Black Forest Cherry Torte

Today's Cakes class was lightyears better than last Monday's so I am feeling way better about the start of this week. We made a Black Forest Cherry Torte today. To be classified as a Black Forest Cherry Torte, it must contain chocolate cake, chantilly cream, tart cherries, kirschwasser (cherry flavored brandy), and chocolate shavings; so, of course, we made all of these components.

The chocolate cake is a chocolate chiffon genoise. We flavored simple syrup and chantilly cream with the kirschwasser for good flavor. It is a three layer cake that includes one layer of the tart cherries and two layers of chantilly cream. The exterior is covered with chocolate shavings, and the rosettes are topped with a 1/4 slice of candied cherry.

I had a good day overall; improvement is still necessary, of course, but I feel like I took some steps in the right direction today. I sliced my cake layers pretty evenly so that was a good start. I also did a much better job icing my entire cake, which is what I've struggled the most with so far in the course. It wasn't near perfect, but it was definitely an improvement. My rosettes still need some work so that was somewhat frustrating about today, but like I said, overall a pretty decent job. And I did like the taste of this cake for sure. What can I say, I prefer chocolate cake to vanilla any day of the week.

And if you're curious, this cake originates from Germany; its German spelling is Schwarzwaelderkirschtorte. Yeah, I can't pronounce it either.

Coconut Cream Pie

We made cream pies and lemon tarts during Thursday's bakeshop class. Unfortunately, I again forgot to take photos. We had the option with the cream pie and I chose to make a coconut cream instead of chocolate. I love coconut. For the lemon tarts, we made lemon curd from fresh lemons. We also made meringue for the topping so they looked quite decorative.

Roasted Potato Bread with Bacon

On Thursday, Chef did a full demo on baguettes, again so we could observe in order to prepare for our final exam. We also made roasted potato bread with bacon.



We roasted fingerling and red potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. They were cut into small chunks and added to the dough, with the addition of small pieces of bacon. This is such a yummy bread. It slices well for sandwiches also, which I experimented with for dinner the other night. I will definitely be making this in the future, and adding garlic and rosemary.

Appetizers

In Wednesday's Nutrition class, we made different appetizers to look at fat content. My group made guacamole while others made hummus, spinach dip, pico de gallo, and crostini with kalamata olives and asiago cheese. The crostini was my favorite in terms of taste; the guacamole was also pretty good, but I would have preferred more garlic and more salt. I didn't care for the hummus because it was too dry, and I didn't care for the spinach dip because it didn't have very good flavor overall. The pico de gallo wasn't bad. It was a good tasting experiment, despite taking place at 10am. This was one of those days where I didn't need to consume as much as I did prior to noon. But school is school, and eating is required.

Pretzels, Baguettes, Pie Dough

In Tuesday's breads class, we got to practice baguettes in preparation for the upcoming practical final on October 12. I saw some improvement in my baguettes, but still have some work to do in order to ace the final.

As a class, we also made 250 bavarian pretzels which the school will utilize at A Taste of Charleston, which is an event held at Boone Hall Plantation on October 10. I enjoy the pretzel making so this was a pretty fun class overall.

In the afternoon Bakeshop class, we worked with pie doughs. I've worked with pie dough in the past so my frustration level was high when my pie dough wouldn't cooperate with me. I also knicked my finger while slicing apples so the combination wasn't too great. We baked a granny smith apple pie, which was extremely tart for my taste. Nothing too exciting here.

The Crunch Torte

I posted a photo of The Crunch Torte the other night, but only described to you what was wrong with it and never also described what it is. So here's a bit of info. Again, we made the yellow genoise (sponge cake) and used this for three cake layers. We also made chantilly cream which was placed between each layer and used on the exterior of the cake. The "crunch" came from an almond nougat, and here's how we made it.

We heated sugar, glucose, lemon juice and shortening in a heavy saucepan to 350 degrees F where the mixture thickened and became caramel. Chef gave multiple warnings about being careful in the process because sugar burns are perhaps the worst burns you can get. Anyway, working quickly, we stirred in the sliced almonds and then spread the entire mixture on a sheet pan lined with parchment and we then covered the top with parchment so we could use a rolling pin to thin out the mixture as much as possible. It sets up quickly so this was rather difficult. I should have taken a photo of this to show you, but unfortunately, you'll have to believe me that it looked like almond bark.

After it cooled, we broke it into small pieces and used a rolling pin to vigorously crush it into sand-sized pieces. I can't even fully describe to you how ridiculously time-consuming and tiring this was. Seriously, we rolled this stuff into smaller pieces for what seemed like an hour; I worked up a decent sweat and my arms were actually sore. This may be the result of the fact that most groups got to do this in fours while I worked in a group of two. The rationale for crushing this into such small pieces is so that the nougat doesn't stick in your teeth. (And yes, I did ask if this could be done in a food processor but apparently it can't because as it breaks it can form into a ball in the food processor and cause a real mess.) I totally get that we wouldn't want to serve something that would stick in a client's teeth, but I'm not sold that the labor needed to pull this off is worth the time it takes to pay someone to do it. The cake looked nice at the end, don't get me wrong, but it didn't seem to have that much flavor.

I did enjoy learning how to make the chocholate molded decorations. We used Semper, which is a chocolate that's already been tempered, so all we had to do was melt it, make a pastry bag out of parchment paper, and pipe the chocolate into molds. After the molds were cooled, we popped them out to use on the cake, careful not to screw up the designs.

I actually ended up witha good grade on this cake, because the crunch nougat on the outside was able to cover up a great deal of my mistakes. I don't feel great about that, knowing I had so much difficulty with the cake overall, but I guess I'll take it.

The Week to Week

My friend Heather posted some great questions in the comments section of my blog a few weeks ago, and I totally didn’t see them until today. Whoops! So I wanted to take some time to answer the questions she asked, as well as do a general update. I’ll start with the update.

My last post was kind of depressing, wasn’t it? I was feeling like a bit of a crazy person earlier in the week, but I am happy to share with you that I have spent the last few days really working through my feelings and emotions. I appreciate the kind words sent via text, email, facebook, and on my blog from many of you – it means a great deal to me to have your support and I am truly appreciative of you reaching out and sending your encouragement. So, many thanks for that!

The past few days have been much better. I have leaned on the support of new friends in Charleston who have really helped me in my adjustment and I feel like I am developing a good support network here. I also am trying to be more conscious of working toward some lofty personal goals, namely, trying to take things more in stride, trying to be more relaxed, and trying to appreciate each moment for what it is no matter what the challenge. I am determined to get better and improve my skills. Each day brings its own set of madness, so I am trying my best to stay as positive as possible – easier said than done, I know, but I’m working on it.

I think that’s a good bit of perspective for now. On to Heather’s questions.

First, my new digs. I’m renting an apartment in the part of Charleston known as James Island. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to Main Campus in North Charleston, 15 minutes to Palmer Campus Downtown, and 15 minutes to Folly Beach. This location is one of the main reasons why I chose this apartment. My apartment community has a pretty eclectic mix of people; my immediate neighbors include two families with children in kindergarten (who tell me about coloring and recess) and a mix of twenty-somethings who run the gamut of professions. They’re all friendly so it’s nice to come home. And I love my landlord – she’s so sweet, helpful, and an avid baker herself so I love sharing my baked goods with her and getting her feedback. It’s nice again to have a place to call my own.

Second, my school. The Culinary Institute of Charleston is part of Trident Technical College, a primarily two-year institution offering an array of associate’s degrees and certificate programs. It’s state-funded so tuition is fairly cheap. One of the main reasons I chose to move out of state to go to school is because my tuition here is so affordable, even as an out-of-state student. It’s less than half of what it would have cost me to go to Penn Tech in Williamsport, PA, for example. And with everything else Charleston has to offer, it made complete sense to make this move.

Like a more traditional four-year school, my classes are all 3-credits. They vary a little in terms of the time commitment. My Nutrition/Sanitation Course meets for 3 hours on Wednesdays. During our in-class hours, we focus on Nutrition; the Sanitation component is mainly at-home and includes a decent amount of reading, online assignments, and online quizzes. This course culminates in taking a national exam to become certified in ServSafe Sanitation. My grade comes mainly from the Sanitation exercises, but there are a few Nutrition exercises as well.

My cakes class meets on Mondays from 11am-5:30pm. Each week I execute one cake from start to finish; I am graded on my cake each week as well as the effort I make throughout the class period. Chef occasionally gives in-class pop quizzes, which include questions about culinary terms/processes or the recipes themselves. I’ll have a written midterm and a written final, similar to the quizzes. In addition, I’ll have a final practical exam, where I’ll turn in my own cake recipe and execute the cake during a designated class period.

My artisan breads class is a fast forward class, meaning it meets for the 1st 8 weeks of the semester. That is why I have this one Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30am-2:00pm. In this class, I am graded on the breads we make each day. I also take written quizzes and have taken a written midterm exam. Again, the quizzes deal with concepts/processes used in class. For example, one quiz was to list and describe the 11 steps of yeast bread baking, which is the process we use every single day. Next week, I’ll be working on my artistic “dead dough” project – lots more on this next week – and on October 12, I’ll have a final practical exam, where I’ll have to make 3 baguettes and a surprise bread during the class period – the surprise bread will be something we’ve done during the semester.

My bakeshop class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:40-7:10pm. This class is an introduction to all different elements of baking as well as many of the different types of baked goods. Each week, I have assigned reading in my textbook, which coincides with workbook exercises and online quizzes. Each week I also have to complete two costing sheets, where I determine how much it would cost to make the recipe and how much it can be sold at wholesale or retail prices. I’m graded on each day’s product and process and I’ll have a practical final where I’ll make cream puffs and éclairs for a grade.

On October 14 (also known as my 29th birthday), I’ll start another fast forward class on Laminated Doughs and Pastries. The magical world of puff pastry, butter, and sugar. This class will take the place in my schedule where artisan breads currently is, so my actual daily schedule remains the same; my advisor did this so I could take 15 credit hours for the price of 12. Good times. I’m excited about this!

And finally, Heather asked if I have to bake things at home. Technically, the only baked goods I am graded on are the ones I do in class. However, I do practice certain things at home, and will be doing much more of this in the next few days and weeks. I’ll be practicing baguettes to prepare for my breads final and I’ll be experimenting with my cake recipe to prepare for my cake final in the coming days. I also love the fall ingredients like pumpkin and nutmeg and I’m feeling inspired to try some new ideas and recipes.

I hope that gives you a better perspective on my week to week life here. I can’t believe I’ve already finished six full weeks of school. It’s going by so quickly! I promised my friend Ben that I would take some photos of the bakeshop I have classes in and post them to show you what my world looks like; I haven’t forgotten this promise, I just forget when I’m actually in class. Hopefully next week I’ll get that rolling. And like I said earlier, next week is going to be really excellent if I can execute my dead dough project. I hope you’ll stay posted!