this unit was extraordinarily quick, which meant that it was fewer terms and techniques to remember, but also fewer recipes to draw from, which was good...and bad. we knew for sure that we would be making éclairs, but that was it as far as guarantees. were we all going to make the same thing? or would we pick randomly like the first time? i was sort of dreading the idea of making a gâteau st honoré, because of the caramel, and i knew that we wouldn't be making a croquembouche (too time consuming), or profiteroles (no ice cream), or gougères (it was more of a fun demo, than a serious recipe made). so it really came down to the éclairs with either a paris-brest, or the gâteau st honoré.
we walked into class, seemingly prepared for what was to come, and then it happened.
i don't quite know if it was us looking forward to what we were doing after the exam (first group outing, yay pastry 1!) or if it was that sense of preparedness that did us in...but it wasn't as smooth a process as the first final. at least, i know it wasn't for me, but i don't think i'm venturing too far to say it was a similar experience for a number of my classmates. we came in with a plan, pushed hard, worked through dinner, and still most of us finished late. i was all of two minutes late, with a messy station and burnt fondant to show for my rushing.
we ended up all making the same thing, instead of picking at random. we had to prepare:
- five four inch chocolate éclairs
- five four inch coffee éclairs
- one six inch paris-brest
