Zach's Apprentice Lillian
May 15, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose
A year ago, when we were both in Paris at La Petite Rose Patisserie Zach was an apprentice. Now he has an apprentice of his own and shared these beatiful photos and text:
My apprentice Lillian, who is a very enthusiastic new baker with a lot of potential, wanted to surprise her boyfriend with a cake for his birthday. We turned to Rose's Heavenly Cakes to find one she felt he would love. She immediately noticed the striking romantic look of the Double Chocolate Valentine cake, so we scheduled a time to bake it together.
These are the resulting photos. In the end, she was short some raspberries, so we improvised by spreading raspberry cream on top as well as randomly placing a few raspberry cream-filled chocolate hearts that I had made. Lillian then placed a smaller heart shape in the middle from the remaining raspberries Nate, her boyfriend, loved it and had several pieces but luckily they saved a slice for me to try - and naturally I loved it, too.
Lillian reading through the instructions for the Double Chocolate Valentine cake (sorry for the blurry photo caused by my shaking hands).
Pan with cake strips.
The cake filled with holes and getting ready for the ganache. The cake baked up perfectly using Rose's Heavenly Cake strips that easily slipped over the heart-shaped pan.
Lillian and the Finished Cake.
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Kathleen in reply to comment from Zach Townsend
05/20/2010 10:23 AM
Thank you, Zach, for your reply. The silicone strips are on my shopping list.
How great of you to take on an apprentice and pass on Rose's legacy of baking her exceptional cakes.
REPLY
Zach Townsend in reply to comment from Kathleen
05/19/2010 09:57 PM
Kathleen,
No, the strips don't conform to the indentation of the heart pan. There is a slight gap, but it's not enough to impact their performance with the butter cakes. I've never used them for cheesecake, but I'm sure if you used a heart-shaped springform pan for a cheesecake the slight gap would not make a difference.
They conform easily to the heart (except the slight gap), square and round, of course.
You should get them - they are worth it and so much less of a fuss than the cloth strips.
Zach
REPLY
Bill
05/19/2010 01:00 PM
Nice job...looks great
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Kathleen
05/19/2010 12:02 PM
Dear Rose,
I don't have the new silicone cake pan strips -- I'm still using my old aluminized, insulated fabric strips. I had wondered how the silicone strips would cover a heart-shaped pan completely, specifically the "cleavage" of the pan, if you will. In the photo of the heart pan with the strips in place, I can't see the upper part of the pan, the part I wonder about.
Since I don't use a water bath anymore for cheesecakes -- using cakes strips instead to moderate the temperature -- I have not used my heart springform pan to bake a cheesecake, as the aluminumized strips don't cover the cleavage of the pan.
Does the silicone strip stick to any shape?
Thank you.
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Julie
05/16/2010 09:17 PM
Lovely cake, Lillian! Here's to many more.
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Zach Townsend
05/16/2010 07:55 PM
It was a lot of fun. Lillian has been picking things up quickly. I don't know if it's obvious, but the last photo is a link instead, so if you click on that it will show the finished cake and Lillian's smile.
Zach
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Bernadette
05/15/2010 10:15 PM
Perfect looking cake!
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ButterYum
05/15/2010 03:55 PM
Perfection!
:)
ButterYum
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