Pastry Production and Plated Desserts
Custards and creams
Stirred custards (crème anglaise, pastry cream) rely on egg coagulation; overcooking curdles them. Cook pastry cream to a brief boil so the starch gelatinizes fully, then cool it rapidly. Baked custards set in a water bath. Starches stabilize pastry cream; gelatin sets mousses and Bavarians. Bloom gelatin in cold water, dissolve without boiling, and remember sheet versus powdered conversions. Chocolate requires tempering: melt, cool, and rewarm to form stable beta crystals; water causes seizing.
Plating
Balance sweet, acid, salt, fat, and texture. A plated dessert usually needs a creamy element, a crisp element, a fruit or acid note, and a sauce. Serve at proper temperature; use negative space; keep garnish edible and functional; sauce should be intentional, not flooded. Portion consistently and think about service timing-ice cream melts, tuiles soften.
Traps
Overwhipping cream, unbloomed gelatin, seized chocolate, broken curd, and non-edible garnishes are common errors. Questions may ask why a custard curdled (too high heat) or why a mousse did not set (insufficient gelatin or cold cream).
Worked example
For 500 g Bavarian at 1.8% gelatin, use 500 × 0.018 = 9 g. If platinum sheets weigh 2.5 g, 4 sheets = 10 g (2.0%), close enough; 3 sheets = 7.5 g (1.5%), softer. Rule: 1% soft set, 1.5–2% firm.