Chocolate Pound Cake

As promised, here is the recipe for the chocolate pound cake that I made. Be aware that it does have a strong cocoa taste which is different than a cake made with melted chocolate. It's not quite as rich and chocolatey. I think I would add some mini chocolate chips to the batter next time and maybe even ice with chocolate ganache. I was worried about having problems unmolding the cake so didn't add the chips but will try it when not being graded :)

I wanted a pink rose for my presentation, so iced with flat icing (powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk - mixed to pouring consistency and dyed pink.) My original presentation idea was to have mint leaves all around the base, but we never got our mint order! Next time, maybe.

Anyway, the cake was very moist and keeps well for atleast a couple days if wrapped tightly and refrigerated.

http://www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Pound-Cake-III/detail.aspx

Garden Party Dessert Table

Today was the day of our dessert table practical exam. Finally! Everything turned out pretty much as I planned. My madeleine cookies were a little dry and stuck to the pan but otherwise no major mishaps. Here's what I did:

Watermelon lemonade, below - this wasn't a requirement but I thought it would be attractive and add to the overall theme. I didn't use a recipe - just pressed the watermelon through a sieve to get all the juice out, used the juice of about six lemons, added some water and sugar.

Above is the chocolate pound cake I made, using my rose bundt pan. I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

And the pic above are chocolate truffles - kind of plain jane but who doesn't like a chocolate truffle, right? I'll give the recipe for them this weekend.

Above are my meringue "pops". We were required to do a meringue product and this is what I came up with. Surprisingly, these went really fast because the kids at the event were drawn to them. I wanted to make the watermelon "vase" more detailed but just ran out of time.

Here is a pic of my rhubarb pie. The lattice on the top came out quite well, don't you think? I'll give the recipe for this one later, too.

Citrus madeleines - a little dry, as mentioned, but they tasted good. I used lemon and orange zest in them. I'm trying to figure out how to make them at home since I don't have a madeleine pan. Any ideas?

Above are linzer cookies - sandwich cookies, traditionally filled with raspberry jam but here I've done raspberry and apricot to make the butterflies' "spots" different colors. Check out all the pansies - all edible! I requested edible flowers on my shopping list and the school actually got them. Awesome!

This last pic is of the fresh fruit tarts with a sweetened mascarpone filling. When we've made fruit tarts in class we've used pastry cream as a filling but I'm not a big fan. I didn't want to bake the filling, though, so decided to do this cheater's version of cheesecake - mascarpone, powdered sugar, and lemon zest to taste. Here's a tip for these types of tarts - brush the bottom with melted chocolate so the filling doesn't make the crust soggy. Also, put a little apricot glaze (or other jam, heated with a little water to thin) over the top to preserve the fruit and make it shiny.

Mock-up for Dessert Table

Tomorrow is the big day - our dessert table practical exam. This one is different than previous practical exams because there will be actual "customers" (our family and friends) who will be eating our food. Also, the presentation counts for quite a bit, as opposed to most practical exams where we just bring our stuff up to Chef on a sheet tray for grading.

Anywho, we have just a couple of hours tomorrow (seems like a lot of time but it's NOT, believe me) to prepare before grading and before our customers arrive. I still have a lot of garnishing to do and such so wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I needed to bring to class and where I was going to place everything on the table. I did a little mock-up/trial run at home and took a pic so I can refer to it tomorrow when I'm frantically trying to set everything up at the last minute (I know myself too well; if I have 20 minutes then I'll get it done in 20 minutes. If I have two hours it will take me two hours.) The big grey thing in the middle is the bundt pan I used for my cake; there will be actual cake tomorrow. The blue vase is also a place-holder for real food.

A Little Inspiration to Keep Me Going

*nope, this is not my work - design by Amy Atlas Events and pic by Andrew McCaul

We are working on our products all week for our dessert table presentation on Thursday. It is basically a four day test and could make some people (ahem) obsess a little. Seriously, it's crazy-making but fun to be able to pick what we want to make for a change, put our own spin on it, and present it in a way that shows our style.

When I need inspiration, I head over to Amy Atlas Events' website and blog to get ideas and to remember what I'm shooting for (not that this little ol' beginning pastry student can compare - YET.) Check out the pic above - so cool!

Check it out at www.amyatlas.com and www.amyatlas.blogspot.com

Plants on My Commute

The nice thing about taking public transportation this time of year is that it forces me to slow down and take a look around. While I'm waiting for the bus, I try not to wear headphones or read. I like to be aware of what's around me - for safety reasons but also just because it's weird to me how (purposely) cut off people are from the rest of the world. Everyone walks around in their own little bubble.

As a wise man once said, "Life moves pretty fast these days. If you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you might just miss it."

School Project

This Thursday we have our final project for this six week term. We are to present a dessert table that includes products from several different categories. Everyone in my class has been thinking all term about what his/her theme will be. Mine is Garden Party. Above is a rough sketch of my products and garnish/presentation. My idea was to draw all of the desserts individually and then I'll cut them out so that I can play around with different arrangements on paper.

Below are practice meringues I made last week. I never could get the hat shape to work out. I hate to give up but I had to come up with something that would definitely work because the meringues are the first thing I'll have to prepare (since they keep quite well.) So, my new idea is meringue flowers on lollipop sticks. Can you tell from my sketch what their container will be?

Anthropologie Love

If I could win my dream shopping spree to anywhere, it would be Anthropologie's kitchen and dining departments. I like to look at the website, wistfully eyeing all the gorgeous, useless, expensive things like these.

If you have a little extra scratch, though, and want to get something special, then Anthropologie is the place, I think.