gowendygo:

Round 2 Day 16 and 17 AND 18!

I hadn’t posted much lately, because I was so busy trying to prepare for my Written Exam. That has now passed and thankfully I PASSED, not with flying colors, but I did okay. I was pretty upset about the poorly written exam, because they asked questions that were not covered in our material. One of the questions was, “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center?” I had to pull some of the answers out of my arse and apparently I pulled out the wrong ones. I didn’t ace the test as planned, but what’s done is done and NOW ’m preparing for the Whammy…the Final Practical Exam.

I want to update you on the last few Demos that we had so you can at least see what I’ve been constructing. The last demo felt more like construction than baking. Lesson 16 was the Triomphe Aux Noix (Walnut Cake), which has a kajillion elements starting with a Walnut “biscuit” sponge, Caramel Base, Imbibing Syrup, Caramel Mousse, Glaze and Candied Walnuts. The chef also prepared Caramel Mou or quite simply, Soft Caramel. I have never had caramel like this before and it was gooooood! With the exception of burning the crap out of my hands several times, I really do like making caramels. I might need to invest in some gloves when I get home. It’s so cool that you can cook sugar, water and glucose and get a pretty colored caramel.

So that lesson wasn’t so bad really, but Lesson 17 and 18 were just plain dumb. I wasn’t into this monstrosity. It is called the Croquembouche and there is not an English translation for that word, but I can provide one for you…EVIL. This lesson was divided into two days. We first had to build this god-awful base that is made from Nougatine, which is water, sugar, glucose and sliced almonds. It cools very quickly, but you have to mold this stuff when it’s steaming HOT. The room must’ve been 5000 degrees from all the students’ piles of crap Nougatine. If it has cooled too much then you put it back in the oven to soften. I must’ve had to put mine in the oven 15 times…seriously. At one point, I was trying to roll this cement on the counter and it slid off onto the floor. And you know what I did? I picked that sucker right up and kept on rolling. No one was going to eat this darn thing anyways and there was noooo way that I was going to start all over again. We had to cut circles out of the Nougatine by slamming these metal cutters one on top of the other. I still have bruises on my hands. THIS IS NOT FUN!!! I barely finished in time and I was so ready for a glass of wine after that ordeal.

The next day was Part 2 of the Horror Movie. We had to make Choux Pastry balls and fill them with Pastry Cream, which isn’t that big of deal, but then we had to dip them in HOT caramel and build a skyscraper. When you look at the Chef’s creation, you’re probably thinking, “I don’t know what Wendy is talking about. That thing is sooo purrrty!” Ok, that was the chef’s Crockofbeeeotch, but ours didn’t look ANYTHING like that. And do you know what these things are used for here? Weddings! And the French make fun of the American pastries! Puh-lease! I could make 50 wedding cakes in the time it took me to make that thing. I wouldn’t dare tell the chefs this, but I do think it would be cool to make just the top part (the heck with that Nougatine!) as a centerpiece for a table and decorate it with colored candies like a Christmas tree. I might just do that! I’ll Americanize it!

I’ll admit that it wasn’t a total waste of time, because I still learned a lot. And if I get in the mood to burn my hands and make some Nougatine then I think it would be neat to make small little molded cups. You could use them to fill with various desserts…chocolate mousse, berries and cream, etc. I promise that I won’t drop it on the floor and make you eat it.

I forgot to mention the pretty rose that the chef made from pulled sugar. THAT is very cool! We luckily didn’t have to make that in our class, BUT we will learn Pulled Sugar in the next Superior course. Wow. I’m thinking more burns.

Surprisingly, the chef approved of my skyscraper and I believe I got a decent grade. He wouldn’t allow us to leave our Leaning Towers of Pisa in the student break room, so we HAD to bring it home. Of course, it’s not gonna fit in a box and do you really think I want to carry this thing for an entire mile? Mine went right in the garbage can! Buh-Bye!!

Well folks, it’s time for some serious studying. There’s only five more days until my final. I’ve got to rewrite 10 recipes and memorize all the techniques. If you need me, I’ll be in my cave.

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