The event showcases chocolate creations from various organizations including us (obviously), Chez Tess, Lindt, Northwood chefs, and Chocolates by Design, among others. It's a pretty big deal. I think this is the 10th year (it used to be called "Pinch of Love: A Chocolate Affair" but now it's just "The Halifax Chocolate Affaire").
The class was divided into two groups (Buffet A and Buffet B) and we were going to form pairs in our groups and each pair was going to make a few things from the recipe package. He said that we wouldn't all be able to make everything, but some of the recipes are featured in the next set of rotations. So, even if we don't make them now, it doesn't mean that we never will.
First, my partner and I both had to finish our chocolate Halloween scenes on our sponge cakes. I was really happy to get that out of the way. I was going to add things to mine and adjust the placement of some stuff, but then I just decided against it because the chocolate was so temperamental and I didn't really want to deal with it anymore. So, definitely not my best work, but it would have to do.
After that, we made the mixture for Chocolate Pillows. After making the mixture, we divided it into three and placed it in the fridge to cool and harden. Then, after about an hour and a half-ish, we took it out of the fridge and shaped it into balls and then rolled these out into three even logs. I have no idea what the final product will be for these because the consistency by the end of the day today was very strange. It was a semi-sweet chocolate / ground almonds / flour mixture that was log-shaped... so, you can imagine what they might look like. Not too appetizing. Eventually, we'll cut them into slices to make 36 pillows and bake them. Stay tuned for developments there.
The next recipe we tacked was almond brittle, which was one of the ones I was hoping we would get to do. I love peanut brittle A LOT, so I was excited to learn how to make it. We heated up the sugar/water/glucose mixture to 115 degrees and then folded in some roughly chopped almonds. Once this mixture caramelized and reached around 155 degrees, we added in our salt, vanilla, and butter. Once the butter was melted, we added the baking powder. The mixture rose a little in the pot and then we poured it onto a silicone mat, placed another one on top, and rolled over it with a rolling pin, trying to make it as thin as possible. Once this was done, while the brittle was still warm, we stretched it out and cut pieces off with scissors. (Jean-Luc said that you could also wait til it was slightly cooler and cut into any desired shape or let it cool completely and just cut it into pieces. Stretching it out while it's still warm makes it really thin and easy to bite into though.) After it was done, I basically had to remove the tray from our table because we kept eating pieces of it. Jean-Luc said we could basically use any nuts that we wanted (almonds, peanuts, pecans, etc.) and I definitely plan to make a bunch of brittle at home with this amazingly delicious recipe.
The last recipe we did today was the pumpkin milk chocolate cake that Jean-Luc demonstrated a while ago and that one of the restaurant groups got to make already. This was essentially like a sponge, except it also had pumpkin puree in it. First, we heated up the eggs and sugar, then whisked on high speed until they almost quadrupled in size. This was then folded into the pumpkin puree, a little at first to loosen it up, then the rest. Then the dry ingredients were folded in as well. The mixture was pretty runny when it went into the cake ring. We placed some foil under it so that it wouldn't seep all over the place. By the time it had finally finished baking it was time to leave, so we set it on a cooling rack and Jean-Luc said he'd take it from there. We're going to finish off the milk chocolate part tomorrow.
A lot of people are itching to start the new set of rotations, but I sort of like all of us working on different things. It means that you can basically work at whatever speed you want, because it's not until you're done that Jean-Luc comes over and gives you something else to do. You still have to work relatively quickly, obviously. But the people who are already super fast just move on to the next thing faster and don't have to wait around for the slower people in their group and the slower people can also work more at their own pace and don't have to feel like they are holding everyone up. Who knows if I'll feel as optimistic about this tomorrow, but I feel good about it now.
Oh, also, he asked for volunteers to come in on Saturday to finish off the last few things before the event. I figured since I'm not going to the actual event, I might as well come in on one day of the weekend. Besides, being in the kitchen when there aren't a billion other people there is kind of nice. Almost relaxing. Almost.
---
Today's Recipes
Chocolate Pillows
Almond Brittle
Pumpkin Milk Chocolate Cake
No comments:
Post a Comment