The week when we had a surprise evaluation and the week before spring break

By now everyone comes in so early that even when I come in by 7am I feel like I was running in late already let alone at 7.07 that's like super late! Well that Monday morning I think I must had arrived few minutes late because not only the recipes are already written on the whiteboard, some people are already weighing up ingredients. Written on the board : croissant evaluation. Whattttt?! our group were never told it was going to be an evaluation... but chef said that because we were pretty good at it he didn't worry. So anyway I got over the 'shock' quickly and proceeded to make the dough as normal. We were to bake them the next day when our chef would be with us, that day we had chef from group B supervising us.

Meanwhile in between dough resting we also made kouign amann. I thought I had already made awesome ones in the past but the ones we made at school that day were amazing! We added some vanilla powder and kapow! they became even more super tasty. My cat loves butter and will come from a different room when he smells butter and he could definitely detect butter in these.

On Tuesday we baked our croissants and pains au chocolat, the look of mine were not bad.... I made worse looking ones but of course they were far from perfect! I have a list of things I found wrong in them but chef was much more lenient, he said the shapes of my croissants were mmhhh not good, lamination not bad but the butter must had cracked and pains au chocolat shapes were irregular. At home I cut open each and everyone and he was right, I rolled the croissants too tightly and the one he said was correct had a nice crumb (below) the rest mmhhhh I'd rather not show. One of 8 correct is a definite fail for me but I passed the evaluation though. So gentle my chef haha.

On that day we also made Polonaises which I had never had nor heard before, they look so retro and they are rather good. Wednesday we started by making croissant dough again! I was excited because I thought I would have a chance to see if I roll the croissants lightly and don't press them too hard they would be wonderful but chef said NO when I asked if I could make some with the dough. So maybe one day before the weather turned too summery I would try make some AT HOME. Anyway, so I ended up with 8 super fatty pain suisse that I didn't want and 8 escargots pistache chocolat. We also made that day, some amazing looking and very delicious brioches feuilletée but I gave away everything.

On Thursday we went on another school excursion, to flour mill Moulins Bourgeois Verdelot outside Paris. We went with people from group B and it was a rather nice day because the weather was beautiful and the village is quaint and charming. The factory was quite amazing, I like watching production line and it was quite fascinating to see and to know how flour comes about on the supermarket shelves though this particular mill only supplies in bulk to several artisan bakeries in Paris. Here is a photo of group A looking cheery and well pleased with their goody bags.

Us and group B.

Friday we made tarte tropezienne, and there went another week. I think on Monday I had reached my fat quota for the week already but I took this tarte home. Love it!

The week after was the week before spring break and it was another week of entremets. It was honestly, perhaps my least favourite week so far.. from the start. If I was a soccer player I felt like I had the ball in the penalty area, someone tackled me we both fell and I was the one given the yellow card. That happened on Monday, quickly forgiven and forgotten but then on Tuesday I got another reprimand which I'm sure this time it was my fault but I couldn't remember what. From then on, I was like a player who was just playing careful not to make a mistake and hit anyone and so ran slower dropped the ball etc. Focus was just practically gone and plus there were so many elements we made on the same day for different entremets so I was just carrying on autopilot following what everybody does. NOT good because I was feeling a bit lost as to what was going on.

Only on Thursday after we finished everything I finally could sum up in my head what elements were in which. That week we made 6 entremets in 4 days :
1. Douceur Feminine (so good! biscuit noisette, cremeux citron, chantilly mascarpone vanille)

2. Garigues (top left, biscuit chocolat, cremeux clementine à la basilic, compoté mara des bois, mousse au chocolat à la basilic)
3. Entremets peanuts (my favourite, biscuit chocolat, cremeux tonka, mousse dulcey, crunch cacahuète)
4. Tea Time (biscuit chocolat sans farine, cremeux framboise, mousse chocolat lait thé earl grey)
5. Noumea (biscuit noisette, mousse banane ananas)
6. Praliné Citron (pain de gênes, mousse praliné, cremeux citron)

Then Friday came, we had another demo but I kept losing interest. Maybe it was because I had holiday already in my mind, maybe because it was a week where I wasn't feeling my best, but in the end I think it was because I had too high hopes after the last demo. As with everything, I have to learn to not have any expectations and just let things to surprise me. That was a nice segway for me to explain that last year I went to Iceland without any expectations and I was quite blown away. A few days ago I came back from a quick getaway again to Iceland, this time of course I knew already what I was in for, but again Iceland stepped it up one notch.. it was even better than I remembered it.

I stayed at the same hotel next to the blue lagoon and the hotel had been redone and I loved it even more. Last year I found the surface of the blue lagoon was rough and rocky and I found that they had made it more pleasant and smooth. I found the people kind and friendly... the food fresh and delicious, the colours a palette of vivid and sombre unlike anywhere I had seen. The weather was amazing especially the day I visited the blue lagoon.

I can't wait to go again, but meanwhile... school restarts tomorrow and I'm all refreshed body and mind. The whole week we will be with chef from group D which I'm not especially happy about... because no matter how, I am still very fond of our chef and think that he is the best. But I suppose variety is good and I shouldn't have any expectation plus it is a very short week... where we will have another art class!! I am looking forward to the second half of our course but definitely not looking forward to the end. I am definitely going to try to make everyday the best day ever and not to think and worry too much about anything. Except for maybe, the art homework.

Melinda x

Ps. Wednesday before the holiday, some of us took a picnic rug and snacks to Parc des Sceaux. As pretty as I remembered it with all the cherry blossoms.

Viennoiserie mon amour

Normally we would be told the week before what we are going to make the week after, when chef said we would be making viennoiseries, I kept my cool but my insides were doing back flips. So excited :) because you know... I've tried and tried but I was far from happy with the result.. and I think it wasn't due to me being incapable you see... it's because I wasn't in the right environment with controlled temperature. Anyway so I practically pranced to school on Monday... I had French in the morning and the lab in the afternoon. Someday I will write about the other classes we attend, and the school lunches .. because I enjoy them in equal measure.

That Monday we finished around 8pm, and especially in the beginning it was pretty intense and chef was yelling pushing us to work faster. We had three types of dough to make pâte à croissant, pâte à brioche and pain au lait. All by hand. It was like slap slap roll roll laminate, next dough, bam bam fall down, next dough, cut cut shape egg wash. We left with big bags of fresh pain au lait, but the croissants and brioches were to be baked the next day.

Tuesday we prepared pâte à croissant and pâte à brioche again though this time we mada a huge brioche dough in bulk with a mixing machine phew... (cos it is so s t i c k y!). The brioche dough from Monday had to be shaped and to make the little brioche with a head.... turned out to be super tricky!!!

Actually to cut pain au lait into a navette shape with the little teeth... that was hard as well. It's ok if you can stand them being irregular and homey but I CAN'T! And sadly at the moment, my cuts are looking like a british bulldog's teeth.. different sizes and pointing everywhere. On the other hand my croissants and pain au chocolat were not bad!

Happy with the shape and how they look... when I cut in to check the crumb.. pretty good... so yes overall, happiness! I left most at school and only took a few home, cos you know no need to be greedy so early... Wednesday we made pâte à croissant again... and I think that's all but we each were given a kilo of brioche dough to shape into 5 different classic shapes : Parisienne, Nanterre, two types of brioches tressées, and a brioche feuilletée.

This photo of brioches feuilletées I love!

We baked the croissants from yesterday, this time all were shaped into croissants because they are the hardest one to master and disappointingly they all came out from the oven misshapen and looking all weird. Not just mine, but for most of us in general. My chef said the dough was too strong and so they opened up when baked. Boo... anyway this time I took them all home and gave most to the sisters.

Thursday we made pâte à croissant AGAIN and even though I had never had a perfect batch, by then the process became something almost banal and easy. I think a few in the class were a bit over it by then but I really love it and I think, for those who makes croissants even everyday it's always a quest for perfection... NO??
Croissants baked from Wednesday's dough turned out ok, when I cut them in half when we make them into croissants aux amandes I was quite pleased with the crumb.

Alright! Who burnt my almond croissants?? Sigh, anyway.. gave them all out but one, really good.

We also made a kougelhoph which we mixed in a machine thankfully... baked in a traditional clay mould which I had been wanting to get for years if not for it's bulk and weight. Once they baked, then they get submerged in a syrup flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon, star anise and then a bath in melted butter before finally get showered in cinnamon sugar and lastly icing sugar. It is seriously very very good! A long time ago I had kougelhoph in Alsace and it is no where near this beauty, after I tried this I really want to try Christine Ferber's.

Before we started cleaning, chef told us to make another .... croissant dough yes! So half class had to do croissant dough the rest puff pastry dough ready to be laminated tomorrow. On Friday the last day, let me tell you first what we made : 8 croissants and 8 pain aux raisins, 8 danishes, 6 chaussons italiens and I got the kougeloph from yesterday that I kept in the freezer. Chef swapped our class and so we started at 7, sanitised everything then we started rolling and rolling and laminate, then we shaped the croissants and the pain aux raisins, then the danishes. Lastly the very unassuming but very yummy chaussons italiens made with puff pastry rolled in sugar then filled with a mixture of choux pastry and crème patissière and rhum soaked raisins. I brought everything to Accor to share with some colleagues I know and they also said kougelhoph and the chaussons italiens, THE tastiest. As my chef who is always right would say, NO FAT NO FUN. Oui chef!

Hours and weeks really fly by... this week honestly had been the most tiring and physical but my most favourite so far! Sometimes I still feel that it's crazy after only a month all of us can pull things out like these like little machines... especially when we lay out all the stuff that we had made for the chef to inspect and for us to take photos I can't help to feel a certain kind of pride. And even though I may not seem that I was.... (cos you know.. i'm mature and all that), I sometimes feel that I could burst out with happiness.

Melinda xx