The Final Countdown...

This is it; we're now into the last few days of School!

Last week was all about final preparations for the big practical assessment, so there were literally hundreds of baguettes, tin loaves & dinner rolls floating around, not to mention the mountains of pain de campagnes & ciabattas!

For the most part, my baking went alright last week.  I've finally fixed on the presentation & shaping of my lovely spiced fruit brioche, although, as much as I love it, I am dreading making it on Thursday...  I'm going to have to scale & shape 88 balls of brioche at 100g each!  It's going to drive me mad!

This is the final loaf - I really am fond of the way it looks, & I've been told it's rather tasty, so hopefully it'll all be worth it! =D

I've decided on the shapes for my dinner rolls too, so hopefully they'll come out alright, & the new stencil for my beer barm bread looks a treat!

The only thing I'm worried about is my baguette shaping; it's such a tricky thing to get right, & so far I haven't quite managed to do it properly, although the texture & flavour of the finished baguettes has been great... But, all I can do is my best, & you never know, Thursday may turn up & bring with it the sudden & unexplained ability to shape the perfect baguette!  (We can but hope!)

I think I'm pretty much prepared now; I've got the schedule sorted & printed out, although I doubt very much my day will actually run according to the times I've estimated!  But that's the nature of baking; you can plan & plan, but in the end it's all down to the dough... So we'll see  =)

There's a few people already done their final practicals, & all their breads looked amazing!  If my day goes half as well as theirs, & my breads come out looking half as good as theirs, I'll be a happy bunny  =)

So now, just an essay to write & a hectic couple of days to get through, as well as a few picnics & parties (of course!) & I'll be done & dusted!