Composed Desserts

This is a Chocolate Orchid I did for a tasting in January for four people.  It was paired with a citrus panna cotta and rhubarb sorbet.  Just got the news that the tasting was a hit and now I have to do 350 plates for a client in March.  This is the love of being a resort chef.  May the many nights ahead be eventful and sleepless.

The dessert pictured above left was the one beat out by the orchid.  I loved this one because the customer is able to break the golden ball with the light touch of a fork and caramel sauce runs out.  It was paired with a hazelnut mousse covered with gianduja ganache and a passionfruit anglaise tart.  Still trying to figure out which one would have been easier to do.

Bon-Bon and Petit Four Work

 Various truffles, the classic buckeye, Anise Spritz cookies with dried fruit.

First Competition Bon-Bon Platter: Bronze Medal
Already have made so much progress in thoughts on my next one. Pictures of practice platter will be posted by mid-March.

Recipe Archive to come!!!

Winterfest 2012 Chocolate Showpiece St. Augustine

Well, after some time spent back in the books I found my balance for my third showpiece.  I learned to show more of the natural color of chocolate and accent my details with the color instead of spraying the whole piece.  Ive always loved studying architecture and the limits they push with the buildings and structures around the world.  I'm sure everyone has seen the cage globes and I decided to build a chocolate one.  This piece won a silver medal.  Still no gold but it only makes me push harder. Now to figure out what to do next.

2011 FRLA Chocolate Showpiece Competition

 This is a chocolate showpiece I did for the 2011 FRLA Pastry Championship in Orlando, Florida.  After a little over a month of design and multiple failures I finally got my second showpiece to where I wanted it.  I'm starting to find out that I am always wishing I had more time.  I did a 3 hour build at the competition site at 6 in the morning and then waited for what seemed like forever for the award ceremony later that night.  I was called to the stage for my bronze medal wondering why the piece didn't do better.  Trying to understand why I went from a silver medal at my last competition to a bronze medal at this one.  After the critiques of the showpiece I began to understand the medium between the two and back to the books it was.  I had to challenge myself a step further and climb the ladder to push chocolate to its limits.  Time to take a break and see how fragile and balanced it can be.

Everything picture is chocolate from the tile up.  No commercial molds were used in the structure of the showpiece.  I learned that I spent just as many hours rubbing out my edges as I did building the piece.  Sometimes I wonder why I spend all the time and stress to build these creations but when you get to see the faces and the comments that people make when they walk by and admire it makes it all worth it.

West Palm Chocolate Showpiece

 These are a few of the photos from a Silver Medal Chocolate Showpiece I put together in West Palm Beach back in August of 2011.  It was my first one and didn't really know a whole lot about what I was doing or what the judges were looking for but they enjoyed the edges and colors that really made it pop when you walked into the room.  First Professional Silver Medal.  Can't say I wasn't thrilled about it.