Pastry School Diary – Basic Pâtisserie, Weeks 7 and 8

Cake, cake and more cake in weeks seven and eight! Week eight was a short one with only two days of classes, so I’ve combined the two weeks into one diary entry.

Génoise Cake

Week seven of basic patisserie began with a practical lesson at 8 am on a Monday morning. We made the génoise à la confiture de framboises (genoise sponge cake with raspberry jam, which we’d learned in the demo the week before. This cake was so much more challenging than it looked!

I thought I was pretty confident in my buttercream-making abilities, but the French style of preparation is very different from the American version (lots and LOTS of eggs!) and I found it difficult to master. My sponge cake also seemed a little bit flat, which made it hard to slice into even layers. And the buttercream masking and piping design on the top were both pretty disastrous as well. I’ll most certainly be spending some time practicing this one at home!!

Pastry School Wine Lecture

After the challenging genoise practical, I was happy that our next pastry school lesson was something light and fun–wine! In this lecture we learned all about the beverage industry, studying (and tasting!) different wines. The instructor also shared his experience with various types of beers, spirits, and liqueurs. I learned quite a bit during this lecture, and am excited about new ways to use alcohol in my baking, and pairing wine with my desserts.

Black Forest Cake

For our second lesson in the patisserie cakes unit, we learned to make a gâteau forêt noire (black forest cake). I really enjoyed this recipe! I love chocolatework, so of course I thought the best part was making the chocolate curls for the top (although I’m pretty sure a few of my classmates would disagree–it was messy!)

Here is my finished black forest cake:

During the black forest cake practical we also practiced our piping, creating shell and rosette designs which we’ll need to replicate for the practical exam at the end of the term:

Boulangerie Day

We finished week seven of pastry school with a day dedicated to the art of boulangerie (breadmaking). As always, we began with a demonstration, where we watched the chef make a soda bread, a wheat bread, and an assortment of dinner rolls:

And immediately following the demo, we were off to the kitchen! I thought boulangerie might be a little bit boring, but I actually had fun creating different designs for each of my dinner rolls:

The soda bread was tasty as well, especially warmed in the oven and slathered with butter!

Week Eight: Mango Charlotte and Chestnut Cake

In week eight, we learned to make a charlotte à la mangue (mango charlotte). This cake has several layers of mango mousse with a coconut insert in between, and is topped with a passionfruit glaze, mango cubes, and toasted coconut.

Here is the chef’s demo of the mango charlotte:

I did pretty well making this one in the practical, especially considering it was my first time working with gelatin in sheet form, or making any sort of layered mousse dessert. I need to work on smoothing the top more precisely so that the glaze can be applied evenly, and there were a few air bubbles in my mango mousse. The sponge fingers we piped to form the base are also something I’ll need to practice, since mine weren’t quite as pronounced as they’re supposed to be. But overall, I was happy with how this one turned out:

Mousse Cake Demonstration

Following a short lecture on chocolate, we finished out the week with one last demonstration. We watched the chef prepare a chocolate mousse cake with glazed chestnuts. This one tasted really good, and I’m looking forward to making it next week!

Missed last week’s recap? Read about week six 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!