French Entremets

Sun 29/9/13

I've got some great photos to share with you people. Today, I completed a two day entremets class. Entremet is a French term. Put simply, it is a layered dessert. Be aware however, that the layers aren't the complete width of the cake, but are an insert within the entremet. As with verrines, you want a variety of textures with two or three complementary flavours. There is usually a biscuit or sponge layer, as the base. Other layers can include a jelly, a cream, a brulee & a crunch layer which can include nuts, cocoa nibs or biscuit crumb. A mousse is always a component between & surrounding the various layers. So, lets get on with the show.....

 

The Avellana contains the following components from top to bottom:
- caramel chocolate mousse
- vanilla cream disc
- hazelnut sponge with a streusel crunch layer, also flavoured with hazelnut 
- more caramel chocolate mousse
- another disc of hazelnut sponge with streusel crunch
This entremet was sprayed with chocolate paint & decorated.

 

Normandy differs somewhat from the other cakes in that the side decorative component needs to be in place before the cake can be assembled, rather than it being decorated after assembly. The yellow pattern on the side is a coloured décor paste backed with a jaconde, which is a pliable (if not overbaked) almond sponge, allowing it to be manipulated into a ring. The other components that make up this entremets are, from top to bottom:

- vanilla mousse

- lemon cream

- a second layer of vanilla mousse

- baked apple

- shortbread

This cake was topped with a layer of meringue which was then torched to colour. 

 

 

 

Guayaquil is named after the bitter dark chocolate that is an ingredient of the mousse. This entremet combines the flavours of chocolate & mandarin. More specifically, this entremet is composed of the following layers, from top to bottom:

- chocolate Bavarian mousse

- mandarin brulee

- a thin layer of chocolate mousse

- almond & cocoa nib crisp

- a further thin layer of chocolate mousse

- chocolate sponge

A shiny chocolate glaze coats this entremet.

 

 

 

The Almond contains the following flavoured layers, from top to bottom:

- almond gianduja mousse

- strawberry jelly

- a second layer of gianduja mousse

- an almond & anise crunch

- more mousse

- chocolate biscuit with strawberry

 This entremets is also sprayed with red coloured chocolate paint.

 

 



 

The shiny red glaze on this entremet, flavoured with blood orange, is a real eye catcher. Within, you find the following layers, from top to bottom:

- chocolate mousse

- apricot coulis

- apricot cream

- flourless chocolate biscuit

- more chocolate mousse

- a second flourless chocolate biscuit

Surrounding this entremet is a crisp ring of recomposed crumble.

 

When you cut an entremet & view a cross section, each layer should be distinguishable, as shown below with the Avellana entremet.



 

 

The cross section shows a  distinct layering of mousse, vanilla cream, sponge with streusel, mousse & a second sponge & streusel layer. 

As an aside, I want to send my Dad lots of love & best wishes for a wonderful birthday tomorrow. Hope your special day is memorable. xxx

Brunswick East's cobbled laneways

Sat 28/9/13

In the Brunswick East area, where I'm renting, there exists a number of cobbled laneways. This bluestone cobbling also lines the gutters in the area. These laneways all vary in their width, some being barely wider than a car, yet have garage doors along their length. Now, I normally drive a Tarago, with a long wheel base & a rather large turning circle. I would have no hope of turning the Tarago into a garage from some of these laneways.

 



 

In some cases, there is an intersection of laneways. In fact, some of these laneways are actually named & sign posted streets, yet again, are only wide enough for a single car.

 

Photo: this narrow length you are looking down is sign posted as Mary St 

Photo: the intersection of Mary St with a laneway

 

Many laneways appear to have been acquired by some blocks of land. Some have been turned into driveways to allow front access to homes, as access to a rear subdivision or simply just boarded up.

 

 

 



The history behind these laneways is as follows.....

Prior to the establishment of any form of sewerage system in the Melbourne area, the majority of sewerage, be it kitchen, bathroom or laundry waste, was simply disposed of down open drains that flowed into street channels. This waste mixed with the waste from stables & industries & as the drains were open.... well, you can imagine.
The disposal of solid human waste, however, followed a different procedure. A pan closet toilet, or "thunderbox", was a wooden structure located as far from the house as possible. The "thunderbox" contained a receptacle for collection of solid waste. These alleyways were constructed to allow the collection of this waste by a "nightman", so called because he carried out his collections at night. Once a week, the nightman would collect the pans from a neighbourhood. The waste, often called "nightsoil", was carted to Melbourne's outskirts to be used as fertiliser by market gardeners.
By the 1880's, however, an increasing Melbourne population meant the nightmen couldn't keep up. Conditions became extremely unsanitary & infectious diseases such as typhoid became prevalent. The installation of a sewerage system, though expensive, was deemed the only viable solution.
In some areas, you can see that some alleyways have been closed off from being a thoroughfare. Garages have been built on others. Now, they simply give a property the advantage of a rear entrance/exit.

Photo: a panorama shot of houses in a block backing onto a laneway

Road trip - Echuca

Thurs 26/9/13

I've continued my travels on from Bendigo & onto the quaint little town of Echuca.
Echuca was founded by an enterprising ex-convict named Henry Hopwood. Young Henry is credited with single handedly initiating the expansion of Echuca, with a punt that traversed the banks of the Murray River. Having noticed the number of drovers & farmers in the area, he took advantage of their need to cross the river. Within years, use of the paddlesteamer was implemented, modelled on America's Mississippi paddle steamers. The Mississippi model created problems however & their design was altered to suit the conditions of the local rivers. The paddlesteamer was of prime importance in the development of Echuca. Due to its riverside location & close proximity to Melbourne, the paddle steamer opened up Echuca & its surrounds to a new & faster mode of transport. Between the 1860's & 1900's, Echuca was a bustling, pioneering outpost, becoming the largest inland port, second only to the Port of Melbourne. Paddle steamers ferried people & goods from all through the Murray, Darling & Murrumbidgee River systems to Echuca,  the closest port to Melbourne on the Murray.The paddle steamer's carrying capacity was increased by the addition of barges, towed behind the paddle steamer. The riverboat trade was of national importance, as it opened up inland Australia for settlement, thereby increasing the country's production of wool. The establishment of the rail link between Echuca & Melbourne resulted in the further expansion of Echuca, as businesses raced to take advantage of the trade opportunities on offer & provide services to those situated in the town.
As a consequence of Echuca's importance as a port, it became the major ship building centre for the river transport system. As the ship building industry grew, so too did the demand for local redgum timber, prized for its durability as a building material. In the 1870's, the Echuca district supported a dozen timber mills. A symbiotic relationship between the timber industry & the paddle steamer was forged, the two industries relying heavily on each other.
The river trade declined with the extension of the railway from Melbourne into areas of Victoria & NSW & the improvement of road transport. By the 1920's, the riverport was defunct.
The paddle steamers that currently meander the redgum-lined Murray River have all undergone refurbishment to restore them to their former glory. They still make their way under steam power, just as they did over a century ago.
These days, however, the only cargo they ferry is passengers.

 

 

 

Photos: some of the paddlesteamers currently doing tourist runs

Photo: the paddlesteamer wharf. On the other side of that shed is the rail line

 

 

Photos: views of the railway station. The station was closed due to refurbishment

 

Heritage buildings located near the wharf & river obviously have new purposes now, catering to the tourist trade. The former police station now houses a museum outlining many elements of Echuca's history. Murray Esplanade, the street that lines the river contains cafes, boutiques, antique shops & the like. Echuca is also home to the National Holden Museum. Hotels still exist, plying their original trade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos: buildings constructed back in a time when Echuca was a bustling port

 



 

 

Road trip - Bendigo

 

Wed 25/9/13

I've got two words for you. Road trip. And Bendigo is the chosen destination. Bendigo is located in central Victoria, in the Victorian goldfields area approximately 2 hours northwest of Melbourne. The Bendigo you see today was  built on the back of the gold rush. Back in the 1850's, the discovery of gold changed the face of Bendigo. An influx of people, from all over the world, led to a surge in Bendigo's population, increasing from a few hundred people to a population of 20,000 between 1851 & 1852. As the alluvial gold began to disappear, deep reef mining began. The experience of those miners from Cornwall & Wales was invaluable here, in developing techniques for extracting gold from underground mines. By the 1880's, the combined wealth from the alluvial gold & that from the deep reef mines saw Bendigo become one of the richest places in the world. With the increase in wealth came an increase in development. It was during this era that Bendigo underwent a face lift with the construction of many public buildings. The architectural grandeur of these buildings is reminiscent of European cities. This late Victorian style is very ornate & rather austere. Buildings such as the Town Hall (1885), the Post Office (1887), the Capital Theatre (1889) & the Law Courts (1896), just to name a few, still exist today but have undergone elaborate restorations to return them to their former glory.

Photo: Bendigo Town Hall

Photo: Bendigo Law Courts

Photo: The Military Museum

 

Photo: The Capital Theatre

Photo: Alexandra Fountain

 

Rosalind Park is a beautiful park located right on the edge of the CBD. Within its 60 acre area of grassy open space you'll find a conservatory (1897), meandering paths & a lush open-air fernery complete with ferns & palms, rockeries, gravel paths & a cascading waterfall. At the moment, Bendigo has its annual spring tulip display, with numerous beds of tulips numbering up to 50,000 bulbs. Mind you, the warm weather stints we're having has played havoc with them & they're looking a tad sad.

 

 

 

 

Photos: Rosalind Park

Within the grounds of Rosalind Park & a short walk up the hill is Poppet Head Lookout. The tower was erected in its current location in 1931 & is an artefact from the Garden Gully Mine. Climbing the stairs up to the top landing offers spectacular 360 degree views of Bendigo. At the base of the tower is a heritage mosaic that depicts aspects of Bendigo's history. It is designed to be viewed from above, on one of the landings.

Photo: Poppet Head Lookout

The Chinese Museum portrays the contribution & role of the Chinese in the community, from the gold rush era to present day. The Chinese comprised approximately 17% of the people that surged into Bendigo in their lust to find gold. At the time, China was a place of political unrest & economic hardship, so migrants believed they were escaping their old life for a better, more prosperous life. Europeans, however, had a deep mistrust of the Chinese, as their appearance, their dress & their way of life was so different. The Chinese were heavily taxed to try & discourage them, but still they came. Some Chinese made their fortune & returned home, but those who weren't successful or who weren't married remained in the area.
The museum houses pieces of Chinese art, furniture, artefacts from the gold rush period, photos & newspaper articles & dioramas of a gold rush camp & Chinese places of business. There is also a Chinese garden & a Chinese temple to honour Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy.

Photo: the entrance gate to the Chinese Museum

 

Photo: this carriage was hand carved from serpentine jade. Exquisite.

 

Photo: the Chinese garden

 

The museum also houses a number of Chinese dragons. It boasts the presence of the oldest & the longest Imperial dragons. Loong is Cantonese for dragon. Loong, the dragon is a symbol of Imperial power & of male vigour & fertility. Sun Loong is the longest dragon in the world, measuring over 100 metres in length. He requires 60 people to carry him. The dragons are brought out to celebrate different occasions. Sun Loong is brought out on Easter Sunday. This date has no religious significance to the Chinese, they simply use it to further their charity work in the community. In essence, they see it as repaying old debts, for the care by the local hospital of those single, aged men who were destitute with no one to care for them in the gold camps. 

Photo: the dragon, Sun Loong, the longest Imperial dragon in the world

 

The museum was purpose built to house the dragons. The heads of the two longest, Loong & Sun Loong are located on the bottom floor of a round room. The bodies then wind up a ramp following the curve of the wall, to a second level, where the tail finishes. The other dragons are arranged on different areas on the ramp.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 



Flower pots

Tues 24/9/13

Check these out people. How cute are they. These little flowerpots were devised by Paul Kennedy, one of Savour's teachers, for his daughter's birthday party. Paul made eight pots with the plant at progressive stages of growth. The plant with the flower bud was for the birthday girl. Call yourself a father Paul! Any mother would know that every girl at that party would want the pot with the flower bud, wouldn't we girls!

 

 

There were a number of components involved in producing these pots. Most obvious is the flower pot, which is made of chocolate & dusted with a bronze metallic powder to hilight. Sprinkled into the chocolate are crispearls, which are crispy little cereal balls coated in chocolate. Lining the inside of the chocolate pot is a hazelnut feuilletine, which provides another textural component. Elements are then layered within the pot. Starting from the bottom up, we have a light milk chocolate mousse topped with a tangy passionfruit jelly sphere. Atop this sits a milk chocolate biscuit that has been soaked with some of the passionfruit jelly on one side & then on the other side, is coated liberally with more of the hazelnut feuilletine. We delve through more mousse to find three little discs of passionfruit crème brulee. And just because we love chocolate, how about ....more mousse! We then come to the chocolate dirt. This is a combination of two chocolate biscuit doughs, crumbled & baked, with the addition of popping candy, just to provide that little element of surprise. All these elements together were absolutely delicious.

The plant stems, leaves & bud were all rolled, paletted or moulded from couverture white chocolate coloured with green liposoluble colour powder.

 

 

 

Now what little girl wouldn't love that for her birthday party? Bet she thought her dad was hero material!
It was such a beautiful afternoon that, after class, I took the tram down to St Kilda to do some penguin spotting. Apparently, the breakwall near St Kilda pier is a breeding ground for a particular colony. They reportedly come onto the rocks of the breakwater around sunset, so that's where I was, waiting with camera in hand. Unfortunately, the breakwater is currently fenced off while undergoing reconstruction. You really needed a torch to do any spotting. A website I checked out suggested covering the torch with red cellophane, as the penguins see less in the red spectrum & don't get as spooked. So unfortunately, my penguin spotting mission was unsuccessful, though I could certainly hear them.

 

 

 

 

Tarts

Mon 23/9/13

Mmmm. How to possibly choose which to try first. Todays class was tarts & I have three flavour choices. The contenders are....

Lemon tart
This tart would be more aptly named lemon meringue, as you can see it's topped with a fluffy torched meringue. Both the filling & the pastry are flavoured with lemon. Smooth & tangy, lemon tart is always a winner.

 

Caramel pecan tart

A crisp shell containing pecan meal houses thin apple slices poached in honey flavoured with Chinese five spice. This is layered with a chewy caramel & a pecan nougatine. It's like a double layer of caramel. A dentist's dream!

 

 



Chocolate tart

This tart is composed of an almond shortbread shell with a zesty mandarin jam & a chocolate ganache. A milk chocolate glaze tops off this tart.

 

 

Pastry has often been my nemesis. I've struggled to roll it evenly, I've struggled to line the tin, I've struggled to bake it without getting shrinkage. Too hard! Not anymore, hopefully, after doing this class. The processes involved in producing beautiful tart cases are:

- the dough should be mixed only so it comes together. Overmixing should be avoided as this develops the gluten, giving a tough pastry susceptible to shrinkage

- roll the pastry immediately between two sheets of lightly floured silicon paper, using dowels to achieve an even thickness throughout the dough.

- place the rolled dough on a tray in the freezer allowing it to firm sufficiently before cutting out discs with a sharp cutter

- centre the pastry discs over lightly greased rings before easing them in, ruffling the top of the pastry to take up the excess. Dust with flour as required

- freeze the cases to firm before trimming off the excess pastry so the case sits level with the ring

- blind bake the cases using glad wrap & rice, ensuring this sits level with the top of the pastry case. This prevents the pastry from sagging while cooking

- at Savour, they bake their pastry on a perforated tray lined with a perforated non stick mat. This allows the even circulation of air under the tart cases, resulting in even baking & a light, crisp crust

 

Just a footnote. Each tart was amazing in terms of their appearance, the crispness of the shell & the flavour. Delicious!