Sadly, today was my last day cooking in the kitchen normally. It was actually one of my best days, which was GREAT!! I finished pretty late, but that's okay. I wanted to focus more on doing a fabulous job rather than rush through my last day. Here's what I made:
Overall, a great day. What a great was to finish my 12 weeks cooking here at Ballymaloe!
- American-style pancakes: these things were so simple. Egg, buttermilk, flour, salt, baking powder, and maybe a pinch of sugar. I wanted to do these so that I could check off the last thing left on my technique sheet. It was a nice snack for people in the middle of the morning frenzy :).
- Chocolate Genoise Mousse-filled Cake: Cake!!!!! I love making cakes, as painstakingly tedious as they are. It's just so great to have it all come together in the end in a beautiful symphony. This cake turned out really really well, too! Debbie gave it a 10!! ^_^. I was so happy with it! I'm gonna break it down so that it's a bit easier to follow because there were so many different aspects to the creation of the masterpiece.
- Cake. The genoise cake is a bit tricky because ideally there isn't any chemical leavener - you just have to rely on whisked up eggs. However, mine was a chocolate version, so the cocoa required a little bit of baking powder to help it out. My cake turned out lovely and light, which was a surprise because I was worried that I had overmixed the flour once I added it to the mousse-like egg mix. Then I split the cake into three layers and filled it with goodies.
- Filling 1: Chantilly Cream. This is simply a whipped cream with sugar added to it that has been stored with used vanilla pods so that it they give a hint of vanilla flavor. I spread this on the lower level of the layers, and also piped the rest around the outside.
- Filling 2 and icing: Chocolate Mousse. This is pretty straightforward - melt chocolate over water and whisk in egg yolks, add some Grand Marnier (optional :D), then fold in egg whites and leave to set. BAM. This was absolutely delicious! I spread this over the second layer, and also over the rest of the cake. My instructor said it set really really well! The Grand Marnier wasn't terribly present, but it gave a lovely aftertaste that was mellow and delicious!
- Toppings: CHOCOLATE TWIRLS! This was the fun part :). I melted chocolate and then spread it over the back of a baking sheet to cool. Then I took a cheese slicer and shaved off little bits that then curled nicely. I also cut out little leaves to put around the edge, and made hearts and cut them in half to create a 3D heart in the middle!
Overall, a great day. What a great was to finish my 12 weeks cooking here at Ballymaloe!
After lunch, we had a fun demo where Darina took our requests into account and demonstrated them. Darina appalled us with her skill in removing all of the bones from a whole chicken while keeping the meat entirely intact. She's a magician! We also had some Spanish paella, scotch eggs (boiled eggs rolled in batter and sausage and deep fried), gnocchi, cheesecake, molten chocolate lava cakes, and panforte. What a meal! It was great fun, though I was so focused on tasting and moving on to sourdough that I didn't take any pictures!
Moving on to sourdough, I only had a certain amount of time to cook the sourdough I had to use for my exam because there was a special dinner for some of the students that helped with the pop-up dinner. While the bread cooked, I also made raspberry jam and blanched almonds to make my own almond flour so that I could use it all in my practical exam on Thursday. It's funny to think how simple it seemed for me to do all of that now - earlier on, that would have been a nightmare! It would've taken me much longer than an hour to do all of that!
Nan and I sprinted back to the cottage in order to change and make it to Tim and Darina's house. What a lovely scene we walked into once we arrived ^_^. Darina and our wine lecture instructor, Colm, had prepared some Prosecco, rosewater and elderflower cordial cocktails for us to sip on while we chatted amongst ourselves in the living room. Their house is absolutely charming, with high ceilings and thick walls, and gorgeous rugs! I think it was built in the 1800s! Our meal was marvelous once we had a chance to sit down - we started with smoked salmon with cucumber pickle, deviled egg, and rocket, then moved on to lobster in cream sauce and romanesco risotto that Tim had made himself. We also had white AND red wine, and finished the night off with some cheesecake and other goodies leftover from our morning's cooking. The first picture of Darina is with her brother, Rory as they served the main course, and the second is of Darina with her husband, Tim. It was such a great night!
Moving on to sourdough, I only had a certain amount of time to cook the sourdough I had to use for my exam because there was a special dinner for some of the students that helped with the pop-up dinner. While the bread cooked, I also made raspberry jam and blanched almonds to make my own almond flour so that I could use it all in my practical exam on Thursday. It's funny to think how simple it seemed for me to do all of that now - earlier on, that would have been a nightmare! It would've taken me much longer than an hour to do all of that!
Nan and I sprinted back to the cottage in order to change and make it to Tim and Darina's house. What a lovely scene we walked into once we arrived ^_^. Darina and our wine lecture instructor, Colm, had prepared some Prosecco, rosewater and elderflower cordial cocktails for us to sip on while we chatted amongst ourselves in the living room. Their house is absolutely charming, with high ceilings and thick walls, and gorgeous rugs! I think it was built in the 1800s! Our meal was marvelous once we had a chance to sit down - we started with smoked salmon with cucumber pickle, deviled egg, and rocket, then moved on to lobster in cream sauce and romanesco risotto that Tim had made himself. We also had white AND red wine, and finished the night off with some cheesecake and other goodies leftover from our morning's cooking. The first picture of Darina is with her brother, Rory as they served the main course, and the second is of Darina with her husband, Tim. It was such a great night!
I somehow turned on a really bizarre function on my camera during dinner, so Nan and I played around with the effects! These were my favorites :).
I had a little bit too much wine (just a couple glasses) to be able to focus, so instead of studying, I decided to hang out with people after dinner in one of the cottages. It was so much fun because a couple of us went around the room singing songs we knew. I sang a Pavarotti song, Nessun Dorma, because for some reason I feel more comfortable singing/presenting in another language rather than in English. I have no clue why!
Love,
Livvy
Love,
Livvy