baking & pastry... 1st day!

I think I'm in for some long long days... especially on Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays!

I started my first day of baking and pastry at a seminar at school where Toba Garrett - a cake master - discussed techniques of decorating wedding cakes. It was pretty cool. The first time I've ever seen rolled fondant put on a cake and learned about the proper techniques for using it. She also demonstrated a brushed piping technique that is quite unique to her style, although I'm sure it's been done before. She made roses and leaves out of white chocolate "modeling" paste. And we got to sample her chocolate layer cake with ganache and chocolate buttercream. It was a real informative seminar. I can't wait to see her for our wedding cake module in class! To see Chef Garrett's work check out the "Embroidered Roses" cake.

Today was basically an introduction day for the baking & pastry class. The director of student affairs talked for about 2 hours about all the rules, regulations, policies and perks at the school. Most of which I heard at the first day of culinary management... the newest thing was about our externships. And that was just mostly rules of what you can and can not do.

The most exciting thing was getting a locker, a few new books (only 2 though!?!?) and all my supplies. The supplies are included in the cost of tuition, so I get to keep everything they give me... a giant tool box full of Wusthof knives (paring knife, chef's knife, serrated knife, scissors, sharpening steel) and a knife roll, microplane, digital scale, 2 different thermometers, measuring spoons and cups, offset spatulas, cake decorating tips and much more! It was like Christmas! Other than that, we talked briefly about what is important about dessert, flavor combinations and measurement conversions. We're told by our instructor that by the end of this module (about 25 lessons) we will be pros at all the conversions in our heads. Right now, I'm sticking to writing them down and multiplying and dividing on paper (or using my calculator). So who knows how many teaspoons are in 5 cups? See, not that easy huh?

I'm not sure when we'll get to start actually baking anything. It seems like for the initial lessons we'll be learning about culinary math, sanitiation (oh joy, in both my classes right now!), properly making cornets (tiny little piping bags), practicing piping techniques and possibly knife skills. We'll see what happens tomorrow...

I was sitting in class and just thinking how cool it was to be in there... in my uniform and my little commis cap. Yeah, I'm a total nerd and I love it. The majority of the people in this class are all older, career changers or college kids who have studied for some amount of time and still haven't found their way yet. Some people have worked in bakeries and there is at least one older woman who seems to be doing this just for the sheer joy of learning and solidifying some techniques. Our Module 1 instructor is Michelle Tampakis. I like her already. She seems tough, but not yelling, insulting tough, more like she expects a lot out of us and that will definitely drive me to be a good student! She also knows alot about chocolate and I'm excited about that, because I love chocolate and want to learn as much as possible about it.

I'm off to Napa for Kim's wedding this weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll have the opportunity to update before I go, but I'll have something for you when I get back! Ciao... until next time!