Olive Internship - Day 4

This morning, Chef Babu first got me started on the Salted Caramel ice cream. We prepared it the usual way except before tempering the egg yolks and castor sugar with the boiling cream mixture, we caramelised grain sugar in a pot and added butter to make a sticky caramel sauce which we then added to the cream mixture.
Once we tempered it with the egg yolks and castor sugar, we returned it to the heat and it quickly started to thicken up.

Salted Caramel ice cream cooling in an ice bath at the back, Espresso cupcake batter, and Apricot chocolate setting.

When that was done, we glazed frozen sticks of peanut butter mousse with dark chocolate and left them to chill. These sticks are used as a component in Olive's signature 'Snicker Bar' dessert.

Then, we began to make macarons. Something I have personally wanted to make for a long time. They do not require many ingredients, and Chef Girish said that the two real hard parts were (a) getting the temperature of the sugar-water solution right when heating and (b) the last stage; when you mix the almond meal and egg whites with the sugar and egg whites.
When you under mix the batter, the macarons do not spread and come out tasting like cardboard whereas when you over mix it, they spread out too much and lose their shape.
We made two colours, periwinkle (which belongs to blue and purple families), and light pink.

When piping macarons, it is important to keep your piping bag completely upright. For support, you could place your index finger right next to the nozzle to stop yourself from piping at different angles. When you are done piping the macarons, tap the baking tray against a hard surface (like a kitchen counter), and set aside for 10 minutes minimum, to allow the macarons to form a skin on top which helps form the shell when baking as well as provide the top with smoothness.

We then broke for lunch. I went to a place down the road called 'Monkey Bar', and had a peach iced tea with a hearty bowl of prawn and chicken Laksa.

To fill the macarons, we made an Olive Oil Ganache with white chocolate.
Since we ran out of glucose, we used corn syrup instead. It can be used as a substitute however it doesn't always have the same effect on foods as glucose does.

Then, while Chef made Apricot chocolates (photo attached above), I made coffee cupcakes for a party order.

These cupcakes remain moist and soft for a longer period of time because they contain yoghurt. Chef Girish told me that adding either yoghurt or mayonnaise helps prevent the cupcake from hardening very soon, without affecting the flavour of the cupcake.

Finally, we made Florentines using pistachios and almonds. Since there was no more work left and it was already 4pm,
I went home.