C'est fini

I survived the final.  Here's my usual brief response.  I got the lemon tart.  It was fine.  I finished on time and I'm pretty sure I passed.  I'm glad it's over.

Here's the more detailed version.  I was really really nervous about the finals.  I don't know why I was putting so much pressure on myself.  I don't remember feeling so stressed out about finals in college, but maybe I've forgotten.  It was 10 years ago.  I had practiced each of the three possible choices at least five times since the practicals.  This was more than most people.  Some people didn't practice at all.  Just to refresh, we were told we would randomly pick one of three possible desserts (choux pastry - eclairs & swans, lemon tart, or genoise sponge with buttercream).  We go in the room and have 15 minutes to write the recipe including drawing it.  Then we are given the correct quantities of ingredients and have two and a half hours to complete it and clean up. 

I did not want the genoise because it required (in my opinion) the most creativity including piping chocolate.  And we have all seen that is not my strength (yet).  I also did not particularly want the lemon tart.  Every time I tried it at home my meringue would not turn out.  It was so runny I couldn't even pipe it.  I tried it once at a friend's and it turned out great.  At home it would be runny.  I went over the steps with several people and I know I was doing everything like I should.  The only explanation seems to be the pathetic hand mixer I bought here.  In class we use KitchenAids.  Darn it, why didn't I shove my KitchenAid in my carry-on?  I was hoping to get the choux pastry since mine usually turned out pretty well.  I ended up picking the lemon tart.  I was very relieved not to get the genoise, but was really nervous about the meringue. 

I set to work and tried to get in my own zone and not worry about the people around me.  When I was cutting the peel off a lemon I cut my finger.  I couldn't believe it!  Why did I have to do that during the final?  It was a very small cut on my index finger, but it didn't stop bleeding right away.  I had to choose between continue working, hoping the chef doesn't notice, which might look bad or suck it up and tell the chef.  Oh yeah, I also didn't want to get blood in the lemon tart. I'm pretty sure I would have been marked down for that.  I told the chef and he got me a band-aid. 

I had one other minor incident.  I went to make the lemon curd in a bain-marie and all the pots had been removed from the burners that were on.  The people making the genoise were supposed to keep theirs on the burners for us to use.  The guy next to me moved his to the back burner which was off so it was no longer hot when I went to use it.  At first I didn't realize it was off and that the front burner was the one that was on.  Somehow I slightly burned my hand.  But just a little.  No blistering, just a little tender.  Needless to say, I was a bit of a disaster to my body today.  I'm just glad it was me and not the lemon tart. :)  Neither of the incidents were even a big deal, but I thought I would throw in a little drama to spice things up.

One of the last things to do was the meringue.  Everything else was ready.  I got the sugar boiling and started whisking my egg whites in the machine.  When the sugar got to 120 degrees I removed it from the heat.  I slowly poured it into the whites with the whisk still going.  And meringue was forming right before my eyes.  It was a wonderful sight!  I left it whisking until it cooled and started cleaning up my station.  I got ready to pipe the meringue and realized I hadn't practiced my design very much since I never got the meringue to work.  :)  It was okay though.  I was just so thrilled that it turned out.  I piped the meringue and added the candied lemon peels on top and voila, I was done.  I felt very good when I was done.  I know it wasn't perfect, but I finished all the parts on time.  And I never felt rushed.  The chef actually had to tell a few people to hurry up and for once it wasn't me.  Unfortunately no picture of my final lemon tart.  We had to leave them there to be evaluated by different chefs that weren't in the room watching us.

We then had about an hour break before the written exam.  At that point I didn't really care about it.  I had studied the day before and in the morning.  The chefs would give us hints about what might be on it.  After the test I felt like I studied all the wrong things though.  There were some really unexpected questions on it.  Everyone walked out feeling surprised and thinking they failed it.  Good thing it is only 10% of our overall grade.  I find out my grades tomorrow morning and then have my last practical (truffles) in the afternoon.