Pate a choux (pronounced pat ah shoo)'

The second unit we covered in Level I was Pate a choux, which is French for 'cabbage pastry.' Gross, I know, but it doesn't actually have any cabbage in it, it's the French people's way of being tongue-in-cheek. The pastry puffs up really big in the oven and looks like little cabbages. This type of pastry includes eclairs, profiteroles, cygnes, croquembouches, and other fun little cream puff pastries. A croquembouche is the traditional French wedding cake, and though quite painful to make (READ LOTS of caramel burns!) they are really lovely and elegant. I was able to go easy on the tarts, but pate a choux is when I lost most of my self-control! The fillings in these little puffs of dough are rich and delicious, and pretty much limitless. We filled them with Bavarians, flavored pastry creams, mousselines, you name it! The thing I really love about this school is how thorough it is in our training. We really start from the most basic skills and techniques like making and rolling out a perfect tart dough and totally master them before we move on more difficult and complex tasks like a 6-tiered wedding cake with hand-crafted sugar paste flowers cascading down it. Every topic imaginable in the pastry world is covered here and taught by the best of the best. I'm truly in a utopia of sugar, butter and deliciousness. You get the point!

Tarts

I promised pictures, so the next few entries are going to consist of a lot of slide shows. The album below is from Level I, section I, where we made various types of tarts. I don't think I can pick a favorite, because they were all really delicious! I'm glad that I can walk to and from school everyday...otherwise, I would probably not be able to fit through my door right now! But, hey, I have to try everything, right? Just to see how it tastes...

The Journey Begins

So here I am on my first day of school at FCI.  Adorable, huh? Yeah, all the girls wear earrings everyday, just so that we're distinguishable from the boys.  Ha ha!  Pastry school has exceeded every expectation I could imagine.  I was nervous, anxious, and excited upon moving to New York, but now I love it!  I have a teensy little studio in Greenwich Village, about a mile from school, so I can easily walk to and from class everyday.  My four doormen LOVE me, because I have kept them well-fed since day one of school! 

                    The Classic Pastry Arts program is divided into three levels, and in each level, we learn SO MUCH  it is almost overwhelming!  Right now I'm in the middle of Level II, and everyday poses a new and wonderful challenge.  I'll post pictures later, but in Level I, I mastered tarts of all kinds, pate a choux (cream puff dough), puff pastry, artisanal and breakfast breads (i.e., croissants, danishes, scones, ciabatta, focaccia, yeast rolls, baguettes, etc.), and simple, classic French and American cakes, among various types of cake fillings and icings (French, Italian, and German buttercreams, mousses, Bavarians, mousselines, etc.).  Since starting Level II, we've sharpened our cake-making skills, and I've advanced to making my own marzipan and fondant for covering cakes and making artful decorations to adorn these cakes.  We just started tempering chocolate, so I'm looking very forward to destroying my chef jackets and making all sorts of chocolate showpieces.  I'm anxious for Level III, because we will be blowing sugar and making sugar showpieces, as well as creating sugar paste flowers under the training of world-reknowned pastry chef, (THE) Ron Ben-Israel.  I'll post later on all the incredibly talented and world-famous chefs I have had the pleasure and privilege of training under. Some of them you might recognize from The Food Network. More posts and pictures to come.

                        The purpose of this website (under the pressure of my dear sister) is to allow those who are interested to see and share in my experience and journey in pastry school and New York City.  Hope you enjoy!