Capstone is a week long bake-a-thon! Well, not really, but it feels like it! About two months before, we are given a list of what we will be expected to make. This year it was: one chocolate occasion cake with chocolate flower, piping, and a chocolate "Happy Birthday" plaque on the side, 12 individual lemon wine mousses with chocolate garnishes, 12 brioche buns, 12 slices of opera cake with chocolate piping, a chocolate box with a white chocolate flower and 14 salted caramel bonbons, and a plated dessert consisting of a french toast apple charlotte, a tuile, a cream caramel, and orange sections.
I didn't have anytime to take pictures during capstone, but luckily my chef was willing to share the pictures he took.
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| Brioche - some of my heads fell over! |
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| Chocolate occasion cake |
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| Opera slice |
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| Lemon wine mousse |
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| Chocolate box and salted caramels |
On Thursday, the last day of capstone, each of us were assigned a time at which we had to present our plated desserts.
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| Plated desserts with an extra cup of sauce on the side |
Along with the baking, we each had to prepare a time table of all our tasks for the week. This was meant to reflect the reality of the baking industry wherein being efficient and timely lies in proper planning beforehand. Our Chef would check on how closely we stayed within our estimated times per task.
There was also a mandatory break built into our schedules. We had to make sure to set aside time to clean our stations and properly store all our products and ingredients before the break started. Anyone caught still working after the break started would be docked points.
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| My station during a break - it's organized even though it doesn't look it from this angle |
How was capstone overall? Well, honestly, it was more stressful than I thought it was going to be. After writing up my time table, I saw that I would end up with a lot of time on my hands on the last day. But once capstone started, I hit some snags which really slowed me down. I really struggled with making those chocolate swirls that top the lemon wine mousse. I lost count of how many times I redid them! It got to the point where I just had to put the least crappy ones I had on because they needed to be handed in now!
I also ended up remaking my chocolate bonbons because half of my chocolate wasn't tempered. Attempting to make chocolate garnishes and bonbons on the hottest day of the week (Tuesday) wasn't the best idea.
In the end I came out with a pretty good score, but the whole week threw into my face, repeatedly, my biggest issue: speed. I'm not terribly slow, but I could be so much faster. Of course, I feel it so much more because my entire class is fast!
With battles fought and lessons learned, I can finally sleep again! I stress dream way too easily and it was a brutal week of very little sleep. The upside was that because I got up so early (5:30 or 6am), I could go for runs while it was still quiet out. :)
What about you? Do you like the hustle and bustle of high tension work or do you prefer tasks that are more mellow and at your own pace? And do you stress out easily too?
With battles fought and lessons learned, I can finally sleep again! I stress dream way too easily and it was a brutal week of very little sleep. The upside was that because I got up so early (5:30 or 6am), I could go for runs while it was still quiet out. :)
What about you? Do you like the hustle and bustle of high tension work or do you prefer tasks that are more mellow and at your own pace? And do you stress out easily too?
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