My friend HT hosted yet another awesome Christmas party in early December. I made my very first Bûche de Noël with chocolate genoise, chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. I'm glad that everybody liked it - but I found it a little too bitter/too much of dark chocolate :p
A week later, I made quite a few Bûche de Noël at work. Hazelnut sponge, white chocolate mousse and hazelnut buttercream. Mmm. That's more like it ;)
Here's a great opportunity to review what I learned at baking school a while ago. Chocolate Truffle Mousse Cake, as per my friend Mrs. HT's request. Slices of chocolate sponge nestled in luscious chocolate mousse, topped with rich chocolate ganache.
I could have skipped the decorative sponge part, but... why? That's the fun part of this cake! :D haha I piped the word 'friends' in mirror image with decorating paste and froze it while prepping biscuit joconde. Spread the biscuit joconde over the chilled decorating paste and bake it at quite high temp quickly... and there you have it. The most difficult part might have been finding the right font in right size for the template to pipe on!
last-minute invite to a dinner + fresh berries in season = trifle
Note to myself: next time I make a trifle, I'll definitely make each layers really nice and clean... :(
I made chocolate truffles. Just because.
Clockwise from top right: vanilla truffle with toasted coconut flakes, grand marnier truffle dipped in milk chocolate, s'more truffle, grand marnier truffle rolled in cocoa powder. Middle: grand marnier truffle dipped in white chocolate and topped with dried cranberries
Here's a cross section of s'more truffle. Mini marshmallow in vanilla truffle, rolled in graham cracker crumbs. Ohhhh, yeahhhh.
Milk chocolate mousse in a blind-baked pie shell, topped with caramelized banana slices and milk chocolate shavings.
This is my plated dessert diagram for the final practical test. I wish I could have taken a photo or two of the finished item :(
The red tuile was not a coil on the plate. It was more like a group of the big alphabet C's.
I used the Almond Glass recipe on Wild Sweets Chocolate which I love!
Please click on the above photo to read descriptions of the dessert...
Each student was assigned to present a summer-themed plated dessert to Ms. M, our instructor, as well as the entire class.
L to R: dark chocolate strawberry ganache, fresh strawberry slices, roasted almond slices, tuile rounds; white chocolate mousse, raspberry compote; mini fresh bluberry cake with lemongrass-flavoured whipped cream.
The recipe for dark chocolate strawberry ganache is from this awesome book called Wild Sweets Chocolate. (Thanks UW!)
I was aiming to achieve the flavour transition from rich ganache to lighter mousse to super light cake...
From front to back: banana foster with walnuts (my very first flambé experience! FUN!), strawberry granita, mocha pot de creme in dark chocolate cylinder (with maraschino cherry on top, of course), white chocolate covered vanilla ice cream topped with candied pineapple chunks and mango coulis.
* didn't like the plate :( * white chocolate was so thick that nobody could eat/break it! * chocolate tempering took forever... ugh
From top to bottom: chocolate decoration, raspberries, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, sweet short paste disk.
I wanted chocolate mousse rounds to be the same size (diameter) as other components :(
Taco shells (sweet short paste), black beans (almond clusters), sour cream (whipped cream), salsa (strawberries), lettuce (mint leaves), & cheese (mango). Served with frozen strawberry margaritas (strawberry granita).
Spot the difference? The glasses were rimmed with medium sugar.
Chocolate mousse (cubes; hidden not shown) in a chocolate cup, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. Served with a brandy roll.
There's nothing "coffee" about this dessert but it says "Café"...
Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and pieces of ladyfinger are hidden inside the chocolate sphere. Served with warm créme anglaise.
* inspired by this beautiful recipe that I found online...
merci beaucoup :)
This is the reconstructed version of Vacherin I made a little while ago. Chocolate ice cream pyramid is masked with whipped cream, topped with two meringue hearts, sprinkled with chocolate shavings.
Alternating layers of milk chocolate ganache filling and chocolate sponge cake, pressed into a bowl & coated with dark chocolate coating ganache.
Just so you know, the white chocolate thing on the cake is a butterfly, not a moth!
My first sacher torte. The lowercase 'h' is not my favourite alphabet to pipe especially with chocolate. Neither is 'a'.
Green streaks were painted inside a chocolate mould with coloured cocoa butter. Melted white chocolate was poured into the mould, and 10 minutes at room temp + another 10 minutes in the fridge later... the funky bunny was born.
I brought the bunny home and there he was greeted by one of my dogs.
My marzipan plaque with Easter design. I channeled my inner 5-year-old self who loved Sanrio stuff... Wait. I still love Sanrio stuff!
Made as per customer's request by Daniel, Eli and myself :) Little chicks, flowers & butterflies were made with marzipan.
The curious one.
The cool one.
The chubby one.
