The FIRST ASSESSMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 0.0!

Sorry I have been away for over a month!!! 'bows bows' =) Been REALLY busy at school!!! and YES I can finally graduate from school!!!!!! =) hahaha I recently completed my FINAL assessment!!! 'jumps for joy' I never had this kinda assessment/examination etc in my life before. AND LET IT TELL YOU IT'S NOT AN EASY TASK!!! I can say now I have a whole new level of understanding for the professionalism of PASTRY CHEFS, especially after watching KING OF PASTRY (a documentary about pastry chefs in France) 'thumbs up for the movie', if you are looking for drama it's definitely it! haha! Well since I'm soooooooo far behind in blogging I shall just show you what I did for my 1st assessment! =)

 

 Well let me just give you a short intro to how it works! =) One whole week is dedicated to this 'WONDERFUL' assessment where our skills are tested based on what we have learn during the we weeks before. Oh yes the fun and joys oh 'lalalalaa' let's make this for fun and make that just to eat STOPS RIGHT THERE! haahaha! Use to be ' awww it's ok it didn't turn out, just try again' or like ' nah! it's ok that it doesn't look perfect, still taste good no?' Well this is the time where you try to show your best! from all aspects, from texture, flavour, taste, to appearance and finishing, omg! you have to be CLEAN and ORGANISE at all times, well at least try! This is when your chef will find out whether what they have been stuffing into our heads the last few weeks are actually going in. Mind you, the time constrained is not like the usual! haha when it's regular time you can ' never I can finish tomorrow' the invisible deadline. BUT now it's like you HAVE TO FINISH! NO MATTER WHAT! Oh yes it was really stressful for my fellow classmate, LiYin and I. We nearly pass out hahahahaha! probably we were never exposed to this kinda 'live' exam before but never the less we did survive it! well for every level we go its kinda a different way of assessing. But we were tested from head to toe from bread to chocolate nearly everything!haha but still it was a good yet interesting experience..we do improve more during this hard process!

Haha as you can see that I took these pictures from home.There was no chance to pictures nor the mood at that moment. So sadly only the ones that made it home got to be documented. By the way the top was a classic opera cake and this a modern chocolate raspberry tart. Sounds yum no? But still there is room for improvement according to comments from chefs, many many many manyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy things could be better =) anyho back to the assessment..oh yes we are given scores for different different aspect of the dessert and it would be totaled up to a final one =). Stress levels were high and we were running like....' according to chef' like chickens lol!!! Especially when you see the clock ticking and ticking and in your head you are screaming 'OMG STOP TICKING!!!' And one of my friends was saying, quotes SABREENA! usually when I'm stressed out I bake last time, but now I'm stress about baking lol! 'what do I DO!?lol!!!! quite funny actually..and of course the CHEFS are enjoying this week the most! seeing their students in ACTION! hahahaha!!!

Pretty galette! =) Yes now I'm proud to say that LiYin and I have survived THE ASSESSMENT! =) we tried our best I think we were slightly less panic-y this time around =)!! YAY!!! haha! and THANK YOU EVERYONE who supported me during this 'difficult' time lol!! you know who you are 'winks'! hehe that's all for now! =) visit soon!

Lets Eat TART!!! =)

It's time for some tarts again =). One of my favourite pastry. It's just gives you so many textures in one serving. Can be served hot or cold, of course depending what type it is. And the variety in textures from smooth mousses and cream to the crisp or the tart itself and the freshness of the fruit. Delicious yes!? I, myself gets excited when I see tarts in a cafe or a cake shop. It's quite sad that there aren't many varieties around not like the overseas but I'm motivated to make that change!! haha =) 'wait for my future shop ok?'

 

Anyway back to these tarts =) This time we made some classic tarts that everyone is familiar with and some modern ones too, which I'm crazy over with!! This baby up here is the apple tart tartin. I'm sure some of you have heard of it before, if your were a apple tart fan. Golden caramel apple on top of flaky puff pastry. It isn't your regular sweet pastry dough but still as yummy and of course more flaky =) the caramel is so tempting no?

I'm sure your are wondering what's that!? I have that same question when I first it..Well it's rhubarb! "some heads filled with ????????????" haha anyway it's a type of veggie that is used for desserts. I'm not exactly sure if it's categorized as a vegetable cause I've never seen it fresh myself, indeed a RARE thing in Malaysia. But luckily we still get them frozen which is still pretty good. It has a tangy flavour, which makes it a very appetizing ingredient to add into dessert, balances out the sweetness =)

 Looks kinda like a white hedgehog no? Haha quite cool, it's the torched meringue topping for the rhubarb tart. But personally I prefer it without. Of course there are still meringue fans out there....The finishing is really nice though.

Oh oh!!! this is for the biggest nut fan out there I'm SUREEEEEEEEEEEE they'll love it! Pack loaded with variety of nuts from walnuts to pecans to hazelnuts it's sound all so nutty already! And the drench in sweet sticky caramel and the crisp of the sweet dough base. OMG brings me joy just recalling it! THumbs up for this tart! =)

And of course the tart from the first picture, this was my first choice! It's a berry tart topped with chiboust cream. I'm a BIG fan of berries so it explains why I liked this one so much. hehe =) A mix berry filling inside and fresh berries on the top just makes you drool....Unfortunately some of the fresh berries ran out so we only had strawberries for deco =(. But I'm sure we can upgrade the finishing the next round.

This was the bakewell tart. WELL........it was ok...but a little too sweet for my tastebuds. I'm sure adjustment can be made =) haha! 

OH this was DELICIOUS TOO!!! The vanilla tart! Also know as the 'Pierre Herme' tart lol! We did a little adaptation to the original tart that is sold in Paris. I hope it's close to the original stuff but even though it's still GOODDDDDDDD! Vanilla mousse on the top and milk chocolate ganache filling in the center and a chocolate sweet pastry to hold it all together =) Clean finishing the BEST haha 'thinks to self, less deco work"..

Last but not least it's pineapple tart. Definately for tropical fruit fans. WHO SAID you can't use tropical fruits for desserts! =) heh heh in your face! TADAA!!! Roasted pineapple and sable breton (kinda like a dried biscuit) and filled with pastry cream center. Oh yums!!!

That's all for this round! =) More to come soon! COme Visit!!!!

Classic Cake yo!

Hi everyone! I'm back with more cakes!!! This round is about classic cakes. I'm sure everyone recognize the cake about..OH YES it is the all so famous Fraiser, for the french and STRAWBERRY SHORT CAKE! for the rest of us! For all those strawberry lovers out there, this is definitely your favourite!. 

We did a little twist to this one by adding a layer of fruit jelly in the middle to give it a little contrast in texture and also add more strawberry-ness to it! yum! We also experimented with adding some spice to the syrup itself..lol but I must say it's not everyone's cup of tea...And of course a try at decorating the cake ourselves..but chef did help us with the spraying =)...hehehe 'cheating'..

You must be wondering what's this odd looking one? Hahaha believe me I had the same impression when I heard about it! It's actually a SORBET cake, also known as Vacherin ! Can you imagine!!!!??? LOL I never thought it's a classic cake but apparently it is =) I've never done it or even heard about it before..and now I understand why! This baby isn't that easy to make!It requires some precision and of course the perfect condition, in other word the FREEZER it is after all a sorbet cake, like an ice-cream cake =) 

Due to the fact that sometime school's condition isn't at all times 'ideal' so it made it a little more challenging to make..But never the less, chef came up with 'ideas' to make it POSSIBLE! LOL! dramatic much..In case you were wondering the white stuff is actually meringue, kinda like Pavlova for some of you who are more familiar with that and it is layered with 3 different types of sorbet in the center and deco all around with meringue deco. I tend to make the sorbet more sour for this cake due to the fact that the meringue is prrrrrrrrreeeeetttttyyy sweet! And look at the amount of it 0.0 so sour was a good thing..so it stays light and refreshing! =) I had lemon, blackberry and strawberry as my sorbet. Some said it was a yay but for some it's a nay cause it's extremely sour and sweet at the same time???? lol..but of course we can always change the flavours...

So this is what happened after we 'attacked' it..and surprisingly it survived the trip home! lol and I didn't even have an ice box with me, not even dry ice or anything..hehehe! anyway that's all for now..visit soon! =)

Shooters! MiNI Dessert with a BANG!

Looks like a mini buffet line no? Haha Chef was trying to show us how shots of dessert can be nice and not just mousse and jelly and cream all the time. Well technically many buffet lines use these things just to fill up the buffet line and make it look attractive. I had my shares of bad dessert nightmares at buffets, Especially now, after learning so much about sweets, it's pretty hard to find something that is REALLY GOOD compared to the old times where EVERYTHING was good haha!

Anyhooooo, when Chef said we were going to do this, I was a bit skeptical??????? Haha but he convinced me that there are very nice shooters around, just seldom people do it here. It's actually pretty complicated! I describe it as like 'a dessert plating in a cup' HAHAHa! It some what applies the same rules too. You see those layers in the cup? Each is a different flavour or even texture. So imagine how many separate item you need to make for just one cup? YOR! hehe  Not your average glass dessert eh? The above is Cherry confit with pistachio. =) It's ok but I'm not a big fan of rose, but the cherry was great!

This one is pretty interesting...Pineapple Vanilla Savarin..LOL trust me you'll get a surprise on your taste buds!"jumps" very refreshing =) hehe the savarin absorbs all the sauce or' juice' as some may say and burst into your mouth when you take a bite! That's when the flavours go all out!

Next up! Mint Chocolate...A common flavour we hear..But the textures were very new, a kind of brule on the bottom and chocolate sponges on the top to give a contrast on the smooth texture below. Plus a little surprise in the middle too! Apricots! haha..I find it pretty good but not my favourite...But out look is nice =)

This one is wayyyyyyyyy cute, one of my favourites.

One of my classmates mentioned that it looked like the Gatsby Advert LOL, if some of you have seen it..It kinda resemble it I guess hahaha..But taste wise, far from Gatsby OK? Coffee orange ShooteR! Familiar flavours with a little upgrade here and there. The orange was very refreshing and the coffee and chocolate gave it depth.Thumbs up for this one =)

 Then there is Apricot Praline, this was simple to make, doesn't required too much. Simple and Nice =) The best layer I must say is the orange panna cotta. Best served nice and coolz! ohhhhhhh yums! hehe

Last but not least! Berry rose shooters! Appearance and attractiveness is 10 points!!!! DING DING DING! =) Doesn't it just stand out and say 'EAT ME' plus it's not too heavy and very refreshing in fact. Imagine it in a buffet where you are tons of stuff and you see this, I'm sure there's still some space for it hehe =) The square topping is caramelised sponge and the jelly is actually 'mat salleh' herbal jelly. No bitter after taste I promise 'giggles'.

 

Mini Pavlova! Something familiar that Malaysian now know and come to love =) It's also one of my favourites but just not too much of it.hehe. It's actually part of our classic cake that week and it looks great in our mini line, so we included it! other cakes will be featured later! Sorry! Anyway, it's a meringue based filled with chantily and topped with fresh fruits! CUTE no!? POPPED it goes into your mouth! hehe well anyway that's all I have for now..will be back very soon! hv a great friday! =) something is stirring up for the weekend and monday!!!

Oooooohhh Pretty cakes! ^^

 

I'm back today! Omg I'm feeling so lazy tonight, it's like sluggish mode hit me and the switch mode button is stuck! Every time I want to start doing something, I end up eating a snack? watching tv? or even just staring blankly at FB homepage lol! wondering what is everyone else is doing (I'm sure that happened to lotsa people). First actual working day after the long weekend.We Malaysian do love our long holidays even though we sometimes are not very productive. All I just want to do is lay down and spend some time with my white mouse, who is now half way around the world =(. But never the less, thank god for technology, white mouse gets to use the internet too!

Anyway, I thought why not just write something. Doesn't requires too much effort no? Plenty of material to write about, since I'm so FAR behind! lol! So I'm starting with cakes!

This cake was pretty good. Seriously for chocolate lover no kidding. One bite is like WOW! lol Chocolate hitting you in the face. But of course there we still essence of pistachio and roasted pistachio bits to keep it a little nutty =). Brownie layer on the bottom, pistachio layer in the center and creamy chocolate mousse on the top.

Haha a picture of me working on the cake, courtesy of warmer =) Just in case everyone wonders if I actually make these stuff most of the time..hehe

And here's a cake I made for assessment =) This is a lot lighter compared to the other one on top. Financier base with yogurt mousse and mango jelly. Doesn't it sound appetizing already =) I really like the colours though, very attractive, the bright yellow. It's easy on the tummy too! hehe! Thumbs up for Symphonie Cake!

Topped with caramelised almond.

My dear sister and Bro-in Law just came home from Japan recently, just before the disaster happened, lucky them =) and they came home with many goodie for me! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (little yellow minion screams, Despicable ME) HAHA! The above were a souvenir from Robuchon! (a very famous pastry chef) Coincidentally they went to his shop in Tokyo and bought me a little brownie to try! And I must say that little brownie cost a bomb! lol tasted great =) and it came with such pretty packaging.

 

 Cutest french fries ever! And they were YUMMY! Muahahahha!

And of course there were potato farm! BEST french fries ever! If you've been to Japan I'm sure you've seen the line for this infamous Hokkaido French Fries.Oooooo just so GOOD!

 

And of course more cookies =) All very unique in flavour =)

Tadaa! And wonderful silicon molds! really good quality =) YAY! more to help me expand my kitchen collection lol! hehe that's all I have to share this time =) More to come soon! Thanks for reading!

Mountains Of Breads! And Yummy Sandwiches too! =)

 

Oh yes we are back to bread this time =). With more varieties and different finish..This maybe a while ago but it was still much fun! Especially making the sandwiches with my dear friend Christine! hahaha and feeding it to 'people who don't cook dinner' hahaha, you know who you are =). Well back to some description of the breads coming up! The above was a healthy hearty sandwich filled with greens as you can see and red red cherry tomatoes plus some cheese slices! And of course for our meat lover, we added some tuna filling but apparently it was still wasn't up to his 'meaty' standards! hahahahahah! But the rest of us still thinks it was yummy no? 

This was focacia bread with pan fried sides filled with roasted chicken and brown sauce (not from a packet) and a soft boiled egg with the yolk jusssssssssst right =) and how can we forget the vegetable. Thanks to our personal hot kitchen chef ! haha It does give another edge rather plain old loaf.

We also made some improvised bruschetta..Hahaha..Sorry Italy if it's not suppose to look like this lol! WE use whatever we could FIND haha!

Just some tomatoes with olive oil and mixed herbs. We were lucky to find some feta cheessssssseeeeeee! =)

 

Update more soon! hehe =) Enjoy your weekend!