Busy busy busy

So, work and life have just been hectic! Sorry no posts lately. The only information to update would be that of trying to get my stinking classes for fall. See, I have 3 total classes left. 1. Directed Practice (onsite internship hours at the school) 2. Pastry/Baking 3 (must take Directed Practice before or at the same time) and 3. Directed Practice 2 (offsite intern hours). Well, I am on the waiting list for both the first Directed Practice AND the Pastry class. The problem is, only 8 people are allowed to register for Directed Practice each semester. So, 16 people per year. The Pastry class is only offerred in the fall. So, if I don't get them both this semester, I have to wait a whole year to graduate. The school is basically pushing my graduation a whole year. First of all, sucks and second of all, not legal by the state of California. So, luckily the state has rules about this. I am trying to work it out and hopefully I will get into both classes. Fingers crossed. At least I am signed up for a sculpture class just in case. :-)

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes

Well, I haven't been posting since school got out. Plus I have been working my little booty off making cupcakes at my new job. I got a job at a cupcake bakery in Lake Forest, CA. Oddly enough it is down the street from the first house I lived in when we first moved to south orange county. Although the center we are in was leveled and is all new now.

So, I have been making cupcakes and more cupcakes since right before Memorial Day. I really enjoy my job. I have had a lot of friends come in to try it out and to visit. I work 40 hours a week baking and decorating. Just this week we decided to donate cupcakes to a charity event that is also doing a cupcake contest! So, we are entering. It should be fun. We brainstormed the other day and should be trying out our suggestions soon.

As for school, things don't look good. I have three classes left. 2 internship classes taken consecutively and one pastry class. Well, the pastry class cannot be taken without the first intern class. I have to take it first or at the same time as the pastry class. Unfortunately, I could not get into the internship class last semester. I register today for fall and both the internship class and pastry class are full. It makes me mad because it sets me back a whole year because the pastry class is only offered in the fall. Which means even if I can get the internship class in the spring, I have to wait until the following fall to take the pastry class. Of course, that class is the whole reason I am going through the program in the first place!! So I am frustrated and mad. I thought having the 4th day of registration as my date I would be okay. Not so much. It pretty much sucks.

Anyway, here are some pics of some of our cupcakes from work. Some are special orders. Don't they look yummy?

Honor's Week, Sorbet, and Frostings!

Okay, so Honor's week wasn't so bad. I learned a ton and it was nice to be able to do desserts in mass quantities and learn how to make everything uniform and look great on serving platters.

The day before the event we had our regular lab. At the beginning of class, Chef had a tray of really tiny cupcakes. Well, the problem was, they weren't supposed to be tiny! So, she had done research and decided that we were going to make cake pops out of them. I was super excited! Of course she turned to one of the girls in the class that she knows has done stuff like that and wanted her to do them. I, of course, wanted to be sure to get in on the fun so I raised my hand to let Chef know that I had dabble in the cake pop/cake ball area myself. And trust me, having done them before definitely helped. Both the other girl and I had figured out the same things having made them at home so making them in class was a lot easier. (For example, the website we both love where we got the idea to make them from, http://www.bakerella.com/, mentions to use a can of frosting. We both had issues with them being too squishy and not setting up correctly so we added frosting little by little which helped a ton. BTW Bakerella is awesome. I love her!! If you haven't visited her website, it is a must. She is amazingly creative and definitely an inspiration when it comes to baking!!) We had another girl help us out and I think the 3 of us did an amazing job! Here is the pic:

The next day I was to report to the bakery at 1pm. I had art class in the morning so I grabbed lunch and went to my car to eat and read until time to report. I don't even know if I should get started on that! haha I got to my car and this is what I see (FYI...I am the tiny Mazda on the right):

I was a bit furious to say the least. The funny thing is, behind me while I take the picture is the campus security building. When I got to my car they were sitting outside as I stopped, looked, turned to them and said "How the hell am I going to get in my car?" They totally laughed. They were really cool giving me ideas. Luckily the idiot was parked at that angle which enabled me to put my stuff in the passenger side and being thin, I was able to squish into the driver's side by going around the front of my car. Don't think I wasn't careless with my door while getting in. ;-) The campus security even called over the head of security to okay them giving the idiot a ticket. It was a definite go. Poor bastard probably has no idea why they got the ticket. Too bad I wasn't in my car when they came back to theirs!

Anyway, I got to the bakery only to find out that they were finished. Completely done until right before the event. Chef checked me off and said I was fine and that if I wanted to come back at 4 to help with the event and it was convenient, that I could. Well, living not so close I chose not to knowing that there were a lot of people coming back. It probably would have been a waste for me to be there. So, I was a bit bummed I missed the hustle and bustle of the event day, but in a way I lucked out getting points for doing nothing. But she did say that the cake pops were a hit and that they will probably have to make them again next year in a higher quantity. :-)

This week's lab was chill. No pun intended. We made ice cream and sorbet! Since I can't eat ice cream I wanted to do sorbet. My friend who I have all my classes with and I paired up and made lime sorbet. YUM! I actually was able to get it home too. We did work a bit on plate presentation but we ended up getting a bit rushed and didn't have time to really do anything fancy. So, even though I took a picture I am not putting it up because trust me, it is not worth it! I really enjoyed making the sorbet and now I really want one of those little ice cream makers. Not only are they super cute but it makes ice cream and sorbet a breeze to make! I remember when I was a kid and we had to get rock salt and stuff to make ice cream and it would take all fricken day to churn. This took about 20 minutes!! Awesome to say the least.

This week was also very exciting for me. On Monday I got a call for a job that I had applied for just last week. There is a fairly new gourmet cupcake place a few miles from me that was looking for a baker/decorator. (They do cupcakes, cookies and are getting ready to branch out into chocolates). Out of the places I applied, it was one of the two I was hoping to hear from. I was super excited when the owner called and did a phone interview with me and then asked me to come in and meet with him and the bakery manager. I went in yesterday to interview and not only did I love the bakery but they both seemed really nice and I got a really good vibe. I thought the interview went very well. Well, today, I got the call and they offered me the job!! I am so excited. I cannot wait. After the corporate world took a poop on me, I am finally going to be getting paid for something that I truly enjoy doing. The work will be hard with some rough hours (some shifts start at 5:30am, but such is the life of a baker) but I am so excited to get on to yet another chapter in this life of mine. I still have some schooling to finish up but I am moving up! Wish me luck!

So much to catch up on!

Okay, so looking back I realized it has been a while since I posted. I honestly thought I was kind of caught up through at least the week before last. Oh well!

So, the week after the Baklava and Almond Macaroons we made tarts. We had made sugar dough the week before so it was ready for us to use right away the next week. (It was frozen for a week of course). I was the only one that wanted to make Strawberry mini tarts so I ended up working by myself which was fine with me. I hadn't really worked by myself before. So, I rolled out the dough, cut the rounds and put them in the mini tart tins. Easy enough. The idea was to make 10 individual tarts that we chose (technically assigned) and then 5 fruit tarts which are tarts with pastry cream and topped with fruit and apricot glaze.

My strawberry tarts turned out really cute. I was very proud. The only problem I had was that even though I measured everything properly, the base of the strawberry mixture didn't really set up as much as it should have. It was heated to the right consistency (Chef even came over and helped out with that since it was my first time heating up a puree to thicken it) but after being mixed with the strawberry chunks and placed in the tarts, even with refrigeration they didn't set the way they should have. We decided (Chef and I) that the recipe definitely needed a bit more cornstarch for thickening. At any rate, they turned out super yummy and everyone that tasted them raved. So, I might just have to make more over the summer when my Dad has his summer BBQ's. :-) Here is a picture of them topped with banana whipped cream and a white chocolate disc.

Then there were the regular tarts which I actually think I did a good job with. I was happy with them. And they also were super yummy. Picture:

Okay, so the following week we started Honor's Night prep. Honor's night at the school is a reception and ceremony for those being honored with scholarships. The culinary department does all the food and baked goods/pastries for the event. I cannot even explain to you how much stuff we are making! Last week I worked on my own making eclair shells. So, I made choux for the eclairs and piped them out. The idea with Honor's prep is we treat it like a professional catered event so we really have to do things perfectly (or almost). So, it was essential that I piped the shells as identical as possible. I didn't do too bad at that. I baked them off and then the rest of lab was me helping those prepping the mini tarts.

This week was another Honor's Night prep. I made white chocolate mousse to help fill roulades with and then rolled them and put them in the freezer. It was quite a stressful day in the bakery and things were quite insane to say the least. Yelling from Chef, personal drama brought in to class...at the end of class Chef told us to go home and forget about the day but that we were still her A Team. lol It was definitely one of those days.

On the bright side, I finished my marzipan project for Honor's Night. The theme is "Mastering Your Dreams" with the idea of art masterpieces. I ended up chosing Profile of Time by Salvador Dali. It turned out pretty good. It is due Tuesday and will be displayed with the others on the dessert tables during the reception. Here it is! I am pretty proud.

So, next week is Honor's week. We will be finishing up prep and Wednesday I have signed up (we have to put in extra hours) for the few hours leading up to the reception so I will get experience plating and doing catering set up. I am happy about that! After next week we have one week making ice cream and sorbet and then it is finals week! I cannot believe the semester is almost over. I am actually kind of sad about it. Then it will be off to find a bakery job. Next semester will be Baking 3 which is cake decorating, chocolate work, sugar pulling, etc. I can't wait!!

Baklava and Macaroons

Last week's baking lab was a lot of fun. I had a wonderful partner and we got to make some awesome stuff! We made pistachio baklava and almond macaroons. I had never made either. I was so excited to make both, but especially the macaroons. I keep seeing these darn macaroons on baking blogs everywhere! I HAD to learn how to make them!

When we told Chef that we chose the macaroons she looked less than pleased. It was sort of funny. She paired us up in teams and she paired me up with another person in class that is really good. When she gave us a funny look and looked away, he turned to me and said under his breath "Shes thinking 'what a waste of talent'." LOL We laughed over that one because it was so obvious that was what she was thinking but we didn't care. I was determined to make those damn macaroons!!

Well, they turned out to not be as easy as I think she thought they would be. If you over mix the meringue mixture, they can get too tough. Ours were pushing that direction but not at the fault of our own. Chef came in and told two of the teams doing the macaroons to slowly put in the almond flour mixture. Well, with that process, you over mix the meringue. But, on the other end, the other teams followed the recipe directions and theirs weren't mixed enough. So, lesson learned: somewhere in between! I can't wait to try these again at home. Ours looked amazing and despite the slight chewy toughness, they tasted amazing! Here is a quick snapshot I took with my cell in the bakery. They are sandwiched with buttercream (vanilla, chocolate, and mocha).

Next came the baklava and working with phyllo dough. It was tough to work with at first, but once we got the hang of it, it got easier. I thought we did a great job and Chef said they turned out perfect. YAY us! Baklava isn't too difficult to make either. The hardest part is working with the phyllo. You make the nut mixture, make a syrup for dipping later, and then start working with the dough. You take one sheet at a time, laying it out and brushing it with butter layering with another on top repeating the process until you have a stack of 4 sheets. Then you sprinkle the nut mixture inside and roll tightly. Score the roll in 2 inch increments for easier cutting after baking and bake. Once they are baked, you cut them and dip them in the syrup. YUM! Here is a picture of the pistachio baklava:

We also made sugar dough for tomorrow's lab. We are making tarts. Then we start the long process of Honor's Night! 3 weeks of preparation for the one hour of desserts at the school's Honor's Night. At least we will be finishing desserts and plating so that will be fun! A lot of hard work, but fun. I also need to work on my marzipan figure project. I have chosen a Salvador Dali time statue so we will see what happens!

Midterm and Springbreak

Okay, so I realized two things: first that I haven't posted for about 2 weeks and second, that I never updated about the cake balls I made! So first thing is first: Cake Balls!

So, they were messy but yummy. They were a hit with everyone that tasted them. I made them for a friend of mine's colorguard and for my drum corp's alumni meeting. All of them said they liked them. So, unless they were lying, they were good. haha They are pretty easy to make. Bake a cake. Crumble into a bowl. Mix with cream cheese frosting. Form into balls and place on cookie sheet. Refridgerate or freeze. Dip cold cake balls in chocolate. Let harden. I made them green for St. Patty's Day. This is what they looked like:

Okay, as for the midterm....not too exciting. I did get only -7 points on my lab test. We had to make bouche', chocolate mousse, buttercream, pipe with buttercream, and write with chocolate. So, not too shabby on the grade. I did pretty darn good and she said my buttercream and mousse were both perfect. NICE!

So, I have been pretty lazy for spring break but I do plan on making a dessert for Easter. I saw the recipe in a Jaques Torres book I got at the library. I am modifying it a little to use a bit of what we have done in class but it should be yummy!

Lemon Bouche'

HOT. Damn hot. Hot and toasty! Just add oven. WHAT?!?! Yeah, the hottest day of the year so far just HAPPENED to be the day of my baking lab. And I thought the bakery was hot days during last semester. Nothing compared to Tuesday's lab. Ick. The cool thing was that everyone moved to the other kitchen so we pretty much had the bakery to ourselves for over an hour.

So, my partner didn't make it to class. I thought maybe he just missed the bus, but he missed Wednesday's lecture too so maybe he was out sick? At any rate, I hope everything is okay with him. I thought I was going to have to do things myself which would have been totally fine with me, but my previous partner (the one that rocked) had been out the week before and didn't have a partner so he got partnered up with me. So, as you could guess, everything ran very smoothly.

The cool thing about Lemon Bouche's is that even though they are kind of difficult, anyone could make them at home with pre-made puff dough bought at the store. Now, they won't puff up as much as a home-made dough would, but they will still turn out pretty good. I wanted to take pictures of the steps in class but since you really have to work fast, there was no time.

First you have to roll out your dough to 2.5 mm. Luckily we have a sheeter in the bakery so it goes a lot faster. After it is rolled out, you cut it in half and then throw it in the freezer. Once it is frozen (happens pretty fast because it is so thin), you take it out and mark the cuts with a cutter and then use a smaller cutter to cut out center holes. Because it was so hot, we had to freeze it again before stacking. Once it was frozen again, we egg washed the second piece and placed the piece with the holes in it (and markings for the big cuts) on top. Then you use the markings to actually cut the pieces out just like cookies. You end up with little shapes with another shape on top of it with a hole cut in only the top part. So, you are sort of making a cup. I hope that makes sense!

So, we baked the puff shells and made the lemon curd. Oh that lemon curd! SO YUM!! It is similar to what would be in a lemon bar, but more liquidy. When the shells are baked you let them cool slighlty, shake some powdered sugar on top, and then fill with the lemon curd. Oh that proved to be a mess since I thought after chilling the lemon curd it would be thicker. haha I actually put a big pastry tip in a bag that was about the size of the hole thinking that would work perfect. Not so much. Lemon curd is a lot runnier than I thought so I just made a mess. The shells got filled okay, but my partner rescued me but grabbing a pastry bag and just cutting the tip of it and using that. It worked so much better! Definitely a better choice.

In the end, they looked great. I was really proud. Plus they tasted great! haha The whole class produced some yummy items that night. (I have those pics on my facebook for those of you that are my facebook friends). The class as a whole also made Palmiers (YUM!), Fruit Strips, Apple Turnovers, and Napoleons. Everyone did a pretty good job. Below is a picture of my (and my partner's) Lemon Bouche'.

Next week is midterms! We have to make 5 Bouche' shells from pre-made dough (easy for me since I did them this week), chocolate mousse (which I will be making this weekend to practice), and buttercream. Then we will have to pipe a 12" shell border and 5 rosettes with the buttercream. I am confident with the shell border but i guess I should practice the rosettes this weekend. :-) Then we get to fill our Bouche' with the chocolate mousse we made. YUM!

Lets just hope the drama is kept to a minimum during the midterm because even though our lab rocks when it comes to what we do, there seems to be a lot of drama and it is rediculous! Sometimes I want to just slap people into reality and make them realize they are acting like immature, rude jerks. Hmmm....maybe I just will..... ;-)