Sugar-less

It's the last day for pastry till February. And boy, the time for a switch couldn't come sooner. I think my teeth are a little rotten from all the sugar. From tomorrow on wards, I'll be getting to know Chef Gilles much better.

This Friday while I'll be heading to Toronto to see my family again, Chef Hervé will be heading to Florida for many many days of pastry demos. We're talking at least 12 hours a day. Shag. Good luck to you Chef! (I hope I posted this in time for you to read it. Thanks for taking the time from your busy schedule to read, I'm really honoured!)

Today was one demo in the morning, then 2 practicals after. Last night, I was running through my preparations over and over again. It not only helped me to get things done today properly, but also distracted my mind from getting emotional. Today, petit four. It means, small oven. My fellow Singaporeans, what comes to your mind when I mention petits fours? Small little cakes that's cut 1 inch by 1 inch, coated with marzipan and decorated with clean sharp chocolate designs? That's what I thought they were. And I always thought that they came in fours. Obviously never popular in Asia, no one will buy anything that comes in four... (4, when said in mandarin is 'si' which means 'to die'. It's unlucky, inauspicious.)

But petits fours are merely snacks that are 2-bite sizes. That's it! Chef did madeleines, batons, tuiles, cigarettes and tulips, palets. They're incredibly simple to do! Very very quick to prepare.

But before practical for petits fours started, I had to make the Pear Charlotte cake chef demonstrated yesterday. Yes, the one that got me all philosophical. I'm not really happy with how my ladyfinger daisy turned out. It wasn't round. My piping is still bad. I think I need medium sized star tips, I used plastic tips for decorating the borders and it was clumsy and bulky. The chantilly kept clinging on to the plastic tip, never happens to me with the metal tips though.

I tried doing the marzipan rose that chef did yesterday as well. Lucky mine didn't turn out like cabbage. Overall, I'm quite happy with how the Charlotte turned out. Everything was set properly, nicely, and on time. I gave some to Chef Gilles and to the dish washer who doesn't speak much english. I hope they liked it.

While doing the second practical, Chef asked me if I did pastry before, at home or outside. I told him I did some desserts for a school (ACS Independent), which I think I spoke too much of, it wasn't that stressful to do. I miss working in front of spoilt brats who want their pizzas NOW and their pastas RIGHT AWAY with EXTRA INGREDIENTS. Then they whine when we charge them extra. Food cost is not cheap, but you kids with silver spoons will never understand. But it was fun working with Da Jie, and Aunty, I've had the best times there. Rush hours are just so fun. Da Jie, my feet very soft already, too long never kena stomped by you.

Everything was good today in the petits fours practical. The only thing that was bad was my design piping for the cigarettes. Too thick! They spread in the oven so much, it's not clean when I took them out. I piped too much madeleine in some moulds that I was 3 short in the end. Other than those two, I think I did quite well again. My palets turned out better than expected, they didn't spread so much in the oven, an evenly buttered and well dusted pan is needed for that. I had time to pipe another batch to bring home. But I just finished that bag of palets... Sinful. When I said 'palettes' to chef, he laughed and corrected my pronounciation, 'palets (silent 'ts')'.

The petits fours practical was incredibly fun to do. Easy recipes, quick baking time, lots of creativity involved. I took the chance to get some new main photos for my blog. LCDJ, these for letters might grow to have more importance to me. It just might become my trademark. It's good that it can both mean, le cahier de Justin, and la cuisine de Justin. See, it's well thought off!

Tomorrow, cuisine. We're starting on stocks, sauces and fishes. I can't wait! I love sauce making! I never had the patience to wash my sieve/chinois when I was at home cooking. So I normally had chunky sauces. But now, it's so easy to wash! I can't wait to make smooth sauces that slide on the tongue like velvet on skin. But first, more tournage...

A bad weekend was enough for me to forget how awesome school is. My week is swinging into gear now. Cuisine here I come.

'The soufflé listens to the heart.'

How did yours turn out?