Caking it in London

London is one of the great cake capitals, it is home to Wilton - the cake decorating powerhouse and grand daddy of modern cake decorating.  It is also a country obsessed with the elegant afternoon tea (aka high tea).

In the last decade several big names have emerged, such as Eric Lanlard of Cake boy, Peggy Porschen, Mitch Turner and cupcake powerhouses such as Primrose and Hummingbird.  All of them with famous fans, between them, these artists and patissiers bake for the likes of Elton John, Madonna, Liz Hurley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Pierce Brosnan and the Queen, just to name a few.

So whilst in London, what better to do than to sample some of their delights.

First off the mark - the crazily busy Portobello markets on a cold dreary Saturday morning.  I had no idea there could be so many tourists in one street!!

What is at Portobello you might ask....well the original Hummingbird Bakery of course!

So pretty in pink inside and so many delicious choices.

I was however, on a curiosity mission.  My dear friend Amanda claims that the red velvet cake simply melts in your mouth and raved about it for weeks afterwards.  So, naturally, that is what one has to purchase......

 I loved my cupcake, snug in its little American Chinese takeaway container, along with the environmentally friendly wooden forks.

Verdict?  Yes it was light and fluffy and the cream cheese butter icing was sinful and delicious.  A perfectly fine cupcake, though I prefer the Magnolia Bakery red velvet cupcakes (which I actually consumed in Dubai)

Next destination :  Primrose bakery

We visited the Delectable Jo, who is currently managing the stores during her sabbatical year in London.  We chose the Convent Garden store - as it was close to that evenings entertainment of Legally Blonde - the musical (big cities are great that way!).  Cute as a button and only seating about 12 people, it was not difficult to pack out this place.

A cup of tea, and a carrot cupcake (that you can just make out in the foreground, and we were on our way.

Of course that is not all we had....... the real test, was the Primrose vs Hummingbird challenge.

Verdict:  Carrot cake - Primrose won.  Hummingbird black bottom vs Primrose Cookies & cream - Hummingbird won.  

The Primrose lemon drizzle cake (Jude Law's favourite) is divine, as is the subtle flavours of the earl grey cupcake.  Overall, a lot of fun in a blind tasting and no clear winner.

Next on the list, Cake Boy.

Liz Hurley says that Eric Lanlard makes the world's yummiest cakes, for a someone super slim to say that, well, I wasn't really convinced.  The fabulous Ms G is a huge Eric Lanlard fan, his followers of his show Glamour Pud on Lifestyle food channel will understand why.

I actually had no idea of who he was....no, I do not have pay TV....other than I had a book of his that I found interesting but not exactly life changing.  Finding the studio took us 2 hours as the trains were not running and the buses took forever!

On arrival though, it seemed all worth it when we were greeted with a front counter filled with these beautiful creations.

It was so hard to narrow the selection down!!

Jo had a hard time choosing which of the books to buy.... I of course had to add my two cents...seeing as I already had the other one, it wouldn't be hard to guess which one went home with me that day.

Yay!!  Glamorous afternoon tea!

 

Our final decision of Raspberry & white chocolate tart, Silky chocolate tart, Citron tart and a slice of cheesecake.  We also ended up taking away a selection of macarons, a raspberry swirl cupcake and a loaf of carrot cake!

The cakes presented on a porcelain tile with chocolate coated popping candy and freeze dried raspberries.  How delightful!  The highlight was definately the raspberry tart that was filled with the most amazing silky white chocolate pastry cream that was like nothing I've eaten before.

It turned out that the 2 hour trip was an aligning of the forces of fate, as within 5 minutes of us arriving, Eric turns up to pick up some papers.  Had we been 15 minutes earlier or later, we would have missed the chance to meet him completely!  Some things are just meant to be. 

So, to the fabulous Ms G....eat your heart out!!

Entremet Class at Savour School

Entremets....??  What is an entremet?

Kirsten Tibballs explains :  It means between layers, or between servings. Somewhere along the line, a French patissier decided that seeing as housewives were producing cakes and calling them gateaux, that a professionally produced one should be called something else.  A well made entremet should be visually appealling, have textural contrast, and, of course, taste good. The taste buds should be tempted as well with different combinations of taste sensations like salty, sour, sweet and bitter.

The quality of the ingredients we used for our Entremets at Savour school, I can be certain to say is of superior quality to the majority of commercial products nationwide.  But now that I have tasted the best, I can determine quality from this very high benchmark comparison!

Some of the most exciting parts of learning, is meeting the interesting people you are in class with.  Like Sophie, I was so impressed with her attitude, almost enough to change my mind about Y Gen.  They CAN be focused, talented and have good attitudes.

 Sophie works with none other than the fabulous Clare...

Remember Clare?

Who gave me serious cake envy in Topsy Turvy class!

  or real life Australian Cake Boss - Dymon from the Hellenic Bakery, Marrickville in Sydney - yes, that's him in the back supervising the girls.....

As well as Poornima (3rd from left) who is returning to India this year with her other half to open their little dream business and Julianti (2nd from left) who is as equally cake crazed as me as well as being a fellow Planet Cake addict.  And Anna, fellow Westralian who made the cross country trek all in the name of cake!  Thanks team for making the learning experience so much more rewarding!

Moving on.....

Classes started with making a traditional strawberry charlotte - with a modern twist of course.
First up, learn how to make perfect sponge fingers

and the resulting creations.  Aren't they pretty in pink?

Add some rum and Flambe the bananas....

For the Ambre

A delicious combination of hazelnut brownie base, caramelized rum bananas, coconut mousse with a salted caramel glaze.

Introducing the Nirvana 

Covered with a gorgeous Titanium white chocolate glaze - just like Masterchef finals week!

Me carefully placing the finishing touches on top

Looks like Kirsten approved of my reproduction of her creation.   In class we dubbed this the 'Lego cake' - a delicious combination of nougat and apricot.  Those spheres are actually thin as wafer chocolate domes filled with Callebaut chocolate mousse, then sprayed with cocoa butter - for extra melt in the mouth deliciousness!

 Placement of the kirsch truffles on the Cube before adding the glaze.

Yes....the shell for the Yarra Tart is not precise enough...well, file it down!  Talk about perfection!

Gorgeous, gorgeous chocolate cherry spheres for our decorating the Cube.  Complete with that "Whoa" shine factor!

Oops.... not so happy......making jam is hazardous to your health!  One seriously burned finger sitting in a cool water bath......

Moving onto Macaron class, look at Yvette go!  

How fabulous to see another Planet Cake team member at Savour!!  The world is such a small place for cake enthusiasts!

Here are the little fussy things resting....
 

 and here they are about to be devoured by Paul who gets first pick...... caught in the action!

How to impress the students a bit more?  Hamburger macarons of course!

How adorable is that??

Not to mention, sinfully delicious.

And then I hand carried them all the way home!!

(photo courtesy of Joanne Tay)

I want to thank the dedicated team at Savour School.

Kirsten for her vision and passion to the pastry arts - where would Australians be without her spearheading our knowledge of fine patisserie and chocolate?

Paul for his Paulisms, good humour, flair and amazing talent and Robyn for her patience, perfection and love of teaching, 

Seung-Yun for her quiet persistance and excellence in her craft and of course the hard working office team, who's names we didnt always know, but certainly enabled everything to take place.  I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Meanwhile, back in Perth........
Planet Cake has landed.  Stay posted!

Gateaux and more gateaux

More patisserie training this week at Savour in Melbourne.  If you've never heard of Savour, well, they really are pretty famous in the pastry and culinary circles.  A whole wall of awards and accomplishments show what a talented bunch they are.....and that's not including the Guiness book record on chocolate flowers about to be attempted and the world class chocolate showpieces being created in the back rooms, for the upcoming champanionships..... (hush hush)

The interesting mix of students include seasoned chefs, bakers, apprentices and even the odd food blogger or two..... such as the lovely Ja of Beansprout's Cafe. 

Here is Kirsten,  Australia's Callebaut ambassador, full of smiles after arriving back in Melbourne at 5am on the morning of class, fresh from rubbing shoulders with world famous pastry chefs at the famed Culinary Institute in Chicago.

Of course covering jaconde sponges with raspberry jam is happy work....

And even more smiles when making a divine chocolate mousse with Callebaut chocolate....!!

Look at how gorgeous our Raspberry Labyrinth turned out...... just perfection......

Paul demonstrating the cocoa butter spray on the gateaux to give it a sublime velvet finish.  Yes, just like how we all have a spray guns and compressors at home....... well, actually, I have the spray gun, but haven't plucked up the courage the take the plunge with a compressor.......

And the maestro, Paul, demonstrating some chocolate garnishes.  It is so remarkable to watch and the reason why all the girls are probably a little bit in love with their pastry teachers (especially if they are good to look at).  There is something about a man who has a way with chocolate.

 

Yes, artistic, perfectly made and gorgeously edible.

 

One of my favourites of the gateaux we produced.  So much love went into it!

 

Making dacquoise is hard work and requires a lot of concentration :)  Hint, get a tall person to help out......

And because everyone has gold and bronzed almonds in their fridge......

We'll just crush them in a food processor and put them on the bottom of a little cake.....

or two....

Or perhaps you prefer a macaron on it instead?

Quick, let me grab a picture before they all go home....!!

*Contented sigh* 

And it continues, Petit Fours next on the schedule.