Last weekend was the annual Quady Dessert competition. The Quady winery asks competitors to create a dessert that will pair well with their wine; this year being the Essensia that has an orange blossom flavor.
Let me get one thing straight: I don't do competitions. I wouldn't say that I'm not competitive but I hate people watching me and argh...judging me. I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to reviews, tastings, and meetings already so entering in this competition was completely out of character. I wanted to just try it out, to see if I could handle it, and to see if maybe, in the slightest possibility, I might create something that may be in the same league as some of the best pastry people that are up and coming in this city.
This is what I did: a roasted almond sponge layered with a white chocolate peach mousse, stewed peaches, peach gelee topped with a bruleed roasted peach, an orange yogurt sorbet, and an orange tuile. I made a few mistakes that I kick myself for (like choosing peach when it's not in season, and not making the tuiles perfectly straight) but it's done and over with and I can't change what I did. I learned a lot though and saw some amazing stuff!
Would I do it again though? Not quite sure. I couldn't sleep the night before (I kept worrying that my tiny ice cream machine wouldn't be frozen enough to churn ice cream and lo and behold, the morning of, I was right!) I ended up using a backup that I wasn't too happy with. Couldn't sleep well for at least a week leading up to it. As I predicted (though I hoped I wouldn't fall into my usual self), I was a ball of nerves and my hand was literally shaking as I was placing the tuiles on the plates. I remember driving to the location and getting closer and closer to it and thinking, "oh, god, I don't want to do this. Why did I do this?" It was a learning experience and I'll leave it at that.
