Things in Little Pots

Today I took a break from work and made things.

Since yesterday was our anniversary and I had to work, I decided to do something special for dinner tonight. So I made flan. I've never made flan before and I have a healthy respect for caramel after getting burned trying to make caramel sauce in culinary school. That stuff is HOT. So I have always thought about making flan and then dismissed it as Too Hard. Really, it's not.

Caramel: 2 ounces sugar, 1/2 ounce water, 1/4 ounce corn syrup. Boil without stirring until it is just turning golden brown then remove from heat.

Once I had the caramel made and distributed into little ramekins, I made a simple egg custard, poured it over the caramel, and baked them in a water bath for 45 minutes at 350˚F.  They chilled in the fridge until dessert, when they were inverted over saucers. I was pleasantly surprised that they came out intact and that the sauce worked perfectly!

The other thing made in little pots today were candles. I had more of those tins I'd bought to make the moustache wax for my husband and, after a trial run in which it was clear that one wick per tin was not enough, I melted a whole lot of wax and filled the tins with lavender-lemon scented beeswax and 3 wicks per candle. I had some left over so I also made a few tea lights and one last one in an empty jar. It took a long time to melt the wax as I was using a plastic pitcher which doesn't conduct heat as well as metal or glass, and it took very little time for the wax to solidify once poured. The only other downside to the metal tins for candles is that the candles have a tendency to crack and I think it is because the metal and the wax expand at different rates when heated. Glass doesn't seem to have that problem.

Regardless, it's back to work tomorrow so no plans to do any cooking for a few days at least!

Day 20: More Cakes, and Gravity Returns to Normal

Spring Passion Cake

Meaning, I didn't drop anything important today.

We had three more cakes to finish today and spent the bulk of the day making garnishes. We made caramel-dipped hazelnuts. And chocolate curls. And bubble sugar and eruption sugar. That was pretty fun!

Charlotte Helena

First off, we made the lime mousse for the Spring Passion cake, which was the red and green themed cake we started yesterday. Once the layers were arranged for that one, it went back into the freezer and then the chocolate praline mousseline for the Success cake was prepared. This was pralines, pastry cream, butter cream, and chocolate. It's like Nutella but much lighter (and better). Then that cake was assembled, using a joconde with pâte decor, the mousseline, and the success meringues. We had tons of these so made 12 regular sized cakes and a bunch of tiny ones. These all went into the freezer as well.

Success Cake

Next we garnished the Charlotte Helena cake we mostly completed yesterday. This is the one with the ladyfingers around the outside and the chocolate mousse and pears. Pears were placed on the center of the cake and glazed and then the chocolate curls were used to cover all the mousse. It was finished with cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Back in the freezer after being photographed and boxed.

The Success cake required cocoa powder and powdered sugar as well, and we had those caramel-dipped hazelnuts for garnish. Again, stored in the freezer until it was time to go.

Eruption Sugar

Then we played with the sugar. Both bubble sugar and eruption sugar require the same ratio of sugar, water, and glucose syrup, boiled to 160˚C. At that point the preparation differs. The bubble sugar is poured out over a hot sheet pan, which creates the bubbles (food coloring added after pouring), while the eruption sugar was colored with red and green food coloring and poured into number 10 cans filled with ice. The cans have no tops or bottoms and the sugar hardens and melts the ice. The sugar takes on really neat shapes this way.

Lastly, we decorated the Spring Passion cake by glazing it with lime and strawberry glazes to create a smeared effect and then adding pieces of the sugar, strawberries and candied limes.

Spring Passion Cake

Tonight we ate some of the Spring Passion cake. It's a terrific combination, lime and strawberry. Tomorrow we'll try something else. So many choices!