Plated Desserts: Week 2 in French Pastry School

Week Two: Plated Desserts & the Art of the Quenelle 🍨✨

Have you ever looked at a dessert at a restaurant and thought, “How did they come up with this?” All the different components—each with their own texture, flavor, and personality—somehow come together into one stunning, delicious creation. That was the focus of our second week at French pastry school: plated desserts.

This week was all about learning how to combine flavor and texture to create desserts that look like they belong in a fine dining restaurant. We dove into everything from different types of meringues and stabilizers, to shaping the perfect quenelle, and even got hands-on with some seriously cool kitchen tools I'd never used before.

🧑‍🍳 Teamwork & Tasting

We worked in pairs to create plated desserts, each with key elements: a sauce or gel, an ice cream or sorbet, a crunchy component (like crumble, meringue, or chocolate), and something fruity or bright. Some dishes pushed the boundaries with unexpected flavors, while others were more classic and crowd-pleasing. Everyone had their favorite (and least favorite!) bites, but every plate taught us something new.

🧁 Tools of the (Pastry) Trade

Let’s start with the siphon. This gadget is a total game-changer for mousses and foams. You load it with a cream, ganache, or lightened mousse, fill it with gas, and suddenly you've got a silky, airy texture that can be piped into elegant shapes or delicate bubbles. It’s all about infusing air under pressure to change the texture.

Next, we played with the sous vide, a method of cooking food very slowly in a warm water bath. The item is sealed in a plastic bag, submerged in water, and held at a super precise temperature using an immersion circulator. This technique is usually used for meat, but in pastry, it’s also amazing for infusing fruit, gently cooking curds, or slow-marinating elements of a dessert without overcooking or drying them out.

🍦 Let’s Talk About the Quenelle

Now, onto my favorite part of plated dessert week: the quenelle. If you’re not familiar with the term, don’t worry—most people aren’t. But I promise you’ve seen one before. It’s that smooth, oval-shaped scoop of ice cream or mousse that sits beautifully on the plate like a tiny edible sculpture.

Creating a proper quenelle is both a skill and an art. Here's how it works:

• You dip an oval-shaped spoon (not your average kitchen spoon!) in hot water.

• Then, you gently scrape the spoon through the ice cream or mousse, rolling it in one continuous motion.

• The texture of the product matters: too frozen and it crumbles, too soft and it flattens out.

• The goal? A perfectly smooth, football-shaped scoop with no cracks, no rough edges—just elegance.

It sounds simple, but trust me, getting that flawless quenelle takes practice. We were quenelling all day, every day until it felt second nature. From the first day of class to the last, my scooping game improved so much- I'm not as good as our chef was, yet, but practice makes perfect!

🍭 Meringue Magic

Another highlight this week was meringue—yes, the fluffy cloud-like topping you’ve seen on lemon pie, but so much more than that. We briefly touched on the three types (French, Swiss, and Italian) and how each is made for different applications. Think pavlova, baked Alaska, crisp decorations, or silky piped accents. I’ll do a whole post on meringues soon because honestly, there’s so much to say!

🎉 Week Two Takeaway

This week was a whirlwind of textures, techniques, and plating practice. I gained a whole new appreciation for the chefs who craft plated desserts night after night—balancing flavor, texture, and design in every dish. I didn’t love every flavor combination we tried, but I loved the process of learning how each element plays a role on the plate.

Next up? Petit gâteaux—those elegant, individual mini cakes that are almost too pretty to eat.

Until then, Happy Baking! 🍰