Pastry School Diary: Week 13

Week 13 was our last week of pastry school before the holidays and also our last week with Chef Andrew, as he is leaving us for an opportunity at another college. We finished the week as a group at the pub to wish him well on his next chapter and another opportunity to celebrate the holidays with each other before spending two weeks apart.

Tuesday: Yule Log & Apple Strudel

On Tuesday we made a Yule Log or bûche de Noël and Apple Strudel. My mom has made a Yule Log every year at Christmas and I’ve watched her a number of times, but for some reason never helped so this was my first time making one on my own. We also worked on frosting and decorating techniques. We also made an apple strudel.

Wednesday: Panettone

On Wednesday we made a panettone. Panettone is an enriched sweet bread originally from Milan and traditionally made at Christmas time in Italy. It’s a stickier dough and incorporates a mixed peel and raisins. We didn’t have the large panettone tins so we divided them up into four smaller tins, which worked out well for packaging up for Christmas gifts.

Thursday: Science Exam, Chocolates & Christmas Cake

On Thursday we had our food science exam. I got busy shopping for presents and trying to finish up packing and getting ready to head to the States for Christmas, that I sort of didn’t study. Oops. It definitely wasn’t my best effort, but I surprised myself with some knowledge and will perhaps be given marks for clever answers on the questions I wasn’t entirely sure on… 😉

In the afternoon, we finished up our chocolate mints to go along with our other homemade chocolates. Later in the day finished our pieces for our Christmas cake and packaged up our Panetonne’s (above).