During my lunch break this week I've taken to dreaming up recipes and designing my website (in my head). :)
When I had a few moments this week after I got home from work, I actually created a website... Now I'm going to start figuring out how to ship delicious goodies out to you all! If you want me to send a tester to you (free of charge of course... I have no idea what shape a couple of KatieCakes or a batch of Just a Bite Brownies will arrive in at your door!) If you have any shipping suggestions, please feel free to comment! (I have a couple of ideas up my sleeve, but I'm always on the lookout for how to do something more efficiently and cheaply!)
Here's the website (for now anyway!):
http://everythinginmoderation.weebly.com
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
5 + 5 = Awesome :)
Besides the fact that I feel like a hungry hungry hippo, it has been another awesome day in the cake lab. I have (finally) gotten my first burn... it was bound to happen at some point! Note to self... don't test the temperature of a metal palette knife you've been holding over an open flame on your ARM. Oops. At least my super-hot palette knife made for a very smooth surface for my birthday cake!
I was thinking at some point today that my grandmother (both of them actually! but I was specifically thinking of Garmi for those of you who knew her) would have loved hearing about and seeing the kinds of things we're doing in this class. The mechanics behind everything, the attention to detail, the beautiful script... this would definitely have been her "thing" too. "Millie", an artist as well, would also have loved the imagination and creativity brought to every cake. It's amazing how regardless of the fact that we all are making the same cake, each one is unique in color, style of design, and handwriting.
We assembled our birthday cakes today... and I got my first 5/5! :) Here's where practicing all those chocolate "happy birthday"s and decor roses came in handy.
I was thinking at some point today that my grandmother (both of them actually! but I was specifically thinking of Garmi for those of you who knew her) would have loved hearing about and seeing the kinds of things we're doing in this class. The mechanics behind everything, the attention to detail, the beautiful script... this would definitely have been her "thing" too. "Millie", an artist as well, would also have loved the imagination and creativity brought to every cake. It's amazing how regardless of the fact that we all are making the same cake, each one is unique in color, style of design, and handwriting.
We assembled our birthday cakes today... and I got my first 5/5! :) Here's where practicing all those chocolate "happy birthday"s and decor roses came in handy.
After lunch, the chef cut up her demo cake, inviting us all to have a slice. Now, as a side-note, about a month ago I figured out I have a dairy intolerance... (yes, it is a huge bummer, but it's also nice to finally have figured it out).. so basically I can't eat ANYTHING we make in class. True story. Anyway, I happened to be slicing a miniscule piece (more like a pinch) of cake to try, and didn't notice the chef was watching me. "Um, wow! That's a really little, ah, slice, you have there!" She said to me. Laughing it off as I explained the dairy thing, I took my bite of deliciousness back to my work table... enjoying every tiny crumb. :)
My second cake of the day was a hazelnut chiffon cake, sliced into 3 layers, with coffee sugar syrup and mocha-flavored Swiss buttercream sandwiched between each layer. I also got to practice more rosettes, make a really fun abstract chocolate "cage" to garnish the outside of the cake, and use yummy dark chocolate espresso beans to mark each slice.
Outside of the lab... I happen to be training for a half marathon (maybe that explains the hungry hungry hippo thing... I ran 8 miles yesterday!) and I'm super excited to be traveling up to Alaska this summer to run it! Woohooo! :) Second note to self... stretching after long runs is key... especially when the following day will leave me standing for 12 hours.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Who knew roses would be easier than carrots???
Before today, I would have said hands down that buttercream carrots would be waaaay easier than buttercream roses. For some reason though, those little orange fellas gave me quite a bit of trouble. It could be the fact that prior to the demo, I was thinking you start at the tip and work your way up to where the green leafy part is. I was wrong. You start with a big round tip and blob down some orange buttercream as you quickly pull it down and away. Easier said than done!
Roses, on the other hand, look so much more complicated, yet I was able to get the hang of those more quickly than the carrots. Using a rose nail (I'd always wondered what those things were for!) that you roll back and forth between your thumb and index finger, you twirl on a base, then kind of put a circular roof on top of it. That makes the center bud part of the rose. From there, you arch out petals of buttercream, gradually increasing the number of petals with each go-around. I'm still working on the height of mine.... they all are very open, but not very tall (which will make them a bit harder to work with when adding leaves). Here are some of my roses from today... sadly, my group's best roses, which we were going to freeze for next week, got squashed when another team's hazelnut chiffon cake tipped over on them! :(
Today we also made hazelnut chiffon cakes and pound cakes, which we'll use next time, took a quiz on conversion factors, learned about the 5 different buttercreams and 3 different meringues... it amazes me how quickly time goes, how much we can get done, and how much we still have left to do near the end of the day.
I love, love, love this class! I love everything about it! Even bringing out the trash isn't bad... because when you're in a cake class, everything you throw out smells amazingly delicious (definitely not the same for some of the culinary classes!) We didn't get to bring our carrot cakes home today, although we got to eat a slice in class. But.... the breads class next door brought over a couple of sheet pans of French baguettes, multigrain loaves, pretzels and strawberry scones... so even though I didn't have time to go grocery shopping today, I'm all set for the week in the bread department! As my fourth graders used to say, "sharing is caring!" :)
Roses, on the other hand, look so much more complicated, yet I was able to get the hang of those more quickly than the carrots. Using a rose nail (I'd always wondered what those things were for!) that you roll back and forth between your thumb and index finger, you twirl on a base, then kind of put a circular roof on top of it. That makes the center bud part of the rose. From there, you arch out petals of buttercream, gradually increasing the number of petals with each go-around. I'm still working on the height of mine.... they all are very open, but not very tall (which will make them a bit harder to work with when adding leaves). Here are some of my roses from today... sadly, my group's best roses, which we were going to freeze for next week, got squashed when another team's hazelnut chiffon cake tipped over on them! :(
I popped my little carrots into the freezer while I was assembling the rest of my carrot cake... we had about an hour to complete it... and let me tell you, that hour flies!!! A layer of cream cheese icing goes in the center, and then we finish them with Swiss buttercream. I got my first grade back for this carrot cake today.... (drumroll)... 4.75 out of 5!!! Yay!!! :) Here's what it looked like:
Today we also made hazelnut chiffon cakes and pound cakes, which we'll use next time, took a quiz on conversion factors, learned about the 5 different buttercreams and 3 different meringues... it amazes me how quickly time goes, how much we can get done, and how much we still have left to do near the end of the day.
I love, love, love this class! I love everything about it! Even bringing out the trash isn't bad... because when you're in a cake class, everything you throw out smells amazingly delicious (definitely not the same for some of the culinary classes!) We didn't get to bring our carrot cakes home today, although we got to eat a slice in class. But.... the breads class next door brought over a couple of sheet pans of French baguettes, multigrain loaves, pretzels and strawberry scones... so even though I didn't have time to go grocery shopping today, I'm all set for the week in the bread department! As my fourth graders used to say, "sharing is caring!" :)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
"Introduction to Cakes" is so not a cake walk...
... but I LOVE it anyway! :)
Let me tell you... waking up for a 7:00am class the morning of Daylight Savings does not feel so great. Even if all you have to do is literally roll out of bed, eat something and put on your chef's uniform. I've finally figured out that not wearing makeup really is the way to go... from when I woke up and was ready in 5 minutes to when I went to wash my face just now and it was so easy!!
I've decided that baking is a perfect career for perfectionists. You see, bakers use "formulas" not "recipes"; they are exacting in their measurements and always use weight instead of net volume... as these two things can be crucially different. I think I've found my niche. :)
Oh- and ready for this?? My chef (professor) grew up in.... ALASKA. Anchorage even. Not kidding. What are the odds?? I got to talk to her a bit about how amazing that place is.. so cool!!
I spent the morning writing "Happy Birthday" over and over and over again with melted writing chocolate via the drop method... you roll up this small triangle of parchment-y paper, which gets even smaller as you roll it (again- exactly and precisely done!) and then spoon a teeny bit of chocolate into it. Here are some of my practices (we had to do at least 16!) It was super fun to try different pressures and styles and see what you got.
We also spent the morning setting our "mise en place" for two separate cakes: a Devil's Food Fudge Cake, and a Carrot Cake. I'm in love with our big Hobart mixers. They are pretty much amazing.
In the afternoon after lecture, we mixed and baked our carrot cakes, then spent the rest of the time assembling our Devil's Food cake (which was made from a convenience cake mix). Whoa. Let me tell you... that process sounds and looks easy when the chef is doing it... but again.. it's gotta be perfect. One missed step or one funny angle, and you are done.. or at least have to start at a beginning point. For the first time in my life, I cut the top off the cake (which is sitting in my fridge now), cut the cake in half, used a palette knife (from my AWESOME tool kit... which is all mine to keep! Yay hooray!!) to spread the buttercream- always from the inside pushing out, then relayered the cake, buttercreamed again, and piped buttercream up and down the sides to frost the outside. And that's just the beginning. I even used a cake comb to make those ridges you see on cakes. Here's the cake before the ganache...
Let me tell you... waking up for a 7:00am class the morning of Daylight Savings does not feel so great. Even if all you have to do is literally roll out of bed, eat something and put on your chef's uniform. I've finally figured out that not wearing makeup really is the way to go... from when I woke up and was ready in 5 minutes to when I went to wash my face just now and it was so easy!!
I've decided that baking is a perfect career for perfectionists. You see, bakers use "formulas" not "recipes"; they are exacting in their measurements and always use weight instead of net volume... as these two things can be crucially different. I think I've found my niche. :)
Oh- and ready for this?? My chef (professor) grew up in.... ALASKA. Anchorage even. Not kidding. What are the odds?? I got to talk to her a bit about how amazing that place is.. so cool!!
I spent the morning writing "Happy Birthday" over and over and over again with melted writing chocolate via the drop method... you roll up this small triangle of parchment-y paper, which gets even smaller as you roll it (again- exactly and precisely done!) and then spoon a teeny bit of chocolate into it. Here are some of my practices (we had to do at least 16!) It was super fun to try different pressures and styles and see what you got.
We also spent the morning setting our "mise en place" for two separate cakes: a Devil's Food Fudge Cake, and a Carrot Cake. I'm in love with our big Hobart mixers. They are pretty much amazing.
In the afternoon after lecture, we mixed and baked our carrot cakes, then spent the rest of the time assembling our Devil's Food cake (which was made from a convenience cake mix). Whoa. Let me tell you... that process sounds and looks easy when the chef is doing it... but again.. it's gotta be perfect. One missed step or one funny angle, and you are done.. or at least have to start at a beginning point. For the first time in my life, I cut the top off the cake (which is sitting in my fridge now), cut the cake in half, used a palette knife (from my AWESOME tool kit... which is all mine to keep! Yay hooray!!) to spread the buttercream- always from the inside pushing out, then relayered the cake, buttercreamed again, and piped buttercream up and down the sides to frost the outside. And that's just the beginning. I even used a cake comb to make those ridges you see on cakes. Here's the cake before the ganache...
Those shells and commas along the border are NOT easy. Whoa. I practiced for a while, and still don't have the hang of it yet. I brought home my left over buttercream to practice on my cake top. :)
And here is the finished product!! My first ever cake as a pastry student!!
So.... there you have it... 12 hours down (literally.. I got in my car at 7:10pm)... 36 to go. I think I'll manage to not gain 500 pounds from the simple fact that I was running around the lab all day, lifting, mixing, pouring, you name it.
Cheers!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
"Mise en Place"
"A place for everything and everything in it's place"...
I almost raised my hand tonight at orientation when one of my new culinary instructors asked what that phrase meant. Boy am I glad I didn't... suddenly my mind blanked and all I could think of was "ummmmm... it's a restaurant in my town?". Nice.
But I'll begin at the beginning... this morning I spent 40 minutes of amazing, uninterrupted time with God. I looked at my watch at 5:49am, and then for the first time after that at EXACTLY at 6:29am. Whoa. A church I've been going to is challenging themselves to give God 40 extra minutes each day for the 40 days of Lent. This challenge resonated deeply within me... everything else I was considering "giving up" was causing me to think more about me, and less about God. I can't wait to see how he works over these next 40 days!! He truly is an awesome God!
Then on to school... somehow I've developed a "spidey-sense" about when a kid is going to throw up. Perhaps its because not long after I started working as a preschool teacher, I was thrown up on. Literally. All over the front of me- just like in the movies (except grosser). I drove home like a robot, taking shallow breaths only as needed so I wouldn't pass out (it was 15 degrees out), while vomit dried on my legs. After that, anytime one of my kids says, "Miss Katie, I don't feel so good"... I point them straight to the nearest bathroom and resist the urge to say, "Run!!" as I push from behind. My spidey-sense came in handy again this morning.... we'll just leave it at that.
To end the day, I chatted with a freshman from Morocco who works for the admissions office. I was so excited he was from Morocco, he asked if I'd ever been there. I started to say, "No, but when I was seven, I fell in love with my waiter at the Moroccan-themed restaurant at Epcot in Disneyworld".... then I thought I should just keep that to myself. Yes... it made for a slightly awkward moment. But I recovered... and now have in my possession a student ID (yay discounts!), a parking-pass (almost... I couldn't remember my license plate), and a CHEF'S uniform. Yes. It's true. I am going to be a pastry chef. :)
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