Art Final Exam Project

A couple weeks ago, we were given a theme in our art class.  Egg.  We were to interpret it how we wanted; Easter themes were forbidden, but other than that there weren't really many guidelines.  I went through a myriad of ideas...reproduction, zygote; then, thinking about the shape of an egg, grain of wheat, boat; then, being the Dali fan that I am, I thought of his "Geopolitical Child" and the egg-world with the new-born man breaking out of North America... I sketched a completely broken egg-world with golden liquid pooling out.  Ideas just further developed from there.  Anyway, we were told to submit a sketch, knowing that we would later have to recreate it out of chocolate.

In-class sketches

 When I'm given a project, I become absolutely obsessed--my life becomes my brainstorm in everything I do.  Anyway, I had pretty much decided on my broken-world egg idea, and had made so many sketches until I found one I was happy with.

When all of the sudden, while watching an episode of The Tudors, I saw an armillary sphere in the background of the King's office.  It had several rotating orbs inside of it, and I thought to myself oh my gosh, those orbs could be EGGS!  So, not knowing that the structure was actually called an armillary sphere at that point, I looked up "astrolabe" because I thought it might be that, but no.  Anyway, after a bit of research, I found the armillary sphere and read all about it.  I really fell in love with the idea, especially since it is such a symbol of knowledge and learning, and the idea of having an egg inside to replace the sun/Earth was really beautiful to me.  So, the new sketches began...

I knew it would probably be really difficult to make, so I took my sketch to several pastry/chocolate chefs to ask their opinion about the feasibility of such an idea.  After hearing from all of them that "it is possible," which was all I needed to know (I kind of ignored the warnings of the high level of technique involved).  I wanted a challenge.  How are people supposed to learn well if we don't challenge ourselves?  I could have easily chosen  a simple topic and executed it perfectly, but that's no fun.  Succeeding in the face of a challenge is like an epic hunt for that elusive and perfect kill.

My art professor/chef OK'd my idea but not without marked warnings about the difficulty.  But the fact that he didn't flat out refuse my idea (which he did with other students), told me that it could work out in the end.  We had to adjust our sketches to be to-scale and life sized, specifying the sizes of chocolate molds, and so on.

We were to be given one day to prepare everything (crystallize the chocolate, and mold all the pieces), and then a day to assemble and finish it.  The preparation day went terribly.  I kept trying different ideas for forming the rings, but it was always too fragile in the end and would snap apart--there was no way I could possibly build a structure out of rings that brittle.  It was such a struggle and I was getting so frustrated and upset (once we got the OK from our art teacher, we couldn't change our idea; plus, the final grade would be based on how alike the final product was to the sketch).  Anyway, I left class Friday completely disillusioned and defeated.  I had only made the ball for the base, one platform for the base, and the egg.  I would have to somehow create all 4 rings, an arrow, the rest of the base platforms, and assemble the piece all in four and a half hours.

All weekend long, I was freaking out.  But Monday night I calmed myself, and sat down and came up with a game plan.  I would NOT walk into lab on Tuesday with my tail between my legs (chef had been very disappointed on Friday), I would not be unprepared or embarrassed that my idea may have been too over-ambitious, and, above all, I would NOT have my idea fail.  I wrote down every step of everything I needed to do, IN detail.  Time management is extremely important.  I can't let myself be lost for the next step.

I remembered an idea that chef had proposed on Friday--instead of making really thin rings that are the same diameter, I could try to make thicker rings that fit inside one another (20cm, 18cm, 16cm, 14cm).   Of course, it would differ greatly from the overall concept, and from an actual armillary sphere, but there was really no other option, and it would still look really nice if it worked.  I searched my apartment high and low for things I could use as chocolate molds for the arrow.  Chef had told me I should just carve it, but I knew I had no time for that.  But, thanks to the fact that for some reason I never throw away boxes or wrapping that things come in, I found the flexible plastic packaging that my curtain rod came in.  I cut it out, rolled it on itself, and taped it up.  Perfect arrow stem and tail.  Voila!  Then I found some plastic disposable champagne glasses, and the bottom of the glass made a nice point--I would try to make that work for the arrow head.

I walked in Tuesday with confidence only to hear a disenchanting pep-talk from Pascal Niau (our famous MOF art professor) about how he was afraid that some people may have chosen subjects that were too difficult for their level of expertise.  My chef looked me hard in the eye as Niau was saying this.  But I knew I was going to do it.  I just smiled.

I started by crystallizing the leftover chocolate from prep-day, but it just would not come to the right point.  I had to just put it aside and wait for fresh chocolate to melt.  BAM. 30 minutes gone.

I took the melted chocolate, and, while telling myself over and over that I love the chocolate, and trying hard to squelch every ounce of anxiety, I brought it right to point.  So, I molded the arrow, the champagne glass, and then the rings.  And this time, when I un-molded the rings, they held firm.  A couple broke with a fine crease as I was removing the ring molds, but I stuck them back together and it wasn't a problem.  I felt very happy when I showed Chef how the rings were working and he looked relieved and impressed that it was actually coming together.  Niau came over to inspect things, and Chef accidentally broke one of my rings in half, and then exclaimed--SEE!  It's not strong enough! and I was holding back angry tears and Niau looked disappointed and only said I told you this subject was going to be very difficult... la pauvre.  But for some reason that only made me more determined.  Chef felt bad, and stuck it back together for me.  It was ok.

Next, I un-molded my arrow stem and tail, and it was perfect!  Anyway, fast-forward, and I was ready to start assembling.  Chef was proud of my work by that point (lots of hot and cold going on with everyone in the room--there were all 19 pastry students in the same room trying to do their very best work.  Lots of stress in the air), and he really helped a lot with making the base sturdy enough to hold the rings, and then again with the actual ring-assembly.  It was understood that we would have Wednesday to completely finish, but the grade would be given on Tuesday.  So, for grade time, I had everything done except the placement of the arrow and egg inside the rings.  He was very happy with my progress and told me (in French) that I had spunk and he appreciates someone who loves a challenge and can overcome it.  I got a very good grade, so I'm content.  Here's what I had at the end of that day:

So on Wednesday, I cleaned up the spheres, and affixed the arrow, then sprayed airbrush chocolate onto it to smooth it out and make it look cleaner.  Then I stuck the egg to the arrow.  And voila--it was finally finished. Success!

Now I can really enjoy my 4 day weekend!  

Desserts for the Summertime!

We made sorbets, ice creams, and delicious iced entremets last week.  These are all of our sorbet preparations about to be mixed in the machine!

This was so much fun--we made the pattern with our fingers.  It's striping for "jaconde" (kind of like a really thin cake)

The batter is spread over the striping very thinly.

And it looks like this when it comes out!

Here's another one.

We used it to line the bottom of our iced entremets.

Almond "dacquoise" bottom with the striped jaconde as a border

So we have the jaconde striping, the almond dacquoise, and then ice cream is spread around the edges.

Then, a pre-made round of coulis and parfait layers is tucked inside the ice cream.

More ice cream is spread over the top, and it's decorated.  Then the ring is taken off.

Beautiful, no?  This one is called "Fraîcheur d'Été" and has lemon coulis, strawberry parfait, and mint ice cream.  Refreshing and summery :)

"Fraicheur d'Eté"  lemon coulis and strawberry parfait with mint ice cream

There are so many flavor possibilities, but they're all made the same way.

I made this one!  "Bourgogne" with Black-currant coulis, Blackberry parfait, and Raspberry sorbet

This one was my absolute favorite.  It's called "William" I'm not sure why, but it's delicious.  Maybe it's because William is a somewhat classy name, especially the way the French say it.  Anyway, this one is made with a Pear coulis, Caramel parfait, and Vanilla bean ice cream. mmmmmmmm!  Notice my striped jaconde lining the edge :)

"William" Pear coulis, Caramel parfait, and Vanilla ice cream

"Roussillon" with Raspberry coulis, Pistachio parfait, and Apricot sorbet

Then we learned how to work with sugar a bit.  It's so hard! But it was so fun to watch the demonstration.  Notice how translucent and bright green it is when it's first poured onto the mat:

Then he kneads it a bit, and stretches it.

Lots of turning it over onto itself.

And then it's ready to be worked with.  It's placed under a special lamp to keep it at the right consistency.  Notice how the color has changed dramatically--it's kind of pearlescent.

Then it can be shaped or molded like this:

We worked with nougatine again last week and made these cute little pots to put the leftover sorbets in. 

Here's a finished pot with some little leaves made from the sugar.

We also made baskets out of the nougatine!  Isn't it adorable?

Nougatine basket!

There are some macarons in it, garnished with black-currant sorbet.

So that was last week.  Today, I had my Final Exam for my bakery class.  We had 6 hours to make 7 kilos of baguettes, 5 loaves of whole wheat bread, a braided loaf and ring of "pain au lait," 10 croissants, and 9 pain au chocolat.  Here are my final products, waiting to be graded.

Chocolates, new shoes, and some very good news

We made chocolates last week!  Lots of yummy flavors.  

Tray of just-made chocolates

Here they are--cut in half to reveal the delicious insides.  Yes, I was eating chocolate in bed, there's nothing wrong with that.

This is the whiskey truffle.  SO creamy and melty and whisky-y inside!

This has hazelnut praline inside and it is SUPER delicious with the candied hazelnut on top to add a lovely little crunch.

This is called the baiser volé (stolen kiss).  The bottom layer is praline, and the top layer is amazing--it is apricot and passion fruit!  It's all covered in dark chocolate afterward, and topped with a candied violet.  But when I eat it, I feel like I'm eating a gourmet peanut butter and jelly--the praline is like the peanut butter and the apricot passion fruit gelatine is like a really flavorful jam.

Also, on the far left in the back, there is a dark chocolate with basil and lemon.  Very nice.  And the foreground of the left side is the palet d'or which is a delicious melding of dark chocolate and coffee, with gold leaf on top.

This is called Hesperide.  It is dark chocolate with apples and salted caramel inside!! So good.

Pistachio!

So, last Friday I had an interview with the Four Seasons Hotel George V to see if I can do my 6 month internship there.  I was extremely nervous because it was, of course, entirely in French and I get nervous for interviews even when they're in English.  Anyway, I spent lots of time preparing hypothetical questions and my possible answers, and formulating which questions I wanted to ask.  And then I had to plan what I was going to wear, because this is a palace hotel (well, not this year, but that's another story) and I wanted to look professional, nice, etc.  SO, I bought some nice flats, and came home to see what I could put together and realized that I didn't really have anything so I went wandering around Boulogne until I came across a little boutique.  It really was small, there were only about 6 racks of clothes lining the walls of the narrow interior.  It was just me and the girl at the desk.  I finally picked a dress and asked her if she thought it looked good for an interview (I have no idea about interview protocol here in France).  She was really nice and agreed that the dress was a nice choice, but helped me to pick out several other outfits to try--she knew my size immediately just by looking at me.  It always amazes me when people can do that.  My first instinct won, a classy, professional black dress.  She was impressed by my French, which gave me confidence for my interview the next day.

Friday morning, I walked into the offices for the interview and had to stop by security first.  I got a badge.  I was "VISITEUR E01."  I was led to a waiting room and waited about 20 minutes until my interviewer arrived.  She was very friendly.  She had my resume and cover letter in front of her.  She asked very basic questions like "tell me your story" and "why the George V?" and NONE of the difficult questions that I had prepared to answer, like "how do you work in a team" or "how do you deal with stress" or "what are your strengths and weaknesses?"  Anyway, it was good that I was over-prepared because I slipped my prepared answers into her very vague questions.  She seemed satisfied and took me back into the waiting room.  I was to have a second interview with the sous chef next.  So I waited a while, and then he walked in.  Very young, probably only a couple years older than me.  His interview involved even less of me talking, just the same question "why the George V?" and then, after obviously being satisfied with my answer, began telling me, in rapid-fire parisian French what I could expect if I were to work with them.  It was almost impossible to understand.  There were random French words ambiently floating around in my brain while he was speaking, and then he would pause, and they would come together all at once, like a puzzle, and I would be like ok THAT'S what he said! So I feel like that's a good sign for my French comprehension.  Anyway, he told me that there is a team of 16 in the pastry kitchen, everyone is young.  The head chef is only 28 years old.  He said that everyone gets along very well, they're happy people, and the atmosphere in the kitchen is really great, there's room to breathe.  But he ended his machine-gun speech by nodding approvingly and saying, "vous êtes très souriante" (you are very smiley).  Then I was led back into the familiar waiting room to await yet another person.  However, I was glad to discover that she wasn't there to interview me, she was there to offer me the internship (the last pastry internship space that was left!).  So I got my paperwork, and left.  I'll start my internship at the Four Seasons Hotel George V on August 1st.  I can't wait!!

This past week, we worked on traditional French choux desserts.  The first day we made nougatine.  To do that, you cook sugar until it's a very dark golden and then add sliced almonds.  Then you pour it out onto an iron baking sheet to work it a little bit, then roll it out with a metal rolling pin (so it doesn't stick) and cut out your pieces, but it has to be hot enough to cut or else it breaks.  So there is this whole process of putting it back into the oven to heat up so it can be worked with.  There also is a consequential process of burnt fingers that occurs.  The nougatine shapes we made were to form the base and the crown of the larger piece we made, the very traditional French croque en bouche (literally, crack/crunch in the mouth).

Nougatine base decorated with royal icing

Nougatine crown

 The next day we made pâte à choux (the balls), glazed them with cooked sugar that hardens like candy, and built the structure, sticking them to one another with the cooked sugar.  More burnt fingers.

My Croque en Bouche

 After that, we made another French classic, St. Honoré.  This has a round puff pastry bottom, with pâte à choux spiraled around the middle and lining the edges.

The choux balls are filled with Cointreau cream (because they're hollow inside after baking), and glazed with candied sugar and are placed upside down to harden so it's flat on top.  These are stuck around the edges with cooked sugar.  I think it looks really pretty!

The famous part of the St. Honoré is the piping pattern on top.  There's actually a piping tip named "st. honoré tip" after it.  This one is made with chantilly cream, but we get to make it again later with ice cream!

My St. Honoré, with candied violets on top!

Mmmm remember they're each filled with Cointreau cream!

OH, and since I now know exactly when my internship starts, I bought a ticket to go home for a few weeks this summer!  I can't wait to see family and friends for a little while before I start some intense working.