@Shelovescake

After the emotion and adrenalin of week 8, the start of week 9 felt flat. I was absolutely exhausted. Not helped by the fact I had cooked for 12 hours on Sunday preparing mince meat, mince pies, biscotti and rocky road for a Christmas shopping evening on Wednesday.

We were cooking lamb rump with salsa verde and flat breads. I couldn’t wait to get it done and come home for theory revision (and rest!). Such was my mood I didn’t even take a photo of the finished dish, pretty as it was with the pink flesh of the lamb against the verdent brightness of the salsa. I couldn’t face the lamb but the flatbreads were soft and absorbent to the sharp, salty vibrant salsa verde. An afternoon writing theory notes, crucially sitting down, and a good night’s sleep meant I was a new woman for Tuesday.

Whilst our fellow students busily prepared a buffet lunch for us, we marinated and cooked a soy glazed salmon served with a crunchy hot and sour salad. Careful cooking of the salmon was required to ensure the glaze didn’t over-caramelise in the pan, and the fish didn’t over-cook in the oven. Precise knife skills for the salad and balanced flavours for the dressing. A punchy little number. But I resisted eating it aware of the buffet to come. Our team mates did themselves proud serving up an Ottolenghi-style feast. In the afternoon, an inspiring and fascinating dem with Olia Hercules, who I have long-followed on instagram. Olia educated us in the virtues and methods of fermenting. To really convince us she prepared a fresh salad with pickles, butter beans and dill and a Polish-style ramen with slow-cooked beef shin and pickle garnish. A warming elixir which we gratefully imbibed.

The enjoyment of others’ food continued that evening with a book launch event with Helen Goh. It was fascinating to hear about her double life as a psychotherapist and how that contributed to the theme of her latest book: Baking & the meaning of life. We tasted a range of the bakes from the book. The kumquat biscotti were a wonderful mix of nutty and jammy; the kumquat jam being a must-make for eating on toast, in cakes and nestled into the thumb print of these delectable little treats. The semolina pastry on the pineapple ma’hmood melted in the mouth in such a delightful way that I may have pinched an extra one for the journey home.

Wednesday was my team’s turn to buffet. With a man down ill, and another with a sprained foot, we weren’t at a standing start (literally). But we worked as a team and had done prep in terms of choosing a realistic and varied menu that we could deliver in the time. Our South East Asian theme seemed popular with our guests. The only slight panic was when I realised an hour from service that I had forgotten to make the individual portion of crustless cheesecake for the gluten free guest…and all the cheesecake filling was now baking in the oven on the gluten-based crust. Quick brainstorm and I remembered I had two egg whites leftover that I could whip up into some meringues to fill with some lime-spiked sweetened cream cheese and drizzle with white chocolate. They had just enough time to cook: disaster averted! In the afternoon, a high energy session to battle our post-buffet slump with Be Kasapian, an expert in vegan and specialist diets. Be was an absolute whirlwind, cooking up at least 5 dishes in two hours whilst talking non-stop. The vegan tart with coconut oil pastry and cashew crew was surprisingly tasty and a good one to have in the arsenal for catering events.

The week of over-indulgence continued on Thursday morning with a cake dem: naked celebration cake with lime and white chocolate; vegan chocolate cake with a decadent whipped chocolate icing; and an orange and olive oil cake. All before, you’ve guessed it, another buffet! The afternoon was a tale of two halves: sweet in the form of shortcrust pastry and savoury in the form of moules marinere.

A riot for our senses on Friday morning. Jo and Jess Edun aka the Flygerians were as lively, spicy and fabulous as the food they cooked. An inspiration to hear of their journey in the food industry and grateful to be handed some hard-earned advice. Their mission is to bring Nigerian cuisine to the forefront of the UK food market. And boy do they have the energy to deliver that. Stand-out tip of the morning: chop life before life chops you. In the afternoon, a lovely session blind baking our prepared and chilled tart case. And filling it with a sweet and nutty mix of golden syrup, treacle and walnuts. A mash-up of treacle tart and pecan pie. Sweet!! I’m not sure if I’m proud or not to say that the tart didn’t last the weekend. Revision, revision, revision (alongside tart) this weekend ahead of the theory exam on Monday.