We had an extra day to practice, special thanks to Chef Straw, and so many of my nerves were calmed that first day. Then day one of my midterms, I had to bake the horns of the cream horns and make my dough for the egg bread. Not to bad, and a quick day, with a lot of time to clean. Then on day two, the fun started to pick up. I divided out my dough for my six knots and the three portions for my braid, as they bench rested I started my turnovers, filling them and chilling them. I finished off my bread by rolling it out, forming the braid and knots, and getting them into the Proofer after a slight egg wash was applied. Everything was falling into place. I filled my cream horns and began washing up my dishes before my food went into the oven. My turnovers went in just after my bread that had proofed to the max, I feared they may have started to over proof. But, being one of the first people to put my food in the oven meant that there were several other people that began to oven the oven door letting all the heat escape. My bread came out perfect without a flaw other than the rolls not being as shiny as the braid (I used a more watered down egg wash on the rolls than the braid). My turnovers, however, were taking forever. because the lost in heat wouldn't allow the puff pastry to rise like it should. Finally, they puffed up in the last few minutes and had a slight golden color from the sugar on top. I was ready to present with time to spare and it all was worth it. I do owe a thank you to Chef Woerhle, my theory instructor, for making us write out a work plan even though Chef Straw didn't require it, because by planing out every step to the precise five minutes helped me get my head together and it definitely helped calm my nerves.
On top of all the excitement of midterms, two friends and I signed and were approved for our new apartment, and we started our scheduling for the next quarter! Tentatively, I'm scheduled from 7AM to 2PM with four classes, one being Modern Pastry Technique were you get to work with chocolate and do some cake work (I Love Cake!!!!). Even though I have had a busy week with school and working twenty-five hours on top of it, I have also had such a exciting and fun week! I hope everyone else is having an awesome time with their learning and life, because I couldn't choose a better place to be a student at then Sullivan University.
-Hunter Erbentraut
Baking and Pastry Arts Major
No comments:
Post a Comment