Le Cordon Bleu intermediate patisserie week 6 - fire in the kitchen

An entremet, by definition of Le cordon Bleu, is a multi layered, multi flavoured, multi textured 'cake' or gateau, held together using a delightfully light and fluffy mousse. This week was entremet week, and although we'd already made a couple in the past, including the mysterious and overly complex Gateau Sabrina and the much less fussy Gateau Charlotte, this weeks entremets would see us spend more time on the decoration using tempered chocolate than the creation of the cakes themselves. 

First up was a caramelised pear and dark chocolate mousse cake. One bite of this entremet and I was whisked back to my childhood. I was sat in the kitchen with Mum and Dad eating chocolate Angel Delight with tinned pears after dance class on a Friday night and I was in heaven. Essentially, this cake was just the same, just a little more refined, with the inclusion of a flourless chocolate sponge, of course making this treat gluten free and with a little more fuss spent caramelising the pears. 

The making of the cake went mostly to plan. Working in pairs, I'm sure for comedy effect due to the title of the cake (pears in pairs), I whipped up the sponge mix whilst my partner tended to the caramel and the cutting of the fruits. I then spread the sponge mix thinly over the baking tray, covered a third in chopped nuts and popped it in the oven. Numerous times we checked the sponge to ensure a healthy bake and when satisfied turned it out into a cooling wrack. Almost instantly an issue was spotted... Dry edges. We needed all the sponge we could get our hands on in order to make the side and base of the cake and as I felt the error had come about due to my spreading of the mix too thinly, I sacrificed a nut covered side in favour of having a side at all. 

Once we'd cut out two base discs and two side strips there was nothing left but thin and crispy, sand like chunks destine for the bin. Into the bin they went and we turned our attention to the making of the mousse and tempering of the chocolate needed to create the finishing touches. This all ran smoothly and in fact so did the rest of the construction process. Mousse made we decanted this into our tins, added the pears, topped with more mousse which was then levelled off, glazed our entremets and chilled them. It wasn't until it came to the de moulding of the cakes that we had a small problem... Using a blow touch I began to warm my tin in order to encourage the cakes release. My partner grabbed some blue paper and placed it next to the cake in case we needed to clean off any melted mousse and whoosh... A huge ball of fire formed. 

Naturally, being in a room full of girls there was instant panic but as the fire was small, on a marble surface and we'd quickly removed any further fuel from the area surrounding it, I patted it out as much as I could with a water bottle (obviously) and allowed the embers to naturally die away. No damage was done, nor injury sustained. Not even our cakes were effected. With the fire drama over, all that was left to do was pipe a design, delicately place a pear or two on top and finish off with our tempered chocolate P's. And here he is. I call him Pierre. He's not beautiful, he's missing his nut covered side and the piping is a little shaky but he tasted incredibly delicious. 

When reading around the subject of the entremet, I was interested to learn that the literal translation means "between servings" and is defined as a small dish served between courses or simply served as a dessert. It seems that in the middle ages, a entremet was served as an elaborate form of entertainment, typically enjoyed by nobility and the upper classes. The serving of the entremet would mark the end of the meal and could be anything ranging from a simple frumenty (essentially a porridge made of wheat which would be coloured brightly and served with exotic fruits and flavours including spices) to the super elaborate which included models of palaces or castles made of sugar as well as other ingredients, complete with wine fountains and musicians. 

As the entremets became more and more elaborate they moved away from being a simple filler course and became more a form of entertainment in their own right. Heston would have been in his element! Royals and nobel men would fight over the pastry chefs in their kingdoms, wanting only the best to ensure their entertainment was of the highest standard. Pastry chefs could no longer just specialise in creating edible works of art but also needed to add stage building, theatre and goodness knows what else to their skill set.  

Shown below is the staging of an elaborate entremet at the banquet of Charles V in 1378. No doubt the boat was edible and everyone had a jolly good time eating it. 

It seems that Heston's tendencies to do crazy things with food is nothing new at all. We've been cooking foods and dressing them up as something else for many, many years. The first evidence of this being in Roman times. In his book Satyricon, the Roman author Pentronius wrote about a dish consisting of a rabbit dressed to look like the mythical horse Pegasus. My favourite of all the mythical creatures...and a little fact for you. When next you happen to visit London or you're in the country side, and you're stood at a road crossing, as soon as you've pressed the button to cross, look up. You may see one of these. This is known as a pegasus crossing and is designed to allow horses and their riders to cross safely without the rider needing to leave the saddle. Totally unrelated to cakes but it's a fact that I quite enjoy. 

Back to entremets...In the UK there is written documentation stating that illusion foods were often served at Royal banquets and balls. Food such as roasted peacock or swan would be served. The fowl would be skinned, cooked and seasoned and then redressed in its original plumage. If the meat itself wasn't to the King or Queens liking, the plumage would be filled with something tastier and more appealing. As time went on, entremets continued to grow in popularity. The well known children's nursery rhyme "sing a song of sixpence" has the entremet to thank for its very existence. As you can imagine, a large pie was baked and was filled with live black birds. Four and twenty to be precise. As soon as the pie was tapped into the birds flew free much to the delight of the banqueting guests. After all, there wasn't any television or cinema in those days so they had to find their entertainment elsewhere. I'd take immersive theatrical eating over an episode of live Eastenders any day! 

The most noteworthy entremet served in the UK was in the 17th Century at one of the Duke of Buckingham's banquets. At this particular banquet a person of restricted growth was baked into a pie - the man in question was Jeffrey Hudson and although small, he was a pretty big deal in his day. "Pet" to Queen Henrietta Maria, he was viewed as a miracle due to his perfectly proportioned, small body. He stood at just 45cm in height. Guests were amazed and delighted when he popped out of the pie before they tucked in! Health and safety clearly hadn't crossed their minds. In any capacity. Sadly, following years of mockery, Jeffrey killed a man and was expelled from court. He was sold to the African slave trade which saw him spend 25 years in slave imprisonment before being ransomed back to the United Kingdom. He died two years later. 

Really its a shame that such elaborate culinary theatre has disappeared from our menus. Heston is clearly leading the way to change this and others aren't far behind. During my time in London I've heard rumblings of its popularity beginning to increase. Not long ago a Game of Thrones style banquet was held at the Andaz Hotel in London's Liverpool Street. An elaborate menu was conjured up by the extremely creative pop up geniuses, The Wondering Chefs and was served, banquet style to many very lucky guests at an event titled "All Men Must Dine". 

Featuring delicacies such as poached veal's tongue, honey roasted locusts, 'dragon' eggs and flaming suckling pig, this feast would have been right at home during the middle ages. Talking to the Daily Mail, the Mistress of Entertainment, Lalie Jacout said 'guests will experience a huge Game of Thrones style lavish feast which will be accompanied by entertainment including live music, fools and even and extraordinary contortionist'. A feast fit for a King. 

An edible immersive theatrical experience I'm going to try my damnedest to attend this year is Alice Underground. If you're in London in April or May try and grab yourself a ticket, it looks incredible AND it involves cake; Alice Underground

Although the entremets made at Le Cordon Bleu contain no live stock, human beings or theatre, they are still rather tricky to make. Especially when you have to make two. This term our form has an uneven number of pastry chefs in training and when faced with the entremet au chocolat blanc et pistachio avec sa gelee aux fruits rouge I was to do so alone, for the very first time. Partnerless, chef offered to assist me which felt a little strange, dishing out orders to someone far more experienced than myself. As I whipped eggs chef was measuring my next set of ingredients and whilst busy piping the sponge circles chef was making a start on my creme anglaise mousse base. Perfect. 

Well, it was all going perfectly until I started to panic. Not knowing what chef had and hadn't done I somehow managed to upset my chocolate mousse which went a little lumpy but only on the surface and mess up the tempering of one of my chocolate sheets. Wobbles aside, I produced two entremets. I presented the neater of the two (on the left) and all in all didn't do too badly. As mentioned, I messed up my tempered chocolate when making the second cake. Not wanting to present chef a cake with no sides at all I used broken shards of chocolate. Its patisserie, but with a little more edge. 

Happy with my weeks baking at school I hurried home to whip up some pancakes to celebrate pancake day before heading out to meet some very exciting people. Not satisfied with making traditional pancakes, and inspired by the pancake artists who have been doing the rounds on all forms of social media, I had a think and eventually came up with this little fella. There's nothing quite like a plate of edible art. He looks hoppy don't you think? 

Pancakes munched, I headed off down the canal destine for Hackney, my entremet au chocolat blanc et pistachio avec sa gelee aux fruits rouge in hand. Making two cakes in one week meant of course that they had to be shared and who better to share them with but fellow bakers. And not only fellow bakers, bakers whom I admire and who have inspired me. I was going to meet the Meringue Girls! Over a year ago I was sat alone in a friends house, she'd popped out and left me with a new book of hers that she thought I might like, the book was titled "Meringue Girls Cookbook - incredible meringues everybody can cook". The cover was an bright and enticing rainbow of meringue kisses and I couldn't help but turn the page with eager anticipation. On the first page it read...

It was reading this singular sentence that planted the seed in my mind to leave my 9 to 5 and to take to the kitchen more permanently. Meeting the girls at the bakery and discussing their business with them was incredible and has inspired me further. Theres nothing quite like an injection of optimism and positivity, and to discuss your most favourite past time with like minded people over a slice of cake  - perfection. I hope to be able to see them again soon. What I really admire about them, as well as the guys from Crosstown Doughnuts is that they've taken one product and they've really owned it. One simple product, done well in a creative and imaginative way and its taken them perfectly in the direction that they want to go in and has ensured their success in breaking London and the foodie world. Now I just need to think about what my one 'thing' could be! 

My final encounter with the world of patisserie was an unplanned trip to Said in Soho. Said is a boutique, artisan Italian chocolatier selling chocolates, cakes and liquid drinking chocolate produced in their factory across the sea in Roma, Italy. I'd been asked to pop over to collect a canister of drinking chocolate for Crosstown. Of the many available, Crosstown have selected Said's drinking chocolate to sell alongside their doughnuts in their Piccadilly store and the customers LOVE it. It was 8:30am on Friday morning and the sales assistant had barely turned the key in the lock and there I was, stood before her, eyes as wide as saucers, turning slowly on the spot trying to take it all in. I was like a kid in a...chocolate shop! 

Like a magpie, first my attention was caught by the hundreds of vintage chocolate moulds hung from the walls. Hearts, rabbits, chickens, monkeys, flowers, diamonds - you name it and they had a mould for it. Turning towards the chocolate counter I was drawn in by the opulent piles of hand made chocolates...truffled and filled will many glorious accompanying ingredients. Naturally I got a little over excited and went off on a chocolate rant, explaining that I was about to dive into chocolate week at Le Cordon Bleu. As the sales assistant hurried around the shop trying to get things done before officially opening for business, she swiped the canister from my hand and replaced it with a chocolate to sample. That shut me up. My mouth was in heaven. Two seconds later she re appeared with the full canister and I was on my way with nothing but the very best after taste and an object that resembled a weapon of mass destruction. Needless to say, walking back through the crowds of business men and women was made so much easier as they gave me a rather wide birth, concerned by what I might have been carrying. Little did they know it was the purest, most delightful chocolate. 

If you find yourself needing a pick me up after a heavy shopping session in the West End, I highly recommend you pop in there. If only to gaze upon the wonderful tins and chocolates. Sometimes just looking can be enough, but in this case, you've gotta have a taste too! Said.it

Next week on my path to patissiere its CHOCOLATE WEEK!! First we'll be making batches of truffles, moulded chocolates, malakoffs and caramel cups, and following that we'll be creating a 2D pictorial chocolate centre piece. Unimpressed by the templates provided I've found my own. Expect to see the head of the Bey hive tuned into an edible piece of art. Or at least an attempt! 

I'm still yet play around with choux buns, so that's on my agenda once again for this coming week and following meeting my first bride of the year, I'll be working up plans for her wedding cake...fit for a spring chateau wedding in the Loire Valley. Tres romantique. 

 *Please note that the views I express are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my place of study*

Le Cordon Bleu intermediate patisserie week 5 - Alhambra's got me all gaga

Monday morning, 5:30am and my alarm is ringing softly in my ear. Gradually the bells of Big Ben grow louder and louder until they reach their crescendo. As I tap the snooze button and my brain begins to process 'waking up', I realise that I'm getting up early for a nine hour day of baking. My body goes from being lethargic to feeling sheer excitement, my brain springs into action as though someone has flicked a switch and I leap out of bed with so much energy that I trip over a badly placed shoe and promptly fall over. Picking myself up I hurry to get dressed, out the door and onto the bus within the 45 minutes I'd allotted. 

Tea in hand (in my beautifully designed Keep Cup) I wait for the number 38 and whilst doing so read through my notes for the day ahead. Monday was the day I was to face my third and final exam dish, the Gateau Alhambra. After last weeks challenging gateaus, which were currently running in order of technical difficulty, I feared the task ahead wouldn't be a quick nor easy one. 

Following a spectacular technical demonstration, after which we were severed an array of tantalising petit-four sales, the time came to take on the Alhambra, face to face. 

Looking at the chocolate covered, chocolate filled, chocolate piped gateau I wondered to myself how hard it could actually be. Chef began demonstrating the difficulties almost immediately as he created a stable French meringue and egg yolk / butter mix almost simultaneously. After sieving all of the dry ingredients which included the finest cocoa powder I've ever come across, ground hazel nuts and soft French flour, he then went about combining the three in several inclusion, and in a very strict order. First to be added to the egg yolk / butter mix was a quarter of the French meringue. The first inclusion of meringue was used to temper the mix and therefore was beaten in with a firm hand, knocking any air whipped in, quickly out. Next in was a third of the dry mix, this was folded in gently to the tempered batter. Next was a second quarter of the French meringue, this time added and folded in with a great deal more care and attention, again followed by a third of the dry mix. This was repeated until the final quarter of the meringue had gone in and a smooth mixture had been achieved. But, warned the chef, deviate from the formula and the mix won't work. Game over. 

The cake was then baked whilst a marzipan rose was made, the chocolate ganache filling prepared, the soaking syrup made and a further batch of chocolate was tempered in order to create decorative leaves to add life to our finished rose. As soon as the cake came out of the oven it was de molded and taken immediately to the blast chiller to cool down. Once cool, the dense chocolatey lump of a cake was cut in half (using nothing but a bread knife and a steady hand), soaked with the coffee / rum syrup and the ganache piped in concentric circles within. The top became the bottom and the bottom the top - a cunning trick often used in the cake world to ensure perfect edges when masking. Back into the chiller the cake went and when ready, it was masked with the remaining ganache. It was at this point that chef began to make the task look perhaps a little harder than it ought to have been. As the ganache began to set it became increasingly hard to mask the sides of the cake and at this stage, even sides were key to an even finish. The aim here is to have a perfectly smooth undercoat, this is then covered with a smooth liquid ganache which sadly wouldn't be 100% forgiving if mistakes are made. 

Thankfully small masking errors made would be covered by the final layer of chocolate, this time a more fluid, butter filled ganache which was to be poured over our chilled cakes leaving behind a silky, glossy coating of loveliness. Chef not only warned us of the potential issues here but also demonstrated them. Unintentionally. The pour had to be quick, hesitation free and thorough. Any messing about with the chocolate would result in drip marks down the sides of the cake or a damaged surface. Wow, this really was going to be a challenge! 

After a quick tasting of the cake, (a tasting which didn't last nearly long enough - this cake is to die for, I would run away and marry this cake if it were to ask me) well prepared but feeling incredibly apprehensive about the results, I headed immediately for the kitchens. Reading my notes step by step I followed chefs instructions until...vola! I had this beauty sat before me. Flawless. No drip marks, a perfectly risen and soaked cake inside, practically perfect ganache masking and a delightfully realistic marzipan rose and chocolate foliage on top. Boom! 

The day felt like a whirlwind adventure, destination chocolate heaven and not only had I arrived but I'd traveled first class. Chef spoke very highly of my cake which filled me with delight. Knowing nothing of the origins of the cake, upon returning home I began to embark on my second journey of the day, this time, a journey of cakey discovery.  

Consisting of two layers of a hybrid Sachertorte sponge, made using ground hazelnuts rather than almond, as mentioned the Alhambra is filled with chocolate ganache and coated in a second layer of more fluid, butter filled ganache. The cake is finished with nibbed pistachios and topped with its iconic (if you can call it that - this isn't a particularly iconic cake) marzipan rose. After a little digging I discovered that this cake was created in celebration of the Spanish city of Alhambra and its lush green gardens. Of course, the lime green pistachio nibs represent the greenery of the city, the marzipan rose...the roses grown in the city and the hazelnut meal in the cake mix celebrates one of the key nuts produced in and around the city. The hazelnut. 

With Morocco being in such close proximity to Spain and Alhambra, and subsequently Morocco having influence over this region of Spain, some will bake this cake using pomegranate seeds to add a little more flavour and a burst of fruit from across the way. Bakers across the world often refer to the Alhambra as the sister cake to the significantly more famous, Sacher Torte, a beautifully rich, dense and delicious chocolate torte invented by Austrian born Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Wenzel Von Metternich in Vienna, Austria. As well as being famous for their enriched doughs, Vienna is best known for the Sacher Torte and locals refer to the cake as their culinary spciality. Each year, on 5th December the cake is celebrated on National Sachertorte Day, a day I intend to celebrate moving forwards.   

Of course the original recipe for the Sachertorte remains, to this day, locked away and the title of 'the original Sacher torte', after much dispute remains with the Hotel Sacher. The dispute came about when Franz Sacher's eldest son, Eduard, perfected the recipe whilst studying at the Demel bakery and chocolatier in Vienna. The perfected recipe was first served at the Demel and then later at the Hotel Sacher which was opened and established by Eduard himself in 1876. Of course with a cake so popular that tourists make trips to Vienna especially to eat a slice, the Demel wanted to retain the title of 'the original Sacher torte', and of course, understandably, the hotel and Sacher family felt the title was rightfully theirs.

After a lengthly legal battle the matter was settled out of court the agreement between both parties being as such; the Hotel Sacher serves 'the original sacher torte' and the Delem decorate their torte with a simple triangle of chocolate which reads 'Eduard-Sacher-Torte'. As mentioned, the Alhambra is referred to as the Sachertorte's sister, the difference being the Sachertorte is filled with a delicious apricot jam rather than a chocolate ganache and is served with whipped cream. Having eaten a slice of Sachertorte at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna I highly recommend a visit - the city of course has much more than just cake to offer but it's cake is a wonderful place to start. 

With all three exam dishes now out of the way, more normal, slower paced classes resumed. Our last class before the end of the week took us back to the enriched doughs of Vienna and once again into the boulangerie where we were to make rye bread, focaccia and an enriched breakfast bread, not too dissimilar to a brioche. In comparison to the classes before it, this was a doddle. Onto the Kitchen Aid's went bowls of flour, mixed with various quantities of sugar, salt, milk, butter and eggs, then after time spent proving the dough was rolled, shaped, bench proved, re rolled and shaped, proved again and then finally baked! My results both looked and tasted delicious.

Happy with my condensed weeks work at school, I turned my thoughts to my first shift at Crosstown Doughnuts. Needing a little additional funding (lets face it, London living ain't cheap) and having time on my hands in between classes I got in touch with the Aussie / Kiwi owned company having blogged about them late last year. I thought I'd get in touch to see if they could do with any additional assistance and luckily for me, they said they could. Located in the underbelly of Piccadilly tube station, I was incredibly excited to be surrounded by premium, modern patisserie and to give my sales skills a jolly good polishing. 

After being shown the ropes and run through the deliciously mouth watering doughnut portfolio, I was set. I now completely understand the saying 'it's like Piccadilly Circus' - wow! Doughnuts were flying off the shelf at a rate of knots and selling like hot cakes! At the end of the shift I gather the last remaining few, boxed them up and took them swiftly down to Bristol the very next day. Handing them over to a good friend, they were very gratefully received and Crosstown made their very first journey down to the Southwest. 

As well as bestowing doughnuts upon my Bristolian friends, I went laden with the cake and bread prepared earlier in the week at school and everything I need to prepare not one, but two birthday cakes for Lil. My bags packed, crammed full of pans, cake tins, pallet knives, chef knives and goodness knows what else (I think I threw some clothes in for good measure) I arrived at my home from home and did some of what I like to call 'baking and entering'. Whilst my friends were out at work I spent a solid and highly enjoyable six hours in the kitchen whipping up my take on a modern Fraisier and replicating the Alhambra that I'd produced so successfully at school. I saw this as a great opportunity to practise for my exams which are now less than a month away!! What a nail biting thought that is...

First into the oven went my Alhambra sponge, swiftly followed by the genoise sponge needed to create my Fraisier. Both sponges came out well risen and with the perfect amount of bounce. Like an octopus my arms were flying around the kitchen melting chocolate, whipping eggs, making custards, softening butter, sieving various ingredients and then... Disaster. 400g of beautifully bitter, dark chocolate ganache - split. My heart sank. This hadn't happened at school! I'd done exactly as instructed but instead of a silky smooth ganache what sat before me was a separated mass of oil and lumps of chocolate solids. I tried everything I could think of; warming the undesirable looking concoction over a Bain Marie, cooling the oily mass, whisking to add air and encourage the fats to re connect...everything. Before waving my little white flag of surrender I turned to my trusty friend, Google. Quickly I skim read the top ten hits and noticed a handy hint from a fellow baker, the hint read: don't despair if your ganache splits (I was firmly in the despair category at this point), to encourage the fats to come back together all you need to do is add a little whole milk. The fat content is significantly less than that of the cream and will help the two ingredients and fats to combine. At this stage it was worth a go, I'd try anything if it meant avoiding binning £6 of chocolate and traipsing back down the road to the shops in the rain. 

In a pan I warmed a little whole milk, making sure it was at the same temperate as my mess of a ganache. Of course this is done to prevent any further buckling due to temperature difference. When the two temperatures matched I poured the milk over the chocolate mass and began to stir from the middle, creating a chocolatey cyclone in the centre of the bowl as chef had shown us. Nothing was happening and then all of a sudden...the ganache began to come together and there was that silky spread like consistency I'd been longing to see. Without wanting it to spoil, I turned out the Nutella like spread onto a tray and left it to cool.

Thank goodness. I was back on track and ready to assemble my cakes and add the finishing touches. Inspired by a few of the London bakers I thought I'd try my hand at making some meringue kisses. Into the oven went a tray of sugar whilst I whisked up yet more eggs to medium to soft peaks. After five minutes of baking the sugar was ready to be incorporated. With each spoonful of sugar added, the fluffy white egg mix grew glossier. When ready I painted the inside of my piping bag with pink food colouring, popped in the meringue mix and began piping a variety of kisses. After baking at a low temperature for 40 mins they were ready and just how I'd imagined. Crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle and just the right size to pop in your mouth and sit upon my modern patisserie bake. A few feathers later and of course a little gold glitter and my cakes were ready for the arrival of the birthday girl! Cakes fit for a Princess. What do you think? 

Next week on my path to patissiere I'll be whipping up a couple more entremets and having an experiment with choux pastry puff balls! Of course it's also pancake day and I'll be meeting my first bride of the year to discuss her wedding cake. Exciting times ahead!

*Please note that the views I express are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my place of study*

Le Cordon Bleu week 8 - a rather vanilla nod to the Patron Saint

Having moved from the wonderful city of Bristol to London only two months ago, leaving a well paid job behind to become a student again, I still feel very much like the newbie in town and my purse feels much lighter than it used to. I was therefore very happy to begin my eighth week by doing some paid work. Invited to work a few shifts down at the South Bank Christmas market, serving Good and Proper tea, I jumped at the chance of earning some pocket money whilst meeting new people and gaining experience in the catering industry. I absolutely loved it and now have several more shifts in the diary. If you're ever in the area, do drop by and say hello! The Good and Proper tea chalet is just under the Hungerford Bridge and the teas served are simply delicious. goodandpropertea.com

Looking ahead at my diary, I was elated to see that I had not one, not two but three scheduled visits from friends and lots of baking practise to do around them! This post is therefore as much dedicated to these wonderful friends as it is my baking, each friend mentioned has inspired me in one way or another over the years due to their incredible talents. Friends visiting is great as it means new people to explore the city with and there’s nothing more comforting than seeing old and familiar faces when you've been away from home for a long time. My first visit was from Lil, a very close friend whom I've shared countless, amazingly happy times with. In London only for the night, we made the most of the time we had catching up over a glass or two of wine. In the morning I sent her off to her meeting with a huge slice of Black Forest Gateau. The review of which was rather positive! 

Next up was Thom. Thom and I met whilst studying at the University of Plymouth, after which we stayed in touch. When I moved to Bristol, Thom moved further down south to Cornwall where he filmed a couple of TV series in association with River Cottage, both series relating to fishing, foraging, hunting and food before setting up his own business, 7th Rise which focuses upon much the same: wild living and learning the skills required. I've spent many happy weekends down at his cottage in the woods. I find it to be a very inspiring place so highly recommend those needing time out and wanting an adventure to take a look at his website: www.7thrise.co.uk

That's Thom and I skinning a roe deer last summer, the meat of which was used to make a delicious stew, slow cooked in a pot under the ground, amongst other things. It was deerlicious ;o) 

Thom was in London for several very important meetings (mine being one of them of course) so I met him on the go for a good old chin wag and a walk. Little did he know that due to my 'no underground unless its a special occasion' policy, that we had quite a long walk ahead of us to get him to where he needed to be. I made up for the 4 mile hike along London's very busy Oxford Street to Hoxton, by bringing refreshments in the form of Crosstown chocolate truffle doughnuts and none other than some elusive Belle Epoch coffee éclairs. Thom inhaled the chocolate filled and covered doughnut whilst making sounds of contentment and pleasure. Having not come across the brand, I Googled them wanting to find out more and it seems that Crosstown are leading quite the sugar-coated renaissance. 

Tired of the humble doughnut being held responsible for the condition of the US Police Forces' hearts, and being made from cheap, nasty, fatty ingredients, Crosstown have made it their mission to inject a little gourmet and glamor into this simple baked treat. There ethos is simple - they make their doughnuts by hand, daily, they use high quality ingredients which are sourced locally where possible, they finish each one by hand and ensure no trans fats pass our lips. Now selling their products in Selfridges, as well as many of London's hottest markets, Crosstown are expanding quickly and its clear to see why. Yes, their products aren't cheap but quality patisserie isn't and neither should it be. Low costing baked goods, to me, indicate corners cut and these corners usually come in the form of the quality of the ingredients. I say, if you're going to indulge, do it properly and purchase a product made with you, the end consumer, in mind and not the pockets and bank balance of a major corporation. 

Just look at it. How could you possibly resist? If you're in London and you like doughnuts, be sure to treat yourself. But be warned - no other doughnut will ever live up to a Crosstown doughnut which may lead to a depletion in your overall doughnut consumption. Sorry. www.crosstowndoughnuts.com

Whilst Thom performed some sort of culinary magic trick, making his doughnut disappear in well under 30 seconds, I indulged in a long anticipated Belle Epoch coffee éclair. If you've read my previous posts you may remember me trying to hunt one down a couple of weeks ago from their Stoke Newington patisserie without much luck, but whilst in Selfridges, I managed to track down a flock of them! With only a week and a half left until my basic patisserie exams I thought it best to taste London's best coffee éclair so I knew what I was up against and I was happy to discover that the éclairs we'd slaved over at school didn't taste too dissimilar. I think a little more fondant and piping practice and I'll be there - taste wise, I think I've nailed it! 

After a couple of days spent with friends, indulging in patisserie it was time to return to school and to once again face the piping technique which has been keeping me awake at night. St Honore. Named after the Patron Saint of baking, week 8 would not only see us practice the piping technique named after him, but also make the gateau created in his honour - the Gateau St Honore. Made using short crust pastry (pate brisee) AND choux pastry (pate a choux), the gateau, to me, resembles an up turned Australian cork hat, filled with creme diplomat and whipped cream and topped off with profiteroles! Not only is it a strange looking 'cake', but considering it was named after the Patron Saint, I found it to be a little 'vanilla' in terms of taste and therefore felt rather underwhelmed by it. If I were the Patron Saint of baking, I'd like to think my disciples would have put a little more effort in, perhaps adding a little more colour and some fun ingredients. Gold wouldn't have gone amiss either. But then I reminded myself that this is my basic patisserie term and before I can experiment with flavours and appearance, I must learn the classics. 

Made in honour of St Honore, the patron saint of baking, this gateau has an interesting background. Described as a show stopping bake, the St. Honore cake was developed at the legendary Chiboust pastry shop on Paris' Saint Honore Street, which, alas, no longer exists. It started out as a ring-shapes brioche filled with pastry cream, which Chiboust lightened with an airy Italian meringue to create a new king of filling. That fussy filling became known as Creme Chiboust which is still used by French bakers. 

According to the book, Desserts, by Parisian pastry chef Pierre Herme, it was one of the Chiboust bakers, August Jullien who came up with his own version and homage to St Honore, replacing the ring of dough with a ring of cream puffs. By the late 19th centre, the St. Honore cake had taken its present form, incorporating a pastry disk filled with Chiboust cream, topped with a crown of cream puffs dressed further with a crunchy cap of caramelised sugar and draped with lashings of whipped cream... Which makes it all sound rather fancy and I'm sure in the patisseries it in. However, I still felt less than blown away by it.  

Regardless of both the uninspiring look and taste of the dish, I felt confident following chefs demonstration that I could re create the this famous gateau but at the same time understood the importance of getting this one right. Involving both pate brisee and pate a choux, this was exam practice in disguise. Pate brisee of course used as the base for our tarte au citron, and pate a choux used to create our coffee éclairs. Into the kitchen I went, a little distracted by my post practical plans but I was able to push these distractions to one side and focus. The results both chef and myself were happy with. All that's required is a little more practice of the St Honore piping and perfection won't be far behind.

Following practical I jumped in a taxi to meet my third visitor of the week, a friend who I met whilst at Thom's cottage in Cornwall (7th Rise), Suzie. Suzie was accompanying me to see a band play and of course to have a good catch up. The band, and this is in keeping with my culinary related blog, are called The Milk. Having met The Milk in Bristol after one of their shows, I stayed in touch with lead singer Rick, and have followed the bands progress with interest. 

Now mid way through writing and recording their second album under a new record label and new management the band have really come into their own and judging by the Guardian reviews (below), they are destine for big things in 2015. Their performance was incredible - soulful, heartfelt, funk injected and original. Originality being something that many bands these days omit in favour of appealing to the masses. This band have moved away from their first albums mainstream sound and are now focusing upon making real music, music influenced by artists that they love and enjoy and this really showed in their performance. If you're looking for some new music to indulge in, I highly recommend you find them on Spotify and or Soundcloud. Your ears really will thank you. Take a look at their website as well, they are giving away free downloads of their latest single, Deliver Me: www.thisisthemilk.com/ 

"Amy Winehouse, as a dude, fronting a soul band" The Guardian UK

"A frisky cocktail of subversive soul-pop" The Guardian UK

Music is incredibly important to me, which is why I've given it a mention this week. It really has taken me some adjusting to, not being able to bake and listen to music whilst in the kitchens at Le Cordon Bleu, as I'm so very used to doing at home. Of course it would be almost impossible to as we have to vocalise our movements and stay alert so as not to cause any accidents or injury to those around us, but still, theres nothing quite like listening to some good beats to keep you motivated. I can almost guarantee that my hand whipped genoise sponge cakes would rise that little bit higher if I could listen to Beyonce whilst whisking. 

Following the excitement of a wonderful evening spent listening to some incredibly talented artists with friends, it was back to school I went to learn all about the delights of petit fours. Also known as mignardises, petit fours are small indulgent confectionary treats, often no more than two bites in size, that take their name from the French translation "small oven". We started the class learning the difference between the various types of petit fours, from dry petit fours (sec) such as biscuits and macarons, to salted (sale) which includes savour appetisers and glazed (glace) such as mini eclairs and tarts. 

We were to begin our introduction to petit fours with sec, dry biscuits, each of which had a very fancy title. First up was sables hollandais. I immediately thought of hollandaise sauce but thankfully the biscuit were entirely unrelated. The name refers first to the technique used to make the biscuit - sables meaning to rub together to make the mixture sand like. Using very cold butter, so as not to burn it, it is rubbed into the flour until a sand like texture is achieved. Eggs are then added and used as a binding agent along with sugar, salt and vanilla for flavour. Unfortunately, after much digging around, I found very little information regarding their history and appearance on the petit four menu. Known best for their chequer board finish, these biscuits not only required cold hands to make them, but a great deal of concentration to get them right! 

Next was the baton de marechal, which translates to 'field marshall baton'. Now this was a biscuit with some history. The baton de marechal was not only named after, but also made to resemble the famous baton presented to the marshall of the French army during the first French empire. The marshal would be presented with a blue cylinder, covered in stars, formally fleurs-de-lis which was inscribed with the following in Latin: terror belli, decus pacis which means "terror in war, ornament in peace" 

These biscuits, made with a stable French meringue base, gently folded with ground almond, icing sugar and flour, with a painted chocolate bottom are a firm favourite - often served at high tea in both the UK and France. I had a wonderfully relaxing Saturday morning in the kitchen at school making these. Sadly, I should imagine due to the lack of music, my baton de marechal didn't rise quite as much as I had hoped but none the less both my sable hollandais and batons were complimented by chef. When I make them next I need to ensure that my chequer board cookies are a little more square around the edges, and a few seconds more whisking would have resulted in slightly fluffier batons. Still, don't they look enticing on my favourite party mouse saucer?? 

Next week on my path to patissiere we continue learning all there is to know about dry petit fours and I can hardly contain my excitement as WE ARE MAKING MACARONS!!! Macarons are my absolute favourite...really I don't need to taste any in order to know what the best of the best taste like. I have a pile of empty Laduree macaron boxes on my desk, evidence of research past, but still, I think I might require a little indulgent reminder. Just one...or two perhaps :o) 

*Please note that the views I express are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my place of study*