Last Post of 2011!

Well, I'm slacking on my posts but I cannot end this year without summing up what I have been up to in product rotation.  I've actually went through 3 more weeks of rotation and it totally slipped my mind to update this. Sorry! So....where were we?.....Oh yes! Since the first week of rotation, I have done Cut-In Method, Lamination, and Creaming Method.

During Cut-In Method, we had to fit two days of production into one since it was a Monday class. We made White Chocolate Macademia Nut Scones and Apple Pie.

White Chocolate Macademia Nut Scones

Apple Pie

The following week, my station was on Lamination.  We made Apple Strip and Palmiers from our Puff Pastry Dough, and Croissants and Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants).

Apple Strip #2 (Which I happened to not dock very well, but now I will remember for next time!)

Palmiers # 2

Croissants

Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants)....by the way....very, very delicious!


Last but not least, Creaming Method! I enjoyed this station very much!  We made Spritz Cookies, Chocolate Tarts and Fruit Tarts.

Spritz Cookies

Chocolate Tarts: Pate Sucree filled with Chocolate Mousse and topped with Chocolate Ganache, garnished with toasted coconut and a strawberry! :)

Fruit Tarts: Pate Sucree filled with Almond Cream and Pastry Cream and topped with small cuts of mango, pineapple, strawberries and kiwis in a lime zest glaze.

Well, that's about it for now.  I would go into more detail but I have so much to do!!! Oh, here is a picture of a marzipan rose. This is the most recent one I've done. I've been practicing them so I could perfect the look.  Still room for improvement but it definitely looks better than before.  Better yet, I'll show you the first rose I've made and the last so you can see for yourself! :)

Rose I made on November 11, 2011

Rose I made on December 9, 2011

Remember: Practice makes Perfect! :)

Well, I hope you all have a safe holiday! :) Merry Christmas and a Happy Spectacular New Year!!!! :D

Catch you all in 2012! :)

<3 Debbie

Super Busy!!!

Don't worry. I didn't fall off the face of the Earth and forget about my blog. I've just been SUPER busy since I got back from Thanksgiving break. However, I promised myself I wouldn't abandon my blog no matter how busy I got.  Before break, I had my finals for Math and Food Safety and midterm for Baking Ingredients and Equipment Technology (BIET); all of which I got A's on! :) Then when I returned from Thanksgiving break, I had my first Skills Verification Exam in my kitchen class.  We had to make genoise, eclairs and pastry cream.  I got an A on that as well.  Super happy!  However, I wasn't so happy to find out our chef was leaving our class so he could teach the incoming class. :(  On that note, a French pastry chef took over our class, and it's working for us so far.  Another reason why I haven't updated this in a while was because I got sick...It was bound to happen with me constantly staying up late and stressing over my work. But I won't let that stop me!

We started product rotation last week. On Day 1, my team had to make genoise, Italian Buttercream, and temper chocolate to make cake decors.  On Day 2, we practiced cutting cakes into layers, and then we iced our cakes and made them all pretty!!!  ;D  It was a very nerve-racking two days, because it gets frustrating when everything doesn't turn out perfect. But I had to step back and realize this was my first time tempering chocolate and icing a cake and it wasn't going to be "perfect."  I tend to set my standards too high sometimes, but I realized it will only get better with practice.  It won't be amazing the first time around, and while your running around in the kitchen it's hard to think that way.  As ambitious as we all are, it's natural for us to strive for "perfection," but I am here to learn and not to compete.

So here is a picture of the cake I iced last week!  I know it didn't come out great, but I think for my first time it came out pretty awesome and I'm proud of it! :)

By the way, this cake doesn't taste good.  It is just a very basic cake to learn, well, the basics of icing a cake.

Here is my chocolate tempering work:



Making chocolate decors.





Chocolate cigars. These were soooo fun to make! :)

 Today, I am making scones and apple pie and then the end of this week, I am making apple strip, croissants, and chocolate croissants with puff pastry. Fun. Fun. Fun.

....I cannot wait for Christmas break :)

<3 Debbie

Too tired to think of a better title :P

I've been meaning to update this but I had a pretty busy past two weeks.  In fact, I had my kitchen class this Saturday morning from 6:45 am-1:30pm.  I don't know how I'm still awake, but I am! So I'll just take the time to update you all on what's been happening. :)

Honestly, I can't believe I'm going into my 8th week at the CIA.  Two new classes have moved in since I got here, and the feeling of being a freshman all over agin quickly fades after a few weeks.  However, I am enjoying it here! Then again, I cannot wait to go home for Thanksgiving.  I really miss everyone, but their support is what keeps me going each and every day. :)

So I'll try and get through this post with as few typos as possible because I am somewhat on the sleepy side as I do this. Bare with me on this one!

Last week in Techniques class we went over the foaming method.  Production for the week was the Roulade Sponge, Genoise Sponge Cake, Spritz Cookies, and Chiffon Cake. I won't have a picture of Roulade this week because I had to re-do mine, which is fine with me because now I'm aware of the mistakes we made.  But my partner and I were not discouraged! We made a new one and this time it came out ALOT better. :)

As for the Genoise Cake, I'll be honest and say that it is not the greatest when it comes to taste and texture but we still must learn it.  Even if we don't like a certain product, that won't stop others from wanting it. It was actually pretty fun to make because I like working with meringues.

Genoise Sponge Cake

Next, was the Spritz Cookies!  These actually tasted alot better than I expected.  They were quite a challenge to pipe because the batter for these is pretty thick and rough.  We piped apricot jam and raspberry jam into the centers.

Spritz Cookies

Now for my personal favorite.....Chiffon Sponge Cake!  Tastes so much better than Genoise and has a fluffier texture, as well.  This, too, was fun to make. I was also very fascinated by the color of the cake for some reason. It was similar to a peachy-tan color.

Chiffon Cake

That is all for Week 6. Now for this week! We had class Thursday and Friday in the evening and Saturday, in the morning, to make up for the class we will miss because of Thanksgiving.  This week we made Puff Pastry which we rolled out to make Palmiers and an Apple Strip, Creme Caramel, Angel Food Cake, and Sugar Cookies (yes...again, but for a quiz this time).  I have to say this week was by far the funnest week.  It was pretty hectic, but I feel very accomplished for that same reason.

I'll begin with Creme Caramel. It's the same thing as flan, pretty much.  We caramelized sugar and made the custard and then plated them the next day.

Creme Caramel

Next, we made Angel Food Cake.  It was probably the most interesting critique we've done in class, in my opinion, because we had to check for "Sponginess" and watch it spring back when we pressed down on them.  This cake was so good, but it contains alot of sugar.

Angel Food Cake

Lastly, we made Palmiers and Apple Strip out of the Puff Pastry we made the first day.

Palmiers, also known as "elephant ears."  Chef said I had good layering in mine, which I'm very happy about. :)

Finally, the Apple Strip!!!  This was a lengthy process but very fun to make.

Yum!! :)

As for my sugar cookies I made for my quiz, I got a 96. I did notice an improvement in my cookies compared to the first time I made them during Week 3.

Well, that's all for this week!  :)
<3 Debbie

This is What Happens When You Throw a Few Bakers in the City...

Unfortuately, I didn't get a chance to update last week when I made pies in my Baking and Pastry Techniques class....so here are pictures from class 2 weeks ago.

                    Biscuits. I still have to work on keeping my products consistent...but I'm determined! :)

Pie Dough.  Did not realize how much work it was to make a pie crust, but I'm glad I finally know now.

Apple Pie WITH the lattice design on top.  Words can't even describe how happy I am to have learned how to do the lattice. :D

My personal favorite.  This is a Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie. The bottom of the crust was layered with some chocolate ganache, then a layer of banana slices, and banana pastry cream on top. I'm definitely making this again! Banana and chocolate is my favorite flavor combination so this made me really happy :)


So, this past Saturday my two friends and I went to NYC. Of course, being the bakers we are, we had to visit Laduree, the original place for macarons.  I was so excited to finally visit this place because originally it was only found in Paris (and for those who know me know how much I want to go there!).  All and all, we had an awesome time visiting Shake Shack, getting lost, walking through Central Park, riding the subway, having a taxi pull up to us then drive away, taking pictures, and overall just having a good time and getting away from campus.  Oh and to mention my first train ride ever!!!  Yes, very fun. :)

The Hudson Valley was pretty much my view during the train ride.  I'm not complaining though, it was beautiful.

Laduree!!!! If you are in the area and haven't tried this place yet, I highly recommend you try it here!  If you want Parisian Macarons, why not try the place that started it all?  It's like a street away from Central Park located right next to the Juicy Couture store. We had to wait in line, but that's just proof that it's going to be worth it.

                                            864 Madison Avenue  New York, 10021
                                                      Laduree New York Website

                                                                      Inside Laduree.

                                                                  Window display.

                                                        Pistacchio Macaroon Tower

                                                                 Another Macaron Tower.

                                                                       Macaron!!! :3

My box :)  Flavors I decided to try: Pistacchio, Rose, Chocolate, Coffee, Salted Caramel, Vanilla, Raspberry, and Lemon.

So, I'll just end this post with a picture of eclairs I made in my techniques class this past week.

These were a challenge.  However, what fun would it be if everything came easy?  Definitely need to work more on this before my Skills Verification Exam!

             Just some fancy desserts I came across in Farqharson....cannot wait to learn how to make these!
That's all for this week!
Thanks again for everyone's support!

<3 Debbie

Remember! Stressed Spelled Backwards Is Desserts :)

Whoever made that realization is awesome....because I probably would have never figured that out. Anyways, I don't know why I'm up this early when I don't have class until 1:30....oh yeah, I have homework....and yet I'm updating my blog. Ok, I have to make this quick.

So the other day I went to Apple Pie Bakery Cafe because I've been craving Parisian Macarons since I got on campus and I just had to buy some. Apple Pie Bakery is the bakery on campus where the baking and pastry students work at some point during their second year, which is after externship.

Here was their display of some pretty fancy chocolates, spices, and I believe teas.

                                                     Here's the cute little box it came in :3

Sorry, the food photographer in me was dying to come out in this one. :) However, here we have the Raspberry Puree Macaron, Vanilla Bean Macaron, and the Pistacchio Macaron.  I really cannot wait until I learn how to make these.  The original macarons came from Paris in a bakery called Laduree, another place I have to visit!!! Although there is now one in NYC, so that makes me happy :)

                           Corn Muffins and Blueberry Muffins we made on Day 1 of this past week.

                      Streusel Pound Cake we made on Day 2. It came out really really good!

Last, but not least, SUGAR COOKIES!!! I'm so glad I finally know how to make them....the right way.  The sugar cookies was an individual project, so we had to make our very own batches.  My cookies were all different sizes but still good. :)

Well, that's all for this week. I must get back to  writing my recipe cards for this week's class. Thanks again for your support everyone!!! I really appreciate it :) 
Oh, and I'll just end this week's post with a few desserts I came across this week. I did not make these, but I will learn how to make them eventually. :)

                                               Chocolate Mousse and Apples in Caramel

I'm not exactly sure what the name of this was but it tasted like a Hot Chocolate Mousse.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pastry

                                                       As you can tell, I'm a chocoholic. :)

<3 Debbie