oh barf... cake!
So last Friday I was up until 1am making gum paste cherry blossom flowers for my two tier cake that was to be completed by 5pm that day. I had been stressing about this stupid cake since I wrote last Thursday. Starting Sunday I was up until about 1:30am every night thinking about this or that, not to mention I had a paper and presentation about hot chocolate due for my Culinary Management class. That was delicious, but still stressful!
Anyway... finally, I finish these flowers and all the other little parts to go along with my cake's motif - cherry blossoms. Less than 4 hours after I put my head on my pillow I was up puking my brains out. 24 hour flu, food poisoning, some other mystery virus "that has been going around"... whatever... I threw up once an hour between 5am and 10am. It sucked. I still got up at 10am and dragged myself downstairs to package up my flowers and I had so lovingly crafted a few hours later. But there was no denying it... I felt horrible. I was queasy, chilly and shaky, not to mention green complexioned. After trying to fight it as best I could, at about the time I needed to get into the shower, I knew there was no way I was getting into the city, into class to finish this cake. I climbed back into bed, set my alarm for 15 minutes before I was supposed to show up at class so I could call my chef and closed my eyes, disappointed I would miss the one day were 8 days of work culminated in a beautiful piece of cake decorating! And I'd miss 13 of my classmates hard work!
By Saturday I was feeling much better, but was upset that technically students aren't allowed to make up missed days. Plus, this cake counted for a quiz grade, which meant not only did I have one more absence, but I had an F too! On Monday I talked it over with my Chef and she said I could bring all the pieces of my puzzle home, work on them and bring the completed cake back to class for her to grade. Okay... if I had to lug 12 pounds of cake and sugar round trip from NYC to NJ to get a better grade than an F, I would do it!
And so after 4 hours of work at home, this is what I came up with... my cherry blossom cake... I got an A-... she docked me points for missing class, even though I was very sick... fair??? I guess I can live with it!
posted by jen @ 9:23 PM
6 Comments:
holy cakey goodness..... i would give you an A on that one for sure.... looks awesome... i cant figure out what you used for stamen? are they edible too? last question did you eat it?
oh my goodness!!! I am so hungry after looking at you BEAUTIOUS cherry blossom cake! my taste buds are definitely available for tasting to see if the insides taste as wonderful as it looks! I agree with Mikey! A++++++
Wow. Jen, I am in awe of what you have learned in such a short amount of time. And, I'm sure that you, as the artist, are able to find all the flaws, but it looks perfect to me. The hard work you've put into your training is evident- you should be very proud!
So sorry that you were sick. I hope that your classmates have pictures of their cakes to show you. Even I'd love to see their creations.
Again, well done!!!
Thanks for the nice comments guys! The stamen aren't edible. Although I'm sure they are food safe. They are probably pieces of paper, or some kind of string, dipped in a wax or something like that. They sell them at cake decorating stores.
And no, I didn't eat it. It was just yellow butter cake with a vanilla buttercream frosting (that contained no eggs). The cake by itself was pretty good. We spent nearly half a class making about 30 cakes or so. My team used one of the big mixers (20 quart) and there was so much batter I had to stick my arm up to my elbow in the bowl to make sure all the stuff at the bottom was evenly mixed. That was cool.
I should at least have cut into the cake. I'm now curious how thick the fondant (that smooth sugary exterior) was. What I ended up doing was taking my flowers out of the cake and saving them. They last forever. And unfortunately, I threw the rest into the trash. I couldn't bear the idea of carrying that thing back to NJ with me another time!
I am very happy to hear that you saved the flowers. We were talking about cake in a review session and your cake came up. I had to show you off! All of my friends adored your creation!
will you still be in school easter weekend?
Oh, no, you threw it away? How could you when it was SOOOOOO beautiful!!! Great story, wonderful looking cake! Cannot wait to see you. We are off to buy shorts, a belt and shirts for Stan for the trip. Hugs, Mom
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