Gâteau Forêt Noire

Gâteau Forêt Noire. What is it? It's Schwartzwaldekirschetorte bade. Simple right? Black forest cake lah... That's for practical today. Let me break it down. Gâteau, cake/cookie. Forêt, forest. Noire, black. Tai Yi, understand? Ma told me that you read my posts and was bewildered with all the French names. If you're a francophile like me, it's easy.

So, schwartzwaldekirschetorte bade. Let me break that down. Schwarts, black. Walde, wooded mountain range. Kirsche, kircshe liqour. Torte, cake. Bade, the Baden region of Germany. Obviously a German cake. Imagine: A toll-free line in Germany. If you would like directions to the nearest bus stop, call 213-DU WERDEST EINE KRANKENSCHWESTER BRAUCHEN. (Yeah, I ripped that joke off Family Guy. Sorry Seth McFarlen.)

Originally, chef said this cake is MUCH thicker. The moule a manque (genoise mould, the story of this name is worth spending a paragraph on) is the sponge height. And what we did today is only twice the height. The original recipe is THREE times the height! We did genoise sponge, chantilly cream and cherries. The original one has pastry cream in it, calorie overload!

So what Chef Hervé did today were cakes from the moule a manque. The Gâteau Forêt Noir, Mexicain and the Moka. Moule a manque. In the past, wives, kitchen maids used to make cakes and sponges. This mould was used to keep the mistakes that they've made. Like, batter that's been deflated from over folding, or broken batter from over heating. They'd pour them into this mould, and bake them. Thus, the name, manque. Manquer, means 'to miss', mistake. Now, we use them as genoise moulds. Chef Hervé taught us a time tested method to ensure that the cake never sticks to the mould. Ever.

Why the Moka is named as such is obvious, coffee. But the Mexicain, quite funny. The top design of the cake is supposed to look like a sombrero . I found it quite laughable, Chef just scoffed jovially at it.

Even layers means it's good. So if you see that your cream and sponge is even, 'it's good'. Tasting for this session was so sinful. 3 cakes? 4 people? Nah-uh. I bet the other students from Le Grande Diplome or Pastry are so jealous of us three. Always, there is a surplus of food. No need to scramble in front for a slice or attention. We get lots of attention, the peering-over-your-shoulder kind. But, it's good, normally.

Practical was a fun! First time ever I learnt how to masque a cake properly. The European way, without the turn table. I think it has a nice finish, though there's a high high risk of dropping the cake. That will be disheartening. I'll just be moody for the rest of the week if that happens.

So this is my cake. Chef did Christmas trees for décor. I did chocolate fleurs d'elises. Something very French. I hope my obsession with everything French is not coming across too wanna-be like. I just need to learn the language properly to seal the deal, and I'll be a full blown francophile. But now, no time to go to French class. I'll just die...

Chef said my cake is good! My toes we jumping with joy! I'm sure some of the joy spilled into my eyes. Then before I whipped my camera out, Chef mentioned my blog again... Gargh. My montage is good. I soaked my sponge enough, and masque is good. The only problem is that my cream was a little broken, my rosettes edges weren't smooth, and they were oval. I need to practise piping! (Don't forget tournage... 4kg of carrots waiting for me in the fridge.)

After class I spent the time between then and the meet and greet session typing in my recipes. Lousy laptop can only last for that long, so it's just nice timing. I really want to thank Andrea for planning (if you planned it) the meet and greet. I got to make new friends here in the school. So it wouldn't feel like I'm going to a school full of strangers in a strange land. I made a new friend, her name is Jessica, she's in superior pastry. Way way way way way ahead of me. She even went to Paris for her course. Almost everyone there went to Europe once. Some kind of francophile I am, haven't even been to Paris... If I can remember, there's Nikki/Nicky, Lisa, Ryan, David (He called himself the dungeon troll, he spends his days in the production kitchen.). Can't wait for Sunday afternoon, I'm going skating with some of them, don't know who, but at least I won't be taking a lonely skate down the canal with cold frosty wind in my face. Oh, guess what... First thing that was mentioned when I talked to the admin staff, was this blog... I should be proud of this blog. I should. I dedicate at least an hour a day on this, except weekends, maybe Sundays...

(Pretty wordy post today. There's so much to say today! It's such a great day.)

I came back and offered Mr. Dee some cake, so we had some cake. He called some of his friends over to have the cake. I'm so glad that I don't have to throw so much out! I've got 2 slices left. It's going into the garbage.

Mr. Dee was so nice to send me to Catherine Street to get my Greyhound tickets! Thanks Mr. Dee! Maybe it's the cake that obliged him, heh. Anyway, 22nd, it's back to Toronto! Hello Chinatown! WOOTS!

Just thought I'd share this with all of you since I'm on pastry now. Japanese sweets. I'll let the video speak for itself. I'm going to try this someday with the techniques I've learnt here in Le Cordon Bleu. Good night! Back to studying my notes. Test next month!