Classical Cakes

This class was when I really started enjoying myself. Not that I didn't before, but we were doing more complex stuff. It was essentially split up in two different categories: unfilled cakes, and filled cakes. However, I have yet to figure out why they were categorized that way exactly. They all seemed filled to me...

After each section we had a test. My first test (the unfilled category) I had my best test ever. We had to do a frangipane tart, line a tart pan and prebake it, and make tarte tatin. I was done a half hour early, I was really proud of my stuff, and I got a pretty decent grade. If only I could have held on to that with the next test. The last test in this class was the filled category. We had to do a black forest cake, make Italian buttercream and fill, frost, and decorate a cake, and make creme anglaise. Everything was ok except for my black forest cake... I went to transfer it to the cake board for grading and it basically collapsed from too much simple syrup. I can't believe I'm admitting my mistakes for everyone. It was my worst grade in school. boo.

Unfilled cakes below: left to right- puff pastry fruit tart, basque cake (which looks boring, but is actually one of my very favorite things-so good!), chocolate hazelnut cake, custard fruit tart, upside down poppy seed fruit cake, flourless chocolate cake, souffle cake, pear tart, frangipane tart, fruit tart, torte ricotta (really good too), and lemon semolina cake.



Filled cakes below: left to right- 3 cakes, raspberry yogurt cake, cognac cake, grand marnier cake, coating leaves in chocolate for the cognac cake, full cognac cake, buttercream cake, chocolate hazelnut cream cake, black forest cake (not the one I did in class-you can see that it's intact), profiteroles for Gateau St Honore (it was way too messy to bring a slice back and take a pic of it), charlotte, back of the charlotte (showing the polka dotted jaconde sponge-so fun to make), whole black forest cake, whole grand marnier cake, and whole raspberry yogurt cake.


By the way, Gateau St. Honore is a traditional dessert where puff pastry is baked and pate a choux puffs are dipped in caramelized sugar and placed on the outside of the puff pastry. It is filled with creme chibouste (pastry cream lightened with whipped cream) and topped with whipped cream. Traditionally it will have the whipped cream piped like what's shown in the picture. It looks like little sails. This is pretty much what ours looked like when we made it.