Lobster Love, Scallops and a Cake

Let's talk about lobster lovin' for a moment. As much as I don't like seafood, I do like learning about it. I find it fascinating that there's a whole other massive world under that ocean that's totally different than the one we live in. Take for example the lobster. There's so much I didn't know about these guys. For example, did you know that they are cannibals? That's why people put rubber bands around them before they go into those giant tanks. It's not to protect us, it's to protect them from each other. That's also why if you ever see a one-clawed lobster, you know that guy got into a little scuffle. Granted their claws grow back, but still. I had no idea. Because of the fact that they are programed to eat each other, you can only imagine how hard dating is (and we thought we had it bad). To mate, (we're all adults here, right?) the female lobster woos the male lobster and once she's got 'em, she shoots this stuff (nobody knows what it is yet) out of her eyes at him. This paralyzes the poor guy so she can have her way with him and then scurry off.  Crazy, right? You can only imagine the jokes that were flying around the kitchen after this fun fact was learned...

Moving on from lobster love, this week I was charged with making a scallop dish on Monday and a Raspberry Crown Cake on Tuesday.  Starting with the scallops, no surprise to you I'm sure, I've never made scallops before. While I don't like them, I did like the way that they came out and thought that all of the bright and vibrant colors made for a pretty presentation.  I will say, if there's anything great that's coming out of these torturous couple of weeks on seafood, I'm happy that I'm starting to learn how to get over making things that I don't personally like. I feel is so very important to my culinary education.

Moving on to the cake, it was a little complicated to make, especially in such a short period of time.  I started by making a thin layer of toasted almond and hazelnut sponge cake.  Then I made ladyfingers and a rich raspberry mousse. Then utilizing a cake mold, I arranged the ladyfingers into the mold, cut the cake to size and layered it with the mouse. While I was pleased with the outcome, I found the whole process of baking the cakes to be a little stressful. To begin with, I have a huge fear of overcooking anything and this only gets amplified with baking because in most cases you can't taste as you go to get an understanding of where you are in the process. There's just such little room for error. That being said, with each class and with each thing that I make, I keep learning how things interact with each other. I think it's normal for me to be a little anxious about something that I make for the first time and it's the practice that will only make me better.

On tap for next week at school? Last week of seafood on Monday (hooray!) and chocolate class all day Tuesday...