macarons with marshmallow middles

In Advanced Baking we moved onto confections, and we had our choice of what to make: marshmallows, fruit jellies, caramels, hard candies, etc. Half the class opted for marshmallows - to distinguish ourselves, Marianne and I opted to sandwich ours between French macarons and forgo the usual layer of jam.

Marshmallows are one of those things that are readily available in the grocery store so you never really think about making it. For me, those are the things that are most fascinating to make, the ones you take for granted (ex: mayonnaise, peanut butter, most condiments really). The freshly made versions also end up tasting better, not just because the ingredients are fresh there are no additives/preservatives but also because you can customize the flavor!

To make marshmallows I had to soak sheets of gelatin - which start out like sheets of thin plastic but become soft and rubbery once it sits in water:



This bloomed gelatin sheets are then whipped into italian meringue (sugar water cooked to 240F softball stage and poured into egg whites whipped to medium peaks):



Then I added flavoring (rose water) and food coloring (pink) to customize the marshmallows. We were a little limited with flavoring since they had to be in essential oil form (and not, for example, fruit puree form), since otherwise it would change the consistency of the marshmallow.



Here's the finished product on sheet tray. It had to sit a bit in order to firm up. And to prevent it from sticking, we oiled parchment paper and put it both beneath the marshmallow layer and on top.



Meanwhile Marianne set to work with the French macarons. Here she is piping them the batter (with a little green food coloring added):



They had to sit out and develop a skin on top before they were baked. See them rising?



Then came time to assemble. We cut the marshmallow into ridged circles (for the macaron sandwiches) and hearts (just for fun), which were then rolled in a half cornstarch half powdered sugar mixture. Other groups cut theirs into even funner shapes like octopus for example.



The circle shaped ones were sandwiched between the macarons:



Mine before I ate it :)



I really liked the contrasting textures, the crispy/chewy macaron exterior with the soft marshmallow interior. Apparently one of the dishwasher ladies liked them too, because she asked Chef to buy a whole box to take home. First time anyone has ever purchased my treats!

hot expo

After sandwich/nacho station I moved to the hot expo position in the Latin Quarter. This meant that I did expediting for the hot line, which meant yelling out ticket orders and sending hot food down to the expo pickup (who would then hand the food to customers). Besides this yelling/delivery duty I also took care of miscellaneous accoutrements, which included deep-frying a bunch of things. Like churros (which is just pâte à choux in an elogated shape).



These I would finish in a cinnamon sugar mixture.



I also fried/salted tortilla chips for nacho station. It's amazing how much better freshly fried tortilla chips are compared to the bagged kind. The prep station cut up tortilla rounds for me every day.



I also fried french fries for our lomo saltado dish.



I also fried papas rellenas, or breaded mashed potato balls with a ground beef mixture inside. These went out with chipotle mayo dipping sauce.



I also fried fish for fish tacos, which in our case is breaded mahi. I also garnished tacos - fish tacos would get coleslaw and salsa fresca, while the beef/chicken/carnitas/veggie tacos would get shredded cheese, roasted salsa and lettuce. Then I would add sliced radish, pickled jalapeño, lime wedges and cilantro. So much color.



This was my mise-en-place, with all the sauces and garnish ingredients. Oh and also salad ingredients for our Mexican salad - romaine, cherry tomatoes, tortilla strips, queso fresco, scallions and avocado dressing. So authentic, I know.

sushi again

In Garde Manger Chef Oakley decided to let us take a break from station assignments, and to spend a class making sushi. It was very similar to the sushi workshop I attended last semester, so I didn't document much of the process at all, just took pictures of the few rolls I made.

This was shredded rock crab with avocado. I added a line of sriracha to spice things up.



This was spicy tuna with tobiko.



This was a cucumber shittake tobiko avocado roll. I had to take the avocado out in order to roll it up - that's how full it was.



Since I was hungry, I ate each roll almost as soon as I made it. We were supposed to cut the rolls up and present them. Here are Chef's:



Lastly, we made nigiri. I thought the three pieces I made looked like a family.

pâte à choux revisited

Since I didn't document the first class of Advanced Baking, I wanted to revisit the lesson at home. I tried to make pâte à choux (and build a croquembouche) for Valentine's Day, but sadly I failed and the cream puffs came out like cream flats.

My friend offered me the pâte à choux recipe from his work so I gathered the courage to try again. First I combined 1 cup skim milk, 4 oz butter, a pinch of salt and two pinches sugar in a pot. This was simmered until the butter was completely melted. Then I took the pot off the heat and added 1 1/4 cup flour, then worked the mixture with a wooden spoon until a dough was well-formed. Then I added 4 eggs, one at a time and mixing very well between each. The pâte à choux ended up looking like this (it should slide off the spoon, albeit slowly):



Without a piping bag I resorted to making a hole in a ziplock baggie and putting the piping tip through it. Made little dollops for cream puffs.



These were baked at 350°F for 45 minutes, until puffy and golden brown. I was so excited to see them come out like this.



Sadly, when I tried to remove them from the parchment paper, the bottoms came off. This meant I couldn't really pipe cream (or rather, Cool Whip mixed with raspberry puree) into the insides, but I resorted to filling them with a spoon instead and placing them bottoms down into a bowl so the broken-ness wouldnt show. Then I piped melted chocolate and sprinkled powdered sugar over.



Next time I'm going to bake them on a silicon mat and see if the bottoms come off unharmed.

making truffles

After the demo, it was our turn to make chocolate. Marianne and I started with truffles. I made the ganache, which consisted of 4oz heavy cream, 1oz light corn syrup and toasted coconut bits brought to a simmer, then poured over 8oz of white chocolate and mixed together.



While she tempered dark chocolate, I tempered white chocolate for decor work.



Succeeded in making white chocolate curls and a decor piece (from spreading it over patterned acetate paper).



Once Marianne was ready we coated a truffle mold with dark chocolate. Of course I had chosen the fleur de lys truffle mold, which was the hardest shape to fill, EVER.



Once that was done we piped the coconut white chocolate ganache in and covered it.



Sometime after that we discovered that our chocolate had come out of temper, and I freaked out thinking our truffles wouldn't unmold/would just be ruined. Chef told us to throw the mold in the fridge, and about 15 minutes later came the moment of truth.



I was apprehensive but all the truffles in the mold came out, thank goodness.



Here's the assortment of truffles made by all the teams in class.



My three favorites were the ones with lavendar, raspberry and passionfruit ganaches. I made coconut because the truffles were for my mom :)