Chocolate Chickens?

Yes, chickens made entirely of chocolate! This week our assignment was to make a chocolate show piece made entirely from chocolate, both cast chocolate pieces and modeling chocolate, which is chocolate with corn syrup added, which makes it pliable like play-dough. The chocolate modeling pieces are the feet, beaks, combs and flowers. The wings are piped chocolate and all of the other pieces are cast--the bodies are hollow spheres.

I had a great time making this piece and was very pleased with the results--being the first time and all! I liked how I was able to use my design background and creativity in making the piece. I had seen some ideas in books, but created the final design of each element and the overall composition on my own.

This is a collage of projects done by other students in the class. I loved how much creativity came out through these pieces. Starting in the top left corner, going clockwise, the pieces are: dragon, character from Nightmare before Christmas, giraffe, geisha, clown, chef, hobo and a bunny.

There are three more weeks to go and much more creativity to come as we will be working on projects with marzipan and sugar in the up coming weeks.

Willy Wonka's Dream

I am posting a week late on this stuff, this is what we did in our second week in Chocolates and Confections and the first few items are the final result of some "in-progress" photos I posted in my first blog on this class. As previously explained, this class operates individually and by projects. The first was a series of dipped chocolate candies where we learned about tempering chocolate, caramels, nougats and ganache. All of the candies were hand dipped, a technique that is a dying breed, which required a good amount of skill to produce good looking candies.

Chocolate caramel. The first photo shows and entire sheet of the caramels after being dipped. They are supposed to all be 1" square, but evident in the photo, I didn't quite hit that one on the nose. It was really difficult to cut all of the pieces and dip them evenly. The taste of the chocolate caramel was very rich and the texture a perfect balance between chewy and soft.

This was my favorite candy until I had another about 2 weeks later and it hadn't held up. The texture was grainy and the flavor wasn't there as it had been before. I imagine I did something incorrectly in making the caramel causing it to crystallize.



Honey-Almond Nougat. These were delicious! A chewy honey flavored nougat with sliced almonds covered in milk chocolate. I had to make the nougat twice to get the consistency right. The first time I over cooked it making it much too hard, which would have resulted in a candy people could loose teeth on!

Nougat Square Truffle. There was a photo of these last week when I had piped the ganache onto the chocolate disks. After that phase I placed three 1/2" squares of very thin nougat onto the top of the ganache and dipped the piece in dark chocolate. In my opinion this was an awkward chocolate in both appearance and to eat. I didn't think the flavors were exceptional either, although I have to admit here that I am not a huge fan of ganache filled chocolates. I think that there are so many more interesting fillings that can be used and although ganache is creamy and rich, always making a good chocolate, it is much too common for my liking!

Cocoa Vanilla Logs. I don't think this is the appropriate name for these considering they only have a smidge of vanilla extract and really are all chocolate. For these I piped lines of chocolate ganache and cut them into 1 1/4" pieces, dipped them in dark chocolate and immediately rolled them in powdered sugar. They are meant to have a bark-like texture on the outside to look like a log. I didn't even bother giving these a try since it was basically pure ganache.

Three brothers. This is a traditional European candy, a cluster of three caramelized hazelnuts placed on a chocolate disk and then dipped in chocolate. I used white chocolate to dip, which is nontraditional, but they turned out wonderful!

Caramelized Hazelnuts. These were the same caramelized nuts used in Three Brothers, above, however they were separated and coated with dark chocolate and then cocoa powder. A really good snack!

Additionally I made Rochers, slivered almonds with a tad of caramelized sugar and coated in dark chocolate. This is where the Americans came in and substituted peanuts and other ingredients and changed the name to "clusters." So, for us Americans, these basically are almond clusters!

I also made Milk Chocolate Bark. This was a mixture of all mistakes and leftovers folded with milk chocolate and poured onto a sheet pan to about 1/2" thickness. Instead of dumping all of those over-cooked nougats into the trash, they made a delicious bark, and the more mistakes, the better your bark was! A win-win all around!!!

The following are the pieces that we were required to make for the second class project. Again this project concentrated on the same techniques as our first project, however we concentrated a bit more on cooked sugar in this project.

Cassis Fruit Jellies. Made in a similar way that jelly, as in "jelly for toast", is made. We used fruit purees and I used 100% cassis, although I wasn't happy with the resulting flavor. Luckily I was able to taste one of my classmates who combined strawberry accented with cassis. It was amazing how strong the cassis was and how in this combination it tasted more like cassis than strawberry, yet the strawberry lightened the flavor and eliminated the bitter taste that was in mine with 100% cassis.

Dark Chocolate Montelimar. I was so excited when our chef showed us how to make this and told us it was part of our second project. When I was in Rome for my semester abroad (now too many years ago than I prefer to remember) I was there during the Christmas season, which meant I was obligated to try all of the Italian goodies I had never seen before. My favorite was the Torrone, a cousin to the montelimar. Since then I have seen it seldom since, yet it lingered in my mind. I was surprised to find out that this chewy nougat treat is made with egg white. I made mine with pistachio and candied orange peel, which turned out to be a knock-out combination, especially when enrobed in dark chocolate! I can't wait to experiment with this more.

We also made either toffee or brittle, and I made pecan toffee coated in dark chocolate, however I didn't get a photo. It turned out a little on the chewy side and could have been cooked more, although the flavor was good.

The last item in this project was individual choice. This is the end of the line for chocolate candies, a very short week and a half. This made it especially difficult to choose one item out of the hundreds of ideas I has and different combinations I wanted to play with. In the end I ended up squeezing in two, Peanut-Butter Truffle and Strawberry Marshmallows.

The Peanut-Butter Truffles were a milk chocolate shell filled with a peanut butter and milk chocolate ganache. The shell was a pre-made shell that I filled, sealed the fill hole and then dipped in milk chocolate to finish.

The Strawberry Marshmallows used strawberry puree and turned out perfectly! I was surprised how easy they are to make--this being my first foray into the homemade marshmallow world--but very messy! This recipe made a huge amount and because no one can eat marshmallows more than every few months, I had a lot left over. The obvious solution--Rice Krispie treats! Yummy strawberry flavored Rice Krispie treats--I think I am on to something here!

Recchiuti Chocolates

Recchiuti chocolates was an easy choice for my first visit to a Chocolatier--it is in the Ferry Building where I work, and although this was not my first visit this time I visited looking at the chocolates much differently. I was looking at the percent of dark versus light and white pieces offered--they had almost entirely dark pieces in their collection. Most of the pieces were molded and most used transfer sheet images, I doubt that any of them were hand dipped, although I didn't ask. Pricing was based on weight and all of the chocolates go for the same rate, about $50/lb and the fruit jellies for a little less. The most interesting thing I learned was that Recchiuti uses Guittard Chocolate to make their chocolates, the chocolate we use in class.


I purchased four chocolates and three fruit jellies (below) and they were packaged together in a small box with tissue and a sticker to seal the box.

Cherry, Passion fruit and Pear-Lime Fruit jellies. These were a very good consistency, soft with a little chew, but not rubbery at all. The passion fruit was wonderful and not too sweet or tart, as is a frequent problem with passion fruit in pastry. The cherry had a terrible flavor and the pear-lime was something new and really good, really a perfect balance of both flavors and nothing fake tasting.

Rose Caramel (in a white chocolate shell), Cardamom Nougat, Fleur de Sel Caramel, Sesame Nougat (clockwise from top). Out of all of these there is only one that I would buy again and in any quantity (that was one requirement for judging)--the fleur de sel caramel, although it was very small (less than 1" square). It was very pretty with the white swirls and, more importantly, the taste was a perfect balance of salty and sweet. Also, the caramel has a good consistency between chewy yet soft. One thing I hate about caramels is when the consistency is either too runny/soft or too chewy to enjoy!

The Rose Caramel was a liquid caramel with rose geranium essence. I didn't like the flavor of the rose geranium essence and found the liquid caramel to be much too runny. I really thought I would be biting into something with more bite--what a surprise when it went running down my chin!

The cardamom nougat would have been okay had it not been for the cocoa nibs on the top, which I not only didn't expect, but that were much too over powering in flavor to do any good in this combination.

The sesame nougat was a risk just based on the name. I wasn't sure what I would get, but really there was so little sesame nougat actually in the candy that I am not sure how they can get away calling it by that name? This piece was a boring milk/dark chocolate ganache, that sat on a disk of sesame nougat, which was so thin that if you didn't look after your first bite you wouldn't know it was there!

Overall, I like the presentation of the store and the candies, but at the price I don't think this chocolate is all that great. I won't be running back anytime soon.

Chocolates and Confections

I have entered my final class at the California Culinary Academy, Chocolates and Confections. I can hardly believe that my 30 week Baking and Pastry program is only 5 weeks shy of completion--my last day is June 15th! However the next few weeks will be full of many new things!This past week was an introduction to tempering chocolate and chocolate making--caramels, truffles and dipping chocolates. It was an intensive week and will be a quick paced class full of information. In this class we work individually, which is refreshing because I find it allows for more freedom to experiment. Additionally we will have show piece projects which require a great deal of design and creative expression, and like our wedding cakes, it will be nice to try it for the first time as a solo endeavor.

The class is arranged in groups of projects. The first 3 weeks will focus on chocolate and second three weeks on sugar work. As I mentioned, this week we learned several methods for tempering chocolate, which means that it is properly mixed and heated--something that intimidated me prior to learning several new techniques. When chocolate is not tempered it looks moldy and old--appearing white on the surface. We have all seen this before, and it doesn't do much for the appetite!

The first photo is the beginning of a nougat ganache truffle and the second, honey nougat, prior to being dipped. Both candies are part of our first project which I will report on in next weeks blog, when they are all finished. In the mean time our chef has asked us to visit as many chocolatiers as possible and do a little research--I can handle that!

Bar None Pastry is Done!

This week was my final week of my plated desserts and pastry class. Unbelievable how fast another six weeks has gone by and I am thrilled to be taking away tons of valuable information from these classes. My confidence was reconfirmed a few weeks back when I had a "stage" or try-out at a local San Francisco restaurant and they had me making things I wouldn't have had a clue about had I not done it in this pastry class. This class is going to be the basis on which I build my career.

In this class we touched on all of the fundamentals and additionally were given the freedom to try our own recipes, test our creativity and practice a variety of techniques. With the termination of this class we will no longer be baking, as it is on to Chocolate and Confections classes next week--I think I am really going to miss it!

We had only one day of production this week as we had to take our final and clean the kitchen top to bottom. I wanted to make the most of our last opportunity to "experiment" with our own plated desserts and so I made two!

Hazelnut Parfait with Hazelnut Brittle and Chocolate Hazelnut French Macaroons. This dessert had finely crumbled brittle layered between the parfait which was all placed in a water glass and frozen. It was topped with a dollop of whipped cream and garnished with the brittle. There is an enormous misconception about parfait in this country--I'm included! But now that I know the difference I want to spread the knowledge. I think when most of us think of parfait we think of some layered concoction, maybe that yogurt thing they sell at McDonald's that they call a parfait. But really, in the pastry world, a parfait is egg yolk, flavoring and whipped cream folded together and frozen.

With this dessert the French macaroon obsession continues... These were the same recipe as last week, only adding chocolate. I was disappointed that again they turned out cracked on the surface, but admittedly they tasted really good! However, the search continues...

These are my Baked Alaskas before being plated and burned off (toasting the meringue). I had to include this picture in my blog because I love the way these look as pristine white urchin looking things. I think these would make a great presentation at a seafood restaurant.

Spiced Banana and Chocolate Baked Alaska with Caramelized Bananas. I loved this dessert. I thought it looked interesting and it tasted awesome! I was happy with both platings, but really liked the second plating best. I also think the caramelized bananas would be much more enjoyable in smaller pieces.

In one final attempt, I tried a new recipe and new technique to produce the perfect French Macaroon. A classmate shared a recipe from the The American Boulangerie cookbook, which is a bakery here in San Francisco. I also let the cookies sit for 15-20 minutes before baking to form a skin, a technique that I came across in some research. As you can see from the photo, none of this worked and the recipe was the worst out of all that I tired

Hunt for the Perfect French Macaroon

The first time I ever had or came to know a French Macaroon was a few years ago on a trip to San Francisco and the two places to find the best are Miette and Bouchon. Since Bouchon is a good hour and a half drive and Miette is in the Ferry Building where I work it is obvious where I buy mine, but not often since they are an outrageous $1.50 a pop! And that only gets you two bites!

This last Saturday, in an effort to do a little research I laid down a $10 and got 6 of the flavors on offer:

Vanilla, Hazelnut, Rose Geranium, Strawberr, Pistachio and Chocolate

All of their cookies had perfect tops, no cracks--still don't know how to solve that one! They had a good texture, chewy in the center with a hard outer shell. The centers were either a flavored buttercream or ganache. Not a surprise, but the Rose-Geranium didn't do it for me. I didn't care for the flowery flavor. I was surprised that I didn't like the chocolate, but it was much dryer than the others and the flavor wasn't chocolate-y enough.

After the research I have new ammunition to try again next week.

Gettin' Back in the Groove!

Only two weeks left in our plated dessert class and so many things left to try! If I don't bake it in the next two weeks, I won't be baking it in culinary school! It is so much fun having the opportunity to choose the desserts I make, but there are so many. This week was a good recovery after last week, producing several good looking and tasting desserts.

The first dessert of the week: Coconut Meringue and Kiwi-Kirsch Sorbet with Fresh Fruit and Champagne Compote. I chose this recipe from my Chez Panisse Fruit cookbook because I wanted to make a beautiful springtime dessert as well as something that could go on a menu as a health conscious option. The Fresh Fruit and Champagne Compote was delicious and the Kirsch a perfect compliment to the Kiwi in the sorbet. Although the coconut meringue was very tasty, I wasn't fond of how soft it turned out and will try a different recipe for this component next time.



I made this dessert based off of a photo in a brochure from a company that provides pre-made desserts to retail establishments. The yellow portion is a thin cake, called a jaconde sponge, which is often used along with a simple colored batter that is first baked in the pan so that it produces different designs on the cake. I wanted to produce a random pattern that looked something like bamboo. I was very happy with the results of the jaconde, but wish that the green had been much more intense (the dessert in the photo had beautiful earthy-green stripes in the jaconde sponge).

I cut the jaconde sponge cake to line ring molds and then made a passion fruit mousse and filled the molds. The mousse was refrigerated and allowed to set and then removed from the molds. I was very happy with the results in both appearance and flavor. I wish that I had the time to plate it because it would have made a nice plated dessert, however this was an extra project.

This week our chef instructor showed us methods for making hot souffle. He assured us that they are not nearly as scary as people say although they do only last a few minutes out of then oven and then fall. My first attempt at souffle was a successful one! I flavored a vanilla souffle recipe with mocha and it was very tasty!

Poached Pineapple and Frangipan Tart with Macadamia Brittle. This is one of the best desserts I have made in this class thus far! This is another recipe I took from Chez Panisse Fruit, but I adapted this one quite a bit. Preparing the pineapple was quite a process, but well worth the results! Chez Panisse didn't have you poaching the pineapple at all, but upon my chef's suggestion I did so and was happy I listened! The pineapple was arranged on top of a layer of frangipane and then baked. Frangipane is an almond paste based filling that sets up and has a cake-like texture once baked--believe me when I tell you this tart was amazing!

The butterfly seemed fitting since the tart came out looking like a flower and too because nothing else really worked. The accompaniment of the brittle was good, but it would have benefited by the addition of a third component--coconut ice cream to complete the tropical theme and round out the plating.

The end of the week started a small obsession with French Macaroons (sometimes called Parisian Macaroons). The above were my first attempt and I was disappointed how most of them cracked on top--they should be smooth like the two shown below. These were a typical almond meal based French macaroon which was colored and sandwiched with Italian buttercream.

I also made a batch of Almond Macaroons, somehow of which I didn't get a photo?? I had mistaken Almond Macaroons for French Macaroons and since I had never made either, only eaten them, I decided to make both to see the differences. The Almond are made with almond paste in place of the almond meal used in the French which makes the Almond much chewier. Both are good, but with the curiously cracking French Macaroons and some questions about adding flavors I have the feeling that this obsession will not be over anytime soon...