Puff puff and away

a very first attempt at puff pastry ... i must say my palmiers are pretty decent
whew a relief after the rather trying st honore earlier in the day
quite self explantory ... chaussins aux pommes, apples turnover , a french classic and the palmiers, a golden heart-shaped gem... one for ur love?
first up from chef

not very impressive in looks ... but full of apple goodness...with a tinge of calvados of course

my fav creations so far ...a dozen of them lying in my fridge now

cream cream and more cream

its cream galore !
st honore is combination of a short crust pastry topped with cream ..more cream filled choux buns with golden caramel
a must for cream lovers.. also was secretly very thankful we didn't have to whip the chantilly cream by hand
was a little stressed out with the piping work but otherwise has great fun with creating the little golden 'hats' for my choux buns
chef's work of art

the Paris Brest .. a harder choux pastry filled with praline mousseline cream... mini versions are very commonly found in all fine Parisian pattisserie..

and my humble attempt

Gateau Basque and Diplomate

On to bigger stuff...custard or rather pastry cream is the way to go
for the last practical of our first week...
Gateau Basque ; a traditional cake from the Basque region , pastry crust filled with pastry cream and dried fruits.
as well as Diplomate..or Diplomat pudding..
a rather misleading name i would said cos it would be the last thing u would serve a diplomate... made with stale brioche and custard ..chef dressed it up to add a touch of glamour

my rather disfigured and sorry version.. though i must say my rum drenched custard centre was rather glorious tasting as i found out in my initial tasting during class..yesh was caught red -handed by classmate as well

big cake, lemon cake, mini cakes

Of course first up ... a classic demo by our dear chef... a lovely pound cake with dried fruits: Cake aux Fruits



my version of the fruit cake..didn't exactly have cherries but true to form tried to drench mine in much Grand Marnier syrup
very happily ambushed another LCB student to accept my extra fruit cake
the rest will be heading to London on Mon ..a little contribution to my friend's office pantry


my little Madelines.... such pretty little things....
a little 'histoire' :
The madeleine or petite madeleine is a traditional small cake from Commercy, a commune of the Meuse département in northeastern France.
tasted mostly of honey cos my class ran out of lemon peels.. but guess i like them better that way
am inspired to make earl grey tea ones today during tea eating Aoki Sadharu macaroons
chef also made some refreshing lemony cakes... known as Weekend... hmmm
does that mean eating it would make u feel as good as the weekend?
managed to get some shots of top pastry shop Dalloyau's version of them too..

of apples ..green and golden

le classique tarte aux pomme..voila the apple tart..simply a minature piece of art

Tarte Tatin; an extra large dose of apples with a lovely caramel base

an interesting variant i think... Tarte Normande: generous dose of apples in a custard bath

my own apple tart ...amazed that i actually managed to produced ...mini pat on the back.. not as pretty as those above of course ..but to do this with just a metal ring .. the results is still passable i hope
persuaded a cuisine class student to take the whole tart as well ..hope i made their day
and yes.. i officially think i hate apples now...

Day 1 at Le Cordoin Bleu ...Actually day 2 ....