Sugar Showpiece - Part 3

The date for our sugar exam approached much too quickly for me. I was able to get in a couple hours of practise with some friends and homemade heat lamps, but it still didn't feel like enough. It was a weird exam. Everyone was so laid-back, including the chefs, and I caught myself joking around with a classmate more than once. Little could anyone tell that I was sweating like crazy with stress under my jacket.

It didn't start off too badly. I was able to make everything I needed to and extra before the break. The biggest problem I encountered mid-pulling was the growth of an enormous blister on my thumb which hurt like hell! I had to stop what seemed like every 5 minutes to replace the protective tape around it. The heat from the heat lamp kept melting the glue of the tape.

There was one other issue I had before the break that caused me no small amount of grief when I got back. My middle sugar piece, shaped like a large flat donut, didn't come out of the mold very well and had a minor crack. I'm not sure if I jostled it too hard when moving the silpat or someone else knocked it walking by, but when I got back from break the donut was broken completely in half. I nearly had a panic attack. After eyeing the exit longingly and contemplating throwing down my apron for a moment, I set back to work and patched everything back together with hot glue. It wasn't too pretty of a patch job, but with a few strategically placed flowers and leaves, I was able to cover most of the damage up.

Here is the end result with the original sketch of my plan.