Day TWENTY THREE. #takecakewithyoueverywhere

Day Twenty Three. #takecakewithyoueverywhere. Class began today at 8am. As we were at school tell 930pm last night, it's been feeling like we live I the building, being in it every 12 hours for the past 5 days, hence the lack of blog entries. We made our Black Forest Cake in the 8am class. We were all tired, but we managed. I have worked with whipped cream plenty of times in the past, so it was easier for me to work with. It was much easier to accomplish than the Genoise the day before. So better that the chef, (who was in the room to help answer questions/leads the class) who had worked with us two weeks previous said "wow! Much better than two weeks ago." I don't even remember what I made with him two weeks ago, but I'll take the compliment. He said that my sponge was excellent, masking (application of frosting) great, and decoration good. I need to work on my piping shells. I didn't tell him that when assembling the cake, my knife drove into my cake and made the layers unstable, but I being one of ingenuity knew how to hold it together with whipping cream. It's funny though, we made the whipping cream in partners to share. He told Hong Kong that his masking (whipping cream frosting) was overworked. Ha! Same bowl and a difference of opinion. The triangles seen in the picture, are made out of cocoa butter sleeves, we applied a thin layer or tempered chocolate to the back, cut the shape, cool it, and peel off the sheet and the design sticks to the chocolate, like transfer paper. I picked something I thought Mel would like as it was her birthday. Happy birthday Mel! The dishwashers we're glad to get my cake. Thirty minutes later we we in demonstration class. Chocolate Charlotte. Finally chocolate. Chocolate Sponge cake, with pistachios sprinkled on top to bake, filled with layers of more sponge, and chocolate Bavarian Creme, and topped with tempered chocolate fans stacking to make a flower. Heaven has finally come. He made two varieties, the other was a white sponge with passion fruit creme filling. When it came time for samples, you know which one I took five spoons to. It was sooooo good. Sooooo smooth, so rich, light, decadent, delicious. With my schedule being so variant and busy this week, I have little time to call and wish people happy birthday. I had ten minutes before we were back in the kitchen for our third class of the day to make our own chocolate charlottes to call Hannah before she gets on a cruise ship, as her birthday is tomorrow. Facetimed in the halls of the school. I didn't have my earphones with me, so all of my fourteen classmates were a part of the call. Hannah had an international chorus sing happy birthday to her in their hotel room in Florida from London. Technology is great. On to the chocolate for our third class of the day. We each made our own. and didn't have to share anything (like whipped cream from this morning). I was glad to have my Tupperware from lunch with me as there was extra chocolate mousse to take home. That will be my treat for conference tomorrow. The girl next to me, made the two of us alcohol free soaking syrup to apply to our sponge. My "generous sprinkling" of pistachios was a bit too generous, but I liked the way it turned out. Most classmates mousse turned out lumpy, including mine, but I the mouth, it is silky smooth. My chocolate ribbons were easy to do once I got the hang of it after two tries. Overall I was happy with the way it turned out and even more happy that I could eat it. It is my favorite dessert so far in the class, because for once it isn't fruity. After class I met up with Dierdre for dinner. The bus stop luggage carrying friend from my previous flat. I came straight from class, so I had my large school bag and cake carrier with me holding the chocolate Charlotte. I get a lot of weird looks carrying a cake carrier around. Our waitress was so excited to see the carrier, she asked if she could see what it looked like. Her face lit up as she looked at it. I told her she would have to have a piece of it. She said she might want one later. After an amazing portobello burger, shared sides of mac & cheese and fried zucchini, Dierdre felt weird about opening up the cake carrier, so out of my bag I pulled the Tupperware full of chocolate mousse, and parchment paper scraps of chocolate sponge. About ten minutes later, out waitress came by and cleared our plates and brought plates for us to open up the cake carrier. I asked if she would like a slice, and she agreed. Dierdre and I had small pieces and gave the waitress 1/4 of the cake. She was so happy. She came back five minutes later with a waiter and both raved about it. The waiter said that his church group buys cakes for events and asked for my number so that I could cater future events and asked for my business card. Ha! I wrote my UK phone number on a napkin and gave it to him. Classy business card. I gave another big piece to the waitress as in this open concept restaraunt I could see other servers elbowing each other for a piece of the cake. Another waitress came over to tell me it was the best cake she had ever eaten. Wow. So nice to share cakes, make people happy, and my waist line not as big. The waitress gave us a 20% discount on our tab for the cake :) I really need to carry cake with me everywhere I go. A free sandwhich yesterday, and a 20% discount today. Sweet. After dinner, Dierdre and I parted ways, we had both had long days. I watched Saturday afternoon general conference live at 9-11pm and was quickly asleep in bed soon there after. Sunday will truly be a day of rest. I've had classes ending at 930 three times this week, and three days in a row of 8am classes. Keep in mind this does not include travel time or dressing in/out of school whites. I've had long days, and short days, and only 2 1/2 weeks before basic pastry is over. It's a whirl wind, but a fun whirlwind. Take cake wherever you go. Happy times will come