le cordon bleu - day 3

It seems like most of us are starting to find our way around the kitchen, make less mistakes and generally know what we need to do without being told repeatedly or even being told at all. There's a few of us who are on the slow side but I suppose that arises from the fact that we have students in our class who previously studied Cuisine (and basically know the kitchen back to front) and another who's actually a chef/baker. The rest of us are a mix of baking and cake enthusiasts who've had varying degrees of baking experience in the home environment but I think it's a lot different to bake at home compared to baking in a commercial kitchen.

I seem to be doing alright; coming up just behind the fast few and fortunately not too near the slowest in the class. I seem to have also developed my own habits; preferring to keep my work space nice and tidy as opposed to some of my classmates who have stuff everywhere and every now and then, I'm cleaning some of the person's stuff next to me just so I can work properly in my own space. I seem to be learning a lot from watching the chef demonstrate as well as taking tips from my classmates around me. I got a bit annoyed at a girl today who stole my pot of bowling water whilst I ducked back to my bench to get my cloth; seriously! I don't mind sharing but if I'm actually in the middle of using something, I'd prefer it that I got my turn first.



On the menu today were a Genoise Sponge Cake and a Bundt Cake, complete with decorations. We were meant to make two Genoise Sponge Cakes but owing to the fact that I collapsed a bit of the air in my batter, I could only get enough for a 3-tiered cake (it actually turned out really well though if you can see in the photo :D) But I've really got to practice and perfect this one; very likely that it will be an assessed product in later weeks. Tried both cakes in class (given that some extra ones were made - combination of recoveries and the teacher's one for the class); both are quite good - maybe a tad sweet. Justin's taking one of them for his work afternoon tea with his team - hope it goes well. I've been looking lostly at the the Genoise with the cream all sandwiched in between that's sitting in my fridge at the moment; not sure exactly how and when I'm going to eat it.

Awfully grateful for a sleep-in tomorrow (even if it might not be a long one). I'm really not a morning person...