Cakes and Dessert Plating

There is nothing like making CAKES! So the last time I posted a blog I was in bread class; which was three terms ago. Since then I have taken a cake class and dessert plating.

Cake class started off great, until I got really sick the day after school started. I ended up missing a few days of class which put me behind the other students. L But once I got back into the kitchen, I “rocked and rolled” and was able to catch up with everyone! I learned a lot in class and enjoyed my teacher.

I learned to make cakes I never even heard of, such as Le ‘Opera cake, Stencil cake, and Dubos Tart. They were all great cakes! I even learned how to make carrot cake, which was heavy but the best. I would have to say the only thing I did not like about the cake was that the carrots where made from almond paste. The almond paste was too sweet for me (I never really liked anything that is too sweet).

It’s funny as I write this I am thinking back on to the events that took place during the term.  The one thing I remember most is being “attacked” in the hallways when leaving class because someone wanted a piece of my cake. There would be times in which I would say “Don’t touch!” because I had yet to take a picture of my finished product. It seemed to always happen the most when the cake was chocolate…When I got home from school and I still had my cake I would leave it in the front lobby of the apartment complex. I would always get good feedback from the neighbors who lived there saying they loved the cake (the good feedback mostly came from my neighbor, who goes to LCB as well).

Dessert plating, (the class I just finished) was the one class I like the most. I really liked this class not only because we had the most two outgoing Chefs, it was because we got to be creative. The Chefs would give us a dessert and show us how it could be made, but in the end they would let us choose how we wanted to make it. All they asked was that the main ingredient must be used but we could add in whatever we wanted in the product. The two main ingredients I used the most in my desserts was Nutmeg and Cinnamon, especially in the ice cream we make. MMM….my mouth is drooling just thinking of it!

The main point in the dessert plating class is that we got to learn how to produce fine dining desserts. It starts from designing the plate with sauce, to producing nice desserts. The dessert requires a crunch, two sauces, height, hot and cold, and a garnish. The hot and cold part means there has to be something on the plate that is cold like ice cream, and a hot item such as a cake. I think the difficult part for me was trying to make up a new design for the plate and placing a garnish on the dessert without it breaking on me.

In the last three weeks of class we moved from dessert plating to making candy. We made bonbons, truffles, and even marshmallows. They were no problem for me, up to a point. Things started to get difficult when it came time for us to create a chocolate box. The chocolate and I would get into a fight every day. Who do you think won the fight? Yeah that’s right the chocolate won, it kicked my butt like there was no tomorrow!

When working with chocolate there is a process in which we must take it through called tempering.

Tempering refers to a process of heating and cooling chocolate to prepare it for dipping and enrobing. The tempering process ensures that the cocoa butter in chocolate hardens in a uniform crystal structure.  

Tempering chocolate is not as easy as we thought when we watched our chefs demo the process. It’s twice as difficult when the weather is way too hot outside because then it takes even longer to temper the chocolate because it would be to warm for the chocolate to set.

I really enjoyed my classes and I am looking forward to starting my next two sets of classes! I will be taking Centerpieces and Cake Decoration Techniques and Hospitality Supervisions. I can’t wait to start working with different techniques in putting a wedding cake together.

Well that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this and will look to post another entry when I finish my next term!