Chef gave us lemons, so we made tarts :)

Good evening everyone!

I can't wait any longer to tell you about Friday's class...I made a lemon tart! This is definitely the most "involved" dessert I have ever made - and I did it all from scratch and by hand! I've felt happy with my work before, but that work has mostly been academic - intangible ideas or thoughts that I've expressed in essays. Making this tart, though, was different. I actually made something. And that something can be eaten which makes it even better! ;)

In demonstration, the Chef taught us how to make 3 different kinds of tarts: a strawberry tart, an apple tart, and, of course, the lemon tart that we had to make later in practical.

Here is the white board that the Chef used to outline what we were learning today - see all the French words? ;)

Chef rolling out the dough for the strawberry tart!

The finished strawberry tart! It was delicious!


Chef putting the apples into the apple tart.

The finished apple tart - I love the design he did in the middle!

Chef's Lemon Tart with Italian Meringue on top! I was hoping mine would turn out this well! It looks so pretty with the golden brown meringue and almonds on top!

After demo, we had a couple of hours before practical, so I took that time to go over my notes and grab some lunch. Chef told us that today was the first day we would really be graded on our products. The dishes we have been making before this have been "building blocks" - we've done doughs, fillings, and basic shortbreads, but today we had to use these building blocks to make one entire dessert. I could definitely feel a bit of nervousness in the practical room when I walked in - I was feeling nervous too!

Everything went really well though! My tart wasn't *perfect*, but I was really proud of it!

My tart before it went into the oven to crisp up a bit! (To toast the meringue and almonds on top, the oven had to be set to 500 degrees Fahrenheit! I don't think I've ever cooked anything at such a high temperature before this! We even had to use 2 baking sheets because at that high of a temperature, the baking sheets will actually get so hot that they can bend over! Using two gives more support.)

My tart out of the oven and ready for presentation to the Chef! He liked it a lot and said I did very well!

My arms were so sore from all the hand kneading, mixing, and egg-white beating, but I didn't even care! I was so excited! lol

My friend Rafi and me :)