More Wedding Cakes....................

Wedding Cakes for one of our Japanese clienteles

Wedding Cakes...................

Wedding cakes done for our new Japanese clientele

Holidays.....................

Two tarts featured for Thanksgiving, Kabocha Tart and French Apple Tart.

Pate brisee' layered with fresh kabocha custard, creme chantilly and fresh kaboch cream.

Pate brisee' layered with creme d'amande, cinnamon-vanilla roasted apples, and then topped with thinly sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and then baked until golden brown.

飲みましょか。。。。。

十人友達日本からきましたんだ！今度は日本で飲みに行くか。。。。

World Chocolate Masters 2009, and the winner is....................

Japan!

おめでとうございます！さすが日本な！

Unbelievable, is what I think when I look at that chocolate showpiece. The theme was Haute Couture and once again Japan has proved that they are a force to be reconed with in the world of patisserie!

ホリデーコレクション..............

Chanel Bag

Yule log

Stollen

Strawberry Shortcake

Souffle' Fromage

Cakes I made for a photoshoot for a Honolulu Magazine for Christmas.

Chocolate dipped strawberries.........

Tired of plain chocolate dipped strawberries? Chocolate dipped strawberries on a sable' base with mint meringue. I always do strawberries on a thin piece of sable which gives for a nice crunch as well as keeping the chocolate from sticking to anything. Swiss meringue with finely chopped mint leaves.

ミントブリーズ。。。。。。。

このデザートはとても爽やかな仕上がりとなっていて

皆さんも食べたら気分爽快まちがいなしです＾＾

ピスタチオジョコンド、ミックスベリージュレ、フレッシュミントクレームムース

ミントジュレ、Topにはピスタチオクロカント、ミントホワイトショコラ、

ショコレガーニ

A very refreshing dessert for the hot days. Pistachio joconde layered with fresh mixed berry gelee', fresh mint cremeux, and fresh mint gelee'. Topped with pistachio croquant, white chocolate coated mint leaves, and chocolate garniture.

マンゴ。。。。。

ヘーゼルナッツダコワーズ、ヘイデンマンゴームース、とマンゴージュレ
One of my staff members had a bag full of ripe hayden mangoes and had asked me to make something with the mangoes. Hazelnut dacquoise layered with mango mousse and mango gelee'.

カボチャタルトー。。。。。。。。。。。。。

こちら、秋のデザートかぼちゃタルトでございます！

アメリカでお馴染みのパンプキンタルトではなく日本の方が好まれる味に仕上げてみました

まず生地はパトゥースクレ中はフレッシュなかぼちゃカスタード、かぼちゃクレームレジィで

トップは薄切りかぼちゃを沸騰したシロップに漬け込みその余熱だけでやさしい口当たりに仕上げました。最後にナパージュを塗って召し上がれ・・・・・です。

大人気パテシエのDNA.......................

Every one of us has a beginning, the start, of our career, whatever it may be, which has led us to where we are now. Here is a book featuring the some of the top pastry chefs in Japan and how they have become famous. Many of them own chains of pastry shops throughout Japan.

Interestingly enough, some of them graduated at the top colleges in Japan like Todai and Waseda. And of course, ALL of them have trained in France.

Out of all of them the most interesting story comes from one of the great patissiers in Japan, Tadashi Yanagi. His struggle and endurance in training in France had pushed him to where he is now where he owns chains of patisseries throughout Japan. His experience of racial discrimination and extreme hardships in France was so bad that it has made him come to hate France and yet, pushed him to excel in refining his skills in patisserie.

Fortunately, I have had a good experience at the start of my career which began with a three year apprenticeship at the Guam Hilton. You would see this kind of training in Europe which entails doing several months in each section of the kitchen-butchery, garde manger, saucier, hot line, fine dining, and finally pastry. My first section was the butchery. Within the first two weeks my hands were cut up so bad that one day my mom saw all of the bandages on my hands and had asked me whether I really wanted to pursue this career. At that time, the kitchen was an exciting place to be. Every section of the kitchen had a European sous chef and a chef de partie. I was working with many ex-patriot chefs who came from all over the world like France(of course), Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Germany, and so on, and so on.....You definitely don't see this anymore in Hotel kitchens. At the time, I was working 12-16 hours a day. I would clock in for 8 hours, clock out, and then work until 10 pm. just to learn more. This, I did for 3 years. In pastry, it was a struggle much in part because the pastry chef whom was French, did not like to give out his recipes. So, after some time, I ended up copying his recipes when he would go to lunch. Of course, everything was in French. After many translations later, I ended up being able to read French. All in all it was a toss up between garde manger and pastry, mostly in part because they have artistic qualities in both departments. In the end, I chose pastry. Since then, I have no regrets.

ウエディングケーキ。。。。。。。

Two wedding cakes for display for one of our japanese clientele

パリマカロン。。。。。。。

A special gift from the director of the French consulate here in Hawaii. Macarons from Paris! She was excited when she found out about our macarons at one of our local stores. A little bit of Paris in paradise......................

デザートバイキング。。。。。。

Today we had a small dessert buffet for our clientele featuring pralines, bonbons, assortment of macarons, petit fours, and a small wedding cake(although, the one in the picture was used for a display only)

仕事で。。。。。。

brushing macarons

airbrushing macarons

For both methods I use colored cocoa butter.

俺だ....................

A rare picture of me......

at the Ala Moana center, one of the outlets where we provide cakes and pastries.

大阪府洋菓子コンテスト.........

Ito sensei, one of the top winners in the Osaka Yogashi competition that took place earlier this year. One of the most intricate sugar work pieces that I have seen. Ito sensei is one of the teachers from one of the top culinary schools in Japan-known as Tsujicho.

http://www.tsujicho.com/

2009 USA National Pastry Team Champions..........

This is the winning showpieces from the USA team that will compete in the next WPTC competition...........When you look at this and the prior blog that I had just posted there is no comparison when it comes to skill who is the better. 残念だけど、次なWPTCアメリカンはチャンスないと思う。
I had a friend of mine who happens be one of the judges and after looking through the pictures that he took, it was almost depressing looking at what the results of the competition brought forward.

Oh well, we do have the 2009 World Chocolate Masters coming up in October that is going to bring in some heavy hitters from all around the world.

日本がんばれ！

Utsumikai Junior Competition 内海会ジュニア技術コンクール...........................

This is the level of competition that exists in Japan! Keep in mind that this is only the JUNIOR level competition, meaning that they are comprised of pastry cooks, demi chef de partie pastry, and so forth from the age of 23 and below. If your older than 23 you are not allowed to compete. No other country is near their level! The bee sugar work is done by Yamashita Takahiro and the flower sugar work is done by Yamada Yasushi.

結婚おめでとうございます。。。。。。。

Here is your basic Japanese style wedding cake. Japanese style genoise layered with fresh whipped cream and fresh fruits. 38-40% heavy cream is best used, sweetened with 10% sugar. These are also done in layered cakes but the concept remains the same-fresh fruits and fresh whipped cream. You will never see a japanese wedding cake covered with rolled fondant! And yes, the expression "Happy Wedding" is mostly used.

Cacao Field Trip....................

Hawaii is usually know for the coffee that is grown in the islands, however, there is a small farm, about 180 acres, in Wailaua that actually grows and harvests cacao. The fermenting and drying process is done on island and then the beans are sent to the mainland for further processing where it comes back in bars.

Flowers and small pods budding
The cacao farm

Cacao pods
Open one of these when they are ready to be picked(you can tell when they are ready when you give them a shake and the seeds inside rattle)and they have a mild sweet taste when you suck on the pulp. Almost reminds me of sour sap.

The second step, the drying process which normally takes 6-7 days, again depending upon the weather. After a few days, grab a hand full of these and you can already smell the chocolate developing. If you crack open one of these shells you will find the nibs inside full of chocolate aroma. This can already be eaten as is in its pure form. Very intense. Nibs are often chopped up and used in nougatines, tuiles, and cakes.

The fermentation process, the first step in the chocolate making process. This usually takes a week or two depending on the weather.