Coconut versus Champagne "dessert"

I was very exited about this class and when I first saw the recipe I though it would be difficult to put it together. I guess it can be quite difficult if you have to do it by yourself, but this time we worked in a team of 5. Normally it would be 4, but we had one extra person. And also so parts of the dessert was pre-made for us so that made it easy also.

We splitted in two teams; one team started with making the batter for biscuit roulee and the other team started making the dough for the cookie bottom. We used the recipe for "bretonsdeeg":

- 150 gr butter

- 120 gr sugar

- 1,5 gr salt

- 20 gr egg

- 8 gr baking powder

- 1,5 gr oxygen powder

- 230 gr flour

oven temperature 175C

We put all the ingredients in a bowl and used the dough hook to mix it all together. When it comes together we rolled it out and used a cookie cutter to cut out the rounds we needed for our molds. Since this is quite a buttery dough and it has a rising agent we need to bake it in a mold otherwise it would not have the shape we needed. We baked the cookies till they were golden and let them cool in the mold.

As we still had some dough left, we made some fun cookies. 

The other part of the team made the biscuit roulee, which is basically a biscuit filled with jam and rolled up. The recipe was for two people, but since for this dessert we only needed a thin slice this recipe was enough for the five of us:

- 220 gr egg white

- 225 gr sugar

- 175 gr egg yolk

- 165 gr flour

- 10 gr custard

oven temperature 225C

First we started with beating the egg whites with the sugar till soft peaks. Then we beat the egg yolks till they were fluffy.  We folded the egg yolks into the egg whites and folded the flour and the custard in last. 

We thinly spread the batter on a baking sheet and baked it till it was done. After it cooled we spread some jam on the baked side and rolled it into a log. Then we wrapped it in some plastic and put it in the freezer. 

The coconut dessert had a coconut filling which was already made for us. The same goes for the champagne dessert, but instead of coconut it had an apricot filling. The recipe for the coconut filling is:

- 300 gr coconut puree

- 15 gr confipec

- 180 gr sugar

- 180 gr dried coconut

Instructions are quite simple. You cook the coconut puree and add the confipec with the sugar to it. This you bring to a boil for a bit and then add the dried coconut. After that you pip this mixture in a mold and put it in the freezer. When it's frozen you dip it in some chocolate.

For the apricot filling all you need is:

- 500 gr apricot puree

- 60 gr sugar

- 6 gr gelatin

Heat up the apricot and dissolve the sugar and gelatin in it. Then pour it into mold and freeze them. 

Since this was already done for us all we had to do now was to make the bavarois. Again we split the group so one could make the coconut bavarois and the other group the champagne bavarois. 

For the coconut bavarois we used:

- 430 gr coconut puree

- 6 gr lemon juice

- 14 gr gelatin powder (soaked in 70 gr water)

- 550 gr whipping cream

- 3-4 tablespoons of sugar (not in the recipe, but we like it sweet so we tweaked it)

We started with heating up the coconut puree. Then we heated the gelatin and added it to the coconut together with the lemon juice. Then we took it off the stove and waited till the mixture started to thicken up a bit. In the meantime we beat the whipping cream with some sugar till soft peaks. When the coconut mixture started to thicken, we folded that into the whipped cream. We piped it in the mold and let it freeze up in the bast freezer. As the bavarois continues to firm up we couldn't wait long. So after a few minutes we took the mold out and put the coconut filling in. Then we covered it with some more bavarois. Last we put the cookie on top and put the mold back in the freezer. 

For the champagne bavarois we use:

- 350 gr champagne

- 20 gr marc de champagne

- 35 gr custard powder

- 150 gr egg yolk

- 120 gr sugar

- 12 gr gelatin (soaked in 60 gr water)

- 500 gr whipping cream

We started with mixing the custard powder with a dash of champagne. Then we cooked the rest of the champagne and used the custard powder to bind it. This has to be cooked through for a bit. Then we added the gelatin. In the meantime we beat the egg yolks with the sugar till it was airy. Then we mixed in the hot custard and let it cool. Then we whipped the cream till soft peaks and folded the custard in. 

In the meantime we took the biscuit out of the freezer and sliced them as thin as possible. then with a cookie cutter we cut out the right size and put that into a mold. Then we piped in the champagne bavarois and put the apricot filling in. We covered it with a bit more bavarois and sealed it with a cookie. This mold also wend into the freezer. 

Two teams prepared the jelly for the finishing touch so when the bavarois were frozen enough we took them out of the mold and dipped it in the jelly. We also had time to make decorations so we could doll them up. 

Also since we had plenty of bavarois mixture left we piped them into some molds and froze them as well. Then we rolled them into some dried coconut and some crunchy nuts. 

So instead of 6 desserts we ended up with a bit more.

Next week no more cooking or baking, but wine and dessert tasting. 

Coffee bavarois cake and Brussels banket / paleis banket

Today we were shown a different way of making a bavarois cake. This time we didn't use a mold for the batter but we piped it directly on baking paper. The recipe for the cake batter was very similar to the biscuit recipe. 

We used:
- 150 gr eggs
- 100 gr sugar
- 45 gr shifted flour
- 35 gr flour + 10 gr cocoa powder shifted
oven temperature 220C

We started with heating the sugar and the eggs in a double boiler till about 40C. Then we mixed it on high speed till it was light and fluffy. The batter was then divided in two. In the first part we fold in the flour. In the second batter we fold in the flour and the cocoa.

Then we poured the batter in two piping bags and pipped the batter on a baking tray. The cake has to bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or till it bounces back on your touch.

After it comes out of the oven we immediately took it off the baking tray and turned it upside down on some baking paper covered with some sugar to cool.

We covered the bottom and the sides of a cake mold and I sprinkled it with some coffee liqueur. We even had enough cake to make 2 smaller ones.

I accidentally used the wrong side of the cake to cover the outside. 

This bavarois is a milk based bavarois and has a sightly different recipe:
- 9 gr gelatin powder + 45 gr water
- 25 gr egg yolk
- 75 gr sugar
- 300 ml milk
- 150 ml whipped whipping cream
- liqueur to taste

First we mixed the egg yolk with a bit of sugar and heated the rest of the sugar with the milk. When the milk was hot we add some to the egg, mixed it well and then poured it all back so it could cook on 80C for a few minutes. Then we added the gelatin and mixed it till it all dissolves. This is the time where we added some coffee liqueur to make it extra tasty. When the mixture thickens a bit we folded the whipped whipping cream in. Of course it was possible to mix in come crumbled cookies or fruit, but since the top layer would be coffee flavored only the coffee liqueur was enough for us.

We poured this mixture in our cake mold and put it in the fridge to set. After that we covered the top with a layer of coffee glaze.

We even had time to make almond cookies called Brussels banket and or paleis banket. I have to admit I have never heard of these cookies, but they were surprisingly easy to make. All we needed was:
- 250 gr almond paste
- 1 egg
- bigarreaux (preserved sweetened cherries)
- apricot jam
- wafer (ouwel papier)
- pink fondant
oven temperature 180C

We mixed the almond paste with the egg till the mixture was loose enough to pipe. Basically you can make them any shape, but typically they are round and have a cherry in the middle. Or they are rectangle with some pink fondant in the middle. 

Because they are very sticky we piped them on wafer. That's the white "paper" you see sticking from under the cookies.

We baked them till golden and after they come out of the oven we brushed them with some apricot jam to break through the sweetness a bit. And the rectangle cookies were covered with some pink fondant in the middle. I never had them before, but they were pretty addictive.

Pate a decor

After a two week break it is finally time to share what I've learned in the first lesson of this new phase.

We were taught how to make this fancy bavarois cake. I remembered looking at those cakes in the store and thinking wow they look so fancy. Now I know it's only a mold they are using.

In class they had several molds to choose from and they were very expensive. I've been told they were as much as 60 euros each! But even without fancy molds you can make a fancy cake.

As the mold had to be filled with two different kinds of batter we started with the first layer. For this we needed:
- 50 gr powdered sugar
- 50 gr melted butter
- 50 gr egg white
- 50 gr flour
- few drops of food color

This recipe is so simple since all we did was put all the ingredients together till it was a smooth batter. This batter would be then poured in the molds and we made sure it filled all the cavities. Then the mold would go into the freezer till the batter is frozen enough for the second layer.

For the second layer we use:
- 56 gr sugar
- 56 gr almond flour
- 75 gr egg
- 50 gr egg white
- 12 gr flour
- 10 gr melted butter
- 7 gr sugar
200C oven temperature

First we had to whisk the 50 gram egg whites with the 7 gram sugar till they were fluffy. Then we mixed the sugar and almond flour together with the egg and mixed that with the butter and flour mixture. And this would then be folded in with the egg whites.
This would be then spread over the frozen first batter layer and then baked till golden.

After the cake has cooled we used a mold to cut out the bottom and we made sure the sides fits tightly. 

Then it was time to make the bavarois. For this we used:
- 9 gr gelatin powder
- some lemon juice to taste
- 150 ml fruit puree
- 100 ml sugar syrup
- 250 ml whipping cream

First we let the gelatin bloom in 45 gram water. Then we headed the fruit puree with the sugar syrup and the lemon juice till it almost boils. To this we added the gelatin and stirred it till all the gelatin dissolved. Then we whipped up some whipping till almost stiff.
When the fruit mixture is thicken a bit we mixed in the whipping cream and poured in in our mold. After the bavarois has set we took off the mold and we ended up with this fancy little treat.

I didn't wanted to make a fruit layer on top, but one of my class mates had some left so I used it to cover one of the cakes. 

The fruit puree we used just tasted awful on it's own, but in the bavarois it wasn't too bad. Personally I would've make it with some fresh fruit, frozen fruit or even fruit out of a can instead of the puree we used.

The end result wasn't as light and fluffy as I though it would be. It reminded me of a "kwarktaart" although it didn't had any "kwark" in it. 

I didn't had the chance to make this cake at home, but if I would I would make it slightly different so it's lighter and fluffier. But this is something for next time.