Monday, January 25, 2010

"You Are Cordially Invited"

Final exams are over. We had to bake and prepare quite a bunch of things - About 10 different categories (including eatable table decorations) and three different variations within some of the categories. A day and a half at our disposal. Here are the results of my efforts:

The "theme" of my table was a fancy tea party.

The menu:
Bread - "50-50" Rolls
Yeast dough (folded) - Swedish Wienerbröd, Cinnamon-Coffee Danish Cluster, Cinnamon Danish
Puff pastry - Jam&Nut filled Combs, Voul-a-Vent with Compote, Fruit of the Season-length
Center Piece - Orange-Chocolate Cake
Choux dough - Paris Brest, Éclairs, Swedish Maria Balls
Petit Fours - Filled Chocolate Cups, Mini Tartlets, Ganash-Marmalade Sweets (Pineapple & Red Wine)
"Cut" cake - Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Desert - Wine Poched Pear Baked in Marzipan Shell
Signs - White Chocolate writing on Dark Chocolate signs
Decorations - Cookie lollipops

Now - Reality!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Final Exams

Today was the written exam. There were questions on how you check quality of flour, how you serve a Wiener Strudel, how much water you need for 1/2 kg flour when you make pastry dough, and so on. And then there was a question on what is regulating the temperature in the cake fridge. Are pastry chefs supposed to fix broken refrigerators by themselves?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Scary

I really enjoy planning. Ideas pop up all the time. Using my imagination to create new products, new flavours, new patterns.

I love to try my ideas. To create something from a string of yarn, to mix ingredients and see it develop to something tasty.

My downfall is the marketing. I know what I need to do and how. But I'm reluctant to do it.
HELP!

February 1st 2010

D day. The day when I re-start reality. When I re-start my efforts to realize my dreams. Dreams that now have fleshed out.
I'm full of energy!