Chocolate & Confections Week 11 Final!!!

It's the Chocolates & Confections Final!
My group's theme is Finding Nemo. Remember that saltwater aquarium in the dentist's office with the Tank Gang? We made it out of pastillage and cast sugar. For the past few weeks, we've been making bits and pieces that would go into our project, like the gravel and the treasure chest, etc. Today we got to put it all together and make fresh confections for our instructors to sample for tasting.

Canadian Whiskey Truffles. Love the tempering job my teammate did. Good job!

Chocolate-covered Sponge Candy, with toasted coconuts.

All of our sample confections plated. The fish gummie is cinnamon-flavored.
I think this was the most laid-back final I've ever had in my entire two years of Culinary School. It's just that we had pretty much every component finished the day before the deadline, so my group ended up relaxing and wandering around the kitchen, watching everyone else frantically tempering chocolate, whipping marshmallows, and pulling last minute sugar decorations. :P

We got done before everyone else, so we put our project out in the lobby for display...

Titled "Nemo Found". The back and the bottom, treasure chest, aquatic plant, Mt. Wannahockaloogie, the tiki masks, and the clam shell are made of pastillage; the gravel, the glass sides, and the (droopy) starfish are cast sugar; the lava is gelatin gummie, the sponge is (of course) spong candy, diver's mask and the background fish are chocolate. The silver-dusted truffle pearl in the clam completed the look.

"But where is Nemo?" you may ask. Of course, the title of the project is "Nemo Found". Nemo should be in there, somewhere, right??

So here he is.

We found Nemo.

And that was the end of my schooling here at the Art Institute. I've learned SO much in the past two years, and still feel as though there are tons more to learn. Perhaps I'll go back and get a Culinary degree. Or a bachelor's in Culinary Management. We'll see what happens. Until then, I'll be job hunting and relaxing.

Portfolio Show!

Yep, it's official...I'm done with school! But before that, I had to prepare for a show to showcase everything that I've done at school, to show potential employers what I can do. That meant a lot of pictures...and of course, samples. I printed off a bunch of pictures from school and stuff that I've been doing at home, and pasted them onto a board.
Now for the samples...in the portfolio show that I went last quarter, a bunch of people were handing out cookies, tartlets and macarons. But those can be bought at pastry shops. I wanted to make something that must be handmade by an artisan...you know, something artisanal. What about confections? Being in the Chocolates & Confections class, we just learned how to make marshmallows and fruit jellies from scratch. Gourmet flavored marshmallows and Fruit jellies would be perfect--they can't be bought in stores, shows off my skills, and makes people happy.
Which flavor should I make? I know that Kraft makes strawberry, chocolate, coconut, and (seasonal) gingerbread. Japan has made green tea flavored ones--how about other tea flavors? Like...chai and earl grey?? Brilliant!
I steeped about 4 tea bags for the Earl Grey and about 3 bags for the chai (with added chai spices) in the sugar syrup while it cooked. Right before I poured in the melted gelatin, I removed them while squeezing the "juice" out of them. Once whipped to full volume, the whole mixture is poured into a pan lined with parchment and dusted with powdered sugar. Leave it until it's cool, then it can be cut into portions.

The sheet of freshly made marshmallow. Now I just need a big enough mug of hot chocolate to accomodate it.

Marshmallow kebab. Here I cut a strip and skewered it.
How were they? Well...the Earl Grey was out-of-this-world delicious! Even my Mom, who's not a marshmallow fan, actually liked them. It starts out with honey-flavor that develops into the flowery, fruity scent of Bergamot and tea. The Chai was delicious as well, nice and spicy. Both turned out really well.
For the pates de fruits, I used the stockpile of Ataulfo mangoes and Mexican papaya that were on sale a week ago.

They were both delicious, especially the mango.
This is my pastillage plate that I painted.

And here's everything packaged and ready to be presented at the show.

The Chai has the gold ribbon and the Earl Grey has the red ribbon. And my business card :)
I also baked some breads for display.

Pan de Cioccolate, Cracked Wheat Bread (by James Beard) and my SF sourdough tattoo breads.

My table. Others were passing out truffles, breads, and a cake. A lot of people stopped by my table also--mostly because of the treats. But everyone loved them, especially the mango jellies and Chai marshmallows. Two chefs from a resort in Park City stopped by to chat.

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the night. But there was still the final project for the Chocolate class that needs to be done...

Pear Frangipane Tart

There was this huge jar of pear compote sitting in the back of the fridge--and it was just begging to be let out, begging to be used and turned into a delicious dessert.
So I leafed through my Advanced Baking & Pastry textbook and came across a "Pear Almond Tart". One of the classics, it was a tart with frangipane filling and poached pears. I've never made it before, so I was psyched to try it out.
I made two, one for my church and one for the Bible study at my house. The first time, the frangipane came out creamy in the center. I wasn't sure if that was the way it's supposed to be, or it was underdone. I compared it to the picture in the book, and decided it wasn't browned enough, so I stuck it back in the oven longer. It came out better, but not perfect. Well, it still tasted good though. The second time, I baked about 10 minutes longer than the recipe stated, and it came out beautiful!

I decorated it with powdered sugar and drizzled it with caramel sauce.

Heavenly served with ice cream. The poached pear melts in your mouth, complemented by the intense nutty, almond-y frangipane. Of course, classic desserts that's been made for several centuries like this is guaranteed to taste good. How else can it stand the test of time otherwise?

Chocolates & Confections Week 9

Sorry about the late update... Things have been so busy with the finals and everything. I'll post the actual final project--basically Weeks 10 and 11--in a few days.

In Week 9, we made aerated confections, which are confections that involves incorporating air into the product. A marshmallow is a well-known example.

Marshmallows are surprisingly easy to make. Sugar syrup is cooked to a certain temperature, then poured into a stainless steel bowl to allow to cool. In the meantime, gelatin is melted, and once the syrup has cooled to 212F, the gelatin is poured into it. The whole thing is whipped until it starts to stiffen. Then before it cools down too much, the whipped marshmallow is poured onto a sheet pan dusted with powdered sugar.

We spread it into one giant sheet--which was perfect for a roulade. Or marshmallow-sushi dessert, maybe?

We then made sponge candy, a confection aerated by stirring in baking soda vigorously, causing it to bubbled up and swell. And swell it did.

The sponge candy, looking like it's about to explode. We let it cool, then smashed it into pieces.
Here's the cross-section. Looks like a honeycomb.

It kinda tasted like honeycomb too. The texture on the outside is quite hard and crunchy, while the interior just melts in your mouth.

Then there's the nougat. In America, a nougat is that chewy marshmallow-y stuff in Snickers and 3 Musketeers candy bar. The nougat in France is made from beaten egg whites and cooked honey. LOTS of honey. A mixture of toasted nuts and dried fruit is mixed in at the end of whipping. The rather stiff mixture is then spread into a pan to allow to cool.

When I started cutting them into bars, I was amazed at how beautiful they were!

I love these shots. The nougat looks like white marble slab embedded with precious stones and minerals. They turned out delicious, and my parents ate them quite quickly.

These are all the confections we made today, clockwise from lower left: Orange pectin slices (from previous week that we sliced up today), gourmet peanutbutter cup, nougat, sponge candy, spiced chocolate marshmallow.

Japan Tsunami One-year Anniversary

It's been one whole year since the terrible earthquake and the tsunami in Japan. Many lives have been lost, and people continue to suffer today. Many people still have no homes, no jobs, and some don't even have access to good food and healthcare. Some parts of the affected area is still off-limits for safety and the radiation leakage from the nuclear power plant.

As a Japanese, I HAD to do something. So, as I prayed for Japan and their recovery, I made....

Japanese Flag Cheesecake Brownies, with strawberry jam topping. Made in honor of those who died and to commemorate this tragedy.

Chocolates & Confections Week 8

For this week in Chocolates & Confections class, we made confections based on gelatin and pectin....basically gummies (i.e. gummy bears and such)

I personally prefer the pectin jellies than the gelatin gummies. With the pectin jellies, real fruit purees can be used, whereas with the gelatin-based gummies, only store-bought flavorings or liquors can be used.

We used the frozen fruit purees that was available in our freezer. There were pear, rhubarb, blackberry, apricot, passionfruit, and ....lychee. I grabbed the lychee ASAP. I LOVE lychee, and have always wanted to make a confection with them.

With the pectin jellies, sugar, glucose (corn syrup can be used), pectin, and the fruit puree is cooked to a certain temp.

Once cooked, the fruit-syrup mixture is poured into a greased and sugared pan, and allowed to cool. Then can be cut into bite-size pieces and coated with more sugar.

They were sooo good! They're gluten free and vegan too!

The gelatin gummies follow similar procedure, except it has no fruit purees, just sugar, syrup, and gelatin. Food coloring and flavoring can also be added. We added kirsch and red coloring to ours--and it ended up tasting like children's cough medicine, but still pretty good.

Gelatin differ from pectin in that, being a protein, tend to be "stronger" and "tougher".

My teammate playing around with our kirsch gummy. It definitely lives up to its name.
The cooked gelatin is poured into a cornstarch mold. The mold is prepared by packing down cornstarch into a pan. An object or a mold (in this case, a fish-shaped plastic mold) can be pressed in to make impressions.

Things got a little messy here...

We then allowed it to set overnight. Once set, we very lightly coat them with vegetable oil to give it a nice sheen. That's how gummy bears get theirs.

Behold...our artisan gummy fish!
Of course, other shapes can be made too. Here's an example from another group...

They now have a gummy shaped like a hand. Kinda creepy, but cool.

This is yet another way to used up those last season's frozen fruits hiding in the freezer. Just puree them and turn them into pectin jellies. Or smoothies. Or sorbets. Or mousse. The possibility is endless.

Creme Brulee shot!

Some more creme brulees this week!

There are so many flavor variations with creme brulee! So far, I've made vanilla, coconut, and Earl Grey. I've compiled a list of flavors for me to make. Next one up was--coffee!
I love anything coffee flavored. For the custard, I put in about a tablespoon of instant coffee for a serving of three--about a teaspoon per person, which should be just the right amount.

I served it with Taihitian vanilla ice cream, mini-chocolate chip cookies, candied pecans, chocolate and caramel sauce. It was soooo good! The bitter coffee flavor was balanced by the sweetness of burnt sugar, chocolate and caramel sauce; mellowed by the ice cream; and the chocolate chip cookie added textural contrast and rounded everything together.

Then, on a whim, I tried to see if bruleeing a cream in a shot glass was at all possible. I piped in a bit of grapefruit curd into a shotglass, sprinkled on some sugar and bruleed away...

...it worked. Granted, it was grapefruit curd after all, so it wasn't really a creme brulee. I'm sure it's possible to bake a custard in something as small as a shotglass--or it's probably easier to prepare a stirred custard creme brulee. These stirred types are made for creme brulee tarts, and are thicker than the baked version. They are made, then deposited into a tart shell, then bruleed.
I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with the butane torch! What shall I make next...?