It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Did everyone have a good summer? I hope you managed to soak up lots of sun because it's gotten chilly already. There was frost on the grass this morning!
I'm already into my second class of this semester. The first class was Fine Pastries. It was a bit of a shock to our systems as from the very first day, each class was packed with tasks to do and was almost always a time crunch. Fine Pastries focused on mousse cakes, individual desserts and petit fours.
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| Chocolate cake with a chocolate mirror glaze |
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| Individual chocolate cakes |
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| Triple chocolate mousse |
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| Lemon and white wine mousse |
There was a lot of chocolate tempering involved in this class. Some of us really learned to "love" it. :)
Petit fours are small 1-2 bite cakes or cookies often served after a meal, during tea time or at some dessert buffets. They're usually pretty dense inside (tall fluffy petit fours fall over too easily) but very nicely decorated.
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| Different glazes, garnishes, and shapes |
Fine Pastries was rather intense time management wise, but I had an awesome partner and we coordinated really well. Well enough that I ended up spending most of the last class turning left over cake into sell-able products because I was all done.
Now I am one week into Wedding Cakes! To be honest, I am not a cake decorator. A lot of students in the Baking and Pastry arts program want to open their own cake business but I am definitely not one of them. I still want to learn, of course. I want to learn at least a little of everything, but I honestly thought this class was going to be terrible. I am not particularly creative when it comes to design and colors kind of boggle my mind. I have the idea that mixing red and blue will create purple, but how exactly to get a specific shade of purple? Not a clue!
Despite all that, I'm actually having fun. It's frustrating at times (like when things break off), but I like the meticulous nature of creating figures or flowers.
Our first assignment was to make mice wedding cake toppers. The bodies were made out of marzipan while the embellishments were made out of either rolled fondant or gum paste.
I added a few things after this picture to hide the cracks where the arms joined to the body. The piping on the dress was actually to cover up the cracked edges! :P The guy is about 2 1/4 inches tall for scale. Yes, I know his eyes are crazy! The heads moved a bit so it looks like he's looking elsewhere. "Who are you looking at!?"
We're also making flowers! It really saddens me that such a time consuming and fun assignment is worth so little compared to everything else.
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| Stargazer lily |
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| Orchid |
I've turned the dinner table into my new flower studio. Believe it or not, but there is order in all that chaos!
Drying flowers upside down. That way, heavier flowers stay in shape and petals don't fall off.
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| 2 roses and 3 calla lilies |
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| Rose buds |
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| Rose leaves |
Up next is a traditional wedding cake meaning lots and lots of piping with royal icing. Traditional wedding cakes were very intricate and all white. We also work in teams to create a 4 tier edible cake. My team is still a bit iffy, but we're thinking a cake with flowers that can be used at any grand event. Whatever we make, I know it will be beautiful!
