I'm writing this as I break into my first Apple-Walnut Rose. It is delicious. And probably the most fragile thing I've ever made.
It's supposed to be shaped like a rose, but I don't think I quite hit the mark. Partially because of my general lack of floral knowledge, and partially (mostly) because I have never worked with phyllo pastry dough before. I can't imagine working with that stuff regularly. It was easy to cut...with a knife or with my hands pulling it out of the package. And then, after I used my clever little paint-brush to cover the sheets with butter, they were slightly harder to tear while I was wrapping the walnut cream into them in a rose shape. Patrick claims that "The presentation is so striking that your guests will think you studied pastry making in Austria". I don't think I'll have to deal with that problem, though.
As I was talking to my dad while assembling the roses, he came upon a point that Julie saw during her week two. He mentioned that a good side effect of the Coley/O'Connell Project is that I'm learning not just how to make recipes, but also some general ways to use certain ingredients. Patrick's book isn't set up to be a series of cooking lessons quite like Mastering the Art of French Cooking is, but I am definitely learning how Patrick uses certain ingredients to achieve certain effects. In this one, I improvised a little with exactly how I was brushing the butter since it was taking me so long to assemble the roses. I'm also acquiring a good amount of kitchen-wares. Perhaps I won't need all of it in the future, but I think most of it will be fairly useful.
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