Chocolate Cake Trifles

I made this cake in my last post, and everyone should take note that when you make a cake and you have left over trimmings, you should always make a trifle! Forget the cake balls, and go with something a little more sophisticated. They are delicious, so versatile, making them individual sizes is all the better.

 

Every since I first made a french pastry cream in my first baking class its been one of my favorites because its basically pudding, and who doesn't love pudding? Also, the flavor combinations you can add this simple vanilla-based custard are endless. I decided to go with a salted caramel and a spiced Mexican hot chocolate flavored pastry creams.

Éclair Madness!

My patisserie & baking 101 final practical was last thursday, and we had to make eclairs, fruit tartlets, and strassburger cookies. I'm going to miss that class, making random cookies, cakes & pastries daily. Im ecstatic about my new breads class though, because nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread at 7 AM. Yes, 7 AM since I switched my schedule to 6-9:30 AM. I keep telling myself its only for 6 weeks.

So for the practical I made two batches of pate a choux ([eclair paste] which yields about 50 eclair shells, however I only needed to present my best four. There isn't enough pastry cream or time in class to fill all of the shells, so instead of just throwing them in the freezer, I made some fresh pastry cream at home and went to town.

Typically eclairs are dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, but I only had milk chocolate couverture [coating chocolate] so that's what I used, and I was really pleased with the results.

So 50+ mini eclairs is just way too many, so in the freezer they go just waiting to be eaten. They freeze beautifully and defrost almost instantly, so you always can have a fancy french dessert to impress your family/friends with.

Vanilla Custard & Berry Trifle

With the abundance of baked goods I bring home daily from my patisserie class, I rarely have time [or fridge space] to bake anything at home. I made petit fours in class recently and about a third of the layered cake became scrap dough, so I took it home along with some fresh creme anglaise my chef made that day in class and made a trifle.

I thickened the creme anglaise by mixing it with some fresh pastry cream, layering that between cake and some raspberries and blueberries. Some piped fresh chantilly cream and some more berries on top, and voilà, trifle! 

I do own a trifle dish, however with the limited amount of sponge cake I had to use, it seemed silly to fill a giant trifle dish only partially. I found this crystal goblet instead which does make the layers hard to see, but its unconventionality is what makes it perfect for a trifle on a whim.