It was REALLY REALLY fun. Definitely one of the most exciting two and half hours of my life!
I don't really have any of my own pictures from the event, but I'm sure some MASA people took some pictures. I saw DSLRs everywhere!
The kitchen is pretty nice. It's like a semi professional kitchen. and YES! there are flame burners. But unfortunately I didn't factor in that since it's a fire, the heat spreads more, so the handles of the pots were hot. I grabbed one of the small pots and burned my hand :/ ugh not fun. But I mean, a few burns here and there is what you'd expect in a kitchen. and they make cool battle scars :P Ovens were nice, I'm pretty sure they were convection ovens, pretty sweet!
We definitely ran down to the wire. I think I was literally putting the sauce on the last plate when they said "time up!" But everything turned out pretty well. Well at least in terms of the main components, scallops, fish, vegetables, and steak. But all of my dishes up to the steak were lacking coffee flavor. Ouch! So many body blows tonight. I thought the coffee was strong enough, but I guess it was hard to taste. A lot of my sauces were too sweet and didn't go well with what I had paired it with. But I will learn for sure!
One of the judges, I think Marcia was her name. She was pretty legit! She was really harsh, but I was glad I got to hear it. Finally some critiquing! She definitely sounds like a foodie, pretty good stuff!
Hahaha, I couldn't be happier though. Everyone loved the dessert: OPERA CAKE! It was a lot of work, but it paid off! Many people asked me for the recipe so I will post it following a picture or two.
Much better than my first attempt :)Joconde (almond sponge cake):
6 room-temperature egg whites (Keep the yolks!! you will need them later)
1 ounce granulated sugar = about 1/7 of a cup
8 ounces almond flour (probably easiest to purchase online) = 2 cups + 1 Tbsp
8 ounces powdered sugar, sifted = 2 cups + 1Tbsp
6 large eggs
2.5 ounces all-purpose (AP) flour = a little less than 1/2 cup
1 1/2 ounces clarified butter, melted = 2 Tbsp and a half (also for this one, I didn't clarify the butter which is when you remove the milk solids from the butter, think of the butter you get with lobster)
1. Before starting this cake, make sure EVERYTHING is measured out and ready to go beforehand. It will save you time in the end, trust me.
2. Prepare jelly roll pans (cake pans with a low rim): Get two half sheet jelly roll pans (I used a different size, it was bigger, but it worked out okay) Cut parchment paper the size to match the cake pans. and brush with melted butter.
3. Preparing the meringue: Whip the 6 egg whites in a stand mixer or a bowl with a handheld mixer OR you can even mix it by hand, but that would take a VERY long time...to soft peaks. When you pull out the whisk or the mixer it should droop over. Then slowly add the 1 oz of granulated sugar as you are mixing until hard peaks form. that is when you pull out the mixer and it stands up straight, on its own. Take out the merigue and set it aside.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (haha I don't want to waste electricity :P)
5. Preparing the almond batter: Put in the powdered sugar, almond flour, and eggs in another bowl (unless you're using a stand mixer, gotta wash the bowl) and mix on medium high speed for 5 minutes until thoroughly combined. Turn the speed to low and mix in the all purpose flour until just combined.
Add in the meringue in three batches, folding it in (it's okay if there are small lumps) then fold in the clarified butter. Whew done with the batter.
6. Pour half of the batter into each of the prepared jelly roll pans and spread them out as evenly as possible, don't forget the corners. Bake them for 5-7 minutes (but check them after 5 minutes) they should be lightly brown on top. As they bake you can prep the coffee syrup, it should take about 5 minutes (check below)
Remove them from the oven, let them cool for a minute or two and slowly with a sharp knife release the corners of the cake. Take a new sheet of parchment paper and flip the cake over and slowly remove the bottom parchment. Flip the cake back over and let cool to room temperature.
Coffee Syrup:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp of ground coffee beans
Put everything in a small pot, bring to a boil, dissolve the sugar and then take it off the heat. YAY you're done!
Chocolate Ganache:
4 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips = 1/2 cup
5 ounces of heavy cream = 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp
During the competition I completely eyeballed it. Just make sure there's a little bit more cream than the chocolate chips. I also used the original recipe, which was double this, but it's wayyy too much. so I cut it in half here. It's still probably a lot. but go ahead and make some chocolate covered strawberries or something :P
Heat the heavy cream in a pot. Put the chocolate in a heat resistant bowl like glass. Once the cream is heated (a gentle boil, but boiling is fine too) Pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute. then slowly stir to combine. and DONE!
Coffee French Buttercream:
6 egg yolk (remember from before??)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water + a few tablespoons of boiling water
4 sticks of room temp. butter (yes I know....it's fattening, but hey, that's what buttercream is :P)
2 tsp coffee grounds
1. Whip the egg yolks until they become a pale yellow in a heat resistant bowl! take a small amount of boiling water and mix it with the coffee grounds, set aside.
2. While they are being whipped, mix the sugar and the water in a small pot. Bring it to a boil. (the original recipe said 248 degree or something, but I don't have a candy thermometer...) So let it boil for a few minutes, make sure it is still clear and doesn't start turning into a caramel color. Pour it into a liquid measuring cup for easy pouring
3. After the egg yolks are pale and increased in volume a little stop the mixer, add in some sugar syrup (that you just made) turn the mixer on to medium for a minute, stop the mixer, add in more syrup, then repeat until all is in.
4. Whip them on medium speed until the mixture comes to room temperature. Try not to over mix, should still be a yellow color. Then switch to the beat attachment (if using a stand mixer) and add the butter a piece at a time making sure each piece is incorporated before add the next. It should be a nice silky consistency.
5. Add a tsp of vanilla then a couple spoonfuls of the coffee. Beat to incorporate and taste. You want it to taste like coffee. But if it doesn't, it's still okay.
WHEW, ALL THE COMPONENTS ARE DONE!
Opera Cake ASSEMBLY:
You will need a good amount of melted chocolate for this.
1. So with the cakes you made, cut them in half, evenly. Use a ruler if you have to, but so that you have 4 pieces of evenly sized cake
2. Take one layer, coat the bottom with melted chocolate, let it harden at room temp for several minutes, then put it in the fridge for 10 minutes. This is to prevent it from sticking. Turn it over, chocolate side down on a piece of parchment paper.
3. With the coffee syrup you made, brush the cake, all over, use A LOT, almost 1/4 of the syrup for each layer. You want it to soak through the cake. (for the competition I didn't do that since it was so rushed)
4. Then layer a 1/4 inch high of the french buttercream. (almost half of what you made) pay attention to the edges. Eventually you will cut them off, but you still want it to be even all the way around the cake.
5. Next layer of cake, soak with coffee syrup, and a thin layer of the chocolate ganache
6. Next layer of cake, and of course, soak it, and 1/4 inch of buttercream
7. Next layer of cake, you know what to do, soak! Then a thin layer of buttercream. Traditionally you take melted chocolate and also put a thin layer on top and let it harden. Nice and even. Again, during the competition I just splattered on the leftover chocolate ganache.
CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE DONE!!!
That was a hell of a lot of work, but it is all worth it once you take that first bite of sweet, coffee-chocolate cake of goodness!
Hope you enjoyed and let me know if I need to fix anything please!! Good cooking and baking to you!
Sincerely,
Chris Chang
Congrats!~ ^^
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