Opera Tort

This week we had our second practical, it was on the Opera Tort! I have to admit that this is probably one of my favorite things that we have made so far! But I think I say that about almost everything we make in kitchens! I was a little bit nervous about this practical, because I had a problem with making the Mocha Buttercream!

This story that I am about to tell you happened all in one day. My first attempt: When making buttercream, you have to dissolve the sugar in the water. But you have to bring the sugar and water to 241F but no higher than 244F. Well with this, if you do not put lemon just around the sides of the pot with a pastry brush the sugar with crystalize. So I forgot to do that, and when I remembered it was to late!

My second attempt: This time around I remembered the lemon juice. everything was going great. UNTIL, the dissolved sugar and water was taking forever to reach the temperature. The numbers on the digital thermometer were getting higher, but my product in the pot was get dark. It was at 212, and my product at this point was dark black like the color of freshly brewed coffee. Let me say all this happened in a matter of seconds from here on. All of a sudden steam, and smoke covered the entire room. It was so bad that my Chef thought it was going to set off the fire alarms. It was so bad that another student was telling me that the smoke was coming into their kitchen across the hall.

The reasoning for this happening, was because the digital thermometer was set on Celcius, so if it was in Fahrenheit the sugar would be reading over 500F.

So everyone Check your Thermometers to make sure that it is correct!!


So when it came to remaking the Buttercream, I was a tad bit nervous!

But the third time making the buttercream was a success! It was perfect, and sooooooo good!

Do you know what a tort is? It is a German word for a multi layered cake with rich fillings. It may also indicate cutting a cake into multiple (more than two) layers.

With this practical this was a three layered tort. There was 2 layers of buttercream, and one ganache! And then the top was buttercream with melted chocolate. We then had to Pipe Opera on the top!

I was really surprised I got a 95% on the practical!!!

Here are pictures of the Opera Tort!!!




Here is a side view of the tort! It's not very thick! But it's so rich you can't eat a lot of it!



This is the top of my tort! I'm please with it! I can't wait to EAT it!!!!!


I hope you liked my Opera tort and my story!

Keep posted there's a blog this Sunday coming up!

Pie, Pie Me Oh My!!

This past week I started my 4th mod at Le Cordon Bleu. I am currently studying Pies and Cakes! This class is straight up my alley! I love making pies, I don't know why but there is so much you can do with them. Plus pie is great anytime of the day! I love learning different pie! This week we started with Cheesecake which I absolutely love, I love it especially with fruit like strawberries on top!

But as I said this week we started with Cheesecake. Over the course of the week I brought home 4 Pies not including the Cheesecake!

Items I brought home
Cheesecake
Blueberry Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Chiffon Pie
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pie

And there is tons of left overs even thought I've given a lot of Pie away!





Here is my pie server my mom got me for Christmas. It's a high heel server. You will be able to see what I mean with the next picture.



The side view of the pie server. The pink heel is magnetic so you can remove it.



My ornament that my mom got me. This is a tradition in my family. Ever since we were kids, at every Christmas we would go out and pick out an ornament, so when we move out or get married we would have ornaments to put on our tree. My mom said these reminded her of my little cakes that I make!



My New York Style Cheesecake!

The Recipe!
New York Style Cheesecake....I had a previous blog earlier...this is different than my cheesecake I normally make.

1.5 pounds of Cream Cheese
5 oz Gran. Sugar
2.5 oz Sour Cream
1 oz Cornstarch
1 T. Lemon Juice
1oz Vanilla Extract
3 each Eggs
2 oz Heavy Cream

Bake at 350 F
about 30 to 35 minutes..there should be a slight giggle to the cheesecake, and lightly brown.

When making a cheesecake, you final result batter should be smooth and shiny. NOT LUMPY....'lumpiness,' can ruin the batter.

Before you would add all of your ingredients, make sure your cream cheese is a room temperature. then cream it in a kitchen aid using the paddle attachment. It should be creamy not lumpy...I can't stress that anymore.

Always work from thickest to thinnest at a low speed it helps with lumping.

Always...always add your ingredients slowly.

You want to scrap your bowl frequently

OVERCOOKING will cause your cheesecake to crack down the center!



Side view of cheesecake!



>
My Pumpkin Pie with Maple leaves around the edges of the crust... unfortunately it burnt a little...but it was still really good!!!



Chocolate Chiffon Pie, I liked it, but many people at my school didn't care for the pie. It had a mousse texture, the chocolate had meringue whipped into it! It was a little different but nonetheless good! :)



This was my Chocolate Peanut butter pie! This tasted just like a Reeses!!!! I loved this one as well!


I hope everyone liked the stuff I made this week! There is definitely more to come for next Sunday!!

Keep Posted!!! :)

Bob's Homemade Pizza

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope everyone had a fun and exciting night.

Alright so tonight's blog is a little different, I could not make anymore sweets this weekend, because I believe we are still all on a sugar high from Christmas and everything in between.

Tonights blog is about my boyfriend John, his dads (Bob) homemade pizza. I absolutely love love love pizza, I can eat it everyday of my life and I can guarantee you that I would never get tired of it. So when his dad makes the pizza and John is home from school I am the happiest one sitting at the dinner table.


Unfortunately, I was not around to help because John and I were out shopping and picking up some needed items. But when we walked into Johns house there was this amazing garlic smell flowing out of the kitchen! Just amazing smelling!



Here is a picture of white pizza uncooked. My ultimate favorite pizza to make/eat is a white pizza with green peppers....minus the sauce ;)! But I did not get a picture of this one cooked, because it was not done in time for dinner, but it did not stop me from waiting for it!!! Sooooo goood!



Here is a regular sauce pizza! It was sooo good!!! Even though there was sauce on it, but it wasn't drenched in it!!! :)



The other pizza!



Here is the salad, and I did make it!!!! ;)!!! The salad was soooo good, definitely hit the spot as well! Especially when I put walnuts and dried cranberries in it!!! With Wishbone Italian Dressing!


Today was my last day of Christmas break! It absolutely flew, I wish I had a little more time off, but I need to finish out my degree.Which really excites me!!

Tomorrow, I will be entering my 4th mod at LCB, and returning back to work as well.

Thoughts
Tomorrow and for the next 6 weeks I will be learning about Cakes and Pies..yumm!
In 7 months I will be going somewhere along the east coast for my externship for 3 months. This year is going to change everything.
In 11 months I will be a pastry chef...hmmm absolutely excited...but nervous
In 2 years I will be going to France! I've decided that!!