Afternoon tea snacks: Madeleines, fruit scones, friands

My zesty madeleines

Lesson II

Here’s the thing: when you go for a masterclass say at the World Gourmet Submit, you just have to go for that date, for that couple of hours and feel happy about it. But, for the second day, I had to wake up at 5am once again. That was really hard for me because I started to feel the exhaustion creeping in. When I heard my alarm sound, it used to be a comforting song and a favourite of mine. Today, it was like the annoying ringing from a fire engine.

I had to dragged myself out of bed, literally.

I was almost falling asleep while having breakfast. That never happens to me. My sis was sound asleep in bed and I felt that instant pang of jealousy. I want my bed and barbarpapa (my mogu man)!

And so the day began on a sleepy note. When I arrived at school, I realised that I wasn’t alone. The excitement from the first class has weaned off (almost) and you can see the tired and sleepy faces.

But after seeing chirpy Chef M*ichael, I kind of perked up as I listened to this class on madeleines, more scones and friands (or financiers). I realised that I am quite a afternoon tea person. I love those English Devonshire tea sets; I love high teas with pretty little tea snacks and dainty tea cups. And so, this class really made me hungry.

Chef spoke about making madeleines and how preparation is absolutely essential. Then he spoke about friands (a French little cake made with almond meal). The friands are typical part of petit fours served in restaurants at the end of the meal. I learnt about the preparation of the beurre noisette (which is browned butter) which gives the friands a nice, burnt beutter flavour. We also learnt about making savoury scones as well as fruit scones.

For the practical lesson, we had to produce three different products as compared to a single product in the first lesson. This meant that we had to manage our time properly, work fast, and be organised. I love baking, loads but I rarely, if ever, attempt to make 3 items in 3 hours. This was really hectic and fast paced and towards the end of the class, I didn’t really know what I was doing anymore. I was just going through the motions, according to the recipes.

Surprisingly, the zesty flavoured madeleines turned out well ( my sis ate them all up which is a testament of how good they were). The friands had chocolate chip in them and I must say I really like the almond flavour in them. It reminds me of the traditional French macaron. As for the fruit scones, I baked them for a little too long I think but on the whole, they are fine.

When I was packing up, I felt a wave of relief more than anything else. Relieved that practical class was over; relieved that the baked goods turned out okay in general; relieved that the school week was about to end.

But first, I had to go through another two hour theory lesson after lunch.
Compared to demo and prac class, theory class was indescribably dry. The first theory class was on food safety. Did I mention how we cannot skip classes? Attendance is taken before and after each class and if you skip more than 2 or 3, you might not pass the course. Isn’t this worse than college? I feel like a student once again. Oh wait, I am a student!

The two hours went on for a long time. When it ended, I skipped out of school and headed to Chatwood to meet my sis and Jo for dinner.

I was tired, hungry and craving for anything savoury. We had Japanese food which was honestly not bad apart from the slightly drier rice grains. I was too hungry and too tired to really bother. Both my sis and Jo commented that I looked really washed out.

Yes. And I still had another day of school before my ‘weekend’.

My first time: Scones

My scones

Lesson I

I got up at 5am in order to get to school in time for class at 730am.
Chef said that if we are late, we will be locked out!

Transportation here in Sydney isn’t like in Singapore. I always thought that waiting 15 minutes for a bus was long. Now, I can be waiting up to half and hour. Talk about efficiency!

I met my newfound friend, Sarah, to go to school together since we stay close by. At least, I have some company while still trying to figure out the route to school. We had some drama getting to school on the first day and ended up having to run 800 metres up a slope from the bus stop to school. Try doing that with a huge bag and tool kit!

We got to school at 720am. While that may be early enough for uni lectures, that wasn’t quite enough for us as culinary students. We had to change into our uniforms, chuck our kits and bags into our lockers before going to demo class. Thank God that we manage to step into class at 730am on the dot.

Our chef, Chef M*ichael, introduce the course and class to us. He’s an Australian who has worked in many good restaurants in Sydney and in other parts of the world. Most of all, he has a good sense of humour and also very patient.

The first week of class focuses on afternoon tea snacks. On our first day, our task was to produce plain scones with chantilly cream on the side. Scones are one of my favourites- did I mention that before? I love them warm and toasted, with a strawberry jam spread in the middle. It makes for such a lovely afternoon snack, together with a pot of black tea.

Back to the lesson, Chef M*ichael explained to us the origins of scones and also the method used to produce them. Sarah and I, being overly zealous, asked many questions about the substitution of ingredients and the adaptation of recipes. And thus, we got ourselves the reputation of being the diet people. (Because our questions veered in the direction of replacement of milk, sugar etc. you get the idea)

Before we realise, the two and a half hour demo class is over. We got a taste of the scones which was heavenly- picture perfect, with a slight crusty top and a little dense center.

We had a half an hour break which we made use of the time to chat with our classmates. I also took the time to mentally prepare myself for the practical lesson in which we needed to produce a batch of plain scones.

I thought about my horrid attempt at scones a couple of years back. They were a complete failure. I prayed and hoped that I would start my first lesson on a good note.

I entered kitchen 5 gingerly, feeling the awe of being surrounded by all these professional equipment. Chef M*ichael gave us an orientation of the kitchen and a run through of the work procedures in the kitchen. It starts with disinfecting your hands and there’s even a proper way of doing it- hot water, disinfectant, paper towels.
After that, we headed to our own work stations. Sarah and I shared a bench and throughout this course, she will be my partner. I took sometime to orientate myself since it was almost like being in someone else’s kitchen where I don’t know the locations of all the items.

I took and weighed all our ingredients and have them mise en place, the way the French would say it- Have all your ingredients and equipment in order before you begin.

Then the action begins.
The creaming of the butter and sugar till they are pale, light and fluffy. This had to be done by hand. I feel so pampered by my KitchenAid. Where are you when I need you most, my dearest friend? I imagined myself as a baker in the early days where everything is made by hand.

It was hard work, I thought, but still manageable.

I proceeded on to the rest of the steps of adding the dry ingredients (Flour, baking powder, salt) and then the wet ingredients (the milk, not skimmed milk though).

Right before the first lesson, I vowed to myself that I need to learn to make things pretty and decorate well. This time, I tried to keep that. I was extra cautious when rolling out of the dough and using cookie cutters to cut out the scones and lining them out on the tray. While egg washing it ( brushing it with a whole egg whisked with milk), I ensured that I have covered all areas.

My babies going in and out of the deck oven. Turning from a pale, almost unattractive dough to a tanned and almost gleaming golden scone!

I lined them neatly and was photo whoring with just about the rest of my class.

There and then, I felt the immense satisfaction and joy that I have not been feeling for a long time. Maybe I’m born to create things. You know, like how some people just derive joy from say, painting a picture or from making a table? I don’t know?

As I packed up my stuff and thank chef for the wonderful lesson, I felt a little tired but I was still whirling from the joy of my successful scones.

xoxo