Day 13: Test Day!

After waking up extra early and staring at notes for hours I stumbled into the class room starbucks in hand. After unloading all of my supplies and getting my equipment ready I took out my calculator and got ready for the 45 min written exam. We all scribbled frantically trying to recall conversion formulas and the ingredients and methods of all of our essential recipes. I then turned it in a few minutes early and went into the hallway where the rest of my classmates that had finished were comparing answers.

We were then quickly whisked away into the classroom and the practical portion of the exam started. The mission was to complete one 9 inch Caramel nut tart, 2 small Quiche Lorraine, and 6 hazelnut crescent cookies. I quickly formulated a pan for the day and synced my baking times with those that I was sharing an oven with. Then we were off put this in the oven, roll out that, stir the caramel, temper the custard, grate the gruyere, blanchir the eggs. it was a crazy day we all ran around while working fast and most importantly working clean!

After a quick break for lunch I pulled all my products out of the oven, garnished them and put them on my tray. The only thing I worried about was the caramel in my nut tart. I had almost overcooked it and it was very dark. I could only hope that the sweetness balanced well with it.

Then it was my turn. As I walked up to chef Mike tray in hand I became nervous. To anyone that watched cooking competitions it's kind of like that. They check the angles of your corners to make sure they are a nice 90 degrees. look at the doneness of each product, the aroma, and the garnish. Then for the big one they taste it. I held my breath as Chef cut into the nut tart. He complimented me on my flaky even brisee crust. Then he tried it... and hesitated. "It's a little bitter just on the line of almost being too much so" oh no! I thought. "But I really like how it compliments the sweetness of the tart It's pleasantly bitter" PHEW!

As soon as I got back to my Dorm today I went online and checked my grades. I got a 98 on my written and a 98 on my practical. Not too bad for my first culinary school test, now I just gotta keep it up. Tomorrow we Start Pate a Choux and our first recipe is Eclairs!