It’s hard to believe I’m almost done with week four of this unit already. The time has been flying by, and the last two weeks are guaranteed to flash by we’re going to be so busy.

First let’s catch up. I finished last week with the apple trio of desserts. Well, it was apples and pears, but I went solely with apples. I made a spiced cider poached apple with mascarpone cream and candied walnuts and a tuile (with the cutest stencil I made myself!), an apple crumble that was delicious in my opinion, regardless of what anyone else says *grins* and then I finished it off with an apple and cider sorbet that was fabulous.

Monday was a fairly lazy day, we had the resume workshop that told me nothing new, a brief period of production sorting the cart out for Ventana. And then we spent the rest of the day planning our High Tea (aside from the fact that it’s a high tea in nothing except name!). We’re going with an Asian theme, and then we were split into groups so we could come up with the menu. Savoury, Sweets and Condiments. I’m in the condiments group so we’ll be making the scones and the tea breads along with all the spreads and jams and preserves so that’ll be fun.

Then we moved onto our caramel exam. I went for a sticky toffee pudding, after being asked by Chef if I would mind, perhaps, maybe, making my own recipe for it rather than using hers so she could compare a ‘proper’ pudding to the one she had from a friend of a friend of a friend who was sure it was from a friend’s English relative. It’s a recipe that had travelled through the hands of several Chefs, I’m sure we can guarantee it had been altered and changed.

We had to make a caramel ice cream to go with it, and I made some peanut pralines to go with it too which worked really nice. We had to have a caramel garnish that was over 4 inches long to go with it.

It worked out nicely, only a few minor mistakes with the garnishes, she loved my pudding and I was the only person brave enough to get my caramel dark enough (it’s lightened so much by the cream and milk you have to get it a hairs breadth from burning). I did have the advantage though, I had already made caramel ice cream, a huge batch, for the restaurant so I knew what it was supposed to be like *grins*

I also gained 5 extra points from chef as a thank you for churning that huge batch of caramel ice cream last week. It was 4 or 5 gallons of ice cream, and with only being able to churn about a quart and a half at a time it took me a very long time.

Chef also offered extra credit for doing a children’s plate up. We didn’t have to stick to any of the guidlines we have been using (height, colour, textures etc), it just had to be fun and something that a fine dining restaurant could offer to children eating there. So I came up with my plan and went in early before the exam yesterday to get started.

I was making an ice cream cupcake! An oreo crust filled with vanilla ice cream. I then went one step further and dressed it to be a pirate cupcake *grins* giving him an eyepatch a flag and a tricorn hat made from modelling chocolate.

Everyone thought he was cute, and Chef liked him, her only comment was he was a bit big. While probably fine for a 10 year old, if it was ordered for a 5 year old it would be too much. So I gained an extra 25 points for that, making up for my two B’s!

Today we have the demo for our seasonal fruit plate exam tomorrow. We also have a fruit report, not entirely sure what happens but we pair up draw a random fruit and have x amount of time to go to the library and research it to come back and do a report.

That leaves one final plate up for next week  (seasonal) and then it’s going to be busy busy busy with the high tea and then on the last week our final exam!

Back, when I was still in Wales, DmentD sent me the link to a blog he thought I might be interested in, he’d found it browsing about the web and after passing it onto me he promptly forgot about it *grins*

The blog belonged to a girl who was in the final stages of a Baking and Pastry program at the Culinary Institute of America called Sweet Napa since it was in the Napa Valley in California that she was studying.

Since I’ve been following her she graduated from class and has been opening her own business making chocolates and candy bars. She moved back to LA and making a policy of using local ingredients (organic where possible) and nothing artificial, her business has been steadily growing.

BonBonBar started off at farmers markets, she then progressed to offering a mail service and now her chocolates are available in a wide number of stores in LA.

Just before Christmas I finally ordered some of her products. I had wanted to since I got over here (she doesn’t ship overseas) however she is very proud of her products and doesn’t want anything to damage their quality and so until the cooler weather hit it was overnight shipping or nothing.

As soon as the cool weather arrived I ordered some. A small selection containing some of the Single Malt Scotch Ganache Bars, Caramel Nut Bars and the Malt Bar, along with the Pumpkin Pie Bar, available for the holidays only. The only bar I didn’t try was the Orange Bar.

I also had some of the Caramels (I had the original and the salted nut.. She also has wildflower honey, cinnamon almond and single malt scotch), but not the marshmallows (available in vanilla or passionfruit). They arrived in the cutest little box and I couldn’t wait to try them out.

I have to say, these were some of the best chocolates I have ever had. The flavours were well balanced, a fantastic use of salt made the flavours pop and also helps cut through the sweetness of the chocolate. I will not hesitate to buy more of her products next time I want to treat myself.

They have a short shelf life, due to no artificial ingredients. It’s hard to imagine a ‘fresh’ chocolate rather than a bar that’s been sat on a shelf for no one knows how long, but you can taste it, you can tell from the first bite that these are something special!

It was chocolate even DmentD enjoyed!

I’m trying to encourage people to support her not only because they are amazing chocolates but because I admire what she’s done.

She finished culinary school and immediately set to working on what she wanted to achieve, and she is doing well at it, she’s having to hire staff now.

I want to promote and publicise her work in the hopes that on that day in the future, when I set to starting my own business, opening my dream bakery (which won’t be immediately out of culinary school, but one day!) people will taste my work and want to do the same for me.

Please do support BonBonBar, I want to see her suceed.

As you can probably tell, EatBake is experiencing a makeover. This is in order for us to be able to integrate the gallery properly as part of the page.

This isn’t the finished product, there will be lots of changes made until it’s settled in a way I like it and that works how it needs to.

Please bear with us, the final page will be different to how it is now

Simply a gallery for so long Curious Confections has finally had a face lift.

It’s our semi-professional site for anyone who wants to see our work, a place to send prospective customers. So if you happen to know anyone who may be interested (preferably in the Austin area) please send them our way.

Or just shout the word out to anyone and everyone you know, meet, see.. glance at occasionally.. have never met before but they might be interested *grins*

We want to make people happy with baked good, help make it happen *grins*

Send people to Curious Confections

Right now it feels like as soon as I finish one we’re onto another… which is fairly close to how it’s happening!

The Filo exam on Friday went well, I was pleased with how I did. Everything worked out nicely, and candied pecans are in fact more delicious than you would anticipate!

Then we had a lovely three day weekend which was much appreciated! I spent a lot of time knitting, after the red hat which I posted pictures of I made a similar one for DmentD in a lovely wool with shades of browns and greys, very soft. Now I’m working on another hat (I seem to have a thing for them right now), this time a stocking cap, for me. My aim is to have it long enough to be able to use as a scarf while I’m wearing it.. as lets face it, if it’s cold enough for me to be wearing a hat I’ll be wanting a scarf too. It’s currently 3 feet long, and stripy.. and awesome *grins*

Yesterday and today was another exam, puff pastry. I made a vol au vent and filled it with chocolate custard and berries. I made a sugar tuile for it which was fun, it’s melted sugar and food colouring.

Tomorrow and Friday we start on the Apples and Pears exam. Apparently we’ll have to make a trio of desserts. We get a tasting tomorrow of various kinds. And of different types of apple and pear alcohol.. those of us who are over 21 that is!

There’s a chocolate competition coming up soon, I had a couple of Instructors tell me I should enter it. So I’m thinking of entering into the brownie and maybe the truffles categories.

I’ve been going cycling, that’s going well… well, better than it was! I hadn’t realised just quite how out of shape I was, and trying to push me and the bike around.. I didn’t get far. But I’ve been going for a couple of weeks now, and I intend to keep it up and I made it to a mile this week.

We have a resume workshop in class next Monday, but I beat people to it, I started getting Chef to look through mine last week. She’s worked as an executive chef and had to do what we always hear about, having 2 minutes to pick 10 resumes out of a pile, making that snap decision on how it looked, so I valued her opinion on how it should look. And apparently it’s worked, on the 2nd I have an interview for an externship *bounces* I’m going to try a couple of other places too, but it’s a good start and I’m glad I’ve gotten in ahead of the rest of my class, though a lot of them say they want to head out of state.

It made me happy to have someone reply and say yes, come see us!

A week of exams this week, and will continue to be so for all the weeks left of this unit. Though amazingly we’re two weeks down already, it’s going quick.

This week started with our chocolate plate up. I had grand plans, and as so often happens when you do, they failed! I was going to layer up my torte with a flourless chocolate cake on the bottom, then a cocoa nib tuile, then some caramel and then the chocolate mousse.

I put too much caramel in.

They were all set up and I was popping them out of the rings and setting them down watching the mousse slowly slide off of the rest of it… I took this opportunity to go take five minutes break while I figured out what to do.

My result wasn’t particularly fine dining, and as a result I lost enough points to give me my first B grade, but speaking with Chef she couldn’t think of any other way I could have rescued it.. I was just happy I managed to present something!

I managed to save one of the bases with not too much caramel on and then scraped the mousse up and piped it on top.. not the greatest, but it tasted good.. In fact it tasted wonderful. The sorbet with the cocoa nibs in worked wonderfully too.

Chef was apologising for grading me down *shrugs* it happens, she was saying I would have had 100 had it worked.. and she never gives 100.. Well, now she’s just set me a challenge *grins* Damn well going to be trying to get that elusive 100 now (not that I wouldn’t have been anyway, but now she’s told me she doesn’t give them out..)

Wednesday we had our only theory test for the unit, I managed a very respectable 97, and then we had a timed test on sauces. We had to make a fruit coulis, a creme anglais and a caramel sauce, and plate them up in five different ways in an hour and 40 minutes.. I was done in the 40 minutes so I was making the pistachio tuile batter for the class to use, we have a collection of different ones in the walk-in.

Today we have our plate up for filo.. I’ll let you know how it goes. I intend to make a chocolate, custard and pecan ‘spring roll’ with vanilla custard, chocolate sauce, candied pecans and vanilla ice cream.

Yesterday we were staring prep for the new Ventana menu, it’ll change over the week of the 26th. I got to make a caramel ice cream (in a huge batch – 96 yolks) which was really interesting. You made a dry caramel (so far we’ve only done wet) then add the cream and milk and bring it to the boil and then temper the eggs and bring it to consistency. And having done that I now have the upper hand *grins* when it comes to caramel plate up we all have to make a caramel ice cream.

Firstly, at New Years was a friend’s birthday that Michael and I made the cake for. Maxfield Parrish was a favourite artist of the recipient with The Latern Bearers being her favourite piece. So keeping this in mind we made an orange chiffon cake and after covering it in buttercream we decorated it with the elements from that piece. Finishing the cake with some homemade candied orange peel.

Back to this week, school has been fun. I’m enjoying this unit more than I originally anticipated. It’s hectic but (at the moment) not we’re not being snowed under so I’m liking that I’m kept busy and being challenged. We had the first of our standard (plate-up) exams on Thursday. The exams have a new structure than what we’re used to. The day before Chef demonstrates various items we can use, and tells us what the plate has to contain, then the next day we can make whatever we like as long as it fulfils those criteria and we can finish it in time. We have to be finished earlier as the grading takes longer, but it’s good.

This week was custards, so we had to have an infused custard. We had to have an ice cream or sorbet depending on what we made (higher in fat items need a sorbet so there’s not too much fat on the plate) a tuile and if necessary a sauce (it wouldn’t be needed with a creme brulee or creme caramel for example). Then on top of this we need to keep in mind all the standard guidelines we were given at the start of the unit, we need height, colour, textures etc.

So I made an earl grey panna cotta (I made earl grey taste good!) with a spiced honey sauce and a lemon sorbet. I made a honey tuile and then to add the necessary colour some blueberries and a coulis.

We had the chocolate tasting on Friday which was fun, and interesting. I can say with knowledge that chocolate with bacon in doesn’t taste as good as you’d hope.. and lavender chocolate tastes like soap! The various chili chocolates were pretty good, but oddly good, it works better with darker chocolate, and the coconut curry bar was bizarre. It was amusing to see the differences in my tastes to the rest of the class. As a standard in the uk it’s not really dark chocolate until 70%, here it’s dark chocolate at 55% so a lot of people were saying that they found it bitter from there onwards.. it took me to the 99% cooking chocolate (as opposed to the 99% chocolate bar which was divine!) to feel the bitterness.

After the tasting we tempered chocolate and practised garnishes, I finally managed to get semi decent cigarettes that are even and uniform and I made some curls and played about with transfer sheets for cutouts. We’ve saved them and if they’ve kept well then we’re allowed to use them for our chocolate plate-up tomorrow.

We have 3 exams this week! The chocolate plate-up tomorrow, our only written test on Wednesday with a timed test on sauces, and then on Friday our filo plate-up.. a busy busy week!

The holidays are over, and I was back to school yesterday.. This is the unit I was considerably nervous about.

It’s the first of the advanced classes, no more being told how to make something (though she will demo stuff we haven’t seen before), most of what we make we should at least know the process. It’s a whole different layout too, 11 exams in 6 weeks. 8 plate-ups which constitute our ‘every day’ lessons, Chef will demo a category (we have custards, caramel, chocolate, seasonal etc) and tell us our guidelines for it one day, we can start production then and then the next day we have to finish and present. We have one theory and practical exam (timed making sauces), the afternoon tea where we can invite one person, and then our final exam which lasts the entirety of week 6.

We have 2 classes (both this week) where we make something that doesn’t go towards one of the plate-ups.. and if we make them well enough we’re allowed to save them and use them. We also have a chocolate tasting on Friday which will be awesome. She’s going to teach us another way of tempering that doesn’t use a thermometer since it’s quicker and the items go on the plate and are eaten so as long as they don’t bloom in that small amount of time it’s fine!

I like the Chef Instructor we have, you can tell the passion she has for creating plated desserts.. and she’s honest.. She’s said we’ll probably spend this week floundering and wondering what we’re doing, settle into it and then in the final week get stressed and feel pressured and once more wonder why we’re doing this.

We also make the desserts for the restaurant – Ventana, and as of today (they weren’t open last night as it was the first night for students working there too) everybody in our class has their name on the dessert menu.. which is kinda nice.. and while I won’t be able to say on my resume that I worked there I can say that we made the desserts. They’re on their holiday dessert menu at the moment (I want to try the Guinness gingerbread cake!) but midway through the unit Chef wants to change to the spring time menu.

We have a whole forest worth of paperwork with different information, I am actually a little excited now about the unit, there’s so much we’re going to learn. We’ll go into the seasonality of produce, how to cost desserts, what components you need, how to balance the flavours.

The only downside of all of this is I have to carry my big heavy hardback textbook to class every day for this unit!

May 2009 bring you health, wealth and happiness.

We saw in the New Years at a friend’s party, it was Masquerade so a few days before we decided on a costume. This was mostly based around the fact that DmentD really wanted to make himself a fez. So we decided to go 1950′s kitsch! We went and got the fabric and interfacing and between the two of us managed to make a rather decent fez, he hired a smoking jacket and then I wore my red dress and we got me some opera gloves and a fake cigarette holder. A trip to the goodwill gained us two martini glasses and of course we had to have masks, so we made them too.. it’s awkward finding masks that will fit comfortable over/under glasses. So this is what we ended up with…

A fun evening was had, I started on the pineappletinis and then moved to the margheritas. Plenty of wonderful food and good company. I enjoyed myself. We sat round the fire for most of the evening which was nice.. enough heat to keep us warm but we were outside so we had the cool air to stop it getting stifling.

Today we have people coming round here for dinner, the traditional (so I’ve been told!) Southern cabbage and black eye peas.. we’re also having a ham and I made cottage pie to inject some Englishness into the proceedings! DmentD and I also made the cutest cupcakes! We had both found them independantly of the other on the internet and decided we had to make them.. New Years seemed a very apt occasion!

They’re my now standard vanilla cupcake recipe, topped with flat icing. The heads are ‘festive’ whoppers, sugar coated in white with red and green specks, dipped in flat icing. The details are just coloured icing and the noses are fondant. The hats are m&ms! I think they are adorable!

Sadly we made these yesterday and when we looked at them this morning their noses had drooped and fallen off.. we’ll need to find a new method of doing them.. maybe using royal icing instead of flat. It kinda adds to the pathetic-ness of them, but I preferred them as seen in the photos where they’re still cute!