I had a lady come in one day with a tiny picture of a baby Winnie the Pooh and Tigger hugging. She said she came to the bakery before and the cake decorator was able to draw Winnie the Pooh pretty well. So I took on the challenge. It didn't really take all that long to do. People walked by me and told me I did a really good job and it looked precious. I'm hoping it was OK to do this since our store does have the right to sell other Winnie the Pooh novelty cakes.Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Someone had faith in me
I had a lady come in one day with a tiny picture of a baby Winnie the Pooh and Tigger hugging. She said she came to the bakery before and the cake decorator was able to draw Winnie the Pooh pretty well. So I took on the challenge. It didn't really take all that long to do. People walked by me and told me I did a really good job and it looked precious. I'm hoping it was OK to do this since our store does have the right to sell other Winnie the Pooh novelty cakes.
I got a hold of a Wilton book
After awhile I felt like I was running out of ideas, always doing the same borders and flowers. When I found a copy of The Wilton School I took a look at it and went off to try some new things. I wanted to learn the basket weave. Even though it can be pretty time consuming, I figured it would be something people would appreciate if they wanted something special. The basket border on this isn't the greatest, but I like how the cake turned out overall. I keep working on the basket weave and understanding how each part comes together.Blogger turned my picture sideways
I'll be honest, I don't know much about flowers. Sometimes when people as me to put flowers other than roses on a cake I have to ask what they're talking about. I was given a picture of a pink something, I think it's a daisy, and told to make the whole top of a round cake that flower.
I think it turned out pretty well. I didn't want to take too long on it, so many of the petals cake out rippled when I squeezed too hard on the icing bag. I certainly think it was a nice idea for a cake.
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I think it turned out pretty well. I didn't want to take too long on it, so many of the petals cake out rippled when I squeezed too hard on the icing bag. I certainly think it was a nice idea for a cake.A personal cake
I made this cake for my boyfriend's church. The cake says Bless Shiloh Apostolic. My writing was still a little suspect at the time. I sprayed the body yellow and added a slight bit of brown over that. I piped on a bunch of grapes and vines over the edge. It's a chocolate cake with some cherry filling.
I was trying to show off
For the opening of the baseball season my boss told me to decorate a full sheet cake for an in-store promotion. Make one side for the Chicago Cubs, and one for the White Sox. She might have just meant use their colors, but I took it further and drew their logos on each side of the cake.
However, I got the coloring on the Cubs logo wrong. There should be a blue ring instead of a red one. I don't know if this will get me in trouble, but I'll say that I did not create these logos, I just used them for a cake that was not sold to anyone. And people enjoyed it and ate it up. The Sox side was gone first.
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However, I got the coloring on the Cubs logo wrong. There should be a blue ring instead of a red one. I don't know if this will get me in trouble, but I'll say that I did not create these logos, I just used them for a cake that was not sold to anyone. And people enjoyed it and ate it up. The Sox side was gone first.Cupcake cake
At Meijer the bakery offers cupcake cakes as a fun alternative to rectangular cakes. Cupcakes are arranged on a board, frosted, and decorated to look like something.
I did a caterpillar cake for a group of school children. I had an image to work off of to arrange the cupcakes right and how to decorate it. I made it look a little cuter and added sprinkles as well.
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I did a caterpillar cake for a group of school children. I had an image to work off of to arrange the cupcakes right and how to decorate it. I made it look a little cuter and added sprinkles as well. Stir the imagination
Meijer has a pretty good selection of baked goods, but when it comes to cakes it can be pretty straight forward. With our cupcakes we only have chocolate and yellow cake to choose from. Most people just want white butter cream and some sprinkles. A mother came in one day with her smart and talented little son, ordering cupcakes for a party. They wanted me to be creative with the colors, and I was compelled to do something special for them.
I made bags of striped icing just for their cupcakes. Red and pink, yellow and orange, green and teal, blue and violet. And colorful sprinkles topped each cupcake. I was very happy with these and thought they would certainly appeal to little children.
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I made bags of striped icing just for their cupcakes. Red and pink, yellow and orange, green and teal, blue and violet. And colorful sprinkles topped each cupcake. I was very happy with these and thought they would certainly appeal to little children.
Copyright issues
As a cake decorator I get plenty of requests for designs and concepts for cakes. Most of the time people will just point at a novelty cake in the book and say they want that one. Some people will be vague and only tell me what colors they want, or they want flowers. People have also given me pictures to use with our Edible Images scanner and printer, or asked me to simply draw certain things. I am pretty good at drawing, and it's easy enough to use the scanner and printer. But it has come up recently at work that I need to be much more careful about what I let people put on cakes. It's unlikely to be much of an issue with cakes that will just be taken home and enjoyed by a small family. But you just want to protect yourself wherever you can. I've made cakes in the past that used images from cartoons, logos of sports teams, and also designs on napkins or paper plates. I've taken pictures of these, but I've decided not to post them if I believe there will be an issue with copyrights.
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Out of school
When I was finished with school it took me a little less than a month to get a job. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with food service. I worked as a pricer at a Meijer superstore in Michigan City. I applied for jobs in restaurants all over the city and surrounding areas. Most places either wouldn't consider me, or they only wanted me to be a waitress or hostess. At some places I probably could have earned a decent amount of money through tips, but I've found that being a server makes me incredibly anxious. I like to think that maybe I could learn to enjoy it and deal with customers, but for now I won't go near it. I took the job at Meijer, despite the low pay and crappy hours. I figured maybe at least being in there would give me a better chance at a better job later on.
And lo, about 4 months later I was able to transfer into the store's bakery as a cake decorator...
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And lo, about 4 months later I was able to transfer into the store's bakery as a cake decorator...
Monday, May 5, 2008
Birthday pie
When I made a cake for my mom I also decided I wanted to make a pie for my boyfriend's birthday. The bakery technically offers pies but they were rarely bought. So they got me some blueberries and looked for a decent pie crust recipe. We didn't have anything as far as pie fillings went, so I had to wing that.
I did a simple lattice design with a fresh blueberry filling. The pie is sitting in 2 deep dish pie plates, because to this day my pies over flow and make a mess on the tray they're sitting on. I was told, fill it up, the filling will bake down! More like out and over. It was really good, the berries held their shape and flavor well. It was so good I was asked to make another pie later for the bakery's display. I'm not sure if that tasted as good as the first one I made, but I was glad that I was given something to do besides bake more cookies.
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I did a simple lattice design with a fresh blueberry filling. The pie is sitting in 2 deep dish pie plates, because to this day my pies over flow and make a mess on the tray they're sitting on. I was told, fill it up, the filling will bake down! More like out and over. It was really good, the berries held their shape and flavor well. It was so good I was asked to make another pie later for the bakery's display. I'm not sure if that tasted as good as the first one I made, but I was glad that I was given something to do besides bake more cookies. Mother's Day
At the bakery I interned at I wasn't allowed to work on cake orders. I had very little experience and couldn't be trusted to mess with a cake that somebody had high expectations for. I figured the only way I would be able to practice decorating was if I ordered a cake myself, and I made one for my mom.
I made her an orange cake with ganache and butter cream decorations. I made the cake myself, and I tried my hand at layering and crumb coating. I was told to put on a base of white butter cream and let it chill for awhile. One of the decorators helped me pour warm ganache over the cake. Once that set then I tried drawing some sort of vines that crawled up the sides of the cake. I did the orange roses on top too. I had been taught previously how to make them and caught on quickly. Even though I was the novice I made roses better than the decorators.
I thought the way we did the ganache was a bit awkward and it wasn't until recently that I learned how to pour icing over cakes properly. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to try and put butter cream as a base, because it did end up melting a bit and making the ganache uneven. Either I should have done a better job of evening out the cake, or we could have covered the cake in sheets of marzipan. That's something else I could try to learn if I ever get to work in a professional bakery.
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I made her an orange cake with ganache and butter cream decorations. I made the cake myself, and I tried my hand at layering and crumb coating. I was told to put on a base of white butter cream and let it chill for awhile. One of the decorators helped me pour warm ganache over the cake. Once that set then I tried drawing some sort of vines that crawled up the sides of the cake. I did the orange roses on top too. I had been taught previously how to make them and caught on quickly. Even though I was the novice I made roses better than the decorators.I thought the way we did the ganache was a bit awkward and it wasn't until recently that I learned how to pour icing over cakes properly. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to try and put butter cream as a base, because it did end up melting a bit and making the ganache uneven. Either I should have done a better job of evening out the cake, or we could have covered the cake in sheets of marzipan. That's something else I could try to learn if I ever get to work in a professional bakery.
Internship
Toward the end of my culinary arts program I was required to do some sort of internship. I could go just about anywhere. I was having a hard time finding someplace to go, but I ended up at a small new bakery. I won't say where I went.
I wasn't really sure what to expect to gain from my internship experience. And perhaps my boss didn't know either. I felt like for the most part I was just being used as free labor. I wanted to learn, and I guess I did learn a few things. They made custom cakes and I wanted to learn how to decorate, but my boss was reluctant to let me practice. I mostly helped the bakers, and the cake decorators would sometimes talk to me and explain what they were doing and why. Luckily I can learn just by watching, so what little I gleaned I managed to hang on to for later. I also learned to tolerate 10 hour shifts. Now I get paid to do that!
I'll also say that I learned that nobody is perfect, and inevitably you'll end up working for somebody who, for no reason, hates you. About halfway through my internship my boss became increasingly erratic in their behavior toward me and lashed out when I messed up. Like I said, they treated me as a regular employee, but I wasn't paid. I began to wonder how the other employees could put up with it. Maybe they learned to toughen up. Maybe they can handle angry people better than I can. Maybe they enjoy their jobs enough that even a poor boss can't dampen their days.
I was able to stay for the full internship period. I took some pictures of what I did, but there are a couple of note.
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I wasn't really sure what to expect to gain from my internship experience. And perhaps my boss didn't know either. I felt like for the most part I was just being used as free labor. I wanted to learn, and I guess I did learn a few things. They made custom cakes and I wanted to learn how to decorate, but my boss was reluctant to let me practice. I mostly helped the bakers, and the cake decorators would sometimes talk to me and explain what they were doing and why. Luckily I can learn just by watching, so what little I gleaned I managed to hang on to for later. I also learned to tolerate 10 hour shifts. Now I get paid to do that!
I'll also say that I learned that nobody is perfect, and inevitably you'll end up working for somebody who, for no reason, hates you. About halfway through my internship my boss became increasingly erratic in their behavior toward me and lashed out when I messed up. Like I said, they treated me as a regular employee, but I wasn't paid. I began to wonder how the other employees could put up with it. Maybe they learned to toughen up. Maybe they can handle angry people better than I can. Maybe they enjoy their jobs enough that even a poor boss can't dampen their days.
I was able to stay for the full internship period. I took some pictures of what I did, but there are a couple of note.
Irregular croissants
This was the last thing we worked on before finals. Unlike the danishes, we did take our time to make croissant dough completely from scratch. We made a simple dough with flour and then folded in slabs of butter. Our school had a sheeter to help us quickly roll out the dough and layer the butter. We rolled and chilled the dough a total of 4 times, if I remember right. Maybe even more. I wanted to make smaller croissants so I could have more of them. The shapes are kind of awkward, but the flavor and flakiness was all there.Laminated doughs
The last segment of our baking and pastry class was based on laminated doughs. In the past the bakery class took up more time in the week, meeting 3 times per week. Our class only met in the kitchen twice per week. Our teacher decided we would not have enough time to make certain doughs, such as danish dough, and just bought frozen sheets. Although we didn't get to make the dough, she wanted us to learn how to work with it and how it can be used.
This is just a small assortment of danishes. We had some fruit fillings, such as apricot and raspberry, and we also made cream cheese icings. We were given packets on different ways to fold, cut, and fill danishes. When they finished baking we also made a simple white icing to pour over the top. I don't like danishes much myself, I think they taste bland and cheap. But it was fun to experiment with folding and fillings. I can apply that to other foods as well.
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This is just a small assortment of danishes. We had some fruit fillings, such as apricot and raspberry, and we also made cream cheese icings. We were given packets on different ways to fold, cut, and fill danishes. When they finished baking we also made a simple white icing to pour over the top. I don't like danishes much myself, I think they taste bland and cheap. But it was fun to experiment with folding and fillings. I can apply that to other foods as well.Eh or Ee?
We used the profiterole batter in longer strips to make éclairs. To this day I struggle to figure out how to pronounce éclair (hard or soft E?) We made a simple Bavarian creme by combining whipped cream with pastry cream. We made a chocolate icing that hardened into a shell, as well as a smooth caramel sauce. These éclairs weren't as soft and donut-like as I assumed éclairs are supposed to be like. They were thin and chewy, and luckily the creme wasn't too sweet. That's my least favorite part of filled donuts and pastries, an overly sweet filling.This is when things got trickier
Toward the end of our quarter in bakery and pastry arts we finally started getting into very unfamiliar territory. The kinds of things that most restaurants don't even bother making because they're so labor intensive. When you do take the time then you have the chance to customize and make yourself stand out from your competitors.
We made batter for profiteroles. We did several things with them, baked the batter in different shapes. These were left hallow. We were also taught how to make ice cream. We all made a vanilla creme anglaise, and from there our teacher taught us some different flavorings and how to incorporate them. My group wanted to make strawberry ice cream. It turned out very weak, like pink vanilla ice cream. In this picture I put some of the ice cream on a few broken profiteroles, and poured on some store-bought chocolate syrup. Note: Nes-Quik syrup is awful, stick with Hershey's.
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We made batter for profiteroles. We did several things with them, baked the batter in different shapes. These were left hallow. We were also taught how to make ice cream. We all made a vanilla creme anglaise, and from there our teacher taught us some different flavorings and how to incorporate them. My group wanted to make strawberry ice cream. It turned out very weak, like pink vanilla ice cream. In this picture I put some of the ice cream on a few broken profiteroles, and poured on some store-bought chocolate syrup. Note: Nes-Quik syrup is awful, stick with Hershey's.My favorite bread
I adore this focaccia. It might not be as tall as other focaccias, but it was crisp and chewy and bursting with flavor. There are large bits of baked garlic and herbs on top, and I loved cutting off a strip for a bite to eat. I only wanted to eat it by itself instead of trying to make a round loaf for sandwiches, like other students did. I also made this focaccia for one of my bakery exams. We had to choose randomly what type of bread we had to make. I picked Challah. But behind our teacher's back I traded with a girl who got focaccia but wanted to make Challah. I like how that works out sometimes. Quit making fun of the name
This is Challah. Or, as my less mature peers liked to say, HOLLLLLAAAAA. Whatever. I wasn't familiar with the concept of knotted bread, but I liked braiding the Challah and letting it bake free form. The dark color it gained and the sesame and poppy seeds make it look bold and delicious. This was denser than I thought it would be, but I liked making small sandwiches out of it with pastrami.A loaf of bread, with a twist
This is cinnamon swirl bread. Our teacher taught us there are some things that can inhibit yeast growth, and cinnamon is one of those things. Instead of mixing cinnamon directly into the batter, we made a buttery paste and spread it on to the bread dough. We rolled it up and pinched the ends, and put it in a loaf pan. Our teacher forgot to inform us that perhaps splitting the top would be appropriate for this bread. It split on its own but it didn't look very good. This bread was kind of dry, and the cinnamon made it taste bitter. I think it would have been nice to just try our hands at a regular loaf of sandwich bread.Bread came late in class
Our teacher had informed us that the curriculum for the bakery class had changed somewhat since quarter's past. Breads used to be one of the first things students learned to do. For our class we started with quick breads and proceeded to cakes. Breads don't have to be hard but they require patience. I have several family members that own bread machines, but even those are too much of a hassle for them.
These are parkerhouse rolls. They're basically dinner rolls. They are excellent. I ate about 6 of these before I even left class. They're soft and fluffy, and they're baked on semolina. When people want a small soft roll for mini sandwiches, I'd suggest these, but like I pointed out earlier, who's going to take the time to make something so good themselves?
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These are parkerhouse rolls. They're basically dinner rolls. They are excellent. I ate about 6 of these before I even left class. They're soft and fluffy, and they're baked on semolina. When people want a small soft roll for mini sandwiches, I'd suggest these, but like I pointed out earlier, who's going to take the time to make something so good themselves?Another pie!
Another type of pie we made was lemon meringue pie. We used the same crust as the apple pie and lemon curd, like what we used with the tarts. I made a meringue but it looks like it turned out kind of runny. I tried to fluff up some spikes on top but they laid down. I got a nice toasty color on top with a small butane torch. I did not get to taste this, instead I gave it to my mom. I had too much else to eat at the time.Pie!
I should have added this sooner, since we made tarts and pies at about the same time. We made apple pies, and our teacher let us decided how we would top our pies. We could put on a whole piece of rolled pie dough and cut vents into it. We could cut dough strips and make a lattice design. Or we could do a streusel topping. A lattice would be the most attractive choice in my opinion, but I love streusel. The flavor of the pie was excellent, and the bottom crust was crisp and buttery. I think the way I sliced my apples was a little awkward, but they appeared to cook through.
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