Thursday, 5 April 2007

le cordon bleu - day 30


Cheesecakes go hand in hand with my love for cakes and baking. Chilled cheesecakes, baked cheesecakes, Japanese style cheesecakes, I’ve tried them all and at the same time, had a go at baking them at home. I can’t say that all the cheesecakes I’ve made in the past have been a huge success but nonetheless, there’s just something about cheesecakes which I just love and over time, I’ve relentlessly tried to perfect the art of making one. I read that cheesecakes are like 40% fat but eaten in moderation, I think it’s the one dessert that will satisfy cravings for something sweet and will definitely make bellies grown in appreciation. It’s perhaps a tad expensive to make at home and wasteful when you can’t really eat that much in one go, so I do recommend the Baked Cheesecake from Bread Top (yummy!)

My last class of Basic Patisserie at LCB was spent making both chilled and baked cheesecakes; the latter which is my absolute favourite. Actually, I was surprised at how the chilled cheesecake turned out; it turned out a lot better than I thought. My previous attempts tasted more like lumps of chilled cream cheese or rather, a swimming pool of cream cheese when the gelatine hadn’t set the cake as it should’ve. Anyway, to the person who sent me the message ‘Ur cheese cakes taste so good’ last night; I’m glad you enjoyed them; it’s encouraging to know that I am getting better at baking. If I’ve learnt anything at LCB, it’s probably how wrong I’ve been in the past and how bad I was at baking. I can’t say that 10 weeks of Patisserie has made me a pastry chef but at least I have a better idea of what baking really is.

So to sum up 10 weeks at LCB, I well and truly loved it! Yes, maybe I might’ve gained a kilo or two (I haven’t bothered checking but I’m guessing that in all likelihood, I would’ve), the early mornings were sometimes a bit crazy, cuts and burns galore (2 cuts making éclairs, 1 burn from an oven tray, 1 sugar burn), a scary teacher every now and then, but really, the friends, the food, the skills, the world of opportunities which has opened up more than made up for it. Hey, I even had the title ‘Assistant Pastry Chef’ for a couple of weeks; how awesome is that?! Seriously, I recommend anyone with a passion for patisserie to give this course a go; you won’t regret it!

Man…how can one resist a fridge full of cheesecakes…

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