Week 4

Chocolate Grapefruit Tart

This dessert consisted of grapefruit-infused ganache, cocoa nib breton, grapefruit curd, fresh grapefruit, vermouth caramel, orange tuiles and dark chocolate spray.

The grapefruit ganache was really good, which was surprising to me. I wouldn't have thought that those two flavors would have worked together. That said, the ganache was a bit thickand heavy for this dessert. We made a mousse variation which felt much lighter and worked better overall. Using chocolate spray was a new experience for me, and it results in such an attractive result. The grapefruit curd tasted so good, and the pool on top of the mousse was almost a lava effect when you cut into it. I liked that a lot. The cocoa nib breton consisted of a very simple mixing process. All the plated components really went well together. However, I think the three fresh grapefruit segments were too large of a component on the plate. 

When plating my interpretation I wanted to create some movement since I had chosen the tear drop shape, which has some nice curves. This worked out well for me by creating a design using the grapefruit curd and cocoa nibs. I thought two of the orange tuiles were a bit much on the original plate, so I just used half as a simple garnish to add some height.

  

Fudge

We made Penuche and chocolate fudge with walnuts. I have made fudge before (the "easy, no-fail" kind), but I had never used the marble slab method. I thought the Penuche had good flavor, and the chocolate fudge could have been more chocolatey. 

Deconstructed Project Update

I am in the process of finalizing what to do for my deconstructed dessert project. For awhile I was set on doing something with chocolate and peanut butter, or perhaps the Ruffle Cake. It was helpful to discuss in class this past weekend, as it sparked some ideas I had not considered. I'm still finalizing my components, and will be ready to submit my requisition this weekend. 

                                          Plated as shown in the book.

                                                   My interpretation

Week 3

Roasted Pear with Chamomile
This dessert consisted of a roasted pear, chamomile jus, pear sorbet, pear chip, hazelnut financier and a sugar garnish. For my interpretation, I wanted the hazelnut financier to be a different shape, other than a circle as shown in the book. I made a couple options and ended up using a rectangle sliced in half length-wise. The cake itself was very dry, therefore I plated it on top of the chamomile jus. I also wanted to bring in some visual interest with the pear since it's such a large component on the plate. I fanned the pear over the cake, and later learned the correct way to fan a pear (which would have looked better!). 


It was a challenge for me to determine what to do with the remaining elements: the sorbet, pear chip and garnish. I also wanted to bring some color onto the plate. I cradled the sorbet in the sugar garnish, on a bed of crushed pear chip and green sugar. It did not work well, as you'll see in the photo below. I was really lacking creative inspiration for this dessert. I'm not sure why. I didn't have a good vision or plan in mind for the right side of the plate, so I sort of kept adding things in hopes that it would help, and come together. It didn't, but it was good learning. I think this dessert could have been better with something warm on the plate. 

A few other things I learned from this dessert include making sugar garnishes, and the benefits and results of making sorbet/ice cream with the Paco-Jet.

Pate de Fruit
Pate de Fruit was more work and constant mixing than I anticipated. I can see how this element can add some nice color to a plate. However, personally, it's too sweet for me.

                                          Plate as shown in the text book

                                         My interpretation

Week 2

Donuts

This week's plated dessert consisted of plain and chocolate raised donuts tossed in a spiced sugar, along with a vanilla bean parfait and layered hot chocolate. The garnish was a dark chocolate circular plaque. Again, I plated it as shown in the text book and a second way as well. 

The donuts were the main component on the plate and I wanted to do something unexpected in terms of the shape, a filling, etc..  Further, I love the chocolate and peanut butter combination and since I had made peanut butter ganache to make chocolates, I wanted to incorporate it into this dessert. I decided to make small pillow-like chocolate donuts, similar to a ravioli, filled with peanut butter ganache. I had a vision of three of the donuts fanned on the right side over a puddle of the layered hot chocolate . And on the left I wanted to create a tower with the vanilla parfait, rolled in chopped peanuts, layered between chocolate plaques. I was excited about the vision in my mind, and thought it would look great on the plate!

The execution of my vision did not turn out as I had expected. The donuts puffed up quite a bit when frying, and therefore were not as delicate and small as I had envisioned. Three of them together looked too big. The vanilla parfait and chocolate tower turned out alright. Overall, all the components just didn't work as well as I thought they would. I learned that the vision in my mind doesn't always translate onto a plate. The photo below is a variation that Chef Sid helped me with that worked a lot better with the elements I had created.

I am working on my ability to envision how elements will work together on a plate. I'm learning this is a process and takes practice.

Chocolates

Chocolate making was great fun! I have made rolled truffles before, but this was my first time making filled chocolates in molds. Each person made a different ganache, and I chose peanut butter. I learned so much about the chocolate making process, and thoroughly enjoyed it. All the chocolates looked so professional, and were so tasty!

                                          Plated as show in the textbook.

                                         A variation that Chef Sid help me with. 

                                          Molds lined with chocolate.

                                          Filling with peanut butter ganache.

                                           The final product!