Wednesday 13 May 2009

Ice cream, sorbet, jellied fruits, more mille feuilles

Having done so much exam preparation it was fantastic to do something completely different today. (Although, now, with only two practicals left, I'm starting to panic a little about my croissants and brioches...)

We started by polishing off the mille feuilles from yesterday. I had forgotten about this picture post so I took another load of step-by-step photos.


This time we used crème pâtissière for both layers. We pipe it because it's quicker and easier to be regular but you can use a palette knife or whatever.



The top is glazed with a bog-normal apricot number. This stops the pastry flaking into the icing when you spread it out.



And a beautifully focussed final snap.


We then made some pâtes de fruits. I can't recall what we call these back in Ol' Blighty but I think jellied fruits might be the ticket, at least where I come from.

The jelly is simply moulded into a rectangle then patted in sugar. Here it is being tranched in the 'guitar'.


There is a LOT of sugar inside the darn nuggets but a gentle lashing on the outside gives a nice texture and stops them sticking all over the shop. Literally, in the real world.



And then we prepared a sorbet mix and an ice cream mix to freeze tomorrow (these things are always left to mature for as long as poss). A vanilla ice cream (custard base) and a Morello cherry sorbet.

Here's a French variation on a Baked Alaska called a Nowegian Omlette (made by a different group). It is meant to be on fire.


All this ice cream being so seasonal, the heavens opened spectacularly at the bus stop. Luckily I was in time to get the last bus home but I still got thoroughly drenched just getting back to the front door.


I'd say it's one of the top 5 heaviest rainfalls I've ever seen. So.

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