The Art of French Pastry

I firstly have to thank Jade Wong and the good people from Academy of Pastry Arts, for allowing me to attend this FABULOUS pastry course, and for allowing me to bring a friend.

Priced at RM500 for a two day workshop, seriously guys, if you want a good, value for money, hands on course, with excellent ingredients and fabulous results, enrol for this course, or similar courses at the Academy. Without hesitation, I'd stake my reputation (what little of it) and name on the fact that I believe it is one of the BEST value for money baking courses out there.

I've written about the Academy before, and have always enjoyed coming here, because the teaching staff and admin staff are all so warm and friendly, and there really is such a happy atmosphere prevailing. Almost like Christmas through out the year. And gorgeous smells of freshly baked cakes, breads wafting through the air, as the other full time diploma students slog away doing their thing. Food is never short here...if hunger pangs attack, just attack a freshly fried donut, or freshly baked bun churned out by the students.

For this 2 days workshop, we learnt how to make Brownies, (not your ordinary brownies, and once you eat these, no brownie will ever taste the same), Cerise Sur Le Gateau, Vanilla Mousse Cake With Forest Fruits Jelly, Chocolate Tarts, French Lemon Tarts, and Macarons.


Eager to learn students, on day 1 of the course. Actually I was late, and my baking partner, Wong Wai Hoong decided to have breakfast while waiting for me. The class had started, with making sugar pastry, but ahem, being the pros that we are, we caught up in no time.



Mixing and heating of eggs to make creme anglaise, or any other custard based sauce is a scientific precise process, aided with a digital thermometer. Chefs seem to be universally ambidextrous, able to do things with both hands. Whisking eggs in one, and boiling milk in the other, (in a pot I mean)...very versatile people, pastry chefs. No wonder they are in such high demand as dates.

Incidentally, on day 2, when we had to make our own Creme Anglaise, all of us failed. People either burnt the custard, or their eggs curdled, like scrambled eggs.





Now, contrary to all the terror merra poses that Wai Hoong is doing, and in spite of the fact that he is supposedly culinary trained (baking, even) from the USA, well, blame in on the muay thai or extreme physical sports, but the fella had to crack TEN whole eggs to get 4 egg whites. He successfully managed to contaminate 6 of the 10. Quite the record.


There are lots of other decorations lying around the place, which can be used to beautify the creations. A dedicated chocolate room, (freezing) where students practice tempering couverture chocolate, and making lots of chocolate decorations.


The first batch of macarons out of the oven. Beautifully formed, with the skirts and all. And very easy to make as well. Well, it seemed easy to make. I'm not sure if I replicated it at home, it will be so easy.


The first round of filled macarons. This first round of finished products was for the benefits of those fellas who were only attending the workshop for one day, so that they get the benefit of seeing the end product. How considerate of the organisers.


French Lemon Tart. Seriously good stuff. Tangy, buttery, oooh, my spine just tingles thinking about it.



Brownies with a layer of sublime chocolate mousse. The brownie itself is no ordinary brownie, and has a denser texture, filled with nuts, and is almost gooey and chewy. If you are a chocolate lover, this would send you straight to err...culiragasm. (a combination of two words)


Vanilla Mousse On an Almond Sponge with Forest of Fruits Jelly layer in between. The tanginess of the jelly, made from raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, perfectly complements the sweetish mousse.


My personal favourite, this one. Cerise Sur Le Gateaux. A gorgeous layer of chocolate with crispies, a layer of almond dacquoise, a decadent chocolate ganache made from 70% dark chocolate, and a milk chocolate chantilly. AND, surprisingly, its not sickeningly sweet. I would LOVE to replicate this recipe pronto.




At the end of day 2, the culmination of the two days work see the cakes taking on their finished form. Its much like a bride getting ready for the march down the aisle. The trimming, the make up, and finally, the presentation.


We even have someone using a hairdryer as if doing up the hair of the bride.


Tah dah, the finished products.

Okay, seriously, 2 days of standing on your feet, pretty tiring, and I have new found admiration for these full time chefs who are on their feet all day. But yes, definitely worth every cent. Quality ingredients, knowledgeable chefs, assistants, friendly people all round. Check out their schedule for the next courses, and HURRY before the price increases.

Thanks again, Lejeune, Hanne, Tan, Eunice for a fabulous time, and really really delectable desserts!!! And Jade, of course, for the invite.

Celestial Court Revisited

The name Celestial Court conjures up images of a Chinese Mt Olympus, where slitty eyed Zeuses and the oriental equivalent of Athena, Hermes, etc sit in a council, mulling over the folly of mankind. However, such loftiness aside, its actually the Chinese restaurant at Sheraton Imperial, and I have to say, despite it being a halal joint and all, I have always found the food here quite palatable. With the Starwood Card, I sometimes do come here for dinner, which is really good value.

Recently, we were invited to a Wine Pairing dinner at Celestial Court. I don't know why some people react with such incredulity at the idea of chinese food with wine pairing. Why not? In fact, if anything, I thought it only natural that chinese food be paired with booze of some sort. Okay, Chinese flers are well known for putting ice into beer, and red wine, etc... but of course, this was no such event. Dinner stated off with some lovely hors d'ovres, plump har mai with prawns on steroids, deep fried seafood balls with molten cheese in the centre, piping hot, and a robot of a waiter, who kept repeating what they were everytime he came around serving us. Incidentally, by us, I mean Aly of Red FM and AlilFatMonkey. The Nomad Gourmand was tasked with getting another 2 food bloggers.

The pre-dinner Taylor's Savignon Blanc 2009, a crisp, light wine perfect for chinese food, and actually remained my favourite through the night.





The Rabbit labels on the wine glasses exhort the drinker to multiply like rabbits.... and also to herald in the New Lunar Year which is the Year of the Rabbit.


I forget what exactly little Tiger here was doing in our goodie bags, but he proved a useful prop.


Duck & Bamboo Shoots Salad, Crispy Roasted Duck, and Steamed Fish Cake With Spicy Coconut Cream, which is basically otak otak. I love the crispy roasted duck. They also do a very nice Peking Duck here actually.





I personally favoured the Savignon Blanc, rather than the Chardonnay, and I would have been happy to pair the Sav Blanc with all my subsequent dishes. Someone on the table opined that more Malaysians should learn to drink red wines, due to its complexity bla bla bla. Well, I've been through my red wine phase in life, and have concluded that for our balmy Malaysian weather, nothing like a icy cold savignon blanc.


Pan Fried Scallop & Crab Dumpling. The scallops were juicy, fresh and plump, and cooked just right. The crab dumpling was alright. Not really a fan of fried dumplings.





Cod Fish With Miso. The fish was texturally flawless, and the flavour of the fish itself was good, none of that coddy smell that you sometimes get. But the sauce didn't do much for me. I prefer the drier ways of serving cod, like honey glazed.


Braised Oxtail Consomme La Mian with Taylor's Pinot Noir. My favourite dish of the night. A clear, wholesome broth, lovely la mian, and a fat wantan full of delicious oxtail. It redefines wantan mee! Such decadence.


Refreshing Passionfruit Sorbet to cleanse the palate. Now, I wouldn't have minded another scoop of this. Lovely smooth slush that has no hints of ice crystals.


One of the bloggers showing us how to get brain freeze.





Stewed Lamb Neck With Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf. A great way to end the meal. If anyone was wondering if they'd be full after the first 3 courses, this definitely capped it. Tender pieces of lamb, with flavourful glutinous rice, much like the end of a wedding dinner.


Dessert was rather unique. Essentially kueh koci, with teh tarik ice cream. The teh tarik ice cream lacked the intensity of a strong teh tarik, but had a nice texture.

This entire set costs RM188++, with wine pairing, which compared with its "western food" counterparts, is a STEAL!!!





Cindy of Sheraton very kindly issues us our complimentary carpark.


Chef Ho Boon and his team for Celestial Court.

Dim sum here at Celestial Court is pretty good too, considering it lacks the requisite oink.

Thanks Cindy and Evelyn for the invite.

LUNCH : Celestial Court serves dim sum, a la carte and set menus for lunch daily from 12 noon til 2.30pm on Mondays – Saturdays, 10am – 2.30pm on Sundays and Public Holidays.

DINNER: Celestial Court opens from 6.30pm til 10.30pm, 7 days a week.

CONTACT

Celestial Court
Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail
T: 03 27179900 ext 6988

Anna-ther Session With Anna Olson

Most people would've considered themselves fortunate to have been able to attend ONE Anna Olson demo. Me, well, ahem, I was able to attend TWO, and not just ANY two, but the First and the Last of her demos in Malaysia of her inaugural south east asian tour. When I mentioned that to her (yes, there was actually CONVERSATION involved, albeit brief), she mentioned something about "that's good, the starter and the dessert". Something to that effect.

Anyway, round two was at the Electrolux Showroom in Kota Damansara. Thanks to Saw Leng of Electrolux for the invite. Large canopies were set up along the road, so it was hard to miss, much like a wedding "kenduri" (a wedding banquet). Also present were Alilfatmonkey, and Cumi&Ciki.

There is a brief intro by the Electrolux people, and lo and behold, Ms Anna Olson. Now, I often wonder if celebrities are forced to say good things about their host country, and if so, how much of it is genuine. But Anna somehow exudes such warmth, and genuine-ness, there is no cause to doubt her when says how wonderful we Malaysians are, (hmm, did she say that), or more specifically, how wonderful our fruits are. She raves about gula melaka, is ambivalent about durian, though she did mention she would love to try it in a dessert, AND, in the same breath, mentioned that she was told that the CHOCOLATE DURIAN CAKE by Just Heavenly is a must try. Wow, to have been mentioned by Anna Olson. Of course, a series of tweets and facebook updates appeared, as we all tried to "tumpang glamor" by knowing Just Heavenly.





Our MC for the night, and also kitchen assistant, Xandria Ooi. So many celebrities in one room. Speaking of which, Rohani Jelani made a grand entrance, after Anna herself had already started. And of course, being a celebrity herself, Rohani was ushered to the front row seats.


I have to say that she is such a delightfully pleasant person, someone you can imagine being the livewire in any occasion or party, but despite her celebrity status, she seems remarkably down to earth.


I simply LOVE gula melaka, Anna proclaims.


And I will spank you with this spoon if you disagree with me.


Kudos to Xandria for being able to super multi task. Talk, converse with Anna, hold the mike in one hand, while caramelizing the bananas in another. Very impressive.


Oh, before I forget, she was demonstrating the Caramel Banana Cheesecake. You can get the recipe here at Masak Masak's Blog. She attended the atas event, with champagne and all.


With each step, there is already a prepared "ready for TV" product, eg, when she does the biscuit base, there's a ready made one that comes out of the fridge within 10 seconds of her putting the freshly made one in. Likewise, with the actual cake, tah dah, the wonders of television, pour the batter into tin, and TAH DAH, the cheescake is ready!!!!! I need to get me one of those.





Likewise, with the caramel, which went from piping hot to "ready to use" in seconds. Oh, Anna uses a term called Smellavision, referring to the fact that with all the technological advances, we've yet to achieve being able to smell through the tv. I can see that might be a real double edged sword though.


She pours the gorgeous caramel onto the cake.


Unlocks the springform....to reveal a gorgeous looking cheesecake, that drew oohs and aaahs from the audience...



And the finished product.

We actually got to sample the cake, (not this one but some premade ones), together with a lovely dinner put together by Electrolux.

The cake was lovely, velvety, surprisingly not cloyingly sweet, nor artery chokingly rich, ALTHOUGH it contains nearly 1kg of cream cheese.

At the press conference, Alex of Fried Chillies interviewed Anna briefly. Even I managed to ask her a question. Ooh, my question was, would you get the same result if you use a food processor. Since my other buxom idol, the domestic goddess, swears by it.

Anna says yes, you will get the same result, but when incorporating the eggs, to just pulse it in.

Meanwhile, I am awaiting my pics with her. The one taken at the first round, at LeMeridien, by The Nomad Gourmand, apparently could not be retrieved. Looks like I might have to resort to photoshopping myself next to her as PROOF that I actually met the dear lady.

Thanks again to Electrolux and SL for the invite.

ANNA, come back, we want to see you again!!!!!!!

Sweet Secrets With Anna Olson

Years ago, I posted about MY FIRST DATE.... who was square... inspired by the series SUGAR, hosted by the inimitable Anna Olson. Little did I dream that some day, I'd get to MEET the Queen of Sugar herself in person...with front row seats too. Sigh...[faraway glazed look].

Since Sugar, Ms Olson has moved on to the new series, Fresh With Anna Olson, but I have to admit I haven't really had to chance to watch many of the episodes. I blame those DVD boxsets that have kept me glued to frivolous tv serials and the like, and keeping me away from one of my culinary idols. When opportunity knocks, as it sometimes does, and presents you with an invitation to attend a demonstration by the lady herself, one can only let go a resounding YES, and lift hands into the air in thanks to Providence...and Alice George PR company.

I distinctly remember the invite said 2-5pm, but when I appeared at 2 sharp, I saw the poster saying that it began at 2.30pm. Must be the PR agency's way of ensuring tardy Malaysians show up on time, but even that failed, because at 2.30pm, people were still trickling in. We didn't have to wait long though, before she was introduced.

She actually looks a lot slimmer than her Sugar days, and has absolutely gorgeous eyes, and such a likeable disposition. Not diva-ish at all, as one might expect of a celebrity chef.


What WOULD we do without AFC? I have to say, they have been very good in bringing in celebrity chefs, Laura Calder, Bob Blumer, Bobby Chinn, etc.


The venue for the event, Le Meridien, in a function room next to Favola.


All laid out for the lady to perform, the ingredients for all the 3 items shown. If only our kitchens were so organised and everything laid out so nicely for us. I reckon I can do 8 cakes in an hour.


The AFC compere. I think he's Malaysian. I've seen him before. But he didn't introduce himself.


The many faces of Anna, demonstrating how to make the tart pastry. She really makes it look so simple. Now, she did share with us that of course, on TV, it looks even simpler, because of all the editing, ...it takes 10 hours to produce a 6 minute clip kinda thing. (I don't think I have the patience to be a celebrity chef, amongst the whole list other things that I lack to become one). But even in real life, she manages to simplify it, while multitasking, and giving a running commentary all at the same time.


She is also not one to hog the limelight, and allows the Le Meridien pastry chef, MiFong to assist.


Of course, when you're a celebrity, any little mundane task even, is lapped up by the Paparazzi, even a simple task of breaking an egg. Cameras and flashes in a cacophony of sound and light, capturing that precious moment when the egg tumbles out of its cosy shell. She also pointed out why its better to crack the egg on the table, and not on the side of the bowl. Why? To avoid splinters of egg shell in your bowl, that's why. But of course, I knew that ages ago.


We get to sample, after each demo, the particular item, in this case, the Butter Raisin Tart. Apparently it is a Canadian favourite. The pastry is delicious and buttery, while the filling is on the sweet side. For those with a sweet tooth (or is it "For those with sweet teeth"?), this dessert would be a boon. Most importantly, they're really easy to make, and I reckon you can cut down the sugar content. It does remind me somewhat of our egg tarts, but a denser version.


The second item, Maple Walnut Icecream, took her all of 10 minutes to whip up, but as Murphy's Law would dictate, the ice cream maker decided it was going on a sabbatical that afternoon, and decided it was just not going to work putting the poor Le meridien pastry chef under a lot of stress no doubt. Fortunately for US, these things are all premade for tasting, so we still did get to sample a finished product. Which was yummy. The crunch of the walnut with that glorious maple syrup taste, that isnt sickeningly sweet.









The last item which she jokes is ZERO calorie, because of its healthy ingredients, like wholemeal flour, bran, etc, and ONLY 60ml of oil, which divided by 12 muffins, is only 5ml of oil per muffin....the apple cheddar date muffins. The savouriness of the cheddar complement the wholesomeness of the muffin, and the sweetness of the fruit.


Another recipe that took less than 10 minutes to whip up. (okay, everything WAS premeasured and cut up so yeah, add another 10 minutes to 30 minutes depending on how fast or slow you are in preparing those things).



The demo was extremely educational. She regaled us with bloopers, tales of glutes and gluten, answered questions from the floor, revealed to us her favourite comfort foods are ROAST CHICKEN in winter, and a nice steak, seared on a special cast iron pan, with a side helping of fresh summer tomatoes, explained to me when you need to prebake a pastry crust and when you don't. Some lucky peeps won the lucky draw which included her new book, Fresh With Anna.

The good news is, her demos ARE open to the public, at LeMeridien, on 27 & 28th of November, 11-3pm, with lunch and FREE FLOW MUMM CHAMPAGNE, at RM330++ per head. Check it out HERE. Definitely worth it, if you ask me.

Anyway, thanks to Alice George PR for the invite.