Chocolate Box

We had our last practique (exam) for Phase I today. Phase II begins after next week. As can be surmised by this photo, it was on chocolate. I had taken a weeklong intensive course on chocolate two years ago, and last week when we were introduced to it at school, I had no problem melting out, cooling, and tempering my chocolate. Of course, it was a totally different story during the exam. I brought it up to heat and down again three times before my test strips tested with glossy, streak-free results. I did OK overall, but again, I lost points for hurrying and not giving the chocolate enough time to set before I glued up the box.

Each student had to construct a triangular box and fill it with nine truffles - 3 each of plain, cocoa dusted and confectioner's sugar dusted. The box had to be glued up well, with straight sides, attractive seams, and a minimum of fingerprints. There was to be decor on the lid - I made the rosebuds and petal here with decor chocolate.

I was quite happy with my box, and as a surprise bonus, Chef told us to wrap up our boxes, truffles and all, and take them home. This is the first thing we've been allowed to take home since we started the program at the beginning of July. Unfortunately, the car was so hot that the base and top melted into a puddle before I even got onto the highway. It was a miracle that the sides of the box survived, but they're not of much use to me now. Anyways, my camera ran out of batteries right after I took this picture, so this is my one and only shot of the box that once was.