Thursday, October 28, 2010

Time is flying by!

Okay, so I can't believe it has been a few weeks since I posted. I have so much to catch up on! Right now I am taking a break from my cake project presentation for my pastry class. It is almost done. Design is finished, requisition is complete, just need to finish writing the story and put it all together. Whew! Can't wait to get started on that cake!

So, going back a couple weeks....oh yes...we had a guest lecturer/instructor to teach us how to make amazing gum paste roses. Wow. It took ALL DAY to make 1 rose. However, this man (John Jennison) was amazing and I learned so much from him. My rose came out amazing. It looks so real.



Then last week we got to work on our cake dummies again and practice new techniques for our cake project. The theme was Halloween cakes. Because I like to plan and not wing it, I decided a few days before to do a Nightmare Before Christmas theme and cut out stencils. Here is a tip: you can make your own stencils (for cake decorating, scrapbooking, or even painting) with an exacto knife and those plastic write-on page dividers for binders. They come in different colors and are perfect for stencils. They ARE a bit thick so it takes some muscles to cut through them, but they will now last a while. Also, because they are plastic, they can be washed off for a second use. The brand I used was Avery. They were the "Durable Write-On Plastic Dividers" and are PVC Free. The Avery number is 16171. I put in the link to help you out. :-) They helped me create this cake:

Cool huh? I am so super proud of Jack Skellington!! Not the best piping work as I was having problems with clumps in the meringue powder but not too bad for a practice cake!

Next comes my Sculpture class project. We just finished these today. We started with a block of clay that we carved that we used to make a silicon mold and then poured plaster in to get multiple tiles. Then we painted. Here is my end result:

I am proud of this too. If I had more room on my current bedroom wall, I would put them up right now!

So, the other big thing is that I got a new job. YAY! I was hired as a cake decorator at a bakery near my house. I am so super excited and can't wait to take the next step in my career.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Chocolate dough, 3 weeks, and 3am

So, I realize it has been 3 weeks since my last post. Same amount of time I have had since a day off from work or school. Things have been a bit crazy. I did take a day off last week and had a scheduled day off as well. Two days off in a row! I celebrated by taking myself to lunch and a movie one day (The Social Network...GREAT movie) and to Disneyland with some friends the next. It was much needed play time.

So, the biggest news I think, is that I got my cake assignment for my class. A colorful butterfly cake. I am so excited! Now if I just had time to really work on designing it! haha We also worked with chocolate dough last week in class. We learned to make a chocolate rose first. Then we learned how to do chocolate molding with rice cereal treats like you see on TV all the time. It was my first time working with that method and it worked out okay. We had limited time so my chocolate monkey didn't get her full halloween costume, but here is a picture of her. I didn't have time to clean her up either so she is a little messy. But I am proud of her for my first try! Oh, also a picture of my chocolate rose. Whatever....I was having problems posting so you are going to have to turn your head. I am too tired to figure it out! LOL



Yesterday I had to get up at 3am and go to the school bakery to work. I was supposed to work 4 hours but my sculpture class was cancelled so I put in a full 8 hours. Wow...weekdays (especially Thursdays when the school restaurant is open) are totally insane compared to my normally scheduled Sundays. I am looking forward to Sunday! haha But at least my hours are caught up now.

Tomorrow's pastry class we have a guest teacher, John Jennison. He is going to be teaching us gumpaste roses and flowers. I look forward to it! It is always nice to get a different view on how to do things. Pictures will be taken!

I had wanted to do a charity gingerbread house for SOS (Share Our Selves) in Orange County but do not have the time or money to put into what goes into a good gingerbread house for auction. However, I came across a cupcake contest that I may participate in that the deadline isn't until January. So, I have time to play around and submit. Hey, first prize is $10,000...even 3rd prize is like $3,000. So, I might just go for it!