Cream of the Crop- Week 11

Cakes again! We kicked off the week by using the swiss rolls from the previous week to make a Charlotte Royale. This meant a return of the dreaded bavarois. This time it was a Cointreau flavoured devil concoction, which did not do much to change my mind. To summarise this strange dessert- an outer layer of swiss roll, filled with bavarois and then topped once more with some swiss roll. We left it to set, and then turned it out and brushed it with gel. Mmm interesting.

The cream really adds a touch of glamour, don't you think?

Following on with the cream theme, we made a Strawberry and Cream Gateaux on Tuesday. Yay! More even slicing of cake! Each layer was brushed with a sugar syrup and then spread with jam and cream. When fully assembled, the cake was masked with cream, and topped with strawberries, more cream, and coated with almonds on the outside. 

Bakery perfection.

Whyyyy did I not notice the smudged cream?! 

Check out the precision placed almonds though.

In this lesson, we also baked our Fruit Cakes, as expected, we made a batter and added the previously macerated fruit and popped that into the oven. The result- an ugly, lumpy cake. Stay tuned for a picture at a later date when it looks a little more appealing. 

Another bakery classic followed, with Black Forest Gateaux appearing on the lesson plan. First we needed to prepare the cherry filling by thickening the juice from a jar of morello cherries with some cornflour and sugar over heat, and then adding the cherries and cooling it until was required. Next, we sliced the chocolate cake, and layered it with sugar syrup, piped rings of cream, and whole cherries. It was then masked with cream, and decorated with shaved chocolate and some drained cherries. 

 What magnificent chocolate curls.

The fateful Opera Gateaux day was upon us. Before we had started cooking I was pretty nervous. I knew that there were a few layers to this classic French cake, and I wasn't convinced that we'd be able to pull it all together. We'd made the coffee butter cream the day before, so no need to worry about that. We started off the lesson by making a thin sponge, and then cut it into three. Next up, was the dark ganache- cream and chocolate, done. Then the chocolate glaze for the top- sugar, glucose, cream, chocolate, butter- done. Now came the assembly. First, a layer of sponge, brushed with coffee syrup, which was then spread with the coffee butter cream. Then another layer of sponge with coffee syrup, and the chocolate ganache. When the final layer had been brushed with coffee syrup, it was covered with the glaze and left to set. Time to do dishes! Now was the point at which time ran away from us. I remember being in a dishes haze for about an hour, so when it came to finally cut up the opera, I was a little dazed. 48 portions of Opera later, and it was time to individually label them with their name. Can you say tedious? Anyway, enough of a whinge, here's the outcome. 

 Almost the death of me.

Opera Calligraphy.

Test day rolled around once more, and so it was time for Gateaux St Honore take 2. You know the drill, here's the result. 

Burnt finger gateaux.

And with the end of that week, came a trip to Sydney! Or more accurately, I should say, a food adventure in Sydney! Coming soon... xx