I can't believe my first semester of pastry school is one month from being complete. It's a week before Thanksgiving break and it's amazing what I have learned and already put into practice. My chef is a firm believer of thin layers of cake with equal layers of frosting. As seen here:
This produces a much more flavorful cake than having two inch thick cake layers with a quarter inch thick frosting in between. Also, I only had to bake one cake instead of two.
This cake I made for my mom's birthday. German chocolate is her favorite, but I wanted to make it Cloud 9 style, so I made a chocolate ganache filling for the bottom layer and toasted the coconut before adding it to the german chocolate frosting. Then I topped it with ganache rosettes. I was really happy with the way it turned out. This one will definitely be on my cafes menu.
I have also realized that I really enjoy making bread. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. It can be very temperamental and time consuming, but there is nothing like a fresh piece of bread right out of the oven slathered with European butter. And yes European butter has a much better flavor than the stateside butter and no I don't know why. Bread is very versatile. So many different things can come out of what is essentially the same dough. There's a really great book that chef uses a little in class called "Artisan Breads". I really want a copy of it. It's available at your local Barnes and Noble, just in case you're wondering what to get me for my upcoming birthday or Christmas this year. :)
But don't worry, I won't abandon my love for cakes and other desserts for my newly found love for making breads. I have no plans to change Cloud 9 Pastries to Cloud 9 Breads. I will just have to expand my plans for my future cafe.
