Advanced Pastry and Chocolate Techniques Notes

Gteau Forˆt Noire (Black Forest Cake)

• Origins and Legal Mandates:

  • The cake originally hails from Germany.

  • Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte: German law mandates that any dessert labeled with this name must contain Kirschwasser.

• Composition and Build:

  • Consists of several layers of chocolate sponge cake sandwiched with whipped cream and cherries.

  • Decorations: Additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings.

  • Regional Variations: In some European traditions, sour cherries are used both between the layers and for decorating the top. In Austrian recipes, rum is often substituted for the traditional kirschwasser.

• Key Ingredients:

  • Griottines Cherries: These are Morello cherries harvested in the summer and preserved in liqueur. They are essential to the signature taste and build of the Black Forest cake.

  • Kirschwasser: German for "cherry water," also known as kirsch. It is a clear, colorless brandy made from the double distillation of Morello cherries (a dark-colored cultivar of the sour cherry). Unlike cherry liqueurs or brandies, it is not sweet. It is sometimes distilled from fermented cherry juice.

Aeration and Cream Methods

• Mechanical Aeration:

  • This is achieved without specific ingredients but by the method of handling the product.

  • Methods: Beating and whisking are the primary methods.

  • Process: Air is introduced to the product and then broken down into very fine bubbles by continued division caused by the blades of a beater or whisk.

• Crˆme Chantilly:

  • Often incorrectly credited to Franois Vatel, the ma tre d'h“tel at the Chteau de Chantilly in the mid-17th century.

• Whipping Cream Stages:

  • Liquid Cream -> Soft "peak" -> Medium "peak" -> Chantilly -> Butter.

  • Principle: Any motion will continue to "work" the fat in the cream, moving it through these stages until it separates into butter.

• Chocolate Chantilly:

  • A mixture of soft whip cream and hot chocolate ($45-50^{\circ}C$).

  • Critical Technique: Mix quickly and do not stop. Cold cream can set the chocolate and form lumps. Start with a whisk and finish with a Maryse (rubber spatula).

  • Warning: Do not over-whip the cream and keep the chocolate at exactly $45^{\circ}C$.

Cake Masking Techniques

• Crumb Coat:

  • A thin layer of buttercream used to keep crumbs in place. Jam or marzipan is sometimes used. This process should be quick, taking no more than a few minutes.

• Final Coat:

  • Requires high attention to detail to achieve a smooth, shiny finish. This step takes more time than the crumb coat.

Concept of Tempering

• Purpose: Proper temperature control during heating and cooling creates a stable structure. Failure to follow these temperatures results in an unstable structure.

• Dark Chocolate Tempering (Standard Profile):

  • T1 (Melting Point): Heat to $45^{\circ}C$ (or up to $49^{\circ}C$) to melt all fat crystals completely.

  • T2 (Crystallization): Cool rapidly to $26^{\circ}C$ to allow crystals to form in the correct sequence.

  • T3 (Working Temperature): Warm slightly to $31-32^{\circ}C$ to keep it fluid while maintaining a crystallized state.

• Milk Chocolate Tempering:

  • T1: Melt to $45^{\circ}C$.

  • T2: Cool to $25^{\circ}C$.

  • T3: Working temperature of $28^{\circ}C$.

• Tempering Methods:

  • Direct Method: Warming chocolate on a bain-marie and cooling it on an ice bath.

  • Tabling Method: Warming on a bain-marie and cooling by spreading the chocolate on a cool marble table.

  • Seeding Method: Melting $\frac{2}{3}$ of the chocolate in a bain-marie, then adding the remaining solid chocolate (seeds) to cool it down and introduce stable cocoa butter crystals.

• Cocoa Butter Polymorphism:

  • Cocoa butter contains mixtures of saturated and unsaturated fats.

  • Crystal Forms: Includes Gamma ($\gamma$), Alpha ($\alpha$), Beta Prime ($\beta'$), and Beta ($\beta$).

  • Total crystallization of saturated and unsaturated fats occurs at around $16^{\circ}C$.

Chocolate Confections

• Rum Truffle:

  • Made from a dark chocolate ganache with cream and rum. Once crystallized enough for piping, the ganache is rolled in tempered chocolate and cocoa powder to resemble the expensive truffle fungus.

• Muscadine:

  • Log-shaped truffles typically eaten around the Christmas period. Flavored with hazelnut and Cointreau.

• Pte Glacer:

  • A compound chocolate that does not require tempering. Composed of sugars, cocoa, and fats; simply melt and apply for a shiny, hard finish.

• Nougatine:

  • Confectionery made from caramelized sugar and nuts (almonds or hazelnuts). The sugar is cooked to a caramel state and mixed with nuts for a brittle consistency.

Classic French Knife Cuts

• Medium Dice: $1 \times 1 \times 1.2\,cm$.

• Batonnet: $1 \times 4\,cm$ sticks.

• Large: $1 \times 1 \times 2.0\,cm$.

Sugar Cooking Stages

• The stages of sugar cooking progress as follows:

  1. Thread Stage.

  2. Soft Ball Stage ($118^{\circ}C$ for Italian Merigue).

  3. Firm Ball Stage.

  4. Soft Crack Stage.

  5. Hard Crack Stage.

  6. Caramel Stage.

Custards and Creams

• Crˆme Anglaise:

  • Cooked to $82-83^{\circ}C$.

  • Method: Cuisson la nappe (coating the back of a spoon).

  • Contains thermo-sensitive proteins.

• Crˆme Ptissiˆre Variations:

  • Crˆme Diplomat: Crˆme ptissiˆre + whipped cream.

  • Crˆme Mousseline: Crˆme ptissiˆre + butter.

  • Crˆme Saint-Honor: Crˆme ptissiˆre + Italian meringue.

• Crˆme Br–le (Burnt Cream):

  • Origins: Contested between France, England ("Cambridge Burnt Cream" or "Trinity Burnt Cream"), and Spain ("Creme Catalan").

  • Historical Note: Traditionally made by stamping the sugar with a burning hot metal iron. The earliest recorded recipe is in Franois Massialot’s 1691 cookbook.

  • Creme Catalan: Spanish version, typically served cold where the caramel is the only hot component.

• Creme Renversue au Caramel (Creme Caramel/Leche Flan):

  • Difference from Creme Brulee: Creme Brulee uses yolks and cream; Creme Caramel uses whole eggs and milk. Baked in a water bath with caramel at the bottom of the mold.

Petit Fours

• Definition: Meaning "Small Oven," these are small confectionery items (1-2 bites) served after meals or with tea/coffee.

• Types:

  • Petit Fours Frais: Fresh.

  • Petit Fours Sec: Dry (e.g., biscuits).

  • Petit Fours Glaces: Glazed.

  • Petit Fours Demi-Sec: Half-dry.

  • Petit Fours Sales: Savory.

  • Petit Fours Moelleux: Soft.

Dough and Biscuit Methods

• Sablage (Rub-in Method):

  • Butter is rubbed into flour using fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Used for sabl, crumbles, and scones. Sable means "sand," referring to the texture.

• Cremage (Creaming Method):

  • Butter and sugar are combined until smooth (sometimes light and fluffy). Eggs are added one at a time, followed by alternating dry and liquid ingredients. Good for piping.

• Langue De Chat (Cat's Tongue):

  • Thin biscuit made via the creaming process. Named for its appearance. Can be rolled into cigarettes while hot.

• Biscuit Cuillere (Lady Finger):

  • Dry sponge fingers made from whipped meringue, yolk, and flour. Used in Gteau Charlotte and Tiramisu.

Meringue and Stability

• Types of Meringue:

  • French Meringue: Least stable. Egg whites and sugar whipped together.

  • Swiss Meringue: Egg whites and sugar cooked over a bain-marie to $60^{\circ}C$ then whisked until cool. Very stable.

  • Italian Meringue: Most stable. Accomplished by pouring softball sugar syrup ($118^{\circ}C$) into semi-whipped whites. Used for piping and Baked Alaska.

• Technical Rules for Meringue:

  • Bowls and utensils must be free of fat; fat can reduce volume by $30\%$.

  • Sugar should be added gradually; adding it early helps it dissolve and results in a shiny finish.

  • Whisking on medium speed creates smaller, more stable bubbles.

  • Over-beating: If beaten past stiff peaks, the protein matrix breaks down, causing the foam to become grainy and watery. This cannot be salvaged.

• Gateau Pavlova:

  • Named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova following her 1920s tours of Australia and New Zealand. It is crispy outside and marshmallow-like inside.

Puff Pastry (Pate Feuillette)

• Principles: A laminated dough made from a detrempe (dough) and beurrage (butter). Leavened by steam created as the water in the dough evaporates during baking.

• Types of Puff Pastry:

  • English Style: Most common; dough is folded like a letter around the butter.

  • French Style: Butter is included like an envelope.

  • Rough/Scottish Style: Large pieces of butter are added to the dough without precise turns; used for pies.

  • Inverted Puff: Dough is covered by butter (butter on the outside). It is harder to work with but provides a melt-in-the-mouth "sablage" texture and is resistant to getting soggy.

• Materials:

  1. Detrempe: Flour, sugar, salt, water, butter, and vinegar. Vinegar helps develop elasticity.

  2. Beurre de Tourage (Dry Butter): Unsalted butter in thin sheets with $82-84\%$ butterfat. Higher melting point than normal butter, allowing flexibility for turning.

• Turning and Folds (Tourage):

  • Single Turn: Results in 3 layers of butter.

  • Double Turn (Book Fold): Results in 4 layers of butter.

  • Handwritten Calculation Note: A specific sequence of turns (e.g., 2 single and 2 double) can result in hundreds of layers ($3 \times 4 \times 4 \dots = 576$ layers or similar calculations).

Miscellaneous Desserts

• Rice Pudding: Classic European dessert using short-grain starchy rice cooked with milk. Takes a long time for starch to soften.

• Pudding de Sago: Starch extracted from palm trees, cooked in boiling water to soften.

• Fruit Coulis: A fruit sauce (cooked or fresh). Sugar is added for thickness and sweetness.

• Ile Flotante (Floating Island): Classic dessert made with poached meringue, Creme Anglaise, and caramel.

Management and Mise en Place (MEP)

• Labels must include: Item name (e.g., Creme Bruleee), Chef's name, Group ID (e.g., BP05), Date of preparation (e.g., 01/01/2021), and Expiry Date (e.g., 03/01/2021).