"Why can't you wear black shoes like the other mothers?"

I was completely blown away by how NOT into chocolate I was today. Our entire day today was a demo day where Chef demo'd how to properly temper chocolate using two different methods. We had what in my opinion (being presently jaded -just for a day) was an excessively long lecture about the origin of chocolate, the fermentation process, drying and processing. We tried different kinds of chocolate, which varying degrees of cocoa butter, cocoa solids, sugar, from different companies, origins. It really just left me confused. Then the tempering came and I am going to be SOAKED in chocolate tomorrow. I got my jacket dirty today and I didn't even DO  anything. I am going to wear the dirty one tomorrow because then I still have something to wear on Friday.

And today was Ash Wednesday so my typical catharsis method of swearing my face off is officially out the window.

I'll just do my best to channel Vianne tomorrow. Chocolat is one of my favourite movies, there is something intoxicating about it. Vianne is so whimsical. Perhaps it is chocolate's role in her life, maybe not. Maybe it's the red shoes. I wonder if Chef would let me wear red heels tomorrow. That would really help my frame of mind. But my Chef pants are pegged and everyone knows you don't wear heels with pegged pants. Unless you want to look like an extra from Dynasty.

There's a quote in the movie, "Don't worry so much about supposed to." That is going to be my mantra tomorrow. I get too caught up in frustration when I make mistakes, I miss the opportunity to learn. And we will be making a passionfruit ganache for our truffles tomorrow. Anything with passionfruit is a win.

Here are the cakes we finished yesterday!

We did a sachertorte, which actually comes with quite the history. The Viennesse do not joke about their pastry. There was a lawsuit fought for years over who could claim the 'Original Sacher Torte". Doesn't matter to me because it tastes good. It's a dense chocolate sponge cake, almost like a brownie texture. It's split and filled with traditionally apricot preserves (duh-lish) but we used raspberry jam and then glazed with a chocolate ganache. As you can see, I was SHAKY when it came to writing on the surface. That is a skill that will come with time.

We also did a lemon blackberry mousse cake, similar to the raspberry one we did  a couple of days ago but using lemon curd, one of my top seven favourite things. We had to use the walk in freezer for our two mousse cakes and both of mine came out looking a little worse for wear. The glaze didn't set evenly and the outer edge got a little mangled but this cake is seriously SO GOOD. I find the assembly of modern cakes (mousse, ganache, etc) very meditative. You've got to have everything together but once you do you can knock off so many. Bodes well.

We did last a Bavarian Charlotte which is a vanilla cream filled cake with lady fingers around the outer edge. It made it out of the freezer a little more mangled but it still tasted good and when you pile some fresh fruit on top, it never looks all that bad.

The cross section shows the inserts. A lemon cremeux and a blackberry fruit gelee.

We glazed the top with the same glaze as the mousse cake, which is not traditional, to cover up some of the tears. The cremeux layer is WAY too thick even for a lemon lover like me. The gelee is bent but overall the layering is not too bad for a first time attempt hey?

Today Moozh made rabbit confit, which is rabbit cooked in it's own fat! Whose idea was that because I think they need a prize.

Yesterday, Moozh made a chicken roulade (which means a rolled thing) which a prawn filling.

Less than three weeks until our midterm. Then it's advanced. Then it's real. No red shoes in advanced.

Find some red shoes. Wear them in bed while you eat some chocolate. Consider yourself a rebel. Repeat.