Here's what I ended up presenting to Chef T, who was supervising our practical this morning:
From left to right: my Palets Gold Coffee (dipped, palets/disc-like shape), Almond Paste (partially dipped, diamond shape), Caramel Chocolate (dipped, rectangular shape), Praliné (molded), Pistachio & White Chocolate Ganache (molded, with yellow and green coloring, and a line of dark chocolate).
We didn't have to make the Montelimar nougat and the tea truffles, though Chef H showed us how to make them on Friday.
On the whole, I am satisfied with what I managed to do in 5 hours. I know I made some mistakes, but at least I will have the chance to correct myself before the exam. I am still glad I had the opportunity to work with chocolate during my stage at Stubbe Chocolates. If I hadn't, I think I would have really struggled today. As it was, I didn't feel too stressed at all -- I felt in control most of the time, even when I did make some mistakes.
As they say, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." I didn't get a perfect result with the chocolate bonbons today, but I learned where I went wrong and how to fix my mistakes (Chef T pointed out to me the critical things to watch out for). And that's a valuable lesson.
That's the thing about the LCB Ottawa pastry program: They push us really hard, technically. They set high standards, but not so impossibly high that one gives up. It is through this kind of experience that one learns what to aim for.
I know, for me, more practice with dipping would be good. Especially with the partial dipping, which is much, much harder than complete dipping.
I didn't have any problems with the ganache/fillings or the caramel chocolate (which is apparently the tricky one to make) -- I followed the instructions given by Chef H and everything was fine.
A critical evaluation of my mistakes (from left to right):
Palets gold coffee: Too big. Plus, inconsistent or uneven sizes. Forgot to use gold dust on acetate.
Almond paste: Partial dipping a bit messy. Need to fix dipping technique.
Caramel chocolate: The dipping chocolate was not quite tempered properly, so it was not shiny. This one was just a silly mistake. I should have double-checked that the chocolate was tempered properly before I dipped the caramel rectangles.
Praliné: There were air bubbles in some of the chocolates, which meant I didn't tap the mold enough. I should have been more careful.
In retrospect, I didn't have too much difficulty with the molded chocolates -- I had enough nice ones (at least 10 of each) to present to Chef for assessment -- but the dipped chocolates (done with a dipping fork) were not satisfactory. I am used to dipping round truffles, but these odd-shaped truffles (palets, rectangles and diamonds) are not so easy to dip. I will definitely have to rethink how I do them in the final exam.
So, that was my experience with chocolate bonbons. I am still keen to work with chocolate, despite some of the difficulties.
