Packing for Holland

With just four more days of school remaining, I have started to make a list of items that I will undoubtedly need during my externship.  So far, this is what I've got:  uniforms, European plug adapter, guide book, Macbook and of course my camera (if I can ever figure out where I put that thing).  Trying to pack for three months is proving to be a daunting task.   As I was packing I came across the following question in the book, Ever Wonder: ask questions & live by the answers: 

 "What do you pack to pursue a dream and what do you leave behind?" 

I found the question quite appropriate for this moment in my life.  With only being able to travel with two pieces of luggage I knew that I had to be mindful of what I packed. As I pondered how I would answer the question,  I realized that I  honestly had no intentions of packing "fear" into my suitcase.  The fear of failure, the fear of mistakes, the fear of the unknown...none of those fears are coming along on this trip.   Besides, there is no room in my suitcase for them.  

Instead, I have decided to bring along a lot of optimism, perseverance, confidence, just a tad bit of risk, and most certainly the vision of living my dream.  

So I'm curious to know, what do you pack to pursue a dream?   

Piece of Cake? Not quite...

I approached this final class with both excitement and apprehension.  My apprehension primarily stemmed from my inexperience with cake decorating.  While a few of my classmates have taken the Wilton Cake Decorating course that's offered by Michaels, my experience is limited to the cakes that I've made in school.   As a result, I feared having to decorate a cake next to them would not only be intimidating but down right embarrassing.  


With each class, I seem to learn more and more about myself.  What I know for sure after spending the last five weeks is that 1.)  I need a large dosage of patience when working on the various components of a celebration cake and 2.) I am way too tough on myself.   I have found myself on several occasions feeling frustrated that my intentions don't match my skill level.  While some of my classmates seem to effortlessly sculpt 3D figurines out of marzipan or pipe borders like a pro, I felt awkward, amateurish and simply frustrated that decorating a cake could be so challenging.  However, as I reflect on how far I have come, I'm glad that I experienced those feelings because they served as a reminder that I still have a lot to learn and need a lot of practice.  Neither of which are bad things to have.    


Although I'm learning a few new things, I am mostly being graded on techniques that I learned in previous classes.  The chef is grading each cake based on the consistency of my piping, levelness of cake, and if all the decorative requirements are met.  On average, we spend about 2-4 days for each of our cakes. In spite of feeling like a fish out of water, I have managed to produce several cakes that make me proud to share.

One of my favorite cakes turned out to be the children's birthday cake.   I was extremely excited to incorporate a technique I learned from an Austrian Pastry Chef [who allowed me to trail him for a week].    To give the island a little more pop of color, I dusted it with a little powder sugar and used a chef's torch to brûlée the sugar.  

Surprisingly, my second favorite cake turned out to be the sculpted pumpkin.  To create this cake I baked the pound cake on a full sheet pan and used 8" cake rings to cut  the layers. Each layer is filled with about 1/8" of Italian Butter cream. For the covering, Chef had us make modeling chocolate instead of using fondant.  For those unfamiliar with modeling chocolate, the texture is very similar to a tootsie roll.  It's very pliable and the best part it's a lot more palpable than fondant.  


The main reason that I adore this cake so much is that I carved, decorated, and cut each of the leaves all by hand.  The only guide or template that I used was a photograph.  I was pretty  content as I  decorated this cake and extremely pleased that my pumpkin looked great in the class "pumpkin patch photo."  However, the best feeling was when I took the cake to a party later that evening and people didn't think it was a cake.  Some people thought that there was a REAL pumpkin on the table and a couple thought it was a decorative ceramic pumpkin!  I have to admit, hearing all the conversation centered around the cake made me grin ear-to-ear.  Not just because people were complimenting me, but because the cake seemed to make people excited & happy.  That moment I reaffirmed that I LOVED seeing people get excited over food.  Not only did I love making that cake; I loved that other people appreciated my passion and hard work that was put into it.  

Be sure to  {click here}  to see more the pictures.  By the way, if you haven't added us to your Facebook Pages, dont forget to click "Like".  In just a couple weeks I'll begin my journey in The Netherlands.  I'd love to connect with Flour Bloom fans and share my European experience!