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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Home Sweet Home...

The moment when I decided to stopover in my home town( its Jakarta by the way) for a bit, the first thing that spring into my mind was how can I create some of the cakes that I like so that families and friends back home can try them and it is the perfect timing to make them for Christmas Gift.
Getting the ingredients is certainly a challenge as a lot of the stuff you would have to purchase in large quantity and some are just not available (maybe I have not been looking hard enough…). Mind you that I am trying to keep it the flavour as authentic as possible with adjustments made to my liking. However the suppliers that I liaised with are extremely helpful in accommodating me with the necessary ingredients (Thanks Ms. Nurul and Mrs. Shinta). After some intense shopping, these are the products that I have conjured up in my little pastry lab:

Paradis
This cake consists of many components which makes it such a chocolate indulgence.
• Almond sponge soaked in chocolate syrup
• Crispy praline feuilletine
• Flourless chocolate sponge
• Chocolate paradise mousse
• Chocolate glaze decorated with gold dust





Opera
This is a classical coffee and chocolate combination

• Coffee butter cream
• Almond Joconde soak with coffee luwak syrup
• Dark Chocolate Ganache
• Opera Glaze





Delice
A marriage of praline, vanilla and strawberry. Assemble together into layers of enchanting goodness.
• Vanilla Bavarian cream
• Strawberry coulis
• Crushed praline
• Almond joconde soaked with strawberry punch





Lemon Meringue Tart

Another classical treat in the lineage of French patisserie.
Dressed up to make more presentable and luscious to consume.

• Almond butter sable dough
• Lemon Curd
• Italian Meringue
I am planning to tweak it considerably, but slightly out of ideas at the moment…

Family pics...

Im planning to adjust some of the composition of the cakes as i think some are too chuncky.

Well back to the lab again...

Enjoy