Le Cordon Bleu - Pâtisserie

For the knowledge. But really. For fun. I attended a pâtisserie class at school last week.

Le Cordon Bleu has two main programs – cuisine and pâtisserie. We’re allowed to take one class per term on the non-matriculated side. Tempering chocolate seemed like a great topic to take advantage of.

Chef Cotte – a funny one, who often oversees our cuisine practicals – took control of the melting chocolate.

Tempering chocolate is a process used mainly by professional confectioners. A system of heating and cooling. The purpose is for appearance and consistency.

First the chocolate is heated to melt the fat crystals. Then, slightly cooled to form a new set of crystals. And finally, reheated, melting any unstable crystals that may still be present. Leaving a concrete structure that will help form a dense, hard, shiny surface when completely cooled.

Like most things on the pâtisserie side, precision is key. For this, temperature must be paid attention to. In a bain-marie dark chocolate is melted to about 45-50 degrees Celsius. Cooled to 28-29 degrees. And reheated to 31-32. As shown here, if done incorrectly the final appearance is poor. (The spoon on the right is the goal.) The same process can be done for milk or white chocolate, at different temperatures, of course.

Chef made four desserts. Praliné – chocolate mixed with sugar-coated nuts. Rochers – chocolate with toasted hazelnuts. Muscadine – chocolate coated with powdered-sugar. And a surprise which consisted of whole hazelnuts on chocolate. Each dessert – making 15 or so of each kind – was hand-dipped in tempered chocolate. This was interesting for about the first one or two. Then became incredibly tedious and boring.

All in all, this was a fascinating experience to see how the other side of the kitchen worked. I also had no idea about this chocolate tempering thing. Amazing how much there is to learn out in the world.