Day Twenty-Two

on
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
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I’m so disappointed we didn’t get to taste the coffee crème brulee today!  I thought we were going to but I was wrong; we’re still putting together some different components of that dessert.  We’re serving it with a pistachio-hazelnut biscotti.  We made the dough today, placed it in plastic wrap, then shaped it using a mold.  I think we’re going to roll and shape the dough more tomorrow.  I thought it was interesting that we toasted the hazelnuts, but didn’t toast the pistachios.  I guess the pistachios will toast enough during the baking time. 

We made crepes!  We got the pan smokin’ hot, brushed it with butter, then placed a little ladle of batter into the pan.  We had to swirl fast to cover the pan with the batter.  After cooking for a few seconds we had to flip the crepes using our fingers.  It was hot and scary, and many fingers were burned.  Those French pastry cooks are hardcore.

I kept asking my classmates, “Why don’t we use gloves?!  Why don’t we use a spatula?!”
They told me to man up.

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Making the crepes was pretty tricky, but I think my partner and I improved after every crepe we cooked.  We made crepes suzette by briefly sautéing the crepes in a mixture of butter, orange juice, orange zest, orange slices, and sugar.  Then we flambéed using some orange liqueur and a torch.  

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I took a picture of the flame.  Can you see it?  The crepes were good.  I wanted them to be a little bit crispier, but they weren’t supposed to be crispy. 

This is florentine batter made with lime zest and pineapple juice. 

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After baking, you mold it into crazy-lacey shapes. 

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We also made mini hazelnut linzer cakes.  I’m having trouble remembering the ingredients… I know they’re made with toasted hazelnut flour, pastry flour, sugar, egg, butter and vanilla. 

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We served the linzer cake with stewed red wine plums, spiced ice cream, and the florentine. 

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Very delicious!  The spiced plums, spiced ice cream, hazelnut cake and buttery tuile tasted like Christmas.  I took home our leftover plums to eat because I am Sugar Plum, after all. 
Just remind me not to eat too many. 
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15 comments on "Day Twenty-Two"
  1. I love crepes suzette, these are so delicious even if these are not crispy! Love the orange flavor! The plate of dessert, with the plum compote looks amazing!

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  2. I cannot wait for fall and Christmas! I love the spice and the pumpkin! I even ordered pumpkin coffee today to start getting ready.

    Seriously, I'm dying over that coffee creme brulee. Hazelnuts and pistachios are my favorite nuts so you can imagine how badly I want to be there when you taste that creme brulee with the biscotti. Ugh!

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    1. You would love it!

      What brand of coffee did you get? I need some pumpkin spice in my life.

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    2. I have a Keurig so I get the Green Mountain pumpkin spice coffee. It's amazing with a little pumpkin creamer in it. I cannot wait!!! Oh wait, I said that. LOL!

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  3. Hey....curious...what is the difference between regular white flour or wheat flour and pastry flour? Where do you get pastry flour?
    Thanks!!!

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    1. Hi Kari, white flour is the ground inner kernel of wheat (endosperm). Whole wheat contains the brans, germ, and endosperm. Whole wheat contains more gluten than white, white contains more gluten than pastry. You would use pastry or cake flour when you want things to be more tender. I haven't seen pastry flour in the stores. We've been using it in school. You might try Whole Foods, or ordering online from King Arthur.

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    2. Thanks!! I will try whole foods next time I go! Love learning from you!

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  4. I would have been sad about not getting to taste the coffee creme brulee either!

    That is crazy that you had to use your fingers to flip the crepes! I have made crepes a few times before, but I always use a flipper. I am surprised you didn't use a lower sided pan for the crepes ... like an actual "crepe pan." Did they give a reason for this? Was it because you were going to be flambeing them?

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    1. They had those special pans. I think yes, it was because we needed the pan for the sauce, too.

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  5. Yum delicious crepes! With orange liquor, one of the bests!

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  6. Beautiful! I'm really enjoying all your school updates. Thank you!!

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  7. Must be hard to sculpt the florentine into lace! It seems so delicate. Beautiful dessert!

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  8. LOVING your commentary through all of this :) keep it up!

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Sup?