Monday, June 30, 2008

Learning From the Masters Themselves

The first time I met Allan, at Rocky Coffee Shop, "godma" intro-d me to him, and my first question was, "Are you guys intending to start classes". This was like 2 years back, before I finally had the privilege of being added to their (Allan & Nigel) facebook count of 1000 friends or so.

So, when Nigel sent out word that classes were commencing, I was rather excited. The butter cake class was fully booked before I could even utter the word CHURN. I expressed an interest to join the 2nd class, which was Chilled Souffles and Mousse.

Strictly speaking, I guess you can't call it a baking class, since there was hardly any baking involved, if by definition baking required an oven or heat. It was a cosy class, so it was like getting privately tutored by the master himself. I felt like Kung Fu Panda under the tutelage of Shih Fu.

While waiting, (for the rest to arrive), I checked out the raw ingredients.


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Is this a bird cage ah?

Masak Masak was one of my fellow classmates too. We started with some theory, such as the differences between souffles (SOO-FLAY) and Mousses. Basically one got egg yolk la. Below is ginger taking a spa bath in milk, with the purpose of infusing the milk with the gingery scent, for the Chilled Ginger Souffle.

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Souffles involve a lot of whipping of white stuff together, from egg whites, to cream. We were taught the proper techniques of beating properly, so that the egg whites are not to stiff, or not too soft, etc etc.

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Oh dear, I can't remember, but I think this was when the cream was folded into the basic souffle mixture. (in this case, coconut)

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The masterbaker shows us his beaten cream....stiff, with a small nipple on top.


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Again, he shows off his whisk, with egg whites beaten to make the meringue fingers. The sign of doneness is the long pointy tail.


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A delicate snip of the foreskin of the bag, to let the white stuff ooze out effortlessly.

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Grip and press, steadily.

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One doesn't have to stick to fingers, you can also make circular movements to form a nest.

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There's something about the melting of chocolate that really warms the heart......it makes you feel that everything is right in the world, especially if its good quality couverture buttons.

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A satisfied student licks the spoon which was used to melt the butter, with sighs and moans of esctasy.

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The glorious amalagmation of White on Black. Well, brown, actually. It's like a marriage between lemongrass and a caucasian.

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Makes you just want to attack that whisk with the dining etiquette of a drunken sailor.


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The unmolded chilled ginger souffle with a drizzle of gula melaka syrup. Absolutely divine.

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Meringue Fingers, that resemble baked nudibranchs, stripped of their color.

Of course, it was a delightfully entertaining class. And the end product? I loved the ginger souffle and the chocolate mousse. The chilled coconut pudding would be nice if you are a coconut fan, and I since am ambivalent about coconut, except for Bounty chocolates, and chendol, and sago gula melaka, I would rank that my 3rd favourite after the other 2. Well, do check out the Just Heavenly Website for their future class offerings.

18 comments:

Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy said...

Thanks so much for coming :-) It was really fun having you there. And much appreciated for the support. :-)

fatboybakes said...

allan and nigel, twas great fun. your facial expressions just ooze passion and fun.... i hope i will one day find a vocation that i can also demonstrate such enthusiasm.

boo_licious said...

I had loads of fun too...Splashie Boy gave his oohs and aahs of appreciation for the souffles and mousse. Thanks for making a boring saturday afternoon, fun filled.

Dee said...

That looks like it was fun.
I've been so tempted to sign up for classes, but a bit malu in case I'm surrounded by super polished bakers :(

Did you ever find the chestnut cream, btw?

Anonymous said...

Hehe, so this is how one writes a blog about attending a baking class. I'm afraid I've much to learn from you, FBB, considering my attempt at describing Nigel's butter cake class went awesomely awry. :P

And I've had the good fortune of trying their Chilled Ginger Souffles with the gula melaka syrup... to die for lah...

P.S. Anyone else thinks it's funny that Nipples is asking about nipples? :P

fatboybakes said...

kenny mah, are u being sarky? tis i who learnt from you... or at least learnt the direction a post on nigel's class should take, from you....

ya nipples, whats this about you asking about nipples? not as perky as yours eh?

dee, one thing i learnt, NO NEED TO FEAR those at cooking classes. you get girls trying to sound smart, asking what the price of eggs are...28 sen or 29 sen? havent gotten round to looking for chestnut puree. dunno what recipe to use it for now.

boo, yup, my kids also walloped the remaining choc mousse while i had the ginger souffle. AIYA, he forgot to give the gula melaka syrup leh;

HairyBerry said...

As a student, u get A+ for the report but....

"A delicate snip of the foreskin of the bag, to let the white stuff ooze out effortlessly." ???

bring out the cane! haha!

Anonymous said...

Looks like more Malaysian men are getting into cooking. Is that a true statement?

Henry Yeo said...

still learning how to fry an egg and cleaning rice. :P
book me in for 2020 please.

Anonymous said...

wow! Kayel really got Boy Bakers! You got Just Heavenly teaching contemporary english desserts and Big Boys Oven teaching modern french desserts . . . I will defintely sign up with both them!

daphne said...

Oh boy..look at the drip frm the mixer.. I want some meringue fingers too!

Anonymous said...

Quite lyrical! (Methinks it's the camera that's making you poetic, no?) Absolutely GORGEOUS pics, dahlink.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if there is any girl bakers in town? lol!

fatboybakes said...

jessie lim, of course. they're usually called mothers.

lemongrass, the GORGEOUS reeks of sarcasm....

daphne, yeah, it looks delectable right. but having said that, i am not a meringue, macaroon, fan....way too much sugar.

sue, yes, you should. (sign up)

henry, welcome back. so modest.

myfoodsafari, erm, i think its a worldwide trend no? but i dont really know any other guys who bake as a hobby...only professionals.

hairy berry, cane? why ah? (angelic look)

Anonymous said...

Hey, fatboybakes, love your blog... wadya know eh.. for all the punching and screaming in class you hide a poetic soul:-).
Didna know that Just Heavenly have baking classes, will check their site out again!

Btw, would you link www.emmagem.com to your blog we are so in need of a food divo:-)

JeromeFo 令狐冲 said...

Awesome learning class+ pictures.
Wish i hv the opportunity to learn also.....

Anonymous said...

hmmm whisking egg white is good for biseps+triseps

fatboybakes said...

kgboycitygal, and good for the wrist too, dont forget. dont think it affects the biceps or triceps very much.

jeromefo, why dont you have the opportunity to learn?

emmagem, done....