple syrup, ganache, italian buttercream... And we were only halfway through class! The rest of the time Chef H was busy assembling six different little delicacies, every single once is so intricate.
Most of them have a flavoured or coloured buttercream piped on top. The chocolate rectangles are piped with the rich ganache and the jam triangles are just spread with some raspberry jam. Afterwards, all except the chocolate rectangles are dipped in their respective flavoured/coloured fondant and decorated with chocolate piping or buttercream. The results of all this work are colourful little cookies that disappear all too quickly.
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| Vanilla Barquettes |
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| Vanilla Mice |
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| Coffee Domes & Jam Triangles |
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| Chocolate Rectangles & Square Frogs |
When it came time for us to go in the kitchen, I was a bundle of nerves. So many recipes to complete with limited time, not to mention all of the fondant work! That being said, it ended up being one of the most enjoyable and successful practicals so far. I think the trick is to be sufficiently intimidated that you keep your head down and just keep working. It's the days when I'm most confident going in that I usually really mess up.
The Chef went easy on us with the practical as we only had to make 3 different types of petits fours: vanilla mice, coffee domes and chocolate rectangles. The fondant was really tricky to work with, as anticipated, but Chef let us in on a very handy trick to clean it up afterwards. Thank goodness because mine were all dripping fondant, even though I'd cleaned them up so nicely at first. I still have to work on the uniformity of my piping, and the tails on my mice were abismal; however, it was a pretty satisfying class.
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| Chocolate Rectangles |
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| Vanilla Mice |
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| Coffee Domes |
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