Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School

This weekend I attended a confectionery course held at Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School located in Brunswick, Melbourne.  Our class was taught by Savour's guest chef, Bert Mueller who has trained in Germany, worked all over Europe and taught as a Tafe teacher in Australia.  First, our instructor talked us through properties often used in confectionery then we went into the kitchen where we measured out our ingredients to make five recipes.  On the day, we made Rose Turkish Delight, Strawberry Pectin Jelly, Lemon Pectin Jelly, Honeycomb and Marshmallow. Afterwards, Bert demonstrated the art of pulling sugar and showed us how to make mint flavoured candy canes.


The class was one of the largest that I've attended and we were broken up into groups of three.  Besides having a very knowledgeable instructor, I was also very fortunate to work alongside two pastry chefs who also provided me with some tricks of the trade.  This was pretty awesome as not only did they have a great sense of humour, they were also super efficient and between the three of us we often finished the recipes well ahead of the rest of the class.  We could then take the time to observe others at work and sometimes, learn from their mistakes.  Making mistakes, in a class is actually a good thing as everybody benefits from the advice provided by the instructor!  Starting off with the first mistake I made, which wasn't too bad, was squirting too much food coloring into the Turkish delight.  As you can see from the photo below, instead of a light tint of rose it ended up more blood red... oops, anyway as you know I do love colour just look at my blog!  So, this wasn't a big deal really.


We had the most fabulous day and below are some snippets of what we got up to.

My Blood Red Turkish Delight!

Strawberry Pate de Fruit - also called Pectin Jellies

Lemon Pate de Fruit

Honeycomb in the making

Honeycomb before the bicarb soda is added

The bicarb soda has been added and the honeycomb is being poured onto Silpat to set

Sprinkling flour on top so that we can shape the honeycomb

The honeycomb has been slightly compressed with a tray

Voila, our Strawberry Pectin Jelly, Rose Turkish Delight & Lemon Pectin Jelly

On the guitar ready to be cut

Lemon jewels dusted in sugar 

Strawberry Pectin Jelly & Turkish Delight ready for the guitar

Done & Dusted

Wow, our honeycomb gives Violet Crumble a run for its money!

Totally yumdelish.

Pink Marshmallows

These were left to set then dipped in tempered chocolate

Export quality confectionery - impressive!

Below, are photo's of Bert pulling the sugar to make mint flavored candy canes.

I had an amazing day, met some pretty cool people and will definitely go back to Savour next year to attend more courses.  


I also adored the little quirky shops and cafes found along Sydney Road, Brunswick but that's another story. 

Zumbo's Salted Butter Popcorn Macaron

Adriano Zumbo - if you're reading this, now it's your turn to critique my macarons!   Maybe they don't look as good as yours and possibly I put too much melted butter on top of the shells.  And, I most certainly wasn't as adept as you putting the popcorn on top but I will tell you something... I had a bloody good time undertaking the challenge! Just please send an army of oompa loompas to clean up the popcorn!  

Today, I've literally spent hours in the kitchen covered in popcorn and have possibly made the biggest mess ever!  I mixed and wizzed and piped and sprinkled and today for the first time ever made some French buttercream - OH YEAH!  I was totally in my comfort zone preparing the sugar syrup, a bit like making Italian meringue really but then I was totally intrigued about how the whole thing was going to come together as instead of pouring the sugar syrup into egg whites I was pouring it into egg yolks.  The mixture looked really runny for a while and I was starting to panic when Willy Wonka must of heard my pleas for help and voila it just magically transformed into this beautiful, luxurious and delicious thick buttercream. Phew!  Just wish, however, there was more of it as I do like to pipe a generous amount of filling into my macarons.  Next time, I'll double the quantity.

Thanks Adriano for a messy but totally awesome afternoon.  Also, if you've got any more tips to help us domestic goddess's improve please leave a comment.

Pierre Herme & Adriano Zumbo - Books Released September 2011

September seems to be the perfect month to release a book.  Now, I'm not talking just any book either.  First, we had Pierre Herme's English Edition of Macaron released on 19 September 2011 and then OMG, Adriano Zumbo, the Willy Wonka of patisserie released a book too. 


As somebody who is somewhat keen on making macarons - ummm, is it obvious - I had to absolutely, positively get my hands on these bibles a) before the blogosphere gets hold of them and they all sell out; and b) to learn some more secrets!

The average cook may find these books sitting on their kitchen shelves collecting dust as they involve technique, patience and lots and lots of time.  Time is something that we all lack including me but with dogged determination I still churn out little French delicacies albeit not while I'm sick - you just need to be super organised.  Some of Zumbo's recipes are super time intensive and include anywhere between 5 -7 different lots of instructions.  One recipe may even be spaced over several pages.  Pierre's on the hand are repetitive as the instructions for the macaron shells appear in every recipe but hey, the guy has class.  And, after all he is THE macaron master so can be excused.  Some of the photo's and terminology in Zumbo's book are a tad on the tacky side but the level of detail in his instruction more than compensate for this.  Other photo's however, are amazing.  It's also fairly obvious that Zumbo agrees that cooking both involves science and art and this is my sentiment exactly. 


The book includes sections on zumbarons i.e. macarons, chocolates, pastries, gateaux de voyage, cakes and desserts.  It also includes basic recipes and a glossary.  What I love about Zumbo, despite the tacky terminology, is that he thinks outside the box and the recipes are quirky and nothing short of amazing.   I love the flavour combinations, colour, textural elements and artistic execution.  This book is a keeper and pretty much blows most of the other cook books in the market out of the water... sorry guys, but they're just a bit too dull really.  My advice - take note of Pierre Herme & Zumbo and add a bit of creative genius!

Nonetheless, I reckon my macaron library is pretty much complete.  I've got Laduree Sucre: The Recipes, Pierre Herme the English Edition and now Zumbo. 


My extremely busy bee weekend trialled Pierre Herme's gelee and compote concept but now I'm keen to tackle some more demanding recipes contained within Zumbo's book. Zumbo's instructions suit me down to the ground and I'm sure I'll spend many a weekend pouring over the words. 

I now have the extremely difficult task of choosing which macaron to make first... chocolate h2O, cherry coconut, vegemite, pandan coconut, chocolate and peanut butter jelly, salt and vinegar or rice pudding?  There's quite a few more macaron recipes too but you'll just have to order the book to find out what they are.  


Recommended retail price for Zumbo is about $50 but you can get it from Borders for $34.95 with free delivery (within Australia).


Anyway, I'm off to the kitchen to make maybe salted butter popcorn or rice pudding... or even both.  Make sure you come back soon to check them out.


p.s. My macaron recipe closely resembles Pierre Herme and I've noticed that Zumbo's does too... accordingly, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Also, if you're having trouble trying to find the ingredients listed in the glossary visit my post Macaron Ingredients Online.

Vanilla Ganache with Cassis and Violet Gelee Macarons

I've been a very busy little bee this weekend... some gorgeous, glossy pink and yellow macaron shells are waiting to be filled.

Not really sure what the filling will be just yet but I do love the element of surprise. I've prepared some blackcurrants and just have to think of something delicious to pair them with. Mmmmm, a buttercream or ganache? More fruit flavours or something else?

Here's what the blackcurrants look like so far...

And, not forgetting the wonderful challenge held each month by Jamie and Deeba, I've included this post in the Mactweets challenge - Mac Attack #23 Macarons de la Saison... or simply Macarons of the Seasons.

So after some deliberations, for the yellow macarons, I decided on a Vanilla Ganache with Cassis & Violet Gelee. I haven't made macarons for such a long time - I still had to include a hint of violet... I love the flavour and it reminds me of when I was young picking violets in my nanna's garden... aaaah, the joys of SPRING.

Making the vanilla ganache

Little diamonds of violet and cassis gelee!

I put the gelee on first.

And, then the ganache.

Oops, a bit lop-sided but when the lid goes on you can't really tell.

Lovely hits of bliss inside!

And, for the pink ones I created Fruit de la Passion with Blackcurrant Compote.

Costco Mes 24 Petits Macarons

I've not been able to post for a while as I've been unwell and sadly I've not made a single macaron:(


But, today I discovered a little box of REAL French macarons in the freezer section of Costco imported from France - a lovely surprise.  

Cute packaging

 

4 flavours

2  individual sealed packs 

Texture was ok

 
A tad small and could have had more filling but nonetheless perfect for a tea party!

Blood Orange infused Olive Oil Macarons

Ok, ladies grab a gorgeous outfit and pick a pair of gloves above and set them aside for afternoon tea as today we are making Olive Oil Ganache Macarons infused with Blood Orange & Vanilla.

BLOOD ORANGE INFUSED OLIVE OIL GANACHE
To make the ganache you will need:

200g white chocolate

100g pouring cream (minimum 35% fat)

100g olive oil infused with blood orange

1 vanilla bean (split in half and the vanilla removed from the inside - use the blade of a knife) 

In Canberra, we are lucky enough to have olive groves right on our door step and "Homeleigh Grove" is a great example of some of the gourmet products available to make exquisite macarons!


1. Place the chocolate into a heat resistant bowl and microwave until melted.  Microwave for 40 seconds in the first instance then at 20 second intervals until ready.
2. Place the cream and vanilla into a small saucepan and heat until it just reaches boiling point.

3. Pour the cream into the chocolate and whisk stirring from the centre.

4. Slowly, add the olive oil and continue to emulsify.  The ganache will get lovely and smooth and thicker as it starts to cool and you add more olive oil.

Homeleigh Grove Blood Orange infused Olive Oil looks like liquid gold!

5. Place cling wrap on the surface and set aside whilst you make your macarons.  Either leave the ganache at room temperature or to speed the process a little you can put it in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes.  
6. When ready, place in a piping bag and fill your macarons.


Note: to make macarons, follow the basic recipe and add olive green food colouring.  I could have added a bit more as mine turned out more on the yellow side of the spectrum but they still looked really pretty.  If any of you have been following my blog and have recently made some macarons leave me a comment to let me know how you're going:)

yumdelish!