Culinary School - Weeks 10 and 11

Let me first let out a sigh of relief....Finals are over!!! :)

During Week 10 we focused on plating desserts. We had to pay special attention to the way we presented the desserts we made this week. Flavor, temperature, texture, color, and garnishes were all taken into consideration while we each practiced arranging different desserts on plates. We made Poached Pears with a red wine reduction sauce; Fudge Brownies topped with a square of marshmallow and small serving of Mardarin Sorbet on top, garnished with a dried orange slice; practiced making more Pate a Choux and garnished it with Chocolate Caramel Sauce and some fresh fruit. We also made Raspberry Mousse served in shot glasses and our Banana Pecan ice cream with Tulipe cookies.

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week I had finals! The written exam for my Baking and Pastries Lab was on Wednesday. Thursday I had a 4 hour cooking practical and a 2 hour written exam for my Baking and Pastries Concepts class. I rocked the cooking practical!!! It could not have gone any better. I got 5's (on and 1-5 scale) on most everything I turned in. What a great day!

For the cooking practical we had to make:
1. Sweet Tart Dough baked into little tartlets
2. Pastry Cream
3. Pate a Choux
4. Creme Anglais
5. Caramel Sauce
6. Cinnamon Rolls

We had to plate 3 decorated tartlets and 3 empty shells; 3 cream puffs filled with pastry cream and garnished with caramel sauce and creme anglais and 3 empty cream puffs; as well as 6 cinnamon rolls, 3 glazed and 3 plain. In the prior weeks, I had a tendency to underbake my cream puffs a bit and overbake my mini tart shells, but today was a day of perfection. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

I am excited to have the next week off of classes but pretty bummed that these classes are over. They are by far my favorite so far and I had so much fun making so many amazing desserts! It's also hard to believe that I am half-way done with this program already!

My next three classes are Advanced Cakes and Classical Torts, Chocolate & Confectionary, and Sugar Works. Should be fun!