Give it a whirl...

I can't believe it's 6 weeks since I started on the Patisserie and Confectionery course at Richmond College - where does the time go? In the first 5 weeks we tempered chocolate, made enriched doughs, fondant puddings, Tarte au citron, doughnuts and different varieties of bread. This week we were allowed 'free choice' to make any type of biscuit and I chose to make Viennese Whirls.

 

It's been years since I've made them and I'd forgotten how easy they are to make. It's also been years since I've eaten them and I'd forgotten how yummy they are too - buttery, crumbly and melt in the mouth. I last made them in secondary school during 'O' level Cookery lessons. I remember every week setting off from home on the school bus with twin sister Sue with ingredients stuffed into our gingham covered wicker baskets together with a tin to bring back our wares! The bus trip took half an hour and as soon as we got on the bus to go home we would devour whatever we had made. Mum and dad were ever hopeful there might be a crumb or two left but there rarely was! 

My trusty 34th edition of the Be-Ro Home Recipes book, which we used every week in school, dates back to the mid 70's, is still in my collection and features Viennese Fingers and Rosettes. The  recipe I used for this batch though was a more recent one from the Hairy Bikers on the BBC Food website.

Ingredients
250g very soft butter
50g icing sugar
250g plain flour
50g cornflour
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method
Sieve the icing sugar, plain flour and cornflour into a bowl with the soft butter and vanilla
Mix together with a spoon first before whisking or blending to a smooth paste
Pipe into different shapes - swirls, fingers or double 'S' shapes onto baking paper
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes at 190, allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes
Transfer to a cooling rack
Sandwich together with butter icing and jam or dip in melted chocolate
Dust lightly with icing sugar

Over the last few weeks we've worked out the college is running on a very tight budget and we have resorted to bringing in some of our own ingredients, in a rucksack - not a wicker basket sadly! The payback is that we get to bring home the goodies we make every Tuesday evening and, as I now have a little more self-discipline, not everything I make gets eaten before I get home! I take a plastic box with me and my family and work colleagues are actually getting to taste my creations!

Practice makes perfect

Although they are a family favourite I've never made doughnuts before. I don't know why that is, what's not to like about them?

This coming Tuesday we will be making them on my evening course so I felt the need to have a practice beforehand. I've quickly come to the realise on this course that it pays to read up, and if time allows, have a trial run with whatever it is we are going to be making. 

Doughnuts Mark 1, although tasted fine, wouldn't have won any prizes for looks or presentation.

Doughnuts Mark 1

So learning from the mistakes we (it turned into a family effort - mixing, shaping, frying, dusting in sugar and injecting the jam!) had another go and I am pleased to say doughnuts Mark 2 were a great success. 

I followed a Paul Hollywood  recipe on the BBC which is very straightforward. I think it helps to have a sugar thermometer (ours is still packed in a box somewhere) to ensure the oil is at 180c, as we ended up guessing when we were at the right temperature, which wasn't ideal. So I'm feeling a little more confident going into Tuesday's lesson now knowing how best to cut the shapes, manhandle them after proving and frying to the right colour.

 

If only I had known how to make these when I was younger - they were Dad's favourite. He was always having 'secret' doughnuts but he generally forgot to hide the evidence of the sugary bag! This one's for you dad.... xxx

Doughnut Mark 2

 

Week 1 - Tempering Chocolate!

When I said last week I was looking forward to tempering chocolate I didn't think it would be the first thing we attempted on the course. I felt a little like the underdog on a talent show and came away feeling like I needed to up my game to keep up with my colleagues and stay in the competition. We were a small group of mixed nationalities and abilities - I'm really looking forward to learning alongside them.

I may have looked the part kitted out in my loaned chef's whites but I struggled to master the technique of tempering chocolate on my first attempt - never mind practice makes perfect and I'll try and master it at home. I suspect the equipment list for this course could be endless and turn out to be a bit expensive - thermometers, acetates, good quality ingredients ... this 5kg bar of 54% cocoa solid dark chocolate, for example, costs about £40!

After tempering the chocolate (heating and cooling to specific temperatures - more science in the kitchen) we spread it onto acetate sheets to create a freestanding shape, which needed to set hard in the fridge. This was later filled with a chocolate mouse and decorated with chantilly cream and piped decorations. I think I will blog more about the technique when I feel a little more confident at it.

My first attempt - bit of a mess in all honesty!
What's the old saying - less is more?

My tempered milk chocolate teardrop shape was nowhere near as shiny and impressive as Steve's dark chocolate marbled cylinder, In my defense he runs his own bakery business, trained in professional kitchens and has worked for Gordon Ramsey in the past. He's going to be the one to watch and was definitely our 'star baker' this week!

Steve's masterpiece

Back to School

Our boys are all grown up now........so it's not them but me going 'Back to School'

My current efforts.....but so much more to learn

Last week our eldest, Gareth, submitted his Masters dissertation and our youngest, Owen, attended his graduation ceremony at Falmouth University. As they leave their studies behind and set off into the challenging world of work we're very proud of the young men they have grown up into. 

Dave, Gareth & Owen plus Thomas the Tank (19 years ago)

So on Tuesday I nervously walked through the gates at Richmond upon Thames College to meet the lecturers and have a look around the facilities of their catering department. It took me back over 30 years to the time I studied at Ealing College (now re-branded as the University of West London!) for my HND in Hotel and Catering. This time I want to enrol on the NVQ3 Diploma in Professional Cookery (Patisserie and Confectionery). Sat around the table were people of all ages and nationalities with a wide range of reasons for wanting to sign up for the course - improving employment prospects, career advancement, setting up their own businesses or just as a hobby. It's a part-time course and over the year we will cover a diverse range of topics from complex pastries to dough products, health and hygiene to food product development. I'm especially looking forward to learning about tempering chocolate and creating a competition piece - so watch this space as I blog and maybe even Tweet about what I have mastered each week. Hopefully in a years time I can post a photo of me (in my chefs whites not a graduation gown!) proudly holding my certificate.  

  

Owen & Gareth (now)

Make every word count

We played our annual family game of Scrabble last night. We always forget how long it takes, and how rubbish we are at it but it's good for a laugh and brings out the mildly competitive sides of our nature.

Some play it more regularly, like my friend Gill's mum Marjorie who I made this cake for when she turned 80 back in 2002. I created the playing board from very thinly rolled out green fondant, marking off the 15 x 15 grid and stuck on the coloured premium squares. The words, made up from fondant letter tiles, reflected her interests at the time - I realise that there are some 'illegal' proper nouns on the board but what the heck!

The 'illegal' words would no doubt have been challenged by experts as the game is taken very seriously by some with official associations and hotly contested competitions across the world. The current World Youth Scrabble Champion is a 14 year old London lad who scored more in one turn, a whopping 122 points, than one of our players (who shall remain nameless) managed to score in the whole game last night! The earliest version of Scrabble is thought to date back to 1938, the board layout has changed a little, the rules have evolved and technology has had an impact on how we play but it still remains a favourite in many households. Having said that we have packed it away for another year.....