Friday, October 22, 2010

Tranche Aux Fruits, Gateau St Honore, Pate A Choux, Gateau Concorde

Chef's Gateau Concord & Tranche Aux Fruits

Just when you think nothing could possibly top last week's Sacher Torte and Feuille D'Automne, we made 2 spectacular desserts today that will Knock Your Knickers Off!

Gateau Concorde is said to be created by a Parisian chef in the 1970's to commemorate the launch of the infamous supersonic jet. Trust the French to come up with a new cake for every occasion. Yet despite their best intentions, its namesake lived fast and died young, leaving behind a sweet tribute whose popularity soars to this present day.

Tranche Aux Fruits is a variation of the fruit flan, with a puff pastry base cut in a rectangular slice, or tranche in Old French, hence the name. Oo-la-la, she bakes and speaks French!

Whisking Chocolate Mousse
Layering & Masking
Arranging Logs Around The Concorde

Lightly whipped cream is folded into melted chocolate for a rich and unsweetened mousse to complement the exceedingly sweet meringue with. Just as we did for the Feuille D'Automne, 3 discs of meringue are layered and masked i.e. completely covered with mousse, and the logs broken to the required height to line the sides with.

Chocolate Meltdown

Trust me, it tastes better than it looks, though a few hours of chill time to firm up the mousse would have made for a neater slice, but when you've got 30 armed and hungry chefs to feed (we carry our knife kit everywhere), finesse is no desired virtue.

Unfortunately, just like every other Concorde I've tried, the meringue too sweet for my liking, but  it's the truckload of sugar that gives meringue its crisp shell and chewy center. The cake is otherwise perfect for one with an uber-sweet tooth and an natural resistance to diabetes.

Puff Pastry: Egg Washed & Blind Baked
Filling Up With Pastry Cream & Willfully Arranged Fruits

The assembly of the tart was straight forward, as was most of today's lesson, but it still had us rushing about like headless chickens trying to get so much done.

Rainbow Finale

The tart was a beaut and tasted great, though I found the pastry too greasy and prefer the sweet crust used in the fruit flan. But the freshly cooked pastry cream insanely good: warm, rich and thick, every creamy spoonful yields into an orgasmic explosion in your mouth.

Bases & Rounds for Saint Honore

For the St Honore base both puff and choux pastry is used, so I'm keen to see how it will turn out. We also piped some macaroon-sized choux puffs (have I puffed you confused now?) which will be dipped in golden caramel and be the crowning glory of the gateau.

Baked Bases & Puffs

Reminds me of the toad-in-a-hole I had at a hole-in-a-wall pub in London once. Toss in some eggs and sausages and I'll have me a fine supper.

Full Puff, Full Glory

The lamination had me properly chaffed, but that's not all. Get a load of my towering Concorde, for which I claim full honor.

My Super Awesome-o Concorde

Fruity Tart Twins

Just like the Olsen twins, without the billions.

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