This time i am teamed up with a Thai classmate named, Nop. He is like a pro la! he had done his culinary diploma and is now doing patisserie. So stress for me. He is always telling me don't worry. It's ok. etc etc...and i just go oh shit oh shit. hahaha
Anyway, we 1st made the caramel by cooking the sugar till approx. 118 degrees to 120 degrees. I had to 'shock' the pan in ice water to stop the sugar from cooking followed by adding water immediately into the pan of caramel. i didnt do well as i was slow resulting the caramel to be slightly overcooked. Hence, the caramel on top of my custard was thick and hard with little sauce. The custard in Creme Caramel is made up of whole eggs which i am not sure why my batch tasted a little more eggy as compared to Chef's :( maybe i over / under cook my custard? but over all it was well cooked (referring to the texture, colour of caramel, etc) Some background knowledge about Creme Caramel: it is a form of baked custard. It has to be baked in the oven using a bain marie (a tray of water with cups of custard on the tray). We were taught that when we are cooking custard (addition of heat), we are actually changing the structure of the protein from spring-like form to straight-like form. We also learned that when adding sugar, we have to add half quantity into heated milk and half into the bowl of eggs. Reason being that sugar retains heat as there after, the heated milk with sugar is to be mixed with the eggs. If the heat is retained in the milk, the eggs will be overcooked when the milk is poured in. Hence we need to half the sugar in milk and eggs. In addition, sugar helps to breakdown eggs. (hmm maybe it's because i didnt add enough sugar into the egg hence the eggy taste, hmm i wonder...).
Then we made Creme Brulee which i totally am in love with. Egg yolks and cream and milk. *Slurps. Keeping my saliva to myself. keke.. As the presentation was being done the next day, the batch even without the glaze of torched sugar it was delicious. :) I will talk about the presentation in the next post :) And without saying Creme Brulee was made perfectly. =x
Moving on, Creme Anglaise, it is a stirred custard made with milk, sugar and yolk. I would think is the most difficult one. there are so much considerations. do not whisk. do not over cook. do not pour all sugar. do not do not do not...and i spoiled it on the 1st try, i overcooked and i did it again. still slightly overcook but chef said it's fine. so yea i will do better the next time. And the most difficult part of making creme anglaise is that the doneness of the creme is dependent on your JUDGEMENT! i did not know what creme anglasie was and how it should taste and look hence..but i guess it'snot an excuse as others did well. i just need to buck up man.. mistakes after mistakes. this is not acceptable.
Tuiles batter was made by Nop. It is a light, dry, thin and crispy cookie. Tuiles in french means 'tiles'. the name came about as the cookies is originally shaped like a roof tile ermm i will describe it as bended like a potato chip. It is made up of flour, egg whites, sugar and butter. it tasted lovely. The batter that we made in this session, ok i mean Nop made in this session, will be use for out piping session the next day as our decoration pieces for our creme caramel and creme brulee. Chef gave us our very 1st homework and that is to research on the different decorations that we can make using the Tuiles batter.
Coulis de Fruit is basically fruit syrup where you cook the fruit puree together with sugar water. i didnt do it. Nop did it. He is a great team mate. As he is experience, he is very organized and prepares the things needed as well as is in control I need to learn that. In LCB it is not only about mastering the technique within the day but also being in control with the new things that you will be making within the day. Phew. pressurising. i really wanna do well so badly.
but i love my life here..it is awesome!!! :D
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