And Then There Was Custard

not with these custards!

1. I have never been a fan of cream pies. The are generally way too rich. I prefer fruit pies.
2. I never knew how many variety of custards existed until this week.
3. Custards seem deceptively easy to make but require quite a bit of finesse to be excellent!

This week in class we were all required to participate in two group projects, make a cream pie filling, and make a container of pastry cream in four hours. Can you say multitasking?

Two of the custard dishes were group projects. I am fully willing to admit I took control.

One member of my group is only here because its an elective for his savory degree and the other seemed like she had no idea what was going on, more on that later.

And, let's face it, after teaching for five years it is hard for me to be in a situation where I'm not a decision maker.

Group Projects

Vanilla Bavarian

I'm going to stop you right now if you're thinking about donut filling. Stop. The final product here doesn't compare.

We made a bavarian custard with the standard ingredients and added geletin to help it set.

We put some of the custard in ramekins and the other half in molds.

I was happy to see the molds because I've worked with them quite often at the bakery and think they are super fun.

Since my teammates were still working on their pies or pastry cream I garnished the dessert. I like making things pretty!

The texture of this dessert is creamy but not as light as a traditional mousse. Because of the gelatin it can stand alone and be shaped. It could be garnished with a sauce or used as a cake filling.

Toffee Caramel Flan

Once upon a time flan was a favorite of mine.

However, I'm starting to discover that in learning about all the amazing desserts one can create, my favorites are changing.

Flan was fairly easy to make. The secret is the cinnamon.

You make caramel and put a small amount in the bottom of a ramekin. Then, you make the custard and pour it on top of the caramel. Finally, you bake them in the oven until almost set and chill.

The fun part: removing them.

Again, since my teammates were still busy I took this on which led to me demo-ing the process for the whole class. Fun.

Individual Project

Chocolate Cream Pie

We sign up for our dishes a week in advance and I try to challenge myself by picking things I've never made.

Which brings me to the chocolate cream pie.

Of course I'd pick the chocolate one right? Well, my love for all things chocolate is dwindling as my dessert horizon expands.

The filling was easy to make. It turned about very chocolatey and VERY rich. I don't think I could have eaten a whole slice.

It did require an extra step of melting chocolate which I did by placing a stainless steel bowl over a pot of boiling water.

And it's later:

My seemingly clueless teammate was also making this pie and asked how to melt the chocolate. I explained what I did but I guess I wasn't clear enough because when I looked at the stove a few minutes later, she had a one cup bowl floating in a pot of boiling water!

I tried to help her before chef saw but I didn't get there in time.

And, again since I was finished  about 45 minutes early I had some extra time to decorate my pie.

not going to lie-I sobbed like a baby during the Christmas special