Chocolate decorations

This week we started chocolate sculpture and decorations with Chef Bob. The picture you see here is a flower (a rose, I guess) made of dark chocolate.

To make the flower petals, you spread a thin layer of dark tempered chocolate on the table. When it begins to set, you scrape a piece of curved metal over the chocolate to create petals from about 2-4" long. If you hold your scraper at a higher angle, you can get a tighter piece, like the one I used to create the center.

Once you have a bunch of petals, you can start assembling the flower. I started with the tight cone for the center, then gradually worked my way outward using larger petals, "gluing" it all together with more chocolate. Again, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll be using the piece at the end of the week when I assemble my final chocolate showpiece.

Chocolate Candies

This posting will cover my first few weeks in class, which I haven't been able to update yet, so this posting is incomplete. I will work to update it over the next week and let you know when it's complete. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Introduction

The first exam period at the French Pastry School for the Winter, 2007, period was completed last week. Through the first 5 weeks of class, our focus was first on Chocolate Candies, then on Cakes.

In the first few weeks, our focus was on Chocolate Candies, with Chef Sebastien Canonne. Chef Sebastien is arguably one of the finest pastry chefs in the world, and it was truly an honor to have been in his class.

The next few weeks we learned all about cakes with Chef Bob Hartwig. Chef Bob joined the French Pastry School withing th last few years, having spent much of his career in some of the finest hotels in the world. He has a tremendous amount of real world knowledge to share.

Upcoming posts will focus on updating you on everything you've missed over the last few weeks, and follow me through the remaining weeks of the program. For now, however, I will leave you with a reference list of the students you will learn to love over the upcoming weeks and months.

Below is a list of fictional characters in our classroom. The names, descriptions, and any similarities to actual people are purely coincidental, and are not based on real people.

Cast of Characters:
Tim Henkaus, the banker, and your humble blogger
Pete, the Aussie
Danny, the cook from Whole Foods
Trish, the waitress at the pizza place
Carlos, the former military man and prison guard
Luis, the cook from Mexico City
Betty, the daughter of the Executive Chef of a major hotel
Clint, the accountant
Erin, the culinary student
Nat, the sushi chef from Thailand
Sunshine, the graphic designer
Lauren, the birthday cake specialist
Peggy, the cook from Singapore
Kam, the waitress at the buffet restaurant
Max, the theater jack-of-all-trades
Nanette, the investment banker