Plated Desserts with Chef Juergen!

This is the whole section, minus one day, tomorrow.

Sour cherry soup with creme fraiche

Toasted Pannetone with Marsala Zabaglione, quince cherry compote, and earl grey sorbet

Artsy close up of the quince cherry compote

Poached, grilled pineapple and kumquats with balsamic vinegar, basil pineapple sorbet, a tuile cookie, and champagne sabayon

Pumpkin soup with gingerbread croutons and cranberry swirl

Sour cherry soup with almond custard cues, cinnamon hippen, and cinnamon ice cream

Panna Cotta with dried fruit compote. hippen, and Riesling granita

Exotic fruit soup with sesame tuiles and ginger lemongrass ice cream

Tiramisu with chocolate cup, mocha granita, a hippen spoon, cappucino Anglaise, and chocolate sauce

The plating of the chocolate mendiants

Chocolate Hazelnut Mediant with chocolate fence, kirsh caramel sauce, cherry compote, chocolate sauce, clear vanilla sauce, creme legere, a caramel twist, and a hazelnut tuille

White chocolate-citrus parfait with pineapple pomegranate salad, citrus Anglaise, caramel sauce, white chocolate ruffle, and lemon nougatine

Chocolate mint dome with orange mint coulis, chocolate cigarette, candied orange peel, orange mint salad, and a lace cookie cup

White chocolate hazelnut semifreddo with pear pound cake, seckel pear compote, white chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and a white chocolate cut out

Yay for plated desserts and having to taste every single thing we make! We also did some really fun assignments where we had to come up with our own desserts. We had to come up with 10 item dessert menu for the restaurant attached to our school. It's a classic French restaurant with ethnic influences. Here's my menu:

Chocolate Ginger Souffle with Coconut curry ice cream and lemongrass creme Anglaise
Lemon Tartlette with White chocolate ice cream, coconut tuiles, rum caramel sauce, and coconut creme Anglaise
Sweet Potato Pie with whiskey glaze, walnut tuiles, and dried fig compote
Pumpkin Spice creme Bruee with cream cheese ice cream, spice cake, and a dark caramel sauce
Apple Cranberry Crumle with vanilla bean ice cream, cranberry sauce, and an apple chip
Champagne Citrus Sorbet in a meringue bowl with blood orange segments, honey caramel sauce, and grapefruit coulis
Macadamia nut sponge cake with passion fruit filling, penuche glaze, pineapple sauce, vanilla sauce, and white chocole creme Anglaise
Maple Chestnut Tart with pear sauce, chestnut creme fraiche ice cream, and mape pear compote
Gianduja chocolate ganache tart with cherry sorbet, cherry coulis, and hazelnut creme Anglaise
Frozen Yogurt with seasonal fruit (pear, persimmon, and kiwi), and brown sugar sauce

We each had to come up with a menu, then write our two favorite items on the board and as a class narrow it to the 8 best, or favorites. I wrote up the ginger chocolate souffle and the maple chestnut tart. Neither was chosen :( Here are the items the class did choose:

Spiced Pot de Creme
Gianduja chocolate ganache tart with fleur de sel, spicy caramel creme Anglaise, and hazelnut tuile
Peach souffle crepe with pineapple orange brown butter sauce, and banana ice cream
Chocolate ravioli with bittersweet chocolate sauce and cardamom cream
Tarte aux Seckel Poire en Cage with creme Anglaise
Chocolate layer cake with pistachio pastry cream, creme Anglaise, and chocolate ice cream
Orange crepe with blackberry sorbet
Vol-au-Vents with pineapple and pomegranate

We are going to work on it I think (I hope) to make it better. I would ony order one, maybe two of the items on the menu. We also played a fun Iron Chef game, where we got two ingredients (pears and cream cheese) and in an hour and a half had to come up with a complete dessert, diagram it, and plate two portions. It was quite fun. I made a butterscotch cake with cream cheese filling, maple glazed pears, and a white chocolate creme Anglaise.
Soon I will have fun pictures of sugar showpieces!