January 22 2012

Superior Pastry


Baba au Rhum

It’s been a few weeks since Superior Pastry has begun, and I’ve definitely taken to the slow pace of having my classes spread out over 2.5 months. I’ve been strolling the streets of Paris, running once in a while (and consequently screwing up my IT band so that’s on hiatus), and hanging out in cafés with old friends back in Paris for the new school year.

We kicked off the first class of the year making a very traditional French dessert, the Baba au Rhum. Although a staple in all patisseries, it’s not really my cup of tea. I had never tried one until we made it in school, and I am glad I saved my euros for macarons instead! It’s a bread-like cake soaked in rum and fruit flavoured syrup. The syrup is meant to saturate the cake so that minimal chewing is required. In fact, that’s why the Baba was invented. It was invented by Nicolas Stohrer of the Stohrer Patisserie on Rue Montorgueil, for the Duke of Lorraine. The Duke was old and unable to chew, so this dessert was created for him. Yikes.

I actually forgot to put in the rum in the end, so my cake was just soaked in a citrus syrup…I still didn’t like it much.


Tarte Creole

Then we moved on to the Tarte Creole – named so because it is filled with coconut mousse and lined with a crumbly cake layer before a tropical fruit feast descends on the Italian meringue topping. I really looked forward to making this tart because I had seen this type of piping on top of lemon meringue tarts everywhere in Paris, and had wanted to give it a try. I think I did alright. As long as I wasn’t thinking about it too much, the piping came out fine. As soon as I paused to contemplate my next steps a bit more, I got a little wobbly and made slightly uneven patterns.

  
A nice angle of the meringue piping

In Superior Pastry, we are combining all of our previous knowledge on making mousseline creams, buttercreams, meringue, mousse, etc. and making fancy cakes, and we spent a couple of classes assembling some serious high-maintenance desserts.


Mango & Raspberry yule log

Although a little bit late to the Christmas yule log scene, we made a super summer-y yule log consisting of a light dacquoise cake, mango mousseline cream, and a soft raspberry filling. The top was decked out with crumbly cookies, giving the whole cake a really interesting texture. In demonstration the chef assembled a few variations in traditional round ring molds to make these into cakes, which I thought looked pretty good too.

  
Inside the mango yule log…it was irresistible once we took our first bite…

Lastly, we made a giant macaron cake. The shell was very much like a macaron, and the inside was filled with one of the most delicious chocolate mousses we’ve made to date, and a creamy pistachio filling. I don’t normally like pistachio flavoured desserts, but this one was so yummy that I devoured my sample piece in demonstration. The macaron shell was crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and the chocolate and pistachio worked really well together.


One of the yummiest desserts ever…

Except…I forgot how rich these desserts could be and how I’m no longer a really big fan of chocolate mousse. I attempted to have myself a nice slice of cake on the weekend, and before I could even finish my slice, I was feeling queasy from all that chocolate and pistachio cream. This cake had an unfortunate ending in the garbage, but I’d definitely make it again to share with friends!

  
All that I could handle before throwing out the rest of the cake…

We move on to little restaurant desserts soon, so stay tuned for some fun unconventional desserts!

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January 10 2012

2011 in Pictures & 2012 Goals

You know what’s really ironic? I used to dread, hate, and die a little inside every time we had to write out our “goals documents” at work. It’s not so much that I don’t like goals (because I do, I love them lists, they give me purpose in life)…it’s just the idea of writing them down in fancy business lingo in no less than 10(!) pages made me want to throw up. But now. Now…I sat down and made myself a fancy 2012 goals template after reading Nicole is Better the other day, and I’m embarrassingly proud of myself for the effort I put into making my 2012 goals. Yeah, irony. I told you so. Unemployment has done interesting things to my brain that I can’t even explain.

To make proper goals for 2012, I had to reflect on how I spent 2011…


The first Starbucks, Seattle

We began the year with a trip to Vancouver/Seattle to sort out our wedding details. But no, just before we got on that flight, I made a huge decision that I’m still thinking about (a little bit) today. I decided not to pursue potential career moves for a while, and made a terrifying phone call at 6pm on a cold and wet January evening to tell a very nice man that I did not want to go through with a job interview the next morning at 9. It was a leap of faith, and this nice man was very understanding about my decision. Soon, everything was set in motion…


Cross-Canada journey by train, in the Rockies

We left Toronto in a very romantic sort of way in March. With 12 boxes as our checked luggage, we got on a train late at night from Toronto’s Union Station and headed west. It was one of those moments I wished I had a head scarf and big sunglasses and a dainty vintage suitcase (scuffed leather, of course). Our friends sent us off all the way to the escalator to the platform, and then we sped off into the middle of nowhere, Canada.


Jaipur, India

From Vancouver, we got on a plane to Beijing, then Delhi, and then BAM! Cultural shock. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything else in the world. India was everything I thought it was going to be, but in real life. Boy, does real life shock you a lot more than pictures. India took some getting used to, but now all I can think about are the places we missed and how my next trip will be so much better. I’m also going to have to go back there and take another cooking class…I need to perfect my naan-making skills!


Kenting, Taiwan

After India, boy was I glad to see Taiwan. Being in such an unfamiliar setting made me miss everything about home, and Taipei did just the trick by filling our bellies full of delicious Taiwanese street food and bubble teas. I got to hang out on the beach with my little sister, sans my mom telling us to stop tanning this time, which was really nice. We got burnt, needless to say. Good times.


Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

From Taipei, we took off on the second part of our journey into Southeast Asia. It was fun to see another side of Asia that I had always heard about, but had never been. Cambodia and Laos were my favourite countries along the way, although relaxing in Bali was super awesome too. One of the craziest experiences we had in Southeast Asia has to be when we ate at a highly-recommended local noodle joint in Hanoi. All I have to say is, I ate alongside baby cockroaches scuttling around on the table, and I survived. I’m proud of the way I held my shit together while eating, but hopefully eating with cockroaches will never have to happen to me again! (The noodles were yummy, and mostly sanitary, because they came out of a bubbling stock pot in front of me.)


We climbed the Great Wall!

I also get to say that I climbed the Great Wall of China in 2011! The bonus story from the photo above is that by traveling, carrying backpacks around everywhere, and getting food poisoning, I lost all the weight I gained from the past five years of being a cubicle monkey. By the time we got home to Vancouver in June, I had lost almost 15 pounds since the beginning of the year. Weight loss is the most underrated yet most wonderful by-product of backpacking.


Wedding prep

We got home and spent the next 12 days in a complete frenzy preparing for the wedding…


Wedding

Then we got married! Smack in the middle of the year, we got married and got to see some of our close friends and family. Everything about the day was perfect and I feel so blessed every time I think about it :)


Lake Moraine, Alberta

We took a summer road trip with my mom to Banff, and did a lot of hiking in three days. Basically all we did was eat beef and hike around the lakes. It was beautiful to hang out in Alberta for a few days with my mom, and I’m so glad to have been there because now I can wholeheartedly recommend the Rockies to visitors to Canada!


Paris, City of Light

In late August we made our move across the Atlantic to Paris. I can still remember the slightly damp smell in our apartment after a summer thunderstorm in Paris, as we sat around wondering what we had signed up for exactly. Paris was shut down for the holidays when we arrived, but soon we found our rhythm along with the crowd of Parisians trickling back into the city in September.


Champagne at Taittinger

We’ve also had lots of friends visit us in Paris in 2011…and got to take some road trips with our friends. Our day trip to Champagne was ridiculously full of laughter and good company. Alex and I made a visit out to Versailles, that was pretty cool too.


Freshly baked croissants

…and all the while, I was baking my heart out, learning some very important things, like how to make croissants and pain au chocolat, and how to put butter in absolutely everything I make. Tough life. Truth be told, I have never stressed about school, but because I love baking so much, I think I have developed more white hairs from Le Cordon Bleu than I had from working or from university.


London

I took some time off and checked out London properly – it had only been 7 years since I had last set foot in England. Back then I was a broke university student who could only afford chips from the fish and chips menu. This time London was a bit more fun! In fact, I think we’re going to live there. Quite exciting, as the Queen might say.


Nuremberg Christmas Market

We finished off the year with a bang, starting from a tour of the German Christmas Markets in mid-December. It was so much fun to hang out in the freezing cold (with a drizzle of rain on the side) and drink piping hot mulled wine that we’re already planning next year’s trip. Seriously, how can a girl refuse German delicacies like sauerkraut and bratwursts?

Lastly, we went to Belgium (the 21st country I’ve been to. I’m keeping count) to eat mussels, frites (disappointingly thick), chocolate, and waffles. It was a good fun two days of doing nothing important but eating well, and then we rang in the new year at the Eiffel Tower with a bunch of tourists on New Year’s Eve. Not a bad end to a very different 2011, I’d say.

Into 2012, I have some big plans! (Again, unemployment really tampers with your brain and plants weird thoughts in there…)

I want to…

  1. Read 1 intelligent book per month
  2. Complete a half marathon between 2 hours and 2 hours 15 minutes
  3. Practice yoga a bit more regularly, especially after I get a job again
  4. Get a job that I like and suits the lifestyle I want
  5. Eat less meat. If I do buy meat, buy from good quality, environmentally responsible butchers, and consume in small quantities
  6. Try meditation…and if we click, do it once a week
  7. Revamp this blog more so the Recipes and Travel sections are up-to-date and fun to browse
  8. Sort through, edit, and do something with the photos from our travels in 2011
  9. Learn a few more tricks in Photoshop and Aperture, software programs I don’t use as much as I should!
  10. Get back into Daily Paris Photo blogging
  11. Take some time to see family and friends in North America
  12. (the craziest resolution of all that will take lots of planning and free time) Try doing something with the pastry skills I’ve learned and not be shy about selling the goodies!

What are your resolutions this year?

Happy 2012!

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January 04 2012

January Desktop Wallpaper


Grand Place – Brussels, Belgium

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to a fantabulous 2012!

This year will be the year Alex and I “rehabilitate” ourselves back into the working world, and I’m excited to see what will unfold. Today’s going to be a short blog post to get the wallpaper going, and I’ll be back again soon with some holiday updates and 2012 goals etc.

À bientôt!

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December 25 2011

Merry Christmas!


Nuremberg Christmas Market

Merry Christmas!

I thought today would be the perfect day for me to share some of our favourites from our tour of Christmas Markets in Germany. For a few days, we lived and breathed everything Christmastime has to offer in Bavaria – mulled wine, lebkuchen, and of course, the daily diet of bratwursts and sauerkraut. I think I must’ve been German in my past life; these people definitely do food that tickles my fancy!


Stuttgart City Centre

We began in Stuttgart, where we used AirBnB to book our stay with a lovely couple. The lady of the house directed us to a local “fast-food-like” joint with some instructions to try “maultaschens” for lunch. Maultaschens are like giant German raviolis, and the instant the savoury raviolis arrived with a pile of sauerkraut next to them, I knew I was going to love the dish. We got along just fine.

We walked through the main market a bit, had our first of many glasses of gluhwein, or mulled wine, and realized the magic of these markets: they never end. Just when you thought the row of stalls was coming to an end, a new branch/alley would open up full of hustle and bustle. It was overwhelmingly exciting. Eventually, we tore ourselves away and proceeded to check out the Mercedes-Benz Museum. From there, our host lady had recommended the Christmas Market in Esslingen, just outside of the city. We arrived in Esslingen at night and were immediately blown away.


Alex’s white mulled wine with Calvados

The Esslingen Market was set in the midst of an ancient (Medieval, in fact) town square. Flanked by seriously old architecture that I’ve only seen re-constructed in movies, the market vendors were all dressed up in costume, and the organizers even took great care to ensure the signage etc. were all written in Medieval manuscript fonts. A flame thrower and a tightrope walker completed the feel of a Medieval “faire”. It just felt like some of these people had been there for generations, doing the same thing, doling out dishes of jolly Christmas spirit with a side of potatoes.

A highlight was the bread-on-a-stick. No less than three German families stopped us in our tracks to ask us where to get these for their children. Most of the time we were confused as these parents barrelled on in German, but eventually the eager pointing/stabbing with finger motion at the bread clued us in.


Giant splitterballes

We ate very well at the Esslingen Market. My favourites were the apple slice fritters sprinkled with zimtzucker, which we quickly learned was cinnamon sugar, and the tray of roasted herby potatoes with a generous dollop of creme fraiche.


Mulled wine cups

By then, we had also learned our ways around the “staple foods” of the markets, too. Mulled wines always had a deposit and arrived in a customized mug for the market/stall. A small cone of sugared nuts – usually almonds or hazelnuts for us – was a must-have as we wandered from stall to stall inspecting the crafts and decorations. Since the Germans actually believe in gingerbread (compared to the French and their pain d’épices), we would pick up a piece or two of lebkuchen mit honig (with honey!) before the night was over. Good things my jeans were a bit loose before the trip began!


Typical stall with nuts and gingerbread

From Stuttgart we moved on to Nuremberg, one of the oldest and more traditional markets in Bavaria. In Nuremberg, the market is large and organized by rows and rows of impressive stalls, mostly in the town square. However, the whole city comes alive with Christmas spirit in celebration of the famous market. The walk from the station into the main market is studded with stalls as well. There were fruit and veggie sellers, gingerbread stands, pretzel stands, etc. We learned there that Nuremberg sausages are small and usually an order meant three of them on a round baguette. We tried a few other dishes around here, including a stall that sold hearty bowls of chicken stew with a heavy dose of curried tomato sauce. Customers crowded around the stall to use the little ledges as a makeshift bar to indulge. It was a cozy setup to be close to the bubbling trays of stew on a cold winter’s night.


Nuremberg gingerbread with honey is deliciously soft and airy, very different from any North American gingerbread cookies I’ve had


Firebowl!

It was also in Nuremberg we discovered the feuerzangenbowle – mulled wine with a giant sugar cone set on fire. The sugar cone is soaked in rum and held over the cauldron of mulled wine with a contraption…then set on fire. As it burns, the sugar drips into the wine along with a bit of rum I suppose. It was a strong wine that warmed me to my toes!


Nuremberg Market at night

We finished our trip in Munich. We browsed all of the markets in the city and ate our fair share of sausages and sauerkraut, and drank more than enough mulled wine. We also spent some time doing a history walking tour of the city, which was really fun. The history tour was really cool because even though we had been to Munich before, it was only for a layover and we never learned much about the city itself. After this walk, I’m much more appreciative of the city…and I definitely want to go back to Munich for Oktoberfest one day!

It should also be noted that it started absolutely blizzard-ing when we were walking from market to market in Munich…so pictures are few and far in between. For two Canadians, we were embarrassingly unprepared for snow, and spent most of our time in Munich shivering and blowing hot air onto our pink cold hands. It’s surprising how much we’d forgotten about winter weather in such short months.

My favourite market in Munich was the small Medieval one by the Odeoplatz. It was quite expensive compared to the other markets we’d been, but the food was different and delicious. In general, the Medieval markets featured more variety of “German grub” outside of the standard bratwursts-and-bread or bratwursts-and-sauerkraut combination. We had a steaming hot bowl of stew with turkey and potatoes (with a mound of creme fraiche on top, of course) in the blizzard there. Of course, good wine was to be found there too.


Fancy terracotta mug – heavy deposit!

Some other highlights from the Munich markets were the potato slices fritters: like potato chips, but greasier and much more delish. Alex pronounced it “dirty”, but I slurped it all down with glee. I also figured out what a splitterballe was…a super soft homemade marshmallow with a thin coat of chocolate. It was amazing! At our AirBnB host’s urge, we also went to see Tollwood market, which is where Oktoberfest is held annually. It was more like a night market that happens around Christmas time, but with heated tents who was I to complain? We ended our trip with a personal sized firebowl mulled wine and shupfnudeln (spaetzle noodles and sauerkraut stir-fried together, sometimes with bacon bits too). Mmmmmmmm.

Back in Paris now, I think my scale is quite unimpressed with all that food I consumed! :)

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the holidays with some of your favourite people, wherever you are.


Nuremberg – a bit blurry, but it was too cold to expose my hands for multiple photos!

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December 22 2011

Final Word on Intermediate Pastry


Baguettes, pain de mie, and rye bread

We finished Intermediate Pastry with a bread baking class to relieve some tension and nervousness leading up to the final exam. The breads we baked were baguettes and pain de mie, traditional French sandwich bread. The baguettes were irresistible when they were warm with a crunchy exterior, but by the next day they lost the crunch and were thoroughly soft – ick.

Since I lugged so much bread home, I ended up using my round loaf of pain de mie by making them into crunchy crostini-like bread slices for holiday appetizers. The only bread we didn’t make in practical class was the rye bread, but it was deeeelish. When the chef made all of the breads in demonstration, the rye bread was my favourite. It had a perfectly crusted exterior with a soft, dense, but pillow-y inside. Yummmm. I think I’m going to hold on to that recipe and try it again some time!

We had a few days off to prepare for the final exam, but I didn’t make use of them as well as one might’ve imagined. The trouble with practising recipes from Intermediate Pastry is that the recipes require a lot of whipped cream. Here in Paris, at most grocery stores, I’ve only been able to find 30% whipping cream. No matter what I do, I just can’t seem to whip 30% cream the same way I could whip 35% cream! I even checked at school – we do indeed use 35% cream at school, which is why it has never been an issue at school. I tried a couple of times at home with the 30% cream anyway, and at one point I even managed to whip the cream into butter…but sadly I never reached any “peaking” stage with the cream during all that time. Bah. No practising, then.

On the day of the exam, we found out what the three choices were about an hour and half before the exam. The Passionfruit & Raspberry Tart, the Vanilla & Raspberry Treasure, and the Plaisir were the topics of the day. I would’ve been okay with all three, I think; they were all among the topics I stressed least about. As luck would have it, I was strategic enough when picking my coloured chip (denoting the dessert) before the exam that I ended up with the easiest one of them all! I took my time and made the tart methodically. Then I finished by doing my chocolate writing, and that was it! Intermediate Pastry – finito!

We booked a vacation to tour the German Christmas markets, and left the morning after my exam. Stay tuned for some vacation pics!

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