Blog — Carte Blanche Pastry

Welcome!

My first chef’s coat. What a privilege it is to wear this and represent Le Cordon Bleu. If you’ve been following my journey, you know that I’ve dreamt of attending Le Cordon Bleu Paris since 2014.

I want to thank everyone who’s played a part in making this all possible. For the next year, you can follow my adventure here on the blog as I learn to navigate life in Paris and challenge myself in the Diplôme de Pâtisserie.

Santé!

Arrival in Paris

Andre and I arrived in Paris two weeks early to get settled before my classes began. We used that time to move into my apartment, explore the neighborhood, and visit a few major sights.

The views atop the Eiffel Tower were extraordinary: the Seine, Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur, and so much more!

Of course, a trip to Paris is not complete without a trip to the Louvre, the world’s largest museum. It can be daunting deciding where to start, but I recommend ample time set aside for the Egypt wing.

Lastly, we made the walk from my apartment to Le Cordon Bleu. Turning onto the main street, is a nearly perfect view of the Eiffel Tower— talk about location!

Stay tuned for a tour of my neighborhood, Necker, and other sites in the 15 arr.

À bientôt

Virtual Date Night: Pizza Making

Paris continues to be one big, exciting adventure. Most days I find myself too tired to think much about life back home; the energy of the City and pressure of classes keep me busy in the best way, but there are still certain things that never truly leave you. In the best case, those things are people.

Andre and I brainstormed virtual dates nights that went beyond the typical happy hour, or as we call it “tele-copa.” Pizza Night was our first attempt at a truly interactive virtual date, and it was a smashing success!

Thanks to Facetime, we were easily able to follow along as we made dinner “together.” My favorite little surprise of the evening happened when Andre made the initial Facetime call. He was playing--and singing-- traditional Italian music! It was a night full of laughter and great food.

For the pizzas, I made two and and Andre made one. His had a parmesan and herb crust, red sauce, extra mozzarella, chicken, and bacon. Of course, there was also Ranch dressing for dipping. I made two pies: one white and one red. For the white, I used plenty of ricotta with a bit of mozzarella, poached garlic, basil and carmelized onions. For the red, I used hard salami, crispy ham, and green olives.

Bon appétit!

Croissant and Brioche Workshop

A lovely introduction to Boulangerie at Le Cordon Bleu: croissants and Brioche. In the begining of the week, we prepared many different versions of puff pastry, such as Apple Turnovers, Napoleon and Pithivers.

As nature would have it, Europe was in one of the worst heatwaves in its recorded history. On the day of the workshop, tempertures in Paris topped 105 degrees Fahrenheit! Still, we were determined to produce perfect buttery, flaky croissants. Our chef used an impressive-sized dough laminator so we wouldn’t overwork our butter in the heat after completing the intial turns and preparations.

In addition to classic croissants, we also made pains au chocolat— yum! By the end of the workshop I had more bread than I knew what to do with, but I was sure none of it would go to waste.

For the brioche, we made two dinner roll-sized pieces, a traditonal loaf and a flower-shaped loaf. Brioche is my favorite bread to order at my neighborhood patisserie/boulangerie. I love the slight sweetness and its moist, subtle texture. This irresistible flavor profile relies on a very hefty amount of butter, and I’m so here for it!

Picnic at the Eiffel

One of my favorites memories at Le Cordon Bleu was having an “international picnic” with all my girl friends from Intermediate. Each of us brought a dish from our home country to share. We ate foods from the United States, India, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Colombia and Brazil!

I made my grandmother’s recipe for southern-style macaroni and cheese, an American classic. It was a big hit with the group, but finding the ingredients proved a bit challenging. France is famously known for its delicious cheeses, so it came to my surprise that I couldn’t easily find blocks of yellow sharp cheddar (i could only find this cheddar in the slice variety). Fortunately, I did find some great substitutes, like white English cheddar and Mimolette.

All the dishes were so satisfying! The Brazilian chicken and rice was perhaps my favorite dish of the day. It was served in a coconut milk sauce with vegetables and warm spices. We also enjoyed Indian chicken curry, spicy pan-fried shrimp, traditional Uzbek pilaf, Lebanese salads, and two types of Colombian empanadas. Another of my favorites was a traditional Colombian drink from Cali called Lulada. It is made with a tangy, citrusy fruit called Lulo.

Earning the Basic Pastry Certificate

Some Background

My Patisserie Diploma consists of three certificates: Basic, Intermediate and Superior. In addition, I also have an internship at the end of the program and a Practical Application period to prepare for it. The Basic level was taught in express format, lasting only six weeks.

The program flew by while many of the days themselves felt long. In that time, I met some incredible people; it truly amazes me how the friendships built can be so strong in such a short period of time. I feel extremely lucky. The program has also been a very humbling experience. There are so many new techniques and recipes to conquer, and baking everyday is the best way to do this. I have loved working with new ingredients, such as hazelnut flour, gelatine leaves and fresh compressed yeast (back home, the only nut flour I’ve worked with is almond flour, and gelatin and yeast are typically found in other forms). It has proven that, yes, I am in the right place doing what I really want.

Exam Week

Exam week was the gateway allowing me to move forward in the program. For the Basic level, we had a written exam and a practical exam. The written material focused on the purpose of ingredients, their composition, baking temperatures and identifying previously made recipes. The practical exam was modeled exactly like the ones we had previously. Of course, there was a catch this time.

Typically, during the practical, you know what you are making ahead of time. In addition, you also have the recipe card with the list of ingredients and their measurements along with the notes you constructed for the method. Both the practicals and practical exam were timed. For the exam, we didn’t have any notes to guide us, just the title of the recipe and its measurements of ingredients. We also didn’t know what we were baking until we entered the kitchen. We knew it was going to be picked from a list of eight previously made desserts, but that was it. We had to be well-prepared. After baking the selected dessert, we also had to complete a technical skill.

I was notified that I passed the evening of my exam day, and by the following morning the specific scores for each category had been posted. We were evaluated in four categories: Presentation, Taste, Technique and Organization. I met my friends that afternoon to pick up my certificate and take some pictures to commemorate the special moment.

Intermediate Exam and Certificate

Yet another semester draws to a close. Intermediate was another Intensive course— this time lasting only 5 weeks! I was amazed at how much we learned and accomplished in that time. For the most part, the schedule was like that of Basic, just a little more compacted. We still had the same format of watching live demonstrations followed by replicating the recipe in practical.

I really enjoyed the more elevated pastries in this course, especially the tarts and entremets. We also learned glazing techniques, candy confections and basic tempered chocolate decorations.

For the final exam, we had to make a custom tart creation. This project was really exciting and something I started working on right away. My flavors were fresh figs, rosemary and Ruby Port. After practicing at home to get the flavors just right, we had a mock exam where the chefs could give us feedback before the final exam. We also got to take the creation home and taste it. This was such a valuable experience, and it’s also where I got my final idea for the tart’s decoration.

The final exam was long, about 4.5 hours. Of course, the time flew by must faster than that to me. We were informed of our scores the next day. I was elated to find out that in the “Taste” category I had earned a perfect score! Though I had tasted some of the components of the tart as I was baking, I wasn’t able to try a piece before the of group judges did their blind tasting; that is my only critique of the exam process.

The next day or so we were able to pick up our certificates. I improved my performance since starting in Basic. This time my diploma was denoted with “Mention Bien,” a type of honor.