Mac…

No, this is not a mini version of hamburger and it is nothing like it. These little dainty morsels are called Macaron…This thing is such an old creation, there is museum dedicated just to macaron! Due to the influence of Pierre Herme( and other pastry chefs but I think he is the most responsible for it), macaron is the latest craze in the pastry haute couture worldwide and they are also being used in place of wedding cakes. According to a lot of chefs, foodie and anyone who have already attempted to make this little sugar meringue with almond, knows that they the most temperamental f@#%ing thing, I couldn’t agree more!Even more so in a humid country such as mine! Even though these two turned out alright, 2 batches that I made today were not up my standards. They all turn out shiny, with feet, etc, etc just didn’t rise evenly on all sides. Handling the oven seems to be the issue; I guess I shouldn’t play around with it too much. If it works don’t fix it. So unlike me though! The other batch was not piped round enough.  While making macarons, mistakes can happen in any of the processing stage, even from the raw ingredients. Sigh… this is becoming more of a complaint session again…

Anyway here are the ones that turn out alright:






Fromboisier

• Vanilla butter cream
  
• Raspberry confit
  

Opera

• Coffee butter cream
  
• Dark Chocolate truffle ganache
  

Before and after baking pics...




Dynamic Duo... hehehe


Incase you are wandering why is there 3 postings in one day, my internet was not working for quite a while so here is my chance. Thanks always for dropping by and if you are interested to try these, just let me know  :)

Welcome To the Family…

These are the new additional member to my collection, introducing (drum roll…) Frasier and Schuss. Honestly, I am not satisfied with this shoot due to a few things:
1. the temperature was too hot and the cake started to soften( I also spend too much time as I absolutely have no idea on how to finish of the Frasier)
2. just not neat enough
3. Cakes proportions needs to be modified: thicker on sponge, more macerated strawberries, less sable dough, and the list just goes on… endless just endless…

Anyway enough of complaining and here they are…





Frasier
Revamp with a new look, the renowned strawberry cake takes on the world of pastry couture by storm…hehehe…

• Rose sponge soaked in strawberry kirsch punch
  
• Vanilla bourbon mousseline cream
  
• Strawberry macerated in strawberry coulis
  
• 
  

Schuss
French version of cold cheesecake served with strawberries. Carrying a subtle, elegant and sophisticated flavour.

• Almond butter sable crust
  
• Raspberry confit
  
• Schuss mousse
  
• Almond sponge soaked in kirsch syrup
  
• Topped with Chantilly cream and strawberries
• 
  

Thanks for dropping by…
Hm… what should I make next?…

Farewell Mr. Gaston Lenotre…

Mr. Gaston Lenotre passed away last week on the 8th of January 2009 at the age of 88. I am slow at getting the news and only found out by accident as I researched on Lenotre boutique trying to get some inspiration. As an ex Lenotre pastry chef, I am quite ashamed really. Some well known figures in the industry such as Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse and Pierre Herme mourned on this great lost and expressed their grief to the media.

It was always a dream of mine to work for this famous Parisian company, as Lenotre is not only a patisserie, caterer or just a business entity; it is a symbol and an institution. Many professional chefs from around the world travel there to learn the latest techniques, skills and recipes in this industry. The name Lenotre are always mention with such reverence amongst the chefs as many of the well known Patissier started their journey there or to further their training. He is well known for redefining French patisserie and challenging the norms that was being followed back in those days.

Pierre Herme, who apprenticed under Lenotre, mentioned that Lenotre can be considered the father of modern-day pastries. He also said "The pastries of today would not be what they are without Gaston Lenotre, who has left a formidable heritage for all pastry chefs of the world”.
Mr. Gaston Lenotre journey has ended, but his name and legacy will carry on in this world for as long as pastry exists. Farewell Sir…

Blast From The Past

First of all, wish you all a belated HAPPY NEW YEAR 09! Hope you all had a good break and to friends working in the hospitality industry, unfortunately that would not be the case.
This time around I would like to post some of my cakes that I made a couple of years back either out of boredom, curiosity, friend’s birthday or just happen to have the ingredients at that particular time. Here we go...





Cassis

This one falls into curiosity as I never work with cassis and just happen to have the raw material at that particular time( as a friend happen to gave me a box of cassis puree). After some intense research and development, the box of puree along with other ingredients) was turn into that thing above. Unfortunately, I do not have a sliced picture of the cakes so you just have to take my word for the components inside it.

• Cassis mousse
  
• Cassis and Creme de cassis coulis
  
• Creme brulee with chestnut confit
  
• Cassis glaze
  

Foret Noir (that’s the closes thing to it…I think)
I made this for Retrohells birthday at that time. I have just learnt a few new techniques and recipe so I decide to apply it straight away No, this is no guinea pig cakes!

• Ivory Chantilly infused with tons of vanilla pods... yummy
  
• Chocolate soufflé sponge soaked with chocolate punch
  
• Mixed berries macerated with raspberry and framboise liquor
  

Don't know what to call this one
This was made for J's birthday; a new technique such as sugar pulling was applied for the garnish.

• Raspberry mousse
  
• Green tea sponge soaked with green tea milk punch
  
• Green tea pannacota
  
• Raspberry coulis
  

Melbourne
I made this for a Melbourne based company that did a machine and product demonstration for their clienteles in Sydney. It was extremely fun and interesting working with them.

• Vanilla Bavarian cream
  
• Praline mousse
  
• Force Noir Ganache
  
• Garnish with Isomalt, crushed praline and chocolate of course
  

Goodness, now I realize that I overly abuse the chocolate disc as a garnish, oh well. These are made in a home lab except for the Melbourne gig. During that time it was in a proper lab and I get to use a pasteurizer, chilling and freezing machine in 1! This baby can make your pastry cream, bombe mix, all other sorts of creams, curds, ganache, gelatos, sorbets, u name it, programmed it and the baby will make it. All yours for only AUD 35k, if not more. They also brought a mini blast freezer and plenty of silicone molds. Not to mention all the awesome pastry ingredients that they take along. I was like a child in a toy store. This demo was supposed to be carried out by Kirsten Tibballs, one of the leading chocolatier in the Southern Hemisphere and me as an assistant, kitchen hand, runner, what ever she needs. How ever she was not well during that appointed time so my mentor / lecturer at Le Cordon Bleu advised on what to be done and I carried out the physical demonstration.

Special thanks to bro Retrohell for the advice, guidance and for the design of the watermark (you should see it in all the pictures now). He sure is patience in guiding an adobe noob such as my self... Cheers mate!!

Thanks for dropping by and reading my babble, until next time!!

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