Desserts Lesson 4 – Hot Desserts & recipe for Apple Crepes with Champagne Sabayon + the final assessment

Posted on June 4, 2019 by kathryninthekitchen

There are three weeks left in Semester One. This 4thlesson is followed by the skills assessment where the students are required to replicate several of the recipes learnt in the Dessert module. I have included in this post the pictures of the finished plates I presented in the assessment. The very final week is called the “holistic” class, where several dishes from any part of the second -year curriculum must be recreated…but more of that later. Lesson 4 consisted of; Sticky Toffee Rhubarb Cake with butterscotch sauce, Apple Crepes with Champagne Sabayon (recipe below) and an Orange Soufflé with Caramelised Oranges and Suzette Sauce. 

Dessert Lesson 4

As usual, there was some deviation from the recipe by Chef. The base of the ‘cake’ is pretty much like every Sticky Date Pudding I ‘ve previously made, but this recipe called for the addition of rhubarb. In the recipe (as it was printed) the rhubarb was to be finely cut and added to the mixture before pouring into the individual moulds, but Chef sprinkled the finely chopped rhubarb across the top once the mixture was in the moulds. It was served with some stewed sweetened rhubarb and a rich caramel sauce.

  • Bicarb added to the dates
  • Finely chop the rhubarb
  • Sift in the flour
  • Mixture in the moulds
  • Rhubarb on top
  • Pretty
Sticky Date Cake with Rhubarb

The Apple Crepes were my favourite of the class; thin as paper crepes filled with buttery cooked apple and mint….comfort food. What I also like about this is dish is that the crepes and the apple can be made well before needed and assembled at the last minute for a stunning dessert. It is important that the crepe pan (or small fry pan) is well seasoned so as the crepes don’t stick. I was lucky that the pan I got to use in class was well seasoned and only required a lick of oil, applied with paper towel, to turn out 8 perfect crepes. There is generally a ‘good side’ of a crepe, usually it’s the first side cooked, so make sure you fill the other side so as the ‘good side’ is presented on your plate. Serving this with a garnish of the cooked apple and the sabayon really lifts the dish.  

Cooked crepes – presentation side up
Apple filled Crepes with Champagne Sabayon

Finally we came to the Orange Soufflé! I have made a lot of double cooked cheese soufflé’s in my time, which everyone loves, but have steered away from the dessert soufflé, and it appears for good reason! These little beauties collapse fast. Perhaps it’s just the recipe as Chef’s flattened out quite quickly as well, so if anyone can point me to a good one which holds its structure please let me know. The soufflés were also part of the assessment and in his wrap up to the class Chef shared that if they are left in the oven until they are brown on top and around the collar, they’ll collapse much more slowly.

  • Just out of the oven
  • 2 mins later
  • Assessment – just out of the oven
  • Assessment – 5 mins later

As for the assessment dishes, apart from the Orange Soufflé we also were required to make three other dishes taught in the module. Crème Brulee was one of the dishes, so I now have photos to show you of my Crème Brulee as these ones weren’t nicked.  The other two dishes were; White Chocolate Pannacotta with Strawberry Jelly and Chocolate Mousse with Orange Jelly.

  • White Chocolate Pannacotta with StrawberryJelly
  • Milk Chocolate Mousse with Orange Jelly
  • Creme Brûlée
  • Finished dish with Almond Tulles

The ‘holistic’ menu I am to cook next week, the last week of the semester is; 1 x Goat Curry Pie (with puff pastry top), Braised Beef Cheeks with Crushed Potatoes and 6 x Mini Apple and Frangipane Jalousie. Hope to see you back for the last chapter of this part of the course, before embarking on the last semester in which I am working in the college kitchen restaurant for paying guests! 

Bon Appetite 

Kathryn 💙👩‍🍳

Apple Crepes with Champagne Sabayon Sauce

Paper thin crepes with minted buttered apple filling served with a rich Champagne Sabayon….need I say more?

  • 50 gm Plain flour
  • Pinch Salt
  • 2 Eggs
  • 15 gm Butter, unsalted
  • Cooking oil – e.g light tasting vegetable or canola
  • 3 Green Apples – Granny Smith
  • 10 gm Sugar
  • 75 gm Butter, unsalted
  • 1/2 bunch Mint – fresh
  • 2 Egg yolks
  • 50 gm Sugar
  • 50 mls Champagne

  1. Crepes

    Sift flour and salt into a bowl and make a well.

  2. In a jug, whisk together milk and 2 eggs.

  3. Gradually add milk and egg mixture in 4-5 additions to the dry ingedients – whisking the lumps out before adding more liquid.

  4. Melt the butter and add to the mixture



  5. Set the mixture aside for minimum of 1 hour

  6. Using kitchen paper, wipe hot pan with cooking oil. Pour in enough batter to cover the base – quickly swirling and tipping excess out. Cook until caramalised on the bottom. Using a gloved hand, flip the crepe over and cook on the other side. The first side will be the presentation side. Place crepes on over turned plate covered in plastic wrap.



  7. Apples

    Peel and cut apples into small dice and dust in sugar. Melt the butter in a pan and add the apples, cook over a low heat until softened. Add the chopped mint when still warm. Set aside.

  8. Sabayon

    Heat water in a saucepan. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar and place over the boiling water (bain marie). Continue to whisk whislt very gradually adding the the champagne. Keep cooking over the bain marie, continuosly whisking until it thickens and reaches ribbon stage (about 65 – 70C).

  9. Serving (2 crepes per person)

    Place the crepe with presentation side down. Add a small amount of the cooked apple and fold into a triangle. Overlap the crepes on the plate and dust with icing sugar. Nape the sabayon across the crepes. Garnish and serve.

Posted in Commercial Cookery, Culinary School, Recipes | Tagged | 10 Comments

Desserts Lessons 3 – Chocolate Based Desserts & recipe for Milk Chocolate Mousse with Orange Jelly plus bonus recipe – White Chocolate Pannacotta

Posted on May 28, 2019 by kathryninthekitchen

As this part of my course draws to an end, I’ve been reflecting on both the experience of the last 18 months and the learning I’ve taken away from it. The Desserts module has definitely provided a lot of opportunity to learn….. desserts can be fairly unforgiving if not executed just right and then there is presentation to consider. In Chocolate Based Desserts the products were; Milk Chocolate Mousse with Orange Jelly, Chocolate Fondant, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Mango Ice Cream.

Lesson 3 – Chocolate Based Desserts

Lesson 3 was all about crème anglaise, we made a lot to it!. First it was the base of the Milk Chocolate Mousse, to which melted milk chocolate and soaked gelatine leaves were added. It’s important to cool the mixture over ice to at least 22C before folding in the softly whipped cream, and then to continue to drop the temperature of the mixture to 15C before filling the oiled moulds and putting them in the fridge to set. The Orange Jelly could be used to decorate the mousse in any number of ways. It could be made first and set in the bottom of the mould with a segment of orange, before pouring the mousse mixture on top. It could be set in a sheet-pan and & diced to decorate the plate with orange segments or it put in the moulds after the mousse, so as when inverted on the plate it has a lovely orange footing. To make the jelly warm 200mls of orange juice with 30g castor sugar to dissolve.  Add the softened, soaked and squeezed out gelatine leaf (10g) to the warm juice and when dissolved chill over ice to a temp of 20C before filling the moulds.

  • Checking the temperature
  • Jelly on top.
  • With some hand made chocolate decorations
Chocolate Mousse Presentation

The recipe for the Peanut Butter Cookies was the easiest I’ve made, with only 4 ingredients; 250g crunchy peanut butter, 125g castor sugar, 1 egg and dark couverture choc chips. The chocolate chips weren’t incorporated into the cookie dough but added afterward for decoration. I weighed out the exact amount (30g), so every cookie was uniform size, which was important as they were going to be used to sandwich the mango ice-cream. The cookies were baked on a lined baking tray in 170C preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. They are very fragile, so allow to cool completely on the baking tray before gently lifting. 

  • The cookie dough
  • Ready for baking
  • Out of the oven
Ready for the ice cream filling

The other use of the Crème Anglaise was for the Mango Ice cream base. In class we used a pre-made mango puree, but you can simply heat 100g of mango puree with 20 ml of mango liqueur or sugar syrup for the same result. Allow it to cool and add it to the strained and cooled Anglaise and churn in an ice-cream machine as per instructions. Once the ice-cream is ready, construct your cookie and ice-cream sandwich, storing it in the freezer until ready to serve. This is a good dessert for a dinner party as it can be done ahead of time and all you need to do at the last minute is dress the plate. 

  • Presentation Plate

Chocolate Fondant, or Lava Cake (recipe below), requires a molten centre, but the ones made in class were slightly over baked & not so molten. Again we cooked as a group and in hind-sight the oven temperature was too low, so it took longer for the outer crust get a firm and all at the loss of a gooey centre…. lesson learned! The moulds/tins need to be greased and then coated in cocoa powder before filling with the chocolate mixture. Chilling the mixture for at least 2 hours before baking is important to ensure a molten centre, as long as you don’t overcook them 😳.

  • Prepared tins
  • Filled 3/4 and ready for oven
  • Nice crust
Chocolate Fondant Cake

Since my last post I’ve had a few requests for the White Chocolate Pannacotta recipe we made in Lesson 2, so I’ve also added that below. Next week is the last lesson before the final assessment and is titled Hot Desserts, it will include; Orange Soufflé with Caramelised Oranges and Suzette Sauce, Apple Crepes and Champagne Sabayon and Sticky Date and Rhubarb Cake with Butterscotch Sauce. See you next time!

White Chocolate Pannacotta with Strawberry Jelly

Bon appétit

Kathryn 💙👩‍🍳

Chocolate Fondant Puddings

The promise of a lava centered chocolatey cake which can be made ahead of time if needed. It might take a few practice bakes until you get the timing right, but it's worth the effort. Serve with creme anglaise or ice cream, add a fruit coulis to take it to anotherlevel

  • 85 gm Butter, unsalted
  • 100 gm Dark Chocolate
  • 3 Eggs
  • 85 gm Sugar, castor
  • 50 gm Flour
  • Oil spray
  • Cocoa Powder

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.

  2. Spray the moulds on the inside and coat them with cocoa powder.



  3. Combine butter and chocolate in a bwl and warm to approx 50C over a baine marie.



  4. Combine the eggs and sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and whisk them until light in colour.

  5. Add the chocolate to the eggs mixture and whisk to add volume.

  6. Take off the stand mixer and sift the flour directly into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold through until all thoroughly combined.



  7. Pipe or pour the mixture into the greased moulds to 3/4 full.

  8. Chill the mixture in the fridge for 2 hours

  9. Bake for 8 mins – depending on size of moulds. The aim is for the outside to be cooked and the inside liquid.



  10. Once out of the oven rest for 2 minutes before de-moulding.

White Chocolate Pannacotta

A smooth, silky and rich dessert which can be dressed up with the addition of fresh fruit and or a fruit jelly or served quite simply.

  • 125 gm White Chocolate, chopped
  • 300 ml Cream
  • 30 g Castor Sugar
  • 5 ml Vanilla extract
  • 20 ml Cold Water
  • 10 gm Gelatine powder
  • 125 gm Greek Style Yoghurt

  1. Prepare the dariole moulds, or glasses, by slightly oiling.

  2. Sprinkle gelatine powder over cold water and allow it to bloom

  3. Bring cream and sugar to the boil, take off heat and add gelatine mass.

  4. Once gelatine has dissolved, add the white chocolate to melt. Put mixture over ice to cool.



  5. Add the yoghurt to the cooled mixture and whisk to combine, keep on ice until mixture is 20C.

  6. Pour mixture into the moulds and loosley coverwith plastic wrap and refrigerate until set @ 2 hours.

  7. Note: If using jelly, either place in moulds first with a segment of fresh strawberry and chill to set before placing the chilled pannacotta mix on top to chill or add to cooled pannacotta.



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Desserts – Lessons 2 –Cream Based Desserts + recipe for a delicious Crème Brulee

Posted on May 25, 2019 by kathryninthekitchen

My mother was before her time in many ways and worked full time from the mid 60s until she retired in the late 90s, even though she had 4 children. My nanna helped out, and apart from collecting us from school each day, she always started the main meal preparation for mum to cook when she got home and made dessert. Dessert invariably included a milk/cream-based component, so I think she would have really liked Lesson 2; White Chocolate Pannacotta served with Strawberry Jelly, Crème Brulee with an Almond Tuille and Pavlova Roulade with Chantilly Cream, Kiwi, Strawberry and Passionfruit.

Lesson 2 – Cream based desserts

White chocolate pannacotta with strawberry jelly……. is there any other response but yum? Recently a talented blogger I follow, Valentina from “Cooking on Weekends”, asked her readers what their favourite flavour combinations were. I didn’t think of this combination at the time, but since tasting it I think it’s a contender. The recipe calls for gelatine mass rather than a gelatine sheet, simply sprinkle gelatine powder over water and in seconds it’s a mass…..voila! Bring cream and sugar to boil, add the gelatine and ensure it’s melted before adding the melted white chocolate. Once well combined, the yoghurt is added and whisked before placing the bowl over ice to assist in dropping the temperature to 18C – 20C. There were several choices re how the jelly was included in the dish; add the jelly to the bottom of the mould and when set add the pannacotta mixture on top, set the jelly straight on the plate and place the pannacotta on top or set the jelly in a sheet pan and dice and decorate the pannacotta …..lots of options…did I say yum?!

  • Cooling down the Pannacotta
  • Jelly on ice
  • Ready for the chilled Jelly
White Chocolate Pannacotta with Strawberry Jelly

Then there was the Crème Brulee incident! The recipe couldn’t have been easier, and I thought my finished product came out really well, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. I’ve included the recipe below. Once the mixture is made, it pays to sieve it into a jug which makes for easy pouring into the ramekin or moulds for cooking in baine marie with water 1/2 way up the sides. I usually top mine with demerara sugar before blow torching, but in class we used castor sugar (potato/patato). I made 6 individual Brulee’s, a presentation one in a ceramic ramekin and five in aluminium cups, but I have no photo to show as mine were mysteriously missing from the fridge, where I left them to chill, when I came back from our break. It seems one of my classmates had a greater need than mine to present my work as their own. Fortunately Chef had seen me making and torching mine, so I was still marked as having completed all the products, but it left me quite disappointed. Chef decided that the Almond Tuilles would be served with the Crème Brulee, and even though mine turned out beautifully, having curled well after being carefully draped over a rolling pin straight out of the oven, I didn’t take a photo as they looked ever so lonely without the central component on the plate.

Pav (Pavlova) is the quintessential Australian and New Zealand dessert! There is always a lot of debate across the ‘ditch’ regarding its true country of origin, but I’m going out on a limb here by saying I think it’s a NZ creation. My lovely NZ Aunt and my NZ girlfriends make a mean Pav….I think it’s in their DNA. I’ll lay claim to the fabulous ANZAC biscuit and the iconic Lamington for Australia (I think that’s fair). The recipe we made was a pavlova but made into a roulade, filled with Chantilly Cream and fruit, rolled in cinnamon sugar and set aside in the fridge to set. The quality tip is to make the Chantilly Cream very (very) stiff and not over fill the meringue before rolling. My Chantilly was a tad soft…. lesson learnt. I will be doing this one again as it looked great on the plate.

  • Spread the meringue out on baking sheet
  • Bake
  • Fill
  • Roll on a real covered with cinnamon sugar
  • Tie the ends of the plastic wrap

Only two lessons and a final assessment to complete before the end of semester when we finish the weekly kitchen tutorials. The last semester of the course will all be done in the college restaurant kitchen under the direction of a head chef. Next weeks lesson, Lesson Three, will be Chocolate based Desserts and will include; Dark Chocolate Mousse, Milk Chocolate Lava Cake (Fondant) & Choc Chip Cookies served with Mango Ice-Cream…. I hope you stop by and see how it all goes. 

Bon Appetite 

Kathryn 💙👩‍🍳

Creme Brulee

A classic French favourite for good reason..creamy custard topped with crunchy toffee makes this a delighful sweet treat to end a meal. Tapping a spoon on the lightly burnt sugar to find the silky smooth vanilla custard underneath is a guilty pleasure!

  • 210 mls Whole (full fat) milk
  • 210 mls Cream
  • .5 unit Vanilla Pod – slit
  • 6 unit Egg yolks
  • 60 gm Sugar – castor
  • Demerara or castor sugar to cover in thin layer
  • Garnish of choice

  1. Heat the milk, cream and split vanilla pod to blood temperature

  2. Whisk egg yolks & castor suga. Slowly pour over the warme milk/cream mixture

  3. Sieve into a jug and remove whey (froth/bubbles). Pour into ramekins (or moulds).

  4. Create a bain marie ensuring the water covers up to 3/4 of the ramekins.

  5. Bake at 160C until set – approximatley 35 – 45 mins.

  6. Remove from the oven and chill. Once sufficiently cool, sprinkle an even layer of sugar across the top. Clean the edges of any sugar and using a kitchen blow torch caramelise the tops to a deep golden brown.

  7. Garnish as desired. Strawberries or raspberries with a splash of green such as a sprig of mint looks nice.

Posted in Commercial Cookery, Culinary School, Recipes | 11 Comments

Desserts: Lessons 1 – Special Dietary Needs + Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Lactose Free Chocolate Sauce.

Posted on May 19, 2019 by kathryninthekitchen

I can’t believe I’ve arrived at the last module of the course; ‘Desserts’, it seems like only yesterday I walked into my first class in Kitchen 9. Now, desserts aren’t really my thing, I’m the kind of girl who when presented with a choice of 2 courses always picks entrée and main. Saying that I think I may be in the minority, I know that many people including my husband, love a sweet ending to a meal.

The focus of Lesson One was ‘Special Dietary Needs’, of which there seem to be many these days. In this class we made a GF Chocolate Cake with LF Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), an egg free Raspberry Mousse, which in class was set on top of the chilled chocolate cake, GF Sticky Black Pandan Rice and a vegan Coconut Gelato. If anyone is interested in any of the recipes, just drop me a line and I will shoot them through. 

Lesson One – Dessets

The cake was delicious, but I think mine was taken out of the oven just before it was ready, which is why it looks slightly collapsed at the tip. It’s one of the down sides of sharing oven trays with other students, someone may decide that theirs is done, & not worrying about the others whips the shared baking tray out of the oven without consultation. Due to the poor photo of mine I’ve also included some photos of Chef’s plates (always lovely). No matter, I think this is a lovely cake, with or without the raspberry mousse, and I’ll be making it again (and possibly again)! One of the tips in making the sponge is to grate the butter to hasten/assist in the creaming process…I love baking tips don’t you? The raspberry mousse couldn’t have been easier to make with only 4 ingredients; raspberries, sugar, cream and gelatine….it was also very tasty. The mixture needs to be cooled to 14C before it is poured onto the chilled cake and allowed to set for minimum of an hour before turning out on a plate. The mousse could also be made in dessert cups or dariole moulds and simply decorated with fruit and/or chocolate. The chocolate sauce is something I will definitely come back to; not only is it easy to make but it also makes for a healthy alternative and is none the poorer for the lack of milk or cream.

  • Grated butter
  • Making the light sponge mix
  • Chocolate Sponge (GF)
  • Cooking the Raspberry Mousse
  • Cooling in the fridge
  • Ready to slice
  • Chef’s Plate 1
  • Chef’s Plate 2
  • Chef’s Plate 3
My wonky plate!

Whereas I’ve stated I’m not a dessert girl, I do enjoy making and eating ice cream and gelato, and there is always a homemade batch in my freezer. The one we made in class however is NOT one I would recommend to others or remake. The addition of dextrose and ‘ice cream stabiliser’ gave it quite a chemical aftertaste which I found unpleasant, so much so that I didn’t present it on my finished plate and didn’t even take a photo of it! Chef put a quenelle of it on a plate half way through the class and left it on the bench …it was still intact & unmelted 2 hours later…need I say more? The black sticky rice however was a thing of beauty and deliciousness. Not having tasted pandan flavour before I was delighted an became an instant fan. 

  • Cooking the sticky rice under a cartouche
  • Thick and jammy cooked rice
  • Pretty with reduced coconut cream

As you see, presentation continues to be an important consideration. The next lesson is cream based desserts and will include Pannacotta, Creme Brulee and a Pavlova…. sounds like it’s going to be a busy one.

Bon Appetit

Kathryn 💙👩‍🍳

Gluten Free Chocolate Sponge with Lactose Free Chocolate Sauce

This is a fool proof and rich sponge cake which you can serve simply with a dusting of icing sugar and chocolate sauce, or dress it up with some ice cream and raspberry coulis. Berries and a sprig of mint make a colourful garnish.

  • 165 gm Almond Meal
  • 150 gm Chocolate – dark couverture
  • 125 gm Butter – unsalted
  • 80 gm Sugar – Castor 1
  • 50 gm Sugar – Castor 2
  • 6 units Eggs – separated
  • 60 ml Amoretto liqueur
  • 150 ml Water (1)
  • 85 gm Castor Sugar
  • 45 gm Chocolate – compound chopped
  • 12 gm Cornflour
  • 25 gm Cocoa powder
  • 50 ml Water (2) – cold

  1. For the cake: 

    Preheat oven to 170C and spray and line the cake tin (20 cm)

  2. Melt chocolate over a Bain Marie (gently)

  3. Whilst chocolate is melting cream together the soft butter and sugar (1) in a stand mixer until light and fluffy.

  4. In a clean large bowl whisk egg whites by hand to soft peak and then add the sugar in three additions. Whisk until stiff peak and put aside. Do

  5. When the butter and sugar are creamed, add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

  6. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the still warm melted chocolate, almond meal and amoretto, mix by hand ensuring almond meal worked through.

  7. Carefully fold in the meringue to the chocolate mix.

  8. Pour into prepared cake tin and push mixture to side of tin to reduce ‘doming’. Bake for 40 – 50 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean, in the preheated oven. Check after 35 mins.

  9. Cake Quality Note: If the sugar and the butter are not sufficiently creamed to ensure the sugar is well incorporated into the mixture, sugar crystals will develop on the top of your cake. 

    This cake will rise but will collapse due to the lack of any flour.

  10. For the chocolate sauce:

    In a saucepan bring the sugar and water (1) to the boil. Take off heat and add the chocolate and allow to melt.

  11. Sift the cornflour and cocoa powder together twice, add water (2) and mix it to a paste.

  12. Place the saucepan with the melted chocolate back on the heat and add the paste whilst whisking quickly. Return to the boil and continue to cook out, whilst stirring until you reach desired consistency.

  13. Pass the sauce through a fine strainer and serve hot or cold

  14. Quality Note: If sauce gets too thick it can be thinned with sugar syrup.

Posted in Commercial Cookery, Culinary School, Recipes | 11 Comments

Cakes, Pastries & Bread – Lesson 5 & 6 – Laminated Yeast Dough +Tiramisu

Posted on May 5, 2019 by kathryninthekitchen

It’s been a few weeks since I last updated you with what is going on at college. I’ve had a lot on with class, finishing the monster assignment (done and submitted), Easter break with visitors and house guests, as well as the seemingly never ending house repairs. In Lesson 5 we produced Danish Pastries, requiring Creme Patisserie, and Tiramisu (non-traditional recipe below), requiring the making of the sponge biscuits (savoiardi/lady fingers).

Lesson 5

The yeasted dough was the first task, but I didn’t get to make it as I was caught up for 2 hours in a traffic jam, due to a horrific accident which threw the north of Sydney into grid lock. I called ahead to chef explaining the situation, so he was fine to give me half of his dough when it came to making the Danish. One of my lovely friends had already set up my workstation and had also weighed out my ingredients. When making this pastry, first you make the yeasted ‘paste’ then you incorporate the butter as you would if you were making puff pastry. Here are a few photos of chef preparing the dough.

  • Add the sheet butter
  • Fold into a book
  • Bash out
  • Roll
  • Turn
  • Fold again
  • Wrap and rest

I made the creme patisserie and was able to assist one of the other students in rolling out the finished dough. We used a template to cut the dough into squares ahead of making the various types of Danish; Cherry Diamonds, Apricot Windmills & Bear Claws.

  • Creme Patisserie – Bain Marie method
  • Ready to roll
  • Ready to cut
  • Apricot Windmill
  • My Danish
  • Baked goods

The sponge fingers are very easy to make, simply 2 eggs (separated and the whites whisked until soft peak), 100g of castor sugar, 85g of plain flour and vanilla essence. Whisk the egg whites, add the sugar in 3 amounts, carefully fold in the yolks and lastly gently fold in the sieved flour. The batter is then piped onto baking trays and sprinkled with a little castor sugar and baked until golden (@ 8 mins in 220C preheated oven). Unfortunately, all the sponge fingers were left a little longer than required, so they were over done slightly. Not to worry, they weren’t burnt so once they were smothered in the Tiramisu mix all was forgiven.

  • Ready for the oven
  • Overdone

The traditional method of making Tiramisu (translated as ‘Pick me up’ due to the inclusion of coffee) is much more straight forward, calling for uncooked eggs and no gelatine. However, due to concerns re salmonella, the college doesn’t advocate for the traditional method. I’ve only ever previously made it using the traditional method, which is dead easy, and I’ll probably continue to do so at home, but I’ve provided you with the alternative method below. We assembled the Tiramisu’s in takeaway containers, liberally dusted them with cocoa powder in readiness for sale at the college shop.

The final lesson of the Cakes, Pastries and Bread module was the review/assessment, in which Chef observed the students making a number of items taught in previous lessons. The only guidance was we were finish all cooking and present our items for assessment by 1.30pm. We divided ourselves into groups of four so as to share one of the three large commercial ovens. We agreed which recipes we would make in what order which was important because sharing the oven meant we had to cook the same items at the same time. The items to be produced were; 4 fruit tarts filled with creme patisserie, 12 white bread rolls, 6 eclairs and 6 profiteroles filled with creme patisserie and glazed and a Genoise Sponge, filled with jam, Chantilly cream and fresh strawberries. HUGE!

Lesson 6 – Revision

My group decided to make the Genoise Sponge first as it needed to rest in the fridge before assembly. We then made the bread dough, as it needed to be rested before baking, followed by the sweet pastry for the tartlets. Next came the creme patisserie, the chox pastry and finally the Chantilly cream and fruit preparation for the tarts and the sponge. In readiness for this revision lesson I did some practice at home, for which I was glad as I realised I was making my eclairs and profiteroles far too small.

Given the number of items to make, I didn’t have time to stop and take photos, except for the sponge, which was smaller than the one I made in lesson one (the cake tin was a lot smaller) but turned out well. The only issue I had was with my creme patisserie, which I’ve never had issues with before. It had an identity crisis and thought it was Creme Anglaise 😳! It was far too thin as I didn’t take it far enough on the heat. Do you ever make such silly mistakes with recipes you have made perfectly many times before? The Genoise could have done with more creme but I was sharing the mixture with another student and didn’t want to be greedy….still it looked good and the texture was perfect.

Genoise Sponge

I passed the assessment, even with too thin creme pat, and am now only one module away from completing the course work of the certificate. Next week we start the final module, Desserts, I hope you drop by to see how it goes.

Bon Appitet

Kathryn 💙👩‍🍳

Tiramisu

Meaning “pick me up” in Italian, this classic dessert features luscious mascarpone cheese layered with coffee-soaked sponge fingers, a touch of liqueur and dusted with cocoa. 

  • 20 units Savoiardi biscuits (Sponge fingers)
  • 2 units Egg yolks
  • 2 units Eggs, whole
  • 100 gm Caster Sugar
  • 2 units Gelatine Leaf
  • 15 ml Lemon juice
  • 250 gm Mascarpone Cheese
  • 250 ml Cream (35%)
  • 200 ml Espresso or Coffee essence & water
  • 50 ml Masala or Tia Maria
  • 150 gm Sugar
  • 10 gm Cocoa powder (garnish)

  1. Syrup: 

    1. Dissolve sugar in coffee

    2. Add liqueur

    3. Dip sponge fingers in syrup – but not too long or they will fall apart

  2. Tiramisu Mixture:

    4. Whisk cream to soft peak

    5. Soak gelatine in cold water until soft. Warm lemon juice and dissolve gelatine

    6. Whisk eggs & sugar over a bain marie until ribbon stage. Cool slightly & add mascarpone that has been creamed to a soft consistency.

    7. Add gelatine mix and fold in the cream.

  3. Assemble: 

    8. Place a layer of the soaked sponge fingers in a suitable container and spoon over half the mascarpone mixture.

    9. Place another layer of sponge fingers over the top and spoon the remaining mascarpone mix over the fingers.

    10. Place in the fridge and allow to set  – at least an hour.

    11. Before serving dust with cocoa powder.

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