Pudding on a Ritz

When I was younger, I thought the lyrics to Puttin on the Ritz were actually “Pudding on a Ritz" which, I thought, sounded delicious.

Sadly, I’ve never had pudding on crackers (yet), but I did get to visit the kitchens at the Ritz Carlton in Charlotte for school. It was amazing! The kitchens were spotless and incredibly organized. The pastry kitchen had some pretty top-notch equipment, too. It would not be a shabby place to work, except the hours are grueling. The chefs work swing shifts, which mean they could be working 4am-noon one day and then 3pm-10pm the next day. Yikes

Here’s a view from the top of the Ritz:

Oh hey, Charlotte.

If you are ever in Charlotte and can afford it, stay at the Ritz. Or at my apartment. I have a great couch.

Moving back to the real world, here’s my plated desserts practical. The assignment was a $12 dessert.

I made a petit gateaux layered with chocolate mousse, strawberry Bavarian, and crunch chocolate layers. The whole thing was wrapped in chocolate and covered with raspberries and sugar garnish.

In front of the dessert there was an almond lace cookie (kind of tastes like toffee – delicious!) and raspberry sorbet.

 

It was someone in the dining room’s birthday, so I sent up a birthday plate. Writing in chocolate gives me a bit of anxiety, so I think this one came out pretty well!

I’m really sad that plated desserts is over. I learned so much in this class, especially all of the crazy garnishes (fried oreos, pulled sugar, molded chocolate, etc). I also really learned a ton from my chef, who we’ve had for three classes.

But, alas, onto new things: Sugar artistry! This is a class I’ve been stressing about since September. Sugar is very fragile and can shatter if you breathe on it the wrong way. Well, that might be an exaggeration. I hope.