You get what you ask for!

 THE DAY. Basic pastry final exam at Le Cordon Bleu, after 20 weeks of lessons. I didn't know what to expect when I woke up this morning. 10 recipes, 3 will be picked and it was anyone's guess which 3 those would be. After 9 practice bakes, including a failed attempt  (I'm officially announcing my loathe for making French brioches!), I could not be any more ready than I was as I made my way to school - tuna baguette in hand, a cup of espresso on the other, music blasting from my iPod - simply calm and ready for show-time. As I walked through the front door, I bumped into a group of students from basic pastry group A (I'm in B) who shared what the 3 picks were: Gateau Basque - not my favorite and this afternoon's weather was a bit hot so dough-handling might be tricky so immediate mental note to self - longer chill time), second pick, the Dacquoise - this is one of my favorites and I was extremely happy with the one I made during my practice bake at home

and last but not least -
(click on post title to read the rest)
Gateau St. Honoré, my absolute favorite! Group A had Chef JJ, my favorite chef for their finals. Chef JJ is a very kind and encouraging chef who will never hesitate to explain or show students how to do things the right way so I was double pleased with the good news so far and couldn't help thinking what a blessing that Mean Chef was away on vacation!
Once all 14 of us group B-ers gathered to wait outside the second floor grand kitchen - grand is a bit of an exaggeration, but it's relatively larger than the other pastry kitchen on the third floor (and yes folks, there're only 2 pastry kitchens in the entire premise of this highly prestigious culinary school in Paris) - everyone with somewhat nervous looks on their faces, anxious to peep behind the close doors of 2GS (2 grand salle, the name of the second-floor kitchen), out came Chef Nicolas Bernande.  You could almost hear everyone gasped and thought "oh no!" at the sight of Chef Nicolas. Of all days, to have The MOF (our nickname for this chef)  oversee our final exam? We've only had Chef Nicolas for our practical session one time and I actually liked that guy - intelligent, extremely sharp and took the effort to offer in-depth explanations to students - but having a tough hawk watch over our finals means there's simply zero room for errors. By the way, Chef Nicolas is the only chef pâtissiér wearing the tri-colored collar (Meilleur ouvrier de France title) at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. Pressure was on!
Each student will have to pick a colored chip from a covered bowl at random; Chef Nicolas walked up to each of us then said, "look me in the eye and pick your chip" in his best French-accented English. Of course, yours truly had to be the last one to pick, which meant I didn't have a choice as he handed me the last red-colored chip. Roll-call was next and as our names were called, we entered the 2GS one by one where Chef Nicolas would tell us which station was ours and finally reveal what each of us would be making for the finals. Yellow  - vous faites la dacquoise, green = gateau Basque and red - I couldn't have been more happier - Gateau St. Honoré!

the St. Honoré I made during the practical session over a month and a half ago

A classic French dessert named in honor of - how apt - the patron saint of bakers and pâtissiéres,  this for me, is one of the most difficult recipe on the list, combining a wide range of techniques ranging from tart crusts to pâte à choux to cooked sugar and piping Chantilly cream, something that you don't really want to attempt on a hot afternoon. It's like one of those difficult dive moves that you see during the Olympics, with multiple twists and somersaults where divers are graded for various elements of the dive - the approach, the flight and the entry, with each element having its own degree of difficulty and criteria for success. Nonetheless, this dessert was such a memorable one for me, I was secretly hoping that I get to make this in the finals  as it would just be a wonderful way to wrap up the semester, if executed well, that is.
The two-and-a-half hours flew by in a flash. All of us worked diligently, there was not a whole lot of chatter although I might have said "stop" a bit too loudly when I saw my friend next to me at risk of of scrambling the eggs that she had wanted to add to her choux batter when it was piping hot, and Chef just frowned. Other than that, I used up every single minute available to us, and presented both the gateau and the technical portion of the exam (lining a bottomless ring mold) for grading with 10 minutes to spare. My workstation was cleaned, all utensils washed and dried, my stove was wiped down hard so much so there's a sheen; I, for one, do not care too much about finishing first and like to clean up along the way. Chef seemed to notice and even said "good" when he saw how organized and clean my station was. We had to leave the room at 3 pm sharp, regardless of whether we were done or not. There were no major mishaps, fortunately and everyone in my group finished within the time alloted.

The St. Honoré came together quite well, I think, despite the somewhat liquidy texture of the Chantilly, given the hot weather. The choux was flavorful and had the right texture, the Chantilly had just the right hint of vanilla and I can only hope that the entire combination, together with the pâte brisée, comes together well for the tasters when they finally take a bite. Above all, I feel good about the session and believe that I've given it my best shot. After a week of intense baking blitz, it's time to head out, take a walk and enjoy a gorgeous evening in Paris. I'm so pleased to get to make Gateau St. Honoré as I've hoped , and spending this summer in Paris, I think I've gotten what I've asked for.......and more!