chocolate covered cherry

Remember last semester in Contemporary Cakes when we were assigned flavors or themes as inspirations and challenged to plan our own cakes?  That was one of my favorite parts of that class, and so I was really excited when we did basically the same thing this week in RPD.  Actually, it was very similar, except multiple mini versions.  I was assigned passionfruit, which I was a little bummed about because last semester I got passionfruit & coconut.  But then another group at my table had cherry as their flavor and they were not excited about it either.  So I offered to trade and I am so glad I did. 

The first thought that came to my mind was this chocolate-covered cherry cookie that my mom makes at Christmas time.  It is basically a dense chocolate cookie with a maraschino cherry placed on top in the middle and then covered with a rich fudge sauce.  I didn't want to use maraschino cherries because fresh cherries are just so much better and I have access to much better ingredients at school - all of our frozen fruit purees are really great and I wish I could have a freezer full of them at home.  But I definitely wanted to go with the chocolate covered cherry theme.  Oh, and my partner was absent so I got to plan the dessert all by myself (a little too excited about this part.  I know it's a flaw I need to work on, but it is really hard for me to compromise when I have a vision for how I want something to turn out).

There were some parameters I had to stick to;  there was a required chocolate curl garnish, and the dessert had to be a mini mousse cake with: 1. a fruit (cherry) bavarian, 2. either a chocolate wrap or a sponge cake wrap around the outside, 3. creative inserts, 4. a crunch factor, and 5. another garnish.
Here's what I came up with: the fudge cookie base from Mom's cookie recipe, a super-dark chocolate cherry ganache, amaretto-soaked fresh cherries, and a stencilled chocolate biscuit (thin sponge cake) for the surround.  Oh, and of course the cherry bavarian. 

And here is the finished product:

And of course a shot of the layers once we cut into it - not quite as precise as I would have liked, but it's a little harder on a miniature scale....

I was very happy with the outcome, and the flavors were awesome.  The only thing that didn't stand out was the amaretto - it just got a little overwhelmed by all the cherry and chocolate.  But I can live with that.

In IPP, we have been making petit fours.  Last week was petit fours sec, or dry.  Most people think of petit fours as the cute little bite-sized decorated cakes I made in Cookies last spring, but it turns out that is just one kind.  Anything one-or-two-bite-sized is considered a petit-four.  And cookies are considered dry petit fours.  I was still a little disappointed and frustrated after this class.  I mean, we are way past using the creaming method to make cut-out cookies.  Although I must admit the Speculos ones were yummy in all their cinnamon-sugary goodness.  And the gingerbread was tasty too, it just needs something else to be a little more exciting - it needs to be a component of a petit four, not one all by itself.  In my opinion, at least.



Speculos - supposed to be star-shaped but all we had was a heart-shaped cutter....

Soft gingerbread petit fours

This brings me to a quick reflection - I have been realizing over the last few weeks that  my goals may have changed since I started this journey.  Originally, my vision for myself was baker, baker, baker.  I kept emphasizing that I didn't want to be considered a pastry chef - that I was just going to culinary school to learn the basic skills I felt I needed to open a successful business.  I wanted to make pies, cakes, muffins, etc - no fancy-pants, elaborate plated desserts.  Now, those are my favorite things to make both at school and at home.  I don't know if I could be happy with just making muffins and cakes forever.  So maybe my vision for my business is starting to change too - in fact, I was more than a little inspired by one of the places we ate breakfast in Chicago, and I have a new concept brewing in my mind - more on that later, when I have it more figured out.    (Also, quick flashback to this time last year - remember how nervous I was to go to Ingredients class and make muffins? Now I keep thinking, give me something harder!  Challenge me! This stuff is too simple!  It still amazes me how far I have come in a year!)


Ok, back to the yummy stuff - IPP got a little better this week.  Each group made a macaroon and then another petit-four.  My group made hazelnut macaroons with a hazelnut-coffee buttercream filling.  Then we also made "Praline Crunch" petit fours - a soft sponge cake with a hazelnut buttercream, a little chopped cherry, and Romia Discs - cooked brown sugar, butter, and almonds baked in a mold to make adorable, shiny little discs.  Can you tell the discs were my favorite part of this one?  I think this is the first new technique I have learned in this class, and it is definitely something I would use again - except I would bake it a little longer because they were supposed to get nice and crunchy and ours were still chewy (we tend to run out of time very quickly in this class....).

hazelnut macaroons

"Praline Crunch" Petit Fours

 

Alrighty, last but not least, I have been doing a little experimentation at home, too.  Trevor and I have been together for over six years now (and married for almost one! eek!), and I just found out while we were in Chicago that he likes caramel corn.  He has always been anti-popcorn, and I guess I just assumed this went for caramel corn too.  But I was wrong!  So I was pretty excited, because I always see different caramel corn ideas and recipes floating around Pinterest, etc.   So I decided to put my own twist on it for his meeting this week - Butter Toffee Popcorn.  I made the same toffee I made a few weeks ago for the choco chip-pecan-toffee cookies because I loved it so much.  And then I just coated some microwave popcorn in it right when it came off the stove (of course I chose the popcorn with the least butter and salt).  This is sooo quick and easy and great for fall, so let me know if you want this recipe! 

Salted Butter Toffee Popcorn

Speaking of fall, all of the fall recipes I keep seeing everywhere are starting to torture me.  Fall is one of my favorite food seasons, but it just doesn't feel like fall here.  And it won't for a while.  But I tried to get in the spirit last week and used some of my toffee-corn to make a quick plated dessert at home (the week I missed in RPD was apple-themed, so I'm counting eating this as school work).  I made some skillet cinnamon apples and then topped them with some dulce de leche Haagen-Dazs, some toffee corn, and some white chocolate shavings.  Yum! 




Skillet cinnamon apples with dulce de leche ice cream and butter toffee popcorn

 

Alright everybody, I think that's all for this week....thanks for reading!