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!

More cakes...

Hallo!
(That is Hello in Dutch!).

This week the flood gates opened and as you can see I definitely had more cake than I could handle!  I had to play a little Tetris in my refrigerator & my cake domes in order to find a home for each one, but I managed to find space for the Entremet, Chocolate Mousse, Carrot Cake & the Flourless Chocolate Cake.  This week's focus has been on all about assembling and decorating cakes. 


Previously, I had worked with Swiss Buttercream & French Buttercream.  This week I added a new variation of buttercream to my arsenal of frostings...Italian Buttercream (Check out the recipe below!).  I utilized this frosting for my Entremet (ahn-tra-mant) cake.  I liked the frosting because compared to the Swiss Buttercream it was a lot lighter in flavor.  This frosting is much more stable than the French Buttercream, so it was perfect for filling and icing the cake. 




Most of the cakes that we have made in this class required us to handle the egg yolks and egg whites in different stages.  Although not a complicated task, having to do a separated egg method can be tedious.  I found it refreshing when we made the carrot cake.  No more fancy steps...The carrot cake was extremely easy:  I simply combined the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients...stirred & then added to a pan. Wha-lah!  I was initially worried when the Chef said that we would be making carrots shaped from marzipan for the cake's decoration.  However, after seeing her demo, it turned out to be straight forward and fun.  It was almost like working with play-doh except when you eat it, it's sweet...not salty!   


To my surprise they turned out to be the cutest little things!  I was real happy with them and don't think I will make another carrot cake without having these cutie patooties on top.  Although the cake was good, I thought the recipe was a little too oily.  

In the past, I was never big on combining fruit and chocolate.  Prior to eating Chocolate Bouchons with an apricot puree at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Restaurant in Napa, I would have never thought to put the two together.  However, I found it interesting to see that one of the most famous Austrian desserts contained a combination of the two.

According the the Chef, the Sacher (pronounced soccer) cake was created in Vienna, Austria at the Sacher Hotel.  Apparently the secret has remained under lock and key to this very day so the variations of this cake are merely replicas.  The Chef was not a fan of the cake, but shared an interesting story about her experience with said cake.  During the time Arnold Schwarzenegger was Governor of California, she used to work at one of the hotels that was frequented by him and his dignitaries.  Being an Austrian, it seemed appropriate that he would always request this cake to serve at his gatherings.  I know he's probably not on many of y'alls good list considering the bad press he's had, but hey...if you were googling his name and stumbled on this blog....welcome! ) 

Each time I've explored a new bakery I get pretty excited when I recognize the items on the menu and actually know how to make them.   In fact, after learning about the Sacher cake discovered that I only lived 15 minutes away from an authentic Austrian Bakery which serves the cake!    There was not any Sacher Cake available the day I visited, but I really liked the place and plan to go back again.  I'm eager to see how my cake compares to one made by a true Austrian Pastry Chef.

Overall, I would say that this was another successful week down.  I only have 4 more days in this class before I start my mini-summer break.   In the meantime, while I'm getting ready for another 2 day practical this week I'm going to have a guest blogger.  

Until then, happy baking & if you're looking for a new frosting to try out here's a variation of the Italian Buttercream recipe that I learned to make in class.   

Tot ziens 

(good bye in Dutch)

Italian Buttercream

8 oz sugar

2 oz water

4 oz egg whites

1/2 tsp lemon juice

12 oz butter, softened

2 oz shortening

3/4 tsp vanilla

1.  Combine water & sugar in a sauce pan and boil until it reaches the soft ball stage (240 degrees F.).

2.  Place egg whites & lemon juice in a mixer and whip egg whites to a medium peak using a whisk attachment.  

3.  When the syrup reaches the proper temperature, pour the syrup in the mixing bowl.  Be certain to avoid hitting the whisk and allowing the syrup to pour along the sides of the bowl.

4.  Once all the syrup is added, increase the mixing speed to high.  Continue to whip at high speed until the bowl is cool to touch.  

5.  Next, reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly incorporate softened butter.  When all the butter is incorporated add in the vanilla.