A week of exams this week, and will continue to be so for all the weeks left of this unit. Though amazingly we’re two weeks down already, it’s going quick.

This week started with our chocolate plate up. I had grand plans, and as so often happens when you do, they failed! I was going to layer up my torte with a flourless chocolate cake on the bottom, then a cocoa nib tuile, then some caramel and then the chocolate mousse.

I put too much caramel in.

They were all set up and I was popping them out of the rings and setting them down watching the mousse slowly slide off of the rest of it… I took this opportunity to go take five minutes break while I figured out what to do.

My result wasn’t particularly fine dining, and as a result I lost enough points to give me my first B grade, but speaking with Chef she couldn’t think of any other way I could have rescued it.. I was just happy I managed to present something!

I managed to save one of the bases with not too much caramel on and then scraped the mousse up and piped it on top.. not the greatest, but it tasted good.. In fact it tasted wonderful. The sorbet with the cocoa nibs in worked wonderfully too.

Chef was apologising for grading me down *shrugs* it happens, she was saying I would have had 100 had it worked.. and she never gives 100.. Well, now she’s just set me a challenge *grins* Damn well going to be trying to get that elusive 100 now (not that I wouldn’t have been anyway, but now she’s told me she doesn’t give them out..)

Wednesday we had our only theory test for the unit, I managed a very respectable 97, and then we had a timed test on sauces. We had to make a fruit coulis, a creme anglais and a caramel sauce, and plate them up in five different ways in an hour and 40 minutes.. I was done in the 40 minutes so I was making the pistachio tuile batter for the class to use, we have a collection of different ones in the walk-in.

Today we have our plate up for filo.. I’ll let you know how it goes. I intend to make a chocolate, custard and pecan ‘spring roll’ with vanilla custard, chocolate sauce, candied pecans and vanilla ice cream.

Yesterday we were staring prep for the new Ventana menu, it’ll change over the week of the 26th. I got to make a caramel ice cream (in a huge batch – 96 yolks) which was really interesting. You made a dry caramel (so far we’ve only done wet) then add the cream and milk and bring it to the boil and then temper the eggs and bring it to consistency. And having done that I now have the upper hand *grins* when it comes to caramel plate up we all have to make a caramel ice cream.