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Flavor of the Day: Top Banana
Feb. 24th, 2004 09:03 pmSo, Culinary Lab went pretty well today. We're STILL doing carbohydrates (i think this is the last week of this section) only we've moved on to baking, so most students are feeling a little more pressure to get all the ratios and timing right, because baking is more of an exact science because of all the chemical reactions- so many things can go wrong! Our class was making angel food (foam) cakes and devil's food (shortened) cakes, baguettes and "epi de ble" (french bread in the shape of a wheat stalk), and soft french dinner rolls.
My partner did the soft rolls, and I did a white/chocolate marble cake with chocolate buttercream icing (my choice). SOoooo good! (Of course, I can't take all the credit; throw real cocoa and sugar and butter in almost anything and it's hard to make it taste 'bad'...)
Neither of the cake recipes came with topping recipes, they just left it up to us as "optional". I had actually prepared raspberry coulis and coconut rum whipped cream recipes in case i got the angel food cake (I even had one of those teeny-tiny bottles of Bacardi Coco just in case!), but I was ready for both. In my buttercream icing I used confectioner's sugar, and substituted heavy cream for the milk, so it turned out extra-smooth and dark and glossy, which was great! My partner and I worked well supporting each other, too, so both our products turned out yummy, timely and beautifully presented.
I read a lot and prepared a lot for this lab, so I'm glad everything turned out well. I was even able to answer Chef promptly when he grilled me about gluten matrix inhibitors. (whew. )
We had a lot leftover. Luckily, our rolls and cake didn't get chosen for the sample peice (they pick one product randomly for everyone to taste and write their lab reports on), so we got to take those home. However, we had too much french bread dough, so we still had about a pound and a half left and still rising. The professor said to just throw it out, but I grabbed some saran wrap and ganked it... i figure if nothing else, I can knead some rosemary and olives into it, and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese, and practice playing around with it, or whatever. I could make it into a loaf or two and have some yummy sandwich bread. or something. I hate to waste stuff (especially 'cause I'm not on a meal plan).
But, even after my partner and I split up the booty (lab leftovers), I had so much to carry home, that I decided to just share my cake out with whatever friends I found in the lobby instead of lugging home a cake box on top of everything else. Of course, it's never hard to find hotelies sitting around with a laptop working on something or other, so I was rid of my extra weight soon enough. *grin*
I also got a surprisingly nice compliment: one of the grad students who's from France told me that my icing was "soo good, just like it's really supposed to be"-- he complained that most American "chocolate" products are too sweet and don't contain a high enough percentage of actual cocoa, but mine, he said, tasted just right. yay! ^_^
Hmmm... I realize this all might sound like bragging.... and I'm not a real 'braggy' kind of person... but really, i'm just happy to find something at this school I don't suck at, for once.
And hopefully I can share my happiness with you, so here is my recipe of the day:
( White/Chocolate Marble Cake with Easy Chocolate Buttercream Icing )
My partner did the soft rolls, and I did a white/chocolate marble cake with chocolate buttercream icing (my choice). SOoooo good! (Of course, I can't take all the credit; throw real cocoa and sugar and butter in almost anything and it's hard to make it taste 'bad'...)
Neither of the cake recipes came with topping recipes, they just left it up to us as "optional". I had actually prepared raspberry coulis and coconut rum whipped cream recipes in case i got the angel food cake (I even had one of those teeny-tiny bottles of Bacardi Coco just in case!), but I was ready for both. In my buttercream icing I used confectioner's sugar, and substituted heavy cream for the milk, so it turned out extra-smooth and dark and glossy, which was great! My partner and I worked well supporting each other, too, so both our products turned out yummy, timely and beautifully presented.
I read a lot and prepared a lot for this lab, so I'm glad everything turned out well. I was even able to answer Chef promptly when he grilled me about gluten matrix inhibitors. (whew. )
We had a lot leftover. Luckily, our rolls and cake didn't get chosen for the sample peice (they pick one product randomly for everyone to taste and write their lab reports on), so we got to take those home. However, we had too much french bread dough, so we still had about a pound and a half left and still rising. The professor said to just throw it out, but I grabbed some saran wrap and ganked it... i figure if nothing else, I can knead some rosemary and olives into it, and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese, and practice playing around with it, or whatever. I could make it into a loaf or two and have some yummy sandwich bread. or something. I hate to waste stuff (especially 'cause I'm not on a meal plan).
But, even after my partner and I split up the booty (lab leftovers), I had so much to carry home, that I decided to just share my cake out with whatever friends I found in the lobby instead of lugging home a cake box on top of everything else. Of course, it's never hard to find hotelies sitting around with a laptop working on something or other, so I was rid of my extra weight soon enough. *grin*
I also got a surprisingly nice compliment: one of the grad students who's from France told me that my icing was "soo good, just like it's really supposed to be"-- he complained that most American "chocolate" products are too sweet and don't contain a high enough percentage of actual cocoa, but mine, he said, tasted just right. yay! ^_^
Hmmm... I realize this all might sound like bragging.... and I'm not a real 'braggy' kind of person... but really, i'm just happy to find something at this school I don't suck at, for once.
And hopefully I can share my happiness with you, so here is my recipe of the day:
( White/Chocolate Marble Cake with Easy Chocolate Buttercream Icing )
