Pastry Plating Design

Where did this heat come from?!!!! I normally love the warm weather, but this is just ridiculous! Needless to say, it was brutally hot in the kitchen today as we worked our way through another production list and began our first day of plating.

Like every other day this week, we began class with some chocolate piping practice. For our practical exam on Friday we have to pipe "Happy Birthday name" in uniform writing 3 times. Each one has to fit in a 10 inch diameter circle and all three have to look consistent. Here was my first piping practice from a few weeks ago:

Here was my piping practice today:
Improvement? I think so!!!! Chef said it looked great, so I just have to replicate this for the exam on Friday. I feel confident that I can do it!

Like I mentioned yesterday, today I was "head chef" of my group for production and plating. i discussed with Chef Chad what had to be done and reported back to my group. I assigned jobs to each person and we got to work! For today's production, my group worked on fruit tatins, lemon meringue tarts, mascarpone cheesecakes (for tomorrow), and semisweet whipped cream (for plating tomorrow).

Another group made zuppa inglese, which were basically parfaits made with some of the cakes we made 2 weeks ago (and froze), flavored pastry creams, and meringue.

Anything in martini glasses is pretty in my book!

By 3:30, all groups were finished with today's production lists and ready to plate. Chef demonstrated the first plate:

(Pear and apple fruit tatins, praline ice cream, dried apple, and caramel sauce)

We were all given free-range with our plating designs. It was actually a lot of fun experimenting with different colors, textures, and flavors. Here is my first plate that was my overall favorite:
(Lemon meringue tart, raspberry sorbet, raspberry sauce, and mint)

Here's my second plate:

(Banana tatin, pastry shell filled with white chocolate mousse, caramel sauce, toasted almonds, and dried apple)

This was my final plate...the ugliest one....and the one I ended up eating :)

(Apple tart, ginger ice cream, mascerated raspberries & blueberries, dried apple, and caramel sauce)

We had a ton of plates to give away to the other classes. In return, we received some of their delicious savory plates. It's always fun sharing foods with other classes!

After class NJ Transit disappointed me yet again and had some delays. I was hot, tired, and just wanted to get home! Thankfully, once I finally got home (a bit later than usual) I had a quick visit from the bf and enjoyed some wine with my parents in the backyard. Then I felt MUCH better :) Now I just need about 5 more fans in my room to cool me down from this heat!!!!