Cup Cakes!

 Good morning to you all! As you all know I love being a student in the diploma in Patisserie course however I am excited to say that as of tomorrow I am officially on holiday for two weeks! So because it is Easter this weekend I thought I would share with you the cupcake recipe we made yesterday. Keep in mind this recipe is just the foundation, many of us decided to add flavourings such as butterscotch or apple to the mixture. But in the end it makes a fabulously delicious cupcake.

I've added a few photos of the classes creations as well as my own so don't be fooled I didn't make all of those beautiful cupcakes. On a side note if any of you saw that very evil looking photo of a strange girl posing in front of the cupcakes (on Facebook) that oddly looked very much like me, don't be alarmed that's not me at all. That's actually my long lost evil twin that is extremely unphotogenic, unlike me of course who is not strange or unphotogenic at all (note the sarcasm).

Now on with the show:

Cup Cakes (Makes 12)

110g Butter

180g Sugar

3 eggs

95g sour cream

125g flour

4g baking powder

½ Vanilla Pod

Icing

100g Butter

200g Icing Sugar

10g Water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Whisk the butter, vanilla and sugar together until light and fluffy

3. Gradually add the eggs then add the sour cream

4. Gently fold in the sifted dry ingredients until combined

5. Pipe into a muffin tray lined with paper cups and bake for approx. 20minutes

6. Leave to cool for 2 minutes before un-moulding

7. Pipe icing when cold

Icing: Cream the butter and sifted icing sugar until light and fluffy

Add water to soften

I hope you have a lovely Easter weekend filled with plenty of chocolate and fun with family and friends. Just for your enjoyment and to prove I don't always look creepy in photos, below is a more normal looking photo of the Diploma in Patisserie students with our Easter themed cupcakes and muffins.

That's all from me folks,

B.  

All that needs to be said is... Pavlova.

 The passion and love I have towards the kiwi favourite dessert, Pavlova, exceeds any love present between a couple in a relationship. I kid you not I would marry a Pavlova. Which, if you ask my parents, isn't very unusual since I have been wanting to marry a roast chicken since I was 5. You could only imagine how excited I was when I found out we were going to make Pavlova in class. Imagine how excited you would be if you were just told you had won a million dollars and you were given super powers, that's how excited I was. So of course, it is only fitting that I share this Pavlova log recipe with you.


Before I do here's a little fun fact for you, the Pavlova dessert was created in honour of the famous ballerina, Anna Pavlova. The Pavlova itself, with its round shape and built up sides, is meant to represent a ballet dancer's tutu. It was also said in 1926, when Anna toured Australia and New Zealand, that "she does not dance, she soars as though on wings" which is why the Pavlova is light and airy.


This recipe is delicious, with its contrast between the sweet Pavlova and the sour passionfruit pulp. Not to mention it is super quick and easy to make.

Pavlova Roll

Ingredients:

200g egg whites (approx. 7 egg whites)

270g sugar

15g cornflour

15g vinegar

1tsp vanilla essence

Pinch Salt

300g cream

30g cream stabilizer (optional)

50g passion fruit pulp

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C

Beat the egg whites with 1/3^rd of the sugar and a pinch of salt until you reach stiff peaks

Gradually add the rest of the sugar until the mixture is thick and glossy

Fold the cornflour, vanilla and vinegar; mix until just combined

Spread onto greaseproof paper lined baking tray to form a 30x30 cm square

Bake at 170C for 8-10 minutes until just set (slight colour)

Leave to cool on baking tray

Turn out onto a piece of greaseproof paper lightly dusted with icing sugar

Evenly cover with whipped cream, mixed with the passion fruit pulp and cream stabilizer

Roll up into a tight scroll

Divide into slices and store in the fridge until further use

So there you have it a spin on the kiwi classic Pavlova. This recipe can also be altered by adding fresh berries into the cream or using any other fruit pulp. 

Oh the things I would do to be able to eat Pavlova constantly without feeling sick or getting fat. 

Until next week,

B. 

Whirlwind of a Week

Good to see you all, I hope life is treating you well.

It’s just me again, sitting in my room and contemplating what life would be like without sweet things. I have come to the conclusion that life would be utterly horrible without cake, or chocolate or delicious pavlova.  But then again I am very biased since I am training to be a pastry chef, none the less I still think life would be boring without dessert.

Just like life would be boring without dessert it would also be boring without stressful situations and difficulties. The most recent difficulty I have faced was just yesterday when I had my first practical assessment for the paper ‘Foundation Pastries’. Let me talk you through my horrible, stressful yet very rewarding day: It all started when my alarm didn’t go off and instead of waking up to my alarm at 5.45am I was awoken by noisy girls in the bathroom, which I thought was very strange since I was usually the first one up. So I looked at the time on my phone and it said 6.50am, I had to be at AUT at 7.30am sharp. I was mortified to say the least. I literally leaped out of bed put clothes on, splashed my face with water and sprinted out of the house without having breakfast, brushing my teeth, having a shower, or doing my hair. It was a very low point in my life. Luckily I made it to the bus stop just as the next bus was pulling up, I was freaking out about being late so I sprinted from the bus stop to the changing rooms. I looked terrible, I probably smelled terrible but I made it on time with 2 minutes to spare.

Everything was going great through the assessment, I was half an hour ahead of schedule and I was in a rhythm, less stressed and actually enjoying the chaos around me. Until I decided to glance into the oven and notice my Pitivier was a disaster. The entire inside had oozed out from the pastry and it looked like someone had sat on it then decided to trample on it a little. So as usual I panicked. So much for cool, calm and collected. I ran up to the chef and asked if I could possibly have some more puff pastry, which he kindly gave to me. Feeling like I was going to faint from the heat, having no breakfast and stressing out, I put my head down and whipped up another pitivier in 10 minutes.  While that was baking I finished off my choux buns, fruit flan and even had time to do some dishes. Luckily my pitivier came out of the oven just in time and looked 100% better than the first one I made.

It was judging time, by that point I was so emotionally and physically exhausted all I wanted was to pass and get out of that kitchen. The chef came over; inspected and very much surprised me by giving me…  a 98% overall mark!! I was so relieved and over the moon that I had accomplished that mark. Now that it’s over I can relax and look forward to learning all about cakes in our next paper.

Speaking of which I made a mistake in my last blog, I thought we were doing the sponges, torten and gateaux paper next but we are actually doing the foundation cakes paper. I am so extremely excited for this next paper and will put some recipes up that we have learned next week.

So that was my stressful yet rewarding week, I apologise for the lack of recipes but because of the last two weeks being filled with assessment work I have none to share with you. 

Let me know if you have any questions about pastry, the recipes I have shared with you, or if there are any recipes in particular you would want me to put up.

Have a great week and remember without stressful situations we wouldn’t appreciate the wonderful things in life… Like dessert.

B.