Busy Little Bees

Last week, Tuesday through Friday, was pretty busy.  They weren't kidding when they warned us that Petit Fours would be non-stop.  The thing about Petit Fours is that, for the most part, each tiny little dessert has about a million components.  It is part of why they taste so good, and can be so pricey at times.

Tuesday we rolled out Pate Sucree and shaped mini-tartlet shells.  They were baked, filled with yesterday's pastry cream and topped with artfully (if I do say so myself) arranged fruit.  The hardest part of this process is the glazing at the end.  In order to make the fruit shiny and to preserve it just a bit, the top of each tartlet has to be glazed with just the right amount of watered-down-heated-up apricot jelly.  This small task is harder and more frustrating than it sounds.  Note to self:  when making fruit tarts, skimp on the blueberries.  Those little suckers roll all over the place while being glazed.  KG and I decided we are going to invent a spray of some kind.  Stay tuned for our invention!

We made Cherry Almond Diamonds (some people made Pecan) which is a sheet of Pate Sucree rolled out on a half-sheet pan, par-baked and filled with a butter, sugar, honey, cream, almonds and dried cherry filling (the pecan is similar to pecan pie).  We baked those off and saved them until Thursday when we cut and striped them with tempered chocolate.  They are a little sweet for my taste.

We also made Spritz cookie dough and piped rosettes that were dotted with a bit of raspberry jam.  And cut and baked the linzer cookie dough.  Those were sandwiched with a bit of raspberry     jam as well.  The linzer dough had cinnamon and nutmeg in it and was not my favorite.  I prefer plain sugar cookie dough sandwiched with lemon curd or Nutella.

Wednesday was full of tarts and meringue.  We made more Pate Sucree to be used for our practical on Friday and then rolled out more of the old dough for Whiskey Pecan Tartlets and Lemon Tartlets.  The whiskey pecan tartlets were pretty tasty and may be a nice alternative to regular pecan pie this Thanksgiving.  I, of course, LOVE the lemon tartlets as the filling we made is quite

lemon-y.  Delicious.  I learned how to make a meringue that I have never made before:  Italian Meringue.  You basically whip your egg whites to soft peaks while boiling sugar.  When the sugar reaches 240 (softball stage) you slowly pour it into the whites while whipping.  Once all the sugar is in, you whip on high until the bowl is cool and you have glossy, thick meringue.  It is very stable and pipes beautifully.  We used it to top the lemon tartlets and make Vacherines, which are little piped meringue cups that are dried out in the oven then dipped in a bit of tempered chocolate.

Thursday we learned about chocolate and that it has a temper, I mean how to temper it.  First we made Madeleines (one of my favorites to make).  If you have never tried a Madeleine, do so immediately.  If you bake at all, buy a Madeleine pan and wow your friends with this elegant little cake.  It's easy!  We dipped those in the tempered chocolate as well - at an angle with a clean line that seems impossible to get.  Maybe one day...

Chocolate takes forever.  Seriously.  You melt it and heat it up, then add fresh chocolate and cool it down, just to heat it up again.  And all the temperatures have to be exact or you have to start all over again.  It's interesting and fun but very time consuming and takes a bit of patience.  We also learned some fun facts about it like what is made of and all that jazz.  I'm looking forward to the chocolate block, though that is months away.

Friday, as always, was test day.  And what a day it was.  I didn't sleep too well the night before and was on text patrol (texting chronic over sleepers so they wouldn't miss the test), so I was at school by 5:45.  We took our written exam and I didn't think I did so well.  Then we were busy, busy, busy.  Our practical test items were lemon tartlets topped with piped meringue and Madeleines dipped in tempered chocolate.  So, we had to roll out dough and shape and par-bake the shells, make and bake the Madeleines, make the lemon filling, fill the shells, bake them off, temper the chocolate, dip the Madeleine, make the Italian meringue and pipe it on the tartlets - each one had to be identical.  Oh, and I can't believe I forgot the best part!  We go to use the torch this week.  Yes, they gave me fire in the kitchen.  We have a butane torch, which how we brown the top of the meringue.  It's really fun.

Chef Courtney is a tough grader with good critiques and tips, which is exactly what I need.  I think she was a little hard perhaps, but it will only make me a better chef.  I turned everything in on time and did well on the practical.  It also turns out, though I didn't find out until today, that I did really, really well on the written test, so my grades remain intact.  Whew.

Since today was Monday, we really only did production work for the cafe again.  Brownies, Blondies, Magic Bars and Trail Mix.  We also started piping practice with this nasty gel but then tempered some more chocolate and piped filigrees with that.  It's fun, but is going to take a lot of practice.  So, if you call and I don't answer - I'm probably piping!

Here's to hoping we all survive and live to bake another day.  Until then, ciao!

-The Queen of Tarts-