My mid-term plate as it returned from the tasting panelIt never crossed my mind that I would pull the Paris-Brest recipe for my practicum recipe. I hardly studied for it. I've made so much Pate Choux since starting school, I feel I could make it in my sleep. Pastry Cream is another recipe I have repeated many times. When describing the process of the practicum to friends, I often used the Pate Choux and its components as an example. First you make the Choux paste, then pastry cream filling and the Fondant. After selecting my face down recipe in a nervous game of Pastry Roulette, I turned my page over to reveal my fate: Prepare 2 Paris-Brest with Praline Mousseline, 2 Swans with Chantilly Cream and 2 Chocolate Eclairs with Chocolate Fondant. Oh no, the Fondant!
Don't get me wrong, I love Fondant. It's lovely on top of Eclairs and Cream Puffs. It tastes so much better then powdered sugar slop glaze. I can recite the procedure for making Fondant, including the two separate temperatures and the steps at which you need to reach them, perfectly. It's just my execution is less then perfect. I suppose everyone who is in the career they truly love, has at least one pet-peeve or one task or aspect they struggle to do their best at. Fondant is my Achilies heel. I've mastered the Tuiles, I faced down the Gateau Basque, and I've perfected the Macarons, but Fondant is still a foe.......for now.
My classmates laughed when I told them what recipe I received even they know of my struggles with Fondant. I managed to make the Pate Choux without incident. My pastry cream was fine.
I started the Fondant, boiling the water and the sugar, making sure to monitor the temperature.
I removed the saucepan from the heat and poured the heavily viscous, clear syrup onto a sheet pan to cool. This was the easy part. After it had cooled, I scraped it into the mixer and began mixing slowly. This is the difficult part. You have to stop mixing at the precisely right time, or your Fondant won't be perfect.
What is perfect Fondant? Perfect Fondant should have a smooth shiney texture. It should be loose enough to dip puffs into, but thick enough that it leaves a nice coating and doesn't drip excessively. When it dries it should have a glossy finish that does not show fingerprints when touched. My Fondant sadly came out grainy and dull. I discussed it with my chef as to why. I'm guessing the culprit was insufficient mixing. Good thing I have my hefty 6qt mixer. I'm going to be practicing Fondant a lot.
Other than the Fondant being less than perfect, I got a good review of my plate. I have not received my final grade for the entire practicum, but I feel confident I did well. We had our written exam on Saturday morning and I feel I did good as well. Both tests were an affirmation of how much I have learned so far, and what things I may still need to work on. We may be done making pastry in school till classes resume in September, but the pastry making continues in my little home kitchen....and maybe some other new exciting places too this summer. More on that later.
The "Before" Photo
Don't get me wrong, I love Fondant. It's lovely on top of Eclairs and Cream Puffs. It tastes so much better then powdered sugar slop glaze. I can recite the procedure for making Fondant, including the two separate temperatures and the steps at which you need to reach them, perfectly. It's just my execution is less then perfect. I suppose everyone who is in the career they truly love, has at least one pet-peeve or one task or aspect they struggle to do their best at. Fondant is my Achilies heel. I've mastered the Tuiles, I faced down the Gateau Basque, and I've perfected the Macarons, but Fondant is still a foe.......for now.
My classmates laughed when I told them what recipe I received even they know of my struggles with Fondant. I managed to make the Pate Choux without incident. My pastry cream was fine.
I started the Fondant, boiling the water and the sugar, making sure to monitor the temperature.
I removed the saucepan from the heat and poured the heavily viscous, clear syrup onto a sheet pan to cool. This was the easy part. After it had cooled, I scraped it into the mixer and began mixing slowly. This is the difficult part. You have to stop mixing at the precisely right time, or your Fondant won't be perfect.
What is perfect Fondant? Perfect Fondant should have a smooth shiney texture. It should be loose enough to dip puffs into, but thick enough that it leaves a nice coating and doesn't drip excessively. When it dries it should have a glossy finish that does not show fingerprints when touched. My Fondant sadly came out grainy and dull. I discussed it with my chef as to why. I'm guessing the culprit was insufficient mixing. Good thing I have my hefty 6qt mixer. I'm going to be practicing Fondant a lot.
Other than the Fondant being less than perfect, I got a good review of my plate. I have not received my final grade for the entire practicum, but I feel confident I did well. We had our written exam on Saturday morning and I feel I did good as well. Both tests were an affirmation of how much I have learned so far, and what things I may still need to work on. We may be done making pastry in school till classes resume in September, but the pastry making continues in my little home kitchen....and maybe some other new exciting places too this summer. More on that later.
The "Before" Photo
1 comment:
Everything looks great. I read through the culinary program and when I read about the practicum I had a reality check. The studying would kill me. I can't imagine having to wait until September to resume. Best of luck.
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