Crèmes & Meringues

On friday we continued to learn le preparations patissieres de base (basics of patisserie to you and I) by learning about starch thickened custards and meringues. This lessons the chef got through a lot more covering: crème pâtissère and its derivites crème diplomate, crème mousseline, crème chibouste, as well as crème chantilly and three types of meringue, French, Swiss and Italian. The highlight of the lesson was tasting little drops of heaven otherwise known as swiss meringue filled with piped chantilly cream. Perhaps not the healthiest of breakfasts, but definately up there in the taste stakes. And here they are for your viewing pleasure:

They were honestly too cute for words.

Seven hours later and it was time for us to attempt to recreate them. In our practical we attempted the swiss meringes, crème chantilly, crème pâtissère, crème diplomate and crème mousseline. The lesson was great, less nervy, a lot to do and a chance to get our first goods in the oven. Although my piped meringues are no way as perfect as the treats above, I became quite protective of my little babies, especially on the tube home where my tubberware was held stable with two hands at all times. I think they passed the taste test, generously described by a friend as "angel poos", hmm, well not quite drops of heaven but its only week one...

So here are my little angel turds in all their glory:

Piping practise is this weekend agenda. Need to try to perfect a smooth finish and avoid the little spiked peaks. Off to the supermarket to buy some Smash to fill my piping bag. Yummy.