Culinary School - Q3 Week 4

Week: 4 Day: 1

Objective:
Chocolate Pot de Crème
Baked Crème Brulee
Flan
Panna Cotta
Tres Leches Cake
Chocolate Soufflé

Specialty Equipment:
Bain Marie

Mixing methods:
Egg Custards

Additional Information:
It is important to not over whip egg whites for the soufflés.
Outcome & Critique:
Pot de Crème, Crème Brulee, Flan, Panna Cotta, and Tres Leches Cakes all baked and ready for refrigeration for final prep tomorrow. Chocolate Souffles baked. Ours had little bits of unincorporated egg whites all through it. It tasted ok but not great. The other team’s looked more smooth and pretty but collapsed right away. It tasted ok but I would have not ordered either of them in a restaurant.

What could I have done different:
If I were making the soufflés, I would have been careful about the incorporation of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture.

Week: 4 Day: 2

Today’s Objective:
Chantilly Cream
Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Decorating Caramel
Practical Quiz – Genoise

Specialty Equipment:
Torch

Mixing Methods:
Whipping heavy cream for Chantilly Cream

Assembly Instructions:
Ice Tres Leches Cake with Chantilly Cream, Decorate with meringues and Fresh Strawberries. Unmold Flan & Panna Cotta, Torch Crème Brulee, Garnish Pot de Crème.

Additional Information:
Due to a gas leak in the kitchens we were not able to do any cooking tonight.

Outcome & Critique:
My Panna Cotta was very stiff. I think this was due to me not cutting down the amount of gelatin sheets used when preparing the mixture. I liked the texture of it, but can see that it would have been better slightly less firm. The Flan was very good. I did think it could have used a little more cinnamon but it was yummy. The Crème Brulee was slightly over cooked but still tasted delicious. Our Pot de Crème didn’t quite set completely. It was almost like a thick drinking hot chocolate that I had once in Italy. The texture of the cake in the Tres Leches Cake was very coarse. I didn’t like it very much, but I am not a fan of Tres Leches cake.

What could I have done differently:
I think learning to tell doneness is going to be key. This comes with experience, and that takes time. It think that Chef having us look at and taste each groups products it will help us become more proficient at determining doneness.

I can’t believe that the mid-term is already next week. I don’t feel like I am prepared for that. Both my sister and my roommate have requested that I teach them how to make crème brulee.


Chocolate Pot de Creme




Creme Brulee




Toffee Caramel Flan




Tres Leches Cake




Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
























Until next week,

Ciao!