becky
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It’s hard to believe, but week four of pastry school kicked off with a mid-term assessment! After submitting a written self-analysis of our progress in the program, we met one-on-one with the chef to discuss our strengths and weaknesses, grades, attendance, and goals for the future.
Lemon Tart
Immediately following our assessments, we headed to the kitchen to make the lemon tart we’d learned in the demo the previous week. Luckily I’d practiced this one over the Easter break, so it wasn’t as stressful as it might’ve been otherwise. This dish has a lot of components to complete in a short amount of time. And I was right on track time-wise. That is, until I cut myself on my new quick peeler! I found it pretty ironic, considering a tool designed to speed things along ended up slowing me down. But, a couple of blue Band-aids (err…plasters, as they’re called here) later, and I was back to work.
I finished my lemon tart on time, but it wasn’t quite as perfect as I’d hoped. The curd was cooked properly but I over-whipped the egg whites, so the meringue was too stiff and didn’t look very pretty when piped. And clearly, I need some additional practice with the blowtorch:
Jalousie Aux Mirabelle
The following class, it was on to puff pastry! For our first puff pastry lesson, we had a demo where we learned to laminate puff pastry dough. After that we watched the chef make a jalousie aux mirabelle et creme d’amandes (mirabelle plum and almond cream puff pastry slice with a lattice top). Here is the finished demo:
And here is my finished product. I enjoyed making this one, especially the pretty lattice top, and immediately went and ordered myself a lattice cutter to use at home!
To finish off the week, we had our first product identification class. This one focused on different types of flour, including gluten and the science behind it, and various varieties of sugar and how each one is used in baking. It was interesting to go in-depth about the process behind the baking, but the best part of the class was tasting all kinds of different breads. Yum!
Missed last week’s recap? Read about week three here.
About Rebecca:
Rebecca earned the Diplôme de Pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu London in 2020. She kept this detailed diary as a record of her journey, and as a way to help others decide if pastry school might be the right choice for them. Rebecca also holds an MSc in Culinary Innovation from Le Cordon Bleu and Birkbeck, University of London, and a Professional Chocolatier’s Certificate from Ecole Chocolate. She currently works as a recipe developer, food stylist, food photographer, writer, and pastry chef. Feel free to make one of her original recipes, or to follow her on Instagram @bastecutfold for more baking and pastry inspiration!
