Pastries For A Function Too

Today I got into work for 11:00.a.m. The head chef had told me to come in for noon today, but I knew I had a meeting with the executive chef midday that may take an hour, so I came in at my usual time anyway, I mean I was awake nonetheless. He got ‘mad’ at me, but I was straight to work and had lots to do and still didn’t get everything done that I could have/wanted to today.

We had a function to cook for with around thirty people, who were supposed to be in for twelve but were much later and that put the head chef in a bad mood straight away. He had me bake and slice the bread for the function, then I went straight to work making white chocolate and lime ganache. While this was on the go and I was back and forth between kitchens, I scooped out tonight’s sorbet (strawberry), weighed out the ingredients for the breads (tomato basil, pine nut, and mustard), and prepped the petit fours. I was waiting for the pre-order for the function to come in so I would know how many of each dessert to prep. Finally it came in as eleven apple and berry crumbles, two crème brulées and four selections of ice cream. Turns out I didn’t need to make the big batch of crème brulées yesterday after all, but the leftovers go on as a special in the bar. I scooped out the vanilla ice cream balls for the crumbles, the raspberry sorbet balls for the brulées, and the vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream balls for the selections of ice cream, then topped the fruit mixtures with crumble topping. 

Petit fours like I tray up everyday - in the back the blueberry fanancier and cannelle are baked fresh daily.
In the front there is a marshmallow (flavor changes all the time) and a lollipop.

I was wrapping brie for the cheese platter when the group actually arrived, and the order changed slightly – one more crumble and one of the ice cream selections turned out to be a sorbet selection instead. I finished my task since I was hands-deep in it, then prepped this new order, thankful I hadn’t yet froze the remainder of the apple berry mix. Next thing I know, they were telling me the desserts were away. Thanks, no one even informed me the starters or mains had gone out, and I assumed I was just prepping the desserts, not plating them since I was told to get them ready and leave them in the kitchen. So I quickly put the crumbles in the oven to heat, and prepped the rest of the desserts, then sent them out, then got on to my other prep work.

By this time it was nearly time for me to make the bread rolls, as I had to start slightly early to ensure they would be done and proofing by 4:00p.m., which is when I was meeting with the executive chef to talk about internship stuff. He had picked the date and time not me, and although it wasn’t the handiest, I understand he is very busy and it wasn’t totally inconvenient for me. I cleaned up and asked the other pastry cook to take care of my bread in case I wasn’t back in time, but he basically dismissed me as in “You better be back on time.” Chef took me to a private room in the lodge and told me all about his culinary journey, education, philosophies, etc., but that’s another story for another time.

The meeting lasted around forty-five minutes, and I got back just in time to put my breads in the oven. Then I made chocolate biscuit and cannelle mix quickly, cleaned up, and checked what I needed for orders. Then I set up for service, and at the beginning of service when it was slower, I sliced up fruit for assembling fruit flowers tomorrow. I used to kind of stand idle during that time, unsure of what to do or not realizing I could use that as bonus prep time. Service went well, we did around fifty diners tonight, and one group of seven. By the time that dessert order came around, everyone had left me. I finished orders, cleaned up, and by that point I had put in another twelve hour plus day.