pride...

gateaux
(ga-toe)

these pics are long over due...  since the last time i put up pics, i've done bread (including danishes, croissants, dinner rolls, pizza, etc), and cake.  i gave up on the pics from the bread section because bread was boring to look at.  cakes however, are much more fun:

basic genoise with buttercream...  my first cake!  kinda boring tho...

buche de Noel (yule log)... it's a christmas thing, but we had to make it in the summer because it's part of the curriculum, so it's filled with fresh raspberries and whipped cream covered with chocolate buttercream...

black and white chocolate mousse cake

charlotte royale...  jelly rolls on the outside filled with chocolate bavarian cream (this one is my favorite )

charlotte russe... lady fingers on the outside filled with a pear bavarian cream

chocolate ganache cake... if ever you have a craving for chocolate, this is the one to eat

dacquoise with coffee buttercream and almonds... need i say more?

dobos torte... layered with the dobos sponge covered with chocolate buttercream, and decorated with caramel covered dobos sponge

flourless chocolate cake decorated with chocolate meringues... i guess this would work for the chocolate craving too

fraisier victoria...  fresh strawberries with american milk sponge and covered with lightened buttercream

hazelnut mousse cake...  not as hazelnutty as i would have liked because we ran out of hazelnut chocolate  but still VERY yummy!

lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd filling... not too special except for that flower on top

i made it with marzipan!!!  isn't it purtty???

and now for a fun pic... me with my baguettes!

have a great weekend everyone!

by popular demand...

here's a picture of me in the chef's uniform.  how do i look?

you can't see the rest of my uniform, but i have a long white apron on, covering my black and white checkered pants...  all in all, i think i have a very michelin-man-meets-pillsbury-doughboy look.  luckily... EVERYONE in class looks like that.  obviously, we're not trying to make a fashion statement here.  all i can do is hope that somewhere out there, there's a designer who is taking pity on chefs and designing something with a little more style.  but i think that's wishful thinking. 

by the way, the cake i'm holding is a dacquoise cake with coffee buttercream and almonds.

weekend highlights:

• finally saw batman begins...  great movie!!!  great plot and i'm officially in love with christian bale... *sigh*
• i  ikea!  how could i not when they sell kitchen stuff i need for $5-7?
• late night bowling with a group of people that is half drunk = fun time with lotsa stories
• chocolate inspired brunch with the girls at seppi's... yummmmm....

hope you had a good weekend too

pate feuilletee
(pat-foo-eh-teh)

yet another exam last night, so here's a tribute to puff pastry... the dough that had me so frustrated at times i just wanted to cry.  but i got thru it, and everything came out yummy... even if the pictures don't look it  

next up:  cakes!!!  who's birthday is coming up???

apple dartois

apple gallette... these don't look like much, but they taste really good!

bar tart... this is the one i yelled at someone for cutting the wrong way.  it was WRONG of her to cut off only the nut part!

chocolate banana tart... my 2nd plated dessert!  it's served on a bed of warm chocolate sauce and fresh made peanut butter ice cream

chocolate napoleon

chocolate palmiers

conversation... it's puff pastry filled with almond cream and topped with royal icing and decorations.

seasonal fruit gallette

fruit strip

jalousie... it's filled with raspberry compote and almond cream.  it's also supposed to look like slated blinds

napoleon!  i was so proud of this one i took 2 pictures  it's not easy to decorate this thing...

cheese straws

palmiers

round mille-feuille... its like the napoleon, but with different decorations and it's round

tart tatin...  i was so excited about making this tart... then i realized it looks like i dropped the damned thing on the floor *sigh* at least it tasted good

vols-au-vent... just a puff pastry case that can be filled with almost anything.

side note:  if you're wondering why i don't have the pictures of the croissants and breads that i've been making, it's because i haven't taken the exam for that section yet.