WHO has a better smile the Mona Lisa or a Joconde?

Advanced Pastry 04.06.06
"JOCONDE" :
*Leonardo Da Vinci's extraordinary masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, was the
portrait of the 3rd wife of a Florentine merchant, Francesco di Bartolommeo
del Giocondo; Therefore we have "La Gioconda" (Italian) or Joconde in French.

The name joconde gives and indication of how highly regarded this sponge cake
is among pastry chefs. In addition to containing powdered almonds, it differs from
other sponge cakes by having whole eggs (rather than just yolks) beaten with the
sugar and powdered almonds before the meringue is folded in. Joconde is thin and
rich and is used to decorate and seal all kinds of Gateaux.

*adapted from: "The Art of the Cake", Modern French Baking & Decorating
by B. Healy & P.Bugat

Serious and professional! Assembling the Noix de Coco Gateau

Tu and his joconde sandwich

making the joconde pattern

Alison's secret weapon! to make Joconde on a budget! LOL notice the comb reads "Multi-Use" I bet they never thought people will go this far with it!!!!! LOL

<<< "Vive la hardware store"!!!>>>

making the joconde's choc stripes with comb

joconde choc stripes

The making of a joconde!

sealed orange chiffon biscuit (cake) w/ raspberry jam

cutting the joconde!!!! yes it was 4 3/4'' LOL

making perfect! LOL

"premier couche" = first layer joconde with chiffon cake sealed with raspberry jam

Layering the gateau with coconut mousse

Jose assembling the Noix de coco gateau

Assembling the Noix de coco gateau

Removing the acetate strip to decorate

Tu making the white chocolate shavings

the white chocolate shavings

Jose piping the whipped cream on the gateau

Joconde pattern decorating and encasing the chiffon cake and filling

Noix de Coco Gateau

Top of finished Noix de Coco Gateau with Whipped cream and white chocolate shavings + cocoa dust & glazed strawberries.

Finished Noix de Coco Gateau

Noix de Coco Gateau, inside view

Sliced side view

THE END! LOL

Aaron and Jose pondering who has a better smile the Mona Lisa or a joconde?

Tu!!! taking example from Jose!

ART!!!! Pear art, the pears prior to been simmered for the pear tart

Pear Frangipane Tart (Fundamentals of baking 04.05.2006)

Pear Frangipane Tart prior to baking.

Jose's Pear Frangipane Tart style "au soleil"

Grandma's Cake (by Maria and Jose)

Grandma's Cake (by Jason)

We need this in TEXAS!!!!!!!!
On my trip to New Orleans we made a stop @ "Pizza Pie"

SEE: www.italianpierestaurants.com

The pizza was anything but ordinary! this is the "Spinach-artichoke" pizza and the ingredients had such freshness to them MMM they had a ton of "Gourmet Pizzas"
Everything was out of ordinary the pizzas & doughs had so much flavor to them.
The proposed pizza combinations ingenious.
Nice portion sizes as well.

New Orleans, Italian Pie, > Chicken Artichoke Calzone (I will dream of this for years to come LOL) Unlike anything I have eaten in the italian-pizza lore

My poor VAIO!!!! ok had this not been the precious cargo of Cafe au Lait & beignets I will be cringing with horror to have this on top of my laptop. But we are talking I was on my way back to TX and I just had to stop by Cafe du Monde the famous cafe is open 24-7!!!! SO there is no excuse! if you are passing by new Orleans no matter what time it is GO to Cafe du Monde their coffee roast has chicory and it is MMM & the beignets (French doughnuts) are to die for! Yes literally with all that powdered sugar!!!! LOL A true culinary land mark!

SEE: www.cafedumonde.com

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It closes only on Christmas Day and on the day an occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.

The Original Cafe Du Monde is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar.

"Morning Huddle" the Cafe du Monde waitresses get their hair done in front of the mirrors as they take turns to serve customers Beignets, coffee and OJ to the early birds.

7:35 AM Interior of Cafe Du Monde, the humid and hot morning air was covered with a beignet and cafe au lait scent. The place had a few customers been 7am amongst them wouldn't you know Police men! LOL (see far left) New Orleans cops don't eat morning doughnuts & coffee but, BEIGNETS! w/ Cafe au Lait! / Tres Chic!

New Orleans, Exterior of "Cafe Du Monde"
All of N.O. was covered with "Welcome Back", "Now Hiring" and "Now Open". And for Cafe du Monde "Beignets are back!" LOL

Sachertorte is a chocolate-cake, invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 for Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties.

The cake consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate dough with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. This is traditionally eaten with whipped cream, as most Viennese consider the Sachertorte too "dry" to be eaten without.

The trademark for the "Original Sachertorte" was registered by the Hotel Sacher, which was built in 1876 by the son of Franz Sacher. The recipe is a well-kept secret. Until 1965, Hotel Sacher was involved in a long legal battle with the pastry shop Demel, who had also produced a cake called the "Original Sachertorte." Numerous tales have circulated to explain how Demel came by the recipe. The cake at Demel is now called "Demels Sachertorte" and differs from the "Original" in that there is no layer of apricot jam in the middle of the cake, but directly underneath the chocolate cover.

SEE:
http://sachertorte.sacher.com