Lesson 17 to 20 & Basic Pastry Exam

Basic Pastry classes have finished!  Now off to exams!  We will be tested on one of the following dishes:

Tarte aux Pommes
Saint-Honoré
Chausson aux Pommes & Palmiers
Dacquoise
Tarte Meringuée aux Poires Caramélisées
Moka
Brioche & Pain aux Raisins
Pithiviers & Sacristains
Buche Pistache-Chocolat
Gateau Basque

Along with the main dish, we are required to line a tart mold and pinch the edges. We will be given ingredient lists so I’m not too worried, but my main concern is time.  We have two and a half hours to complete our pastry and make a tart shell!  It sounds like a lot of time, but I know we will all be scrambling at the end.  The chef’s advise to use: work quickly in the beginning so we have enough time to spend on our presentation.  Looks are everything in patisserie.  No one wants to buy an ugly cake.

Here are photos from the last four lessons and three practicals.  Lesson 20 consisted only of a demo and tasting.

Lesson 17: Feuilltage: Pithiviers & Sacristains

The pithiviers is a pie-esque dish made with puff pastry.  The inside is filled with an almond cream that turns very crumbly and moist when baked. Sacristains are twists similar in taste to palmiers.  The difference lies in shape and the addition of chopped almonds and large grain, chouquette sugars. Sacristains are good to make with leftover, and scrap pieces of puff pastry.

Lesson 18: Le Biscuit: Buche Pistache-Chocolat

Biscuit in french is what english speakers call cake.  Biscuit is specifically a sponge-like cake layer made with egg yolks and whipped egg whites.  Dark chocolate ganache lies between each cake layer and the whole log was glazed with glazing chocolate, which is confectioners chocolate and oil mixed together.

Lesson 19: Le Biscuit: Alhambra

This cake is made exactly like the log cake but with chocolate cake layers.  To keep the cake moist, each layer is imbibed with a simple syrup spiked with rum. Glazing is much more difficult because of the sharp angles and straight edges.

Lesson 20: Entremets Chocolat-Bergamote et Croquant D’Orange

This cake consists of a layer of bergamot mousse, chocolate sabayon, and sponge cake covered in a chocolate ganache glaze. Bergamot is a citrus extract used in earl grey tea, which provides a nice flavor contrast to the chocolate sabayon, which is similar to a mousse.  The addition of orange crisp crumbles gives a nice crunch to to the otherwise light and airy texture.

In preparation for the exam, I’ve been practicing a little bit at home.  I bought a mini toaster oven (which pales in comparison to the convection ovens at school), mixing bowls, molds, and tons of butter to help me get ready. In theory, it would be nice to practice all ten recipes at home, but there’s just not enough space to be rolling out puff pastry in my apartment!  So, I’ve been mainly going over bits and pieces of recipes and practicing piping skills. Strangely enough, the tart shell is giving me the most stress.  Getting an even, level, and exact height for the rim is giving me trouble, and pinching (with the use of fish bone remover tweezers) is hard to do consistently!  There are so many things to think about: angle, level of insertion, degree of power used during pinching action.  It’s quite precise!  Also, finding time in between the making of our main recipe for the tart shell is going to be quite tricky.  Most of our recipes don’t have much “resting” time.  Even after something goes into an oven, there is usually another component that needs to be made during that time.  So timing and efficiency are key components to the success of this exam.  I’m not too nervous yet, but come tomorrow, I know I will be!