STRAWBERRY IS KING BUT DOUGHNUTS RULE

Tonight, Strawberry Bavarian Cream Tart (Cote D'Azur), Bavarois Aux Fraises En Croute. Chef A., must have had a day off as a different Chef was waiting for us. Chef H. seemed nice enough but he didn't know where everything was in the pastry kitchen and I'm guessing he's from the day side. Most of his attention was focused on the Level 4 students so we jumped into the recipe ourselves.

DISH: Strawberry Bavarian Cream Tart (Cote D'Azur), Bavarois Aux Fraises En Croute

RECIPE: Make the tart dough first. Sieve 200g of all-purpose flour, 50g sugar, 5g salt. Chop 100g of very cold butter into small pieces then mix it with the flour/sugar/salt. Using a pastry-scraper mix the flour and butter then add 1 egg and 10-20ml of cold water. Using the base of your hand smear the mixture on the table a little at a time. Scrape the mixture off the surface, form in a ball, wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for a half-hour. After cooling roll the dough on a floured surface, butter a pastry ring and bottom, line it with the dough, dock it (spot it gently) with a fork, line it with parchment paper, fill it with dried beans and bake it in a 350F oven for 10 minutes. It should be beginning to brown. Remove the beans and bake five more minutes. Don't burn it! Remove from oven and tart rings/bottoms and let cool.

Whisk 4 yolks with 50g sugar til pale yhellow. Separately, boil 250ml milk and 50g sugar. Take three sheets of gelatin and soak them in cold water. Transfer the warm milk and sugar to a bowl. When soft, add the gelatin to the warm milk off the heat. Cool the bowl on another bowl, this one full of ice. Zest and juice 1 lemon and mix it in. Whip 250ml cream and fold it into the custard. Portion the custard into the tart shells and cool for 15 minutes.

Melt 75ml of strawberry jelly on the stove or in the microwave. Slice 16-24 strawberries finely and garnish the tops of the tart so that no custard is visible. When the tarts are garnished brush the jelly atop the strawberries. Whip cream and pipe it on the top of the tart and use mint spring as garnish.

BREAKDOWN: We used berry and lemon coulis dripped out of a condiment container (like those red and yellow ketchup and mustard containers) as garnishing dots along the tart. It was a simple dish and we had an extra person with our group so there was quite a bit of downtime. I decided to give a Tuesday dessert we wouldn't get the opportunity to do for the restaurant.

DISH: Yeast-Raised Sweet Cake Soaked in Rum, Savarin Au Rhum Et Framboises

RECIPE: Dissolve 13g of fresh yeast in 30ml of cold water. Melt 60g butter. Set aside. Sieve 250g bread flour and put it in the mixer along with 4 eggs, 23g sugar and 3g salt. Mix 5-10 seconds in the mixer with a paddle. Add yeast and mix on medium to high speed for 2 minutes then add the melted butter and mix for 10 more minutes. Remove the mixture to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes. Butter the molds and fill them 1/3 of the way up. Put them in a hotel pan, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan bring 895ml water, 500g sugar, 1 vanilla bean, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice from 2 oranges to a boil. Add 100ml rum off the heat and allow to cool for a 1/2 hour.

Bake the savarins for 10-15 minutes in a 375F convection oven (or 350F oven). When cool submerge the cakes in the rum-syrup for as long as possible, at least 15 minutes to a half hour. They might not want to submerge, figure out a way to keep them down! Remove the cakes and allow to drain on a rack.

Whip 500ml cream, add sugar to taste and pipe it out as garnish around the savarin. Mix 400g raspberries with 300ml raspberry coulis and place in the center of the cake.

BREAKDOWN: How did anyone ever come up with a recipe dictating that 13g of anything be used? Thirteen grams-- not 12g, not 14g, but 13g of fresh yeast! Well, I didn't stray from the recipe and used the KitchenAid mixer and enjoyed the smell as the mixer beat the mixture tirelessly. These little cakes are were almost like doughnuts. The mold we used had holes in the middle and though the cakes rose a little too high distorting the shapes we were able to cut out the extra parts. We didn't soak most of the cakes long enough and the dish didn't excel. The cakes I put back in the rum-syrup and let sit for 15 minutes were much better. Moist with a little lemon and orange essence. The best bites were those with berry coulis.

I'm glad we did both desserts tonight even if the savarins weren't served in the restaurant.