This is a mini post to say last week and this week have been long weeks: between working in the heat and full uniform and working with chocolate and sugar, it’s been HOT. Like, boil sugar up to 350F hot…. Tempering chocolate was a daily exercise and a crash and burn, from the chocolate sampling (we may have even been a little cranky at times). Chocolate is not easy, when it fails it sucks and when it works it’s rewarding. Despite the challenges, I’d do it all again in a heart beat – especially chocolate 🙂

We wrapped up chocolate last week and have been working with sugar in all shapes and forms this week.

Tomorrow we begin alternative baking and I am giving a presentation on this topic to my class. I’ll update you all in my next post on weeks 10 & 11 with more photos and behind the scenes kitchen stuff! Oh yes, and we have begun stages (stah-ges) (one-day observations in kitchens) which make my weeks 6-day weeks now so if you’re itching for an update please bare with me!

Side note: there are not many weeks left in the program, hard to believe. We wrap up and graduate in week 15.

Time flies when you’re having fun 🙂

Here are a few photos from this week and last week:

This is the inside of a roasted cocao bean, crushed. Also known as cocao nibs. They are pure chocolate basically – and an acquired taste. This is is the part of chocolate that is good for you.

Last we we began chocolate week, and chocolate is awesome. I love chocolate, always have, and always will.

We began with learning how to temper chocolate, with different methods. Essentially we melt and cool the chocolate in the right way so it sets beautifully for serving to others.  Chocolate is so fascinating: from it’s chemical properties, to health benefits, to where it comes from and how it is made. Every step in the process is quite interesting.

Once we learned the basics of tempering, we began to cover fruit and nuts in chocolate and build from there. We chocolate, like your classic pot of gold that grandma serves every christmas holiday, are alot of work to make. Each one is like a little entremet cake because every layer requires a recipe and work. You really need to have a vision for what you want, and plan it out.

Good chocolate is also not cheap either, and with good reason. It requires real talent to produce fine quality chocolate. I fully support your consumption of good chocolate: it is generally better for you – in the raw form mainly – and the quality is worth it. I’m talking about Lindt, Green & Blacks, Calebaut, Valhrona, etc. Not your Nestle or Cadbury (sorry).

@eastvanroasters (a social enterprise) is a local shop in downtown Vancouver, and they make great chocolate – with beans sourced directly from the farmers. Go look them up. Here is a jar of roasted beans we looked at in class, they smelled amazing.

By the second day of chocolates we had a chocolate tasting lesson.

The chocolate was all set up for the lesson as we arrived to class. Great way to start the day!

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Last week was a big week for me and my class, we had two full days of exam – a three hour theory exam first thing on monday morning, followed by our practical exam that continued into the tuesday.

I have never had a practical exam before, at least not like this. It was tense, but I felt good about it and managed to stay calm the whole time (I think). I knew I was prepared as best that I could be. I felt good after the written exam too, which helped me feel more calm for the practical. I really put in the time to study and ensured I slept well the night before.

Now after my experience, I will share a smart tip with future pastry students on how to survive a practical exam with “ease”.

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The pace is on. As mentioned before, we are in the crunch period of the curriculum and this past week definitely felt like it. Not much time to reflect on the days, we just moved on to the next task and day’s agenda.

The week began with our second quiz which I was happy about, again. I studied well, and was glad that it was over with at the top of the day. The quiz was followed by a practice day for our big entremet (layered cake) project that was due on wednesday, then executed and judged for marks. We also had doughnut day on Tuesday.

Friday was buffet day with the culinary students who prepared a massive Indian and Thai buffet for the whole school. We shared our cakes with them, for the dessert platter. We ate together at long tables for lunch – like a family. It was awesome to sit together, enjoy their food and company, and it was a wonderful way to wrap up an full week. The food was amazing.

My friday buffet lunch plate.

My Entremet Project: After the quiz, the balance of Monday was a practice day for our entremet project preparation. We tested recipes we planned to use. It was a little chaotic that day, compared to usual, because all 12 of us were doing different things (rather than the same thing).

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Strawberry Fromage Entremet – layers of strawberry bavaroise, cream cheese mousse, and sponge cake, topped with meringue. Many of these cakes take about two days to make.

Well we just had another week of cakes and it was only a four day week. We had friday off in lieu of a different long weekend that conflicts with exams. Last week we learned about more entremets, buttercream cakes and practiced some rolled fondant a piping. Overall, it was another great week.  But as I mentioned in my last post, we are entering the crunch period of the program.

We have two big weeks ahead of us. I have another quiz tomorrow, our idea journals are due (which we have been working on throughout the term), and then we have a BIG entremet project due on wednesday morning. The project includes a large written component, then we have to execute our cake plan over the next two days, wednesday and thursday.

I was brainstorming ideas for the past couple weeks and finally decided on a s’more entremet. More to come on that in the next post. I’m pretty excited about it though, and hope it turns out the way I plan.

Because I still have more work to do tonight, I’m trying to keep this short and leave you with my favourite photos of last week, and a couple other notes from the week.

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Week 6 done! We are nearing the halfway mark of the program, which means our midterm theory and practical exams are approaching, plus a big entremet project coming up. We also have our second quiz as well. After all of these are over then I have to give my presentation to the class on Alternative Baking (a topic that I chose from the list of options provided). Basically it’s crunch time, and we’re in the midst of cake week. Which I am loving.

One happy cake baker here. My delicious carrot cake.

If I thought the first 6 weeks were challenging, well, I think the next few weeks will be even more so. Which is why I’m focussing really hard on studying a little bit each day. I know from the past that cramming doesn’t serve me well, and especially won’t for retaining this knowledge in the longterm. As I said in my school application, I am here to learn. Continue reading →