what could be better than chocolate?

Well it's getting kind of sad that the semester is almost over, but our Ingredients book definitely saved the best chapter for last.....CHOCOLATE!  Next week is finals review and then we are done, so this week we didn't have to do any experiments.  We made all the recipes exactly how they were intended, so for once everything was edible and delicious.  Each group made a different recipe, so we were all definitely on chocolate overload by the time we were done tasting, but it was completely worth it.  My group made flourless chocolate cake, which I had never tried before.  I am the opposite of gluten-free, so I never had much interest - but that has changed now.  It was like a fudgier, denser, brownie.  And once I scooped some of the other group's chocolate mousse on it and snuck a couple raspberries from the other kitchen, it was the best lunch I've had all semester.  If you are gluten-free, this is a great alternative and very easy to make.  And even if you aren't, it was very tasty!

So now I can't wait until summer semester when I will have a class all about chocolate. 

In breads class, we did some interesting breads from around the world that I had never tried (or even heard of a few of them).  Our group made panettone and Georgian Khachapuri, which was the big hit of the day.  It was a really tasty dough, shaped almost like a popover, with a filling of cheddar cheese with salt and plenty of black pepper.  Anything with cheese is a big hit in our class - second only to chocolate!  And the switch to savory was much needed after all the sugar earlier in the day.

Georgian Khachapuri

So I'm a little nervous about finals, we haven't really had any tests in the baking classes, just quizzes so far.  It's hard to know what to study for a written test when everything you do in class is hands on.  But either way, I am really excited for next semester and to move on to my next classes!