I keep wondering why I'm not writing these days, and wonder if it's because there's nothing to talk about. To a certain extent that's true because nothing particularly epic has occurred, but I am having a lot of fun. It's less than one month until I come back to America so I'm just enjoying the free time I have and the time I have left with the Mertners.
Then there's also the stress of the imminent final. I don't know if I wrote about it, so I'll tell you what it consists of.
It's a 6 hour final in which we have to make 5 different things. 1) Sable Biscuits 2) Brioche 3) Sugar Sculpture 4) Chocolate truffles and 5) 2 Identical plated desserts. Basically, 6 hours is not enough for all that, which is bad because I'm slower than the average student. But, let's talk about number 5. Plated desserts mean you have an individual portion of some dessert that is decorated with sauces and either sugar or chocolate decoration so that it is something that would be served at a really nice restaurant. We aren't given a recipe for it, but have to come up with combination ourselves. We are, however, given a list of ingredients we can use but the rest is up to us. It must look good, taste good, have a good balance of flavors and textures, and the two plates must look identical. I've decided to do a chocolate tart base with a layer of raspberries and a chocolate mousse on top, plated with a raspberry coulis and creme anglaise, decorated with chocolate curls. Now this might sound yummy to you, and it probably will be, but this is so basic that I really hope it'll get me a passing grade. Everyone I know is doing something a lot more complex, so I'm not sure how this will work out. But in general in pastry school, I've always opted to go for the simpler way. For example, when decorating a plate, I will have a simple design that looks nice but not mindblowing versus a complex design that would probably just come out looking like a mess. If they're grading on the marrying of flavors and textures, and presentation, my plan should work. Anyhow, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
