The Ugliest Dessert Ever

I'm pretty sure I made the ugliest dessert I have ever made in my entire life.  Gateau St. Honore.  This interesting piece of work meshes the complex techniques of creating pate brisee, pate a choux, two different kinds of creme diplomat, and caramel.  We learned that it is a cake that, if made successfully, qualifies an aspiring pastry chef for upper level training.  So, yes--it was technique heavy, but it really wasn't that fun to make simply because it's ugly.  Just look at it!  The best part of the entire dessert is the nest of sugar we had the chance to make by dipping a cut-off whisk into our melted caramel and flicking it in between two wooden spoons.  It was a lot bigger but it immediately started disappearing as the heat of the day melted it to this sad tumbleweed-esque pile.  Sadly before the end of the day, I threw my passport to greater training in the dumpster after eating a few spoonfuls.  

Gateau St. Honore