Food Photography : Banana Strawberry Torte 24

kyung of David O'Conner & Lee Photography, in Portland, OR, graciously agreed to set up shop (i.e portable studio) one day after class, to photograph some of my plated desserts --- which were awaiting in the reach-in to be photographed. This was Kyung's first dabble into foodie photography --- as their company works capture more of the traditionally human element.

This dessert was my for my final presentation. It consists of French sponge, brushed with strawberry syrup, filled and finished with banana scented marscapone cheese, then garnished with fresh fruit and a chocolate screen, than drizzled with mango syrup. The plate design was given a stained glass effect , piped on first with tempered chocolate and then filled with honeydew melon -Midori syrup, Strawberry syrup, and mango syrup.

The flavor combination was very good --- the marscapone is so velvety, and it offset the banana wonderfully, and it didn't compete with the buttery layers of the sponge, just enhanced them.

I made all the components from scratch (with real fruit) and used my own recipes and calculated the per plate cost etc. I will post more of this experience in a post to come.

I really like plated desserts --- they are soo fun :)


Related Posts:

• Dessert Costing : Banana Strawberry Torte
• Food Photo : Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry Sauce
• Photography : Blackberry Granita w/ Banana Mouse
• Food Photography : Banana - Midori Strawberry torte

Photog : Windows -The soul of Dough 0

There is no gluten structure in this dough --- lots of holes and the dough breaks away when pulled because it needs further mixing to develop the gluten.

Not ready yet -- needs more mixing (intensive), originally uploaded by Amber *.

The Window: A meshing of gluten strands!
Tight like a drum --- the gluten strands have become meshed and the dough is done mixing. If you tap this "window" --- it will hold up and bounce back without tearing.

I turn 26 today. 0

Hand made truffles. These are a few examples of the chocolates our resident chocolatier has introduced into the curriculum...How beautifully tempered -- notice the glossy sheen? That is a sign of well tempered chocolate. I will introduce more on the subject of chocolate at a latter date...

Yikes. Happy Birthday to me! It feels strange to be 26 years old.
Reflecting on my life , it reminds me of a song.....

"Oh,to live on sugar mountain


With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.


It's so noisy at the fair
But all your friends are there
And the candy floss you had
And your mother and your dad.


Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.


There's a girl just down the aisle,
Oh, to turn and see her smile.
You can hear the words she wrote
As you read the hidden note.


Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.


Now you're underneath the stairs
And you're givin' back some glares
To the people who you met
And it's your first cigarette.


Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.


Now you say you're leavin' home
'cause you want to be alone.
Ain't it funny how you feel
When you're findin' out it's real?


Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.


Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon."

--- Neil Young "Sugar Mountain" ; Decade EP

Cream Puffs 2

Pate a choux (éclair paste) used for puffs, with wonderful pastry creme custard...ripe sweet strawberrries, then whipped cream as a go between.

Cream Puffs, originally uploaded by Amber *.

The tops are dipped in chocolate ganache.

A sweet, yet sensual , but light dance on your palate.

------------------------------------------

It has been awhile, I know. I am organizing my non-cyber life at the moment.

You might be wondering what have I been up to?? Well as my first quarter of Professional Bakery/Pastry Management I had to manage 2 stations (each for 5 weeks). My first station was Cakes & French Pastries. As described in a previous post.

The 2nd station I managed was CTO, I was acting pastry chef for the banquet hall in the Culinary Student's kitchen. I had a culinary student partner, and we were in charge of baking, finishing and plating the deserts for customers. We also had to make rolls/bread for 100+ servings.

We had total control on which deserts we could create. There wasn't however a wrack to set our pre plated deserts -- which limited the amount of production we could plan.

The typical count for people dining during the 11:15 a.m to 1 p.m lunch, was 110 people. Now not everyone would order desert, but if a 15 person table ordered desert at once, you really needed to be on the ball.

Some of the desert items we made included fresh fruit napoleons, which I will be detailing in my next post.

As for school I have taken my finals and now I am on winter holiday. I will be taking Winter quarter off.

Styled in J. Lambeth Fashion 11

Hail J. Lambeth, originally uploaded by Amber *.

Here is one of the pictures I took of my cake from Friday's Cake class.

We were working on the Joseph Lambeth scroll work. This Frenchman wrote a book in 1910 and it typically sells for $400 due to it's rare publishing of a dozen copies. My instructor snagged a copy for $75 at an auction.

His work is described as classic, with lots of string design and layering of basic borders to create a very impressive design.

Here are other shots, click to see larger sizes :

New Quarter - New Instructor 0

I like this photograph, it is of my former instructor, a rare moment when all bakery happenings seemed to be halted. He was computing our inventory --- inventory for the Danish station, figuring out what we must make the next day, what we must bake off.

My first week of the Fall term has ended. The nervous flutters in my stomach, the tense pressure to make a good impression...Has dwindled a little. I am managing the French pâtisserie /cake station for the next month.

I am a management student officially, a second year student. I was quite intimidated at first...I had mixed feelings about my capabilities to communicate effectively. But I quite thinking about it, and natural instincts and confidence settled in to replace the anxiety.

I also chose to manage the new Head Instructors' station. Where else could I feel things out better? I think that is where most of the nervousness stemmed from...I heard these great things about him like that he was an a world traveled pastry chef , not just a PC but had been Executive Pastry Chef, a chocolatier. He had taught at a well known culinary institute. I was quite humbled.

It turns out he had made Executive Chef in as little as one year after being hired on--- that is how good he is. But he is also very down to earth --- a great guy, a brit. The first day he sat down with us at lunch in the cafeteria. So the pretentiousness I thought might be a factor is not.

It is great to have new ideas and techniques. He is teaching us so much, and it it refreshing. He plans to upgrade our curriculum.

I am excited to see what changes will ensue.

Making of a Wedding Cake 0

Here me and class members are working on the tiers for a wedding cake.

Making of a Wedding Cake, originally uploaded by Amber *.

The filled one is the middle tier of a 10 inch size. White semi chiffon with lemon curd/ buttercream.

The cake on the left is the top layer of 7 inches, a black magic cake w/ mocha buttercream.

The cake being filled in the foreground is also a black magic cake with vanilla buttercream. This is a 15 inch layer.


These pictures were taken in the spring.

*********************************

Congratulate me! I was one of only 78 students , out of over 5,000 who attend my college to receive a place on the VPs list. I got straight A's!

So I am very proud of myself. Even with everything going on outside of school I was able to get nice grades!

Free association : First week of Summer Term 1

Monday started with a 5 a.m wakeup. I had class at 7 a.m. It was a very odd feeling to be attending school in the month of June. We will be attending class 4 days a week (7 hrs a day), for 8 1/2 weeks, which is 3 weeks shorter than the regular school terms.

When I wondered into the bakery...I felt as if I hadn't left for the 3 week hiatus. The benches and the flour bins sat empty of clutter, lifeless and sanitary. They begged to be slapped with mounds of dough and a film of powder.

The hearth oven loomed, lifeless and cold. How odd? Students trickled in, their chef hats crisp and unfettered. So little mess.


After surviving my first and only dull week --- I say dull due to the fact that we had 2 days of Demonstrations, mainly for the new students' benefit. We were split up into groups with at least 2 new students, so that the more experienced 3rd term (me)or Management students could act as guides. I was looking for any excuse not to stand around, watching my group. I was itching to start baking again.

I have to say that Summer Term is quite different. There is no retail sales on Friday. There are only 4 stations to rotate.

And the culinary dept.(other side) actually has been cooking some decent entrées. Tender meat and veggies, flavorful sauces! These meals normally are not much about palate pleasing, as far as the line is concerned. The Banquet hall is another story, they have excellent standards (but those meals are not covered in my tuition, as the line is.)

Today we slowly moved back into production. I am in the bread station. We made some beautiful Challah (snail shaped) and Sunflower-oat, which was shaped into batards.



I am no longer concerned with technical jargon, I am determined to use my baking intuition. So far I have learned that my note taking has paid off, all that knowledge is soaking into me and bleeding out, like an oil to cloth.

The Story of The Croissant 0

My old instructor, originally from Denmark and a long line of Bakery heritage, would talk fondly about lessons he had learned. A smile would spread from ear to ear, his eyes brimmed with excitement as he talked of bakery times. On one such occasion my group in Laminated pastry station, were gathered around the 40 qt Hobart - waiting for a batch of croissant dough to reach full development.

Do you know the story of croissant dough? A long, long , long time ago The Turks were invading Vienna. Everyone retreated to hide. As there was constant strife - many normal practices were shut down, this included Bakeries --- baking was deemed forbidden. Forming alliances Bakers made deep underground "bakeries". The Turks, while seeking a strategic attack that would overwhelm The Viennese --- found out about the bakeries , troops were ordered to start tunneling toward these secret caves.

As the tunneling neared , Fighting the Turks off with everything they could , a lone baker was able to run and alert the king's guard, and The Turks were defeated. The King told these bakers " Since you have shown such loyalty and bravery, I declare, If you create a pastry, I will patent the formula and name it for you", so out came croissant dough. Although it had quite less layers or butter as modern dough does. It also contained a small amount of egg. In Europe it is widely called "Vienna Pastry". It's Formula still can be found made today.

I have learned that to find the story behind your formulas -- it can prove quite interesting.

Chocolate cake with swag... 0

Chocolate w/ swag, originally uploaded by Culinarynovice.

did this friday. More to come.

I am a frikin baking zombie! 0

Thursday was a great day. Not only was there harmony in the bakery but there was an overall anticipation.

Wed. was test day, much earlier than other stations. But I was at ease,
for the most part - I did get a little careless on my center cuts, but for the
most part the end product was good.

As the day progressed, I scaled liquids for the days formulas, started mixing my first formula, (a coffee cake)that would make (14) 9" pans. I was happy to grab the mixer "collar" [used to convert the 60 quart to a 40 quart] that did not dance & girate violently once the bowl was agitated. There were no obnoxious grinding sounds and the soft rythmic echoes of paddle on bowl were almost soothing. I thought about the 4 a.m wakeups, for I was in the early morning station, and how today that would all cease. It was a good feeling. I had been getting 5 hrs of sleep a night, with a lingering cold {3 weeks}, sinus is agitated, my ears are plugged up so communicating is very interesting. All this stress on my body & taking care of the family, was making me turn into some kind of zombie.

When you have a toddler - rarely do they just go to bed when you want them to. My daughter is no exception. So most nights she has trouble sleeping & wants to climb into bed with us. Well she doesn't lay there light a rug, no she thrashes all over the place in her sleep - It is like being in the ring, her eyes shut, somewhere a bell goes off, she starts throwing punches , elbows fly, then in a martial arts fashion - legs & feet make quick jabs, lethal to anyone near enough for the sparring to make contact. And I am usually victim - no part of my body is immune. Needless to say, I wish she would sleep in her bed.

Photography : checking dough for gluten development 1

checking dough for gluten development
Originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

I took some photos of my class mates & the baking in action.

And For those of you new to the baking bread world -- you might have heard the term "window" , you will find out more about the mixing & fermentation process of bread dough Here.In my archives.

Walnut croissant & French turn overs 5

Walnut croissant & French turn overs, originally uploaded by Amber*.

Some of the pastry I have been making. Tommorow is my groups last day in the laminated dough station. It is also a test day.

It is amazing how ones confidence can soar, once you get a little bench work in.

I have too many irons in the fire as of late, so my writing is suffering. I had tapped into a good vien there for a spell. Now writers block has bruised me, like one big hematoma, I cannot see past the cosmetic details.

My photography on the other hand has been unearthed. I carry my camera everywhere now. I have over 4,000 photos in my flickr account. Go figure....

Why Baking ? Events that shaped my views 0

Although I didn't wait that long - I too witnessed myself at a crossroads. I had been working in the medical field - as a biomedical tech./phlebotomist/Medical assistant. 5 years total.

Before that though, I had gotten culinary training & a chef certificate. I knew that I wanted to lean toward bakery. I interviewed and scored an internship at an upscale bakery downtown.

There I learned the Art of cake assembly & decorating of 12 different fine European style torts & gateaus [6 inch rounds (6 inch tall) 8 inch, 1/4, 1/2, full sheets]; bombs [layers of génoise chocolate sponge, cappuccino mouse, formed & then poured with chocolate ganache finished with a shell border & chocolate curl] cappuccino tarts [shortbread tart shells with a chocolate layer, filled with espresso ganache, then topped with chocolate ganache & finished with chocolate adornments]; Fresh fruit tarts[shortbread tart shell, melted chocolate @ bottom, sweet cream cheese, all types of fruits cut & arranged across the face of the tart, then covered with apricot glaze]; éclairs; gourmet cookies; tartlets; Bouche De Noël [with meringue mushrooms] ;Lemon meringue tarts; Cheese cakes; etc.

After I graduated from my culinary training I eventually was hired on, and they hired me also to fill their retail orders for Mondays. So I would come in on Sundays and basically have the cake room to myself. I would get All the products ready & racked to be transported to the 4 retail stores they had. It would take me 4-5 hours.

On one of these following Sundays, I noticed that the cake room had been stacked from floor to ceiling {every bench, every cranny was filled] with bistro chairs & tables from the retail area of the bakery. But when I entered the bakery that's what really stressed me. They had been stripping the wood floors and re-applying chemicals to varnish the floors. There were very little walls in the space - so all these fumes were drifting into all corners of the building.

The fumes were so bad I had trouble focusing. My then boyfriend was in the contracting trade, & he had made comments about the safety of working around those fumes- -- not to mention the products safety. I also am extremely sensitive to fumes.

I went upstairs to the Owner's office & repeated verbatim , what my then boyfriend had said.

The owner snickered & told his male 'companion' ,

"Show Amber to A table"

We walked down the stairs. He led me to the cake room & pointed to a small marble topped bistro table, the only one without chairs or tables stacked on it.

Well I finished my duties -- yeah it took me 8 hours instead of the typical 4. My mind was meandering , and the fumes were not dissipating (no windows/ air) . After I left, I resolved not to go back there again. I figured if the owner didn't care about me or the product -- why work there?

But part of me has been holding on to that since. I felt conflicted. That was the only job I have ever walked away from. I loved what I would do each day.

My friend Joanne had told me:

"You ARE SO lucky! That is my dream job!"

Then part of me wonders if said boyfriend was devious enouph to make me think I should quit? He had been guilty of other far worse things, which came to light later on. He knew that I loved that job. But then again that is really ridiculous.

My second week of school I asked my Baking instructor if I could speak to him. I sat down and told him the whole story. I had to hold back tears. My voice wavered with all the pain and self conflict I had been holding so near to my heart. I asked him if fumes like that were a bad thing.

He replied,"

"That it depends on the products you had been working with. If it was buttercreams or pastry creams --- anything of that nature, the fumes would be absorbed...."

The more that I told him, the better I felt. He told me to let it go. So I am not as apprehensive as I was the first few days of being in the bakery environment again.

When I look back , or when people ask me "Why Baking?". I think the true turning point was maternity leave, after the birth of my first child. Then I decided to go part time, as my job was really demanding & stressful. There were no set hours & overtime was happening quite frequently. Once I did that , only working 1-2 days a week instead of 50+ hours. I was able to really do some soul searching. I realized what I really wanted in life.

Cream Puff 1

Cream Puff, originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

We finished these today in the cake station, in class. I will tell you all about them and the formula, in my next post....Yum!

Skimming off the film - bakery deep cleaning 0

My god. The quarter is over. The smell of doughs - bleached & scrubbed clean, gone from the bakery.


Today was "Deep Cleaning" - Imagine 80 culinary students - no white uniforms or chef hats, dressed down in p.j's and old clothes/tennis shoes. It was an eerie thing. We are so used to seeing each other in chef garb, there were many double takes. I being the stylish backpacking girl I am (insert sarcasm here), wore khaki carpenter skate capris, a Seagram "7" black t-shirt & my favorite hoody with all the acrylic paint up & down the sleeves. Oh I had in pig tails.

I started the day off pulling racks, & anything else on wheels out to the dock to be steam cleaned & washed. My "chore" was to climb onto a ladder , disassemble the fryer/gas range hood, clean all the intake panels, scrub the whole inside of the hood [it's about 5 Ft wide , 15ft long] & clean the outside. Well the range was in the way, also the open kettle fryer. SO I ended up balancing one foot on the range (which had been disassembled too for cleaning) & stretching as far as I could to get the spots that I could reach. Then my bucket crashed to the floor -- water splashed everywhere, I spent half an hour chasing down a mop & bucket. Once that was wiped down & the hood reassembled - I started doing other stuff. We all pretty much kicked ass , cleaning everything - all the products in both walk-ins, the rack oven, the triple stack, the benches, freezers, scales.

We were all itching for the great weather & the 2 week break.

Better days ... lauphter in the bakery. 0

Well in my  previous post about lines being drawn, I was quite agitated. These lines between the culinary students and pastry students is quite real. Though ridiculous, I wanted to set light on this.

Day 10 - Continental Divide by Eelke de Blouw

On Thursday I decided to sit at a table in the cafe - I was 1 hour early.

I was drinking my Carmel Frappuccino. Looking at my notes because mid- terms are coming up. Dale comes over and starts talking to me, then sooner or later others come too.

It was kind of weird, because here we are all talking - away from the "table" and the others who didn't come over - they were sitting there, would walk by and not say a word. And Dale would make comments about him or her "hating" him for coming over to my table.

Well as the day progressed the last day of breads, we were tested individually on : formulations, mixing, forming and end products. I made Multi Grain Bread. A half formula of Foccachia.

I am new , But I am becoming more comfortable. I am growing accustomed to the inner workings of the bakery. The production setting is no longer a mystery to me. And I have found myself absorbing everything - just like a sponge.

 I realize this is, indeed, a real passion!

Puff Pastry Basket I created. 0

I made this early on in my culinary training, the first time.
I cut long strips of dough from the puff pastry, and I used a rectangular roasting pan up side down, sprayed with non-stick spray & parchment. Then I "wove" the strips in a basket weave around the roasting pan - starting at the top of the pan. Once covered, I put the pastry covered pan on a parchment line sheet pan, and into a hot convection oven. Baked until golden brown & crispy.

When it had cooled, it was put on a platter covered in mint sprigs & garnished with limes and lemons. Then filled with muffins to be served a breakfast banquet.

Taken some time in June 1999.

Photography : Folding in dark guittard chocolate for hazelnut scones 2

Folding in dark callebaut chocolate for hazelnut scones
Originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

We made lots of scones wensday. I will post the formula later.

Culinary vs. Baking --- the icky blue line. 0

I asked a fellow baking student about the separation - the unspoken divide, that exists between baking students and culinary students.

Thin Blue Line by Derbeth

This was his response :

"It has always been there. No one has even tried to end the separation. When I first started, I started sitting over at the culinary table -- to visit with the former chef, he sat alone and I'd offer to sit with him. Everyone WOULD FREAK OUT if I mentioned going there...they told me: See that blue line the tile on the floor creates --- this is a line no-one will cross. IT is looked down upon."

I told him: "I had already committed that "taboo", no wonder I get looks". He laughed uneasily.

Another student , this time from culinary - had this to say:

"Bakers bake, cooks cook. Nothing more to that. We leave each other well enough alone, the only exception - lunch, or when we are hungry for some pastry."

Another culinary student - More brazen, actually came up to us (on our baking "turf"), though it was only the 3 of us, due to an earlier lunch because of the station we were in, he still came up to us and said this :

"I am trying to bridge the gap between baking and culinary. I am trying to make conversation with everyone."

Unfortunately he never attempted this ballsy move with the larger baking crew. He hasn't attempted this since.

It really is quite bizarre. And the main thing is everyone carries on this behavior as if we are rival fraternities. The right of passage for either is one's ability to ignore the other or avert your eyes . Doing this allows you full privileges inside the esteemed circle.

This is truly not what I was hoping to find. We are not part of some large & evil plot in a movie, we are just students learning.

And the funny thing is I have been on both sides. So far my previous culinary classes were so great. I loved the friends I made and all the memories. We had a blast.

So I imagined I would share this again. But it is awkward to try joining in on this bizarre discrimination. The problem is I have already made my stand. And people fear change.