I may have gone a little crazy with the exam prep this time... We only get our list of possible exam recipes 2 weeks before the exam. And wouldn't you know it, my sister's bridal shower and bachelorette fell in that first weekend. With absolutely no time to spare what with juggling work, class and planning the bridal shower, I had to leave all of my exam prep until the very last minute. I took 2 days off of work and dedicated myself completely to baking every last one of those 12 cakes. Thankfully, Phil was able to find enough hungry co-workers to take every last cake off our hands, otherwise I don't think I would be able to fit through our door.
One of my first attempts was the Douceur Chocolat, which I haven't actually made before as I missed the practical class. A bottom layer of hazelnut dacquoise is spread with a praline crunch covered in milk chocolate mousse with a milk chocolate disc insert. The whole is covered in a dark chocolate glaze with white chocolate decor along the sides. Everything seemed to go along well until it came time to glaze the cake. I don't know if I added the gelatin to the glaze when it was too hot or if I tried to glaze too early, but the glaze really refused to set, as is evident by the chocolate mousse peaking out between the chocolate squares. Still delicious though!
This next one was a royal pain to make in the practical class. It is a triple chocolate bavarian cream, with a layer of sponge on the bottom. The trick with this is to ensure all the layers are perfectly even, which I still can't seem to master. Made for extremely tasty leftovers, though!
This is my latest Ambassadeur Exotique and one of the easiest of the term to make. It's a genoise cake with layers of pastry cream and chunks of oranges and pineapples throughout. The whole is covered in Italian Meringue and sliced almonds.
One of my all-time favourites: the Marquise au Chocolat. Chocolate ladyfinger sponge topped with praline crisp and dark chocolate mouse, enrobed in dark chocolate glaze and decorated with macarons. I could eat a slice of this anyday of the week. Yum!
Delice Caramel - Coffee ladyfinger sponge with layers of caramel bavarian cream and pear mousse. I was out of clear glaze so just decided to drizzle the top with caramel sauce.
An assortment of chocolate candies: honey truffles, rochers and muscadines. Muscadines still remain the most difficult item for me to make in the Intermediate repertoire. I had quite a bit of leftover tempered chocolate, so I made some almond bark.
The Pacific. It should be a lot more colourful than it is here, but I ran out of food colouring mid-production. A joconde sponge coloured with cigarette paste holds together a layer of strawberry mousse and lemon mousse. It makes for a delightfully refreshing dessert!
This last one was supposed to be a strawberry-cassis tart, but I had absolutely no blackcurrants in my fridge so decided to improvise with blackberries and blueberries. It's a sweet dough with a layer of almond cream and pastry cream, covered with fresh berries.
No comments:
Post a Comment