Pastry Class: Practical Final Exam

I had my practical final exam for my pastry class today. We were supposedly given one of five recipes at random (I think I was targeted for a more difficult recipe), with just the ingredients, amounts, times, and temperatures (but no instructions), and had to make that item. I was given pate a choux, and had to bake cream puffs with it.

I was ready for the final. The two hardest recipes, the pate a choux and the chiffon cake, I'd practiced at home. Scones, chocolate chip cookies, and creme brulee I have made plenty of times, so wasn't worried about, much.

My puffs came out fine. While Chef James didn't explicitly give a number for the points for the final, I'll take the fact that he just gave me an off handed "you know what you are doing", and spent the evaluation period talking about the spouse's and my business plans to mean I got max points.

I also turned in my paper on my favorite pastry ingredient. I covered cherries, both sour and sweet. Actually, I hit the 500 word mark well before I'd said everything I was expecting to cover.

As it stands, I have 85/100 points so far. That leaves five points for the last paper and ten for the written final. I can't do worse than a B. I really want that A, though. Hell, I want the A+, not that it makes any difference on the GPA.

Chef James says they are planning on offering the chocolate class over the summer. I so want to take that one! I think it will be an important one for the tea business. They will be offering the bread class in the fall. That is another one I look forward to taking.

I'm more afraid of the cake and sugar classes. I'm a great cook; I am not much of a sculptor. They are required for the AA in pastry, so I will just have to get through them.