Showy Showpieces

Heeeeeee's Baaaaaack! :o)

Aaaahh, the school never cease to amaze me!!

When we walked in on Monday wondering what class we were going to be having and who will be our teacher...to our surprise we find out that we were sent back to the old classroom.

Bye bye marble table tops :o(

Hello Chef Jim. :o)

Yes sirree, Chef Jim now leads us in Chocolate Showpieces and Pastillage.

I'm beginning to think I signed up for Chef Jim School of Pastry Arts instead of Notter School of Pastry Arts. "Always laugh when you can. It is cheapest medicine." :o)

Our class had mixed feelings at first...not having Chef Notter as our instructor. I guess when we started school here, we all looked forward to having Chef Notter as our instructor. It was a lot of fun having him for our Candies and Pralines unit so we were anxiously waiting to have him again for Chocolate Showpieces, Pastillage, and Sugar (his specialty)...afterall, it is why we all wanted to go to school here, was it not? *sigh*

Anyways, after much discussion, we all decided that having Chef Jim was actually a GREAT thing. He's done a lot of showpieces before in competitions and is also featured in the Artisan Pastry-Silicone Molds (see B5) of Chicago School of Mold Making's latest book. I admire his patience for us and willingness to seek new opportunities to teach us stuff beyond the curriculum.

As we work on our showpieces, he is constantly encouraging and continually pushes our creativity. No matter how many times I break my showpiece because of my orangutang arms and gorilla hands (trust me, I do not have enough fingers and toes to count on to tell you), he has always been able to fix them and still help me make it look like a showpiece. *mini claps*

Making a showpiece (in short):

-Cut out chocolate traced from templates.

-Create other elements (ie flowers, spheres, curlicue thingymabobbers, tubes, chocolate cigarettes, coral, fish, etc.).

-Assemble pieces (this was where I kept breaking everything...*grr*).

-Airbrush showpieces (even used a paint gun on one)..always my favorite part!!

-Stand and let dry.

-Attempt to bring it home without it melting in the car or breaking (not an easy task!).

Here are the final products of my showpieces:

Chocolate Showpieces

Pastillage
(made from gelatin, water, powdered sugar, and cornstarch)

Underwater Themed Showpiece

Chocolate Heart Box
(this one I made for my mom's bday, Sept. 6, wish I could give it to her)

bless her heart - she spent her bday in Thailand for my uncle's funeral

I would have to say, minus the times I would get frustrated with everything breaking, I definitely enjoyed this unit. It was always interesting to make all the different elements and have no idea how it would all come together...but when it did...it was the COOLEST!! *thumbs up*

Savitre's 4-1-1 Update :o)

-Three weeks until graduation (12 actual class days!) Woo Hoo!! *jumps for joy*

-Chef Notter has been busy doing demos on the road...WE MISS YOU CHEF!! *sniff*

-The administrative office (of two) have been busy working on some top secret project ... appears that the Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Sea debuts in Dec. 2009 with the FIRST cupcake shop at sea called Cupcake Cupboard. *wink wink*

-Continually training for the Expedition Everest Challenge in less than 2 weeks!! Virtual Curb Crew Captain or not...you know who you are...BEWARE!!!! *tee hee* :o)