Cakes, Cookies, and Icing!

Don’t forget, more pics are on my flickr page.

July 18/20, 2014

Learning more little by little every day, some stuff is becoming repetitive but that’s good because it helps improve your skills at the task. I’m still helping with orders when I’m not filling our cases. I’m getting the hang of figuring out what needs to be done for the day, how to make the cases look full & more about where everything is located in the Bakery & some items in the Deli. Pies are becoming a more often item to make: Key Lime & Banana Foster. I’m also figuring out the ways to tell who does what cakes/items/desserts by the way they’re done. Even though we all have the same training it’s interesting to see how various the results are.

 

 

July 24/25, 2014

Figuring out and learning more designs for cakes & cupcakes, including colossal cupcakes, stuffed cupcakes, doberge cakes,  & more decadent cakes. It’s fun to see when the kids come into the store & even some adults that get that amazed look on their faces when we have designed items in our pastry case & designed cake case. Our manager came back from medical leave so it’s interesting to see how she runs things compared to the acting manager I’ve had most of the time I’ve been here.

 

July 26 / August 1, 2014

Work has become a little more intense with orders piling in from everywhere. Some days are thankfully slow so you’re able to get cases filled as well. It was my first time ever hearing about a brownie tray, and it was very tedious work, at least that’s how I felt about it. Having to cut the brownies to try and get about the same size out of them all, while placing them into a box and making them all fit. Then after that’s all said and done, going back and icing them one by one. It was fun though to see how it’s done & to have one more thing I can do under my belt. I also got to make a fruit charlotte cake which is an easy fun cake to make with yellow cake, whipped icing and these very soft ladyfingers. The most meticulous part was trying to get that ribbon tied around it and make a bow without it falling or cutting into the ladyfingers too much.

 

 

 

The Decorating Continues!!! …..

Don’t forget, more pics are on my flickr page.

July 7, 2014

Today was another night shift, so the only decorating I did was writing on a cake for a customer. I learned more about the night shift since there was no deli side person assisting, just another baker. I learned about the rotisseree machine & how to put chicken in, season, and pull out. Most of the night consisted of packing bread, putting icing on brownies, cutting items & packing into containers, printing labels, & putting everything out on the shelves. Other than herbie toast which I learned about last night shift, I learned how to make the brushetta. We also went through the fridge & freezer to see where everything is located so I know where it all was if I end up with a night shift alone.

 

July 10/12, 2014

Today I learned more about the different cakes made at the bakery. I learned how to pre-cut a cake when a customer asks for it. First icing the cake then proceeding with plain dental floss to carefully cut through without leaving many crumbs. Afterwards you smooth it out & decorate as usual. I assisted my co-worker Madi with this order by pre-cutting, icing & creating colors. I also was happy to make a customer’s day, which showed how much Disney still sticks with me. I wanted to make a magic moment. The mother called while her daughter was out for the moment & wanted a cookie cake for her daughter’s birthday. It was about 45 minutes before my scheduled clock out time. I told her I would & she was so thankful, it made me smile knowing I helped. She couldn’t believe we would do this for her even though we are supposed to be leaving shortly.  I had a cookie cake made, created colors, & decorated the cookie cake before leaving. I wish I could’ve been there to give her the cake myself but I had to leave. It was a great day.

 

July 15/17, 2014 

It was my father’s birthday today so I decorated a cookie cake for him while at work. Today was another day of a lot of petit fours to put out. Petit Fours are one of the small things that I enjoy doing & decorating.  I was also able to complete another order & made a beautiful color that I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to recreate without testing for a while.  The past couple shifts have been slow, which gives me time to learn more about what we have in the bakery. I’m learning some more tips & tricks of icing a cake along with smoothing it out quicker. Timing is still an issue but it’s improving.

 

More Cakes, etc.

Don’t forget, more pics are on my flickr page.

June 30/July 2, 2014

With July 4th coming up, the bakery has gotten busy with the preparations & keeping the themed items rolling out to the shelves. Constant orders are coming in for cakes for the next few days & our cake order book filling up. We had Thibodaux Regional order a bunch of cupcake cakes that I helped make & put together (see above photo on right). We rolled them over on carts & delivered them. I learned more about designing decadent cakes & special designed cakes to be put in our display case, along with learning about the items that are put out only during holiday season. I’m beginning to see what Madi was talking about the first few days of work, watching and seeing what items are big sellers so you know what to keep up with & put out.

 

July 3, 2014

Having a case to fill in the front gives plenty of opportunity to put out different colored cakes & trying new trims, etc. Today I was shown their technique for creating roses. You take a flower nail, build up icing and then start making the bud & petals. It was surprisingly easy & fun to do & I think I found a new favorite thing to do. I was also shown how to put it onto the cake without messing up the shape of the rose or the cake you’re putting it on. Using a pair of scissors you pick it up & then when close to the cake you close the scissors while pushing with the end of the nail. Leaves are also helpful in covering any mess-ups or gaps. I made more display cakes, like the Almond Florentine, and watched as the cakes I make get sold. It’s such a happy feeling when someone looks at the cake & says how beautiful or cute it is.

 

July 4, 2014

July 4th has arrived & just like I have been hearing from my co-workers the cakes, cookies, cookie cakes, etc. were flying off the shelves. It was hard to keep everything on the shelf as you watched the number of stock dwindle. Our main game plan was to fill as much as possible & make the shelves look full during the time it was getting empty. During all the somewhat chaos I was able to see my manager decorate a cake again & see her artistic vision come to life. The ending cake was so beautiful & the customer loved it so much. I also got to work a decorating shift with Bethany, another decorator, and it was great to see how she does things & keeps up with orders. It was hard to keep up with the time they give you for making cakes but I feel like I’m getting better.

 

Summer Culinary Externship

 

 

 

Below are just a couple pictures from my culinary externship so far, I have more posted on my flickr page. I hope to be able to update more as I can.

June 20, 2014

Started my first workday going over the basics of icing various baked goods including cupcakes, cakes, cookie cakes, etc. I also learned the beginning of the day schedule of checking pulls, getting a list of what’s needed for the day, etc. as well as taking orders & filing them. I was introduced to my coworkers in the decorating area & deli as well as the acting manager & assistant manager. It was interesting to see how things were run, the way the day would progress & be handled as people came into work, went to lunch, left and more came in. My trainer’s name is Maddi, it was great to see the care she took when filling orders & when it was time to clean that she made sure that it was done correctly. She didn’t hesitate to stop what she was doing if someone needed help in the bakery/deli area for a moment. I have a good feeling that I will be learning a lot here.

June 25, 2014

Practiced more of the morning schedule of pulls, getting items from the freezer, cutting cakes, and creating a list for the day. I was brought over more of the basics of piping icing and creating rosettes for petit fours & creating decorated cakes. I learned about the locations of recipes, container lists, etc. for if or when I need them. I’ve also been learning more about my coworkers & how they came to be here, where they want to get to, etc. Some want to go to baking schools in New Orleans, a couple want to move up in the Rouses company, and others are happy where they are for the moment.

June 29, 2014

I wanted to write a little about my trainer Maddie. She is currently working on her degree in Microbiology. She is also a medic in the National Guard. She’s been at the Rouse’s bakery for a while now & is here for her passion in decorating & cakes. She also has plans on trying to make her own cake recipe. Our days of training are almost over and it was a wonderful experience being trained by her. The way she is confident in her decorating & her skills are beyond belief. She always makes sure the decorating area & windows are clean before leaving, never taking the shortcut.

I was trained on my first closing shift, which is mostly packing breads, breakfast items, donuts, cookies, etc. It was nice to see the other side of the day with less people in the area, getting more accustomed to the work areas in the bakery & deli. I also learned about the different breads & desserts that are made here, their names and how they are prepared to be put on the shelves for the customers.

 

 

 

My Sister’s Sweet 16 Cake

Sorry I haven’t been able to update. I have been busy working on the cake during all my free time during the week.

So, my cake came out great! I had tons of compliments from my sister’s friends & a lot of them thought it was bought. It made me feel great!

So I started out my week by making 2 sets of fondant on sunday. My fondant is a basic marshmallow fondant.

On Monday & Tuesday I baked the cakes. I made each tier out of 2 layers of cake with buttercream in the middle. One layer was yellow cake & the other was yellow cake dyed blue.

On Wednesday I dyed one pack of fondant into black & I flattened the tops of the  square layers & put them together. Then I covered it in fondant.

 

On Thursday I covered the top tier in white fondant.

On Friday I took a break & proceeded to get her guest list put together & music.

On  Saturday morning I rolled out my Duffy Fondant that I bought (I bought a small pack of blue & a medium size pack on white to use for decorations). I made zebra stripes, a bow, & ribbon to go around the top tier. I placed those decorations onto the cake for transportation.

When I got to the building for the party I stacked the tiers & put on the finishing touches.

I piped out buttercream dyed blue to write on the top of the cake. I did unfortunately forget how long my sister’s name is so it became slightly off center.

I had to improvise as well do to my fondant letters not wanting to come out correctly, then i went home quickly to get a decorator tool I have, but found out the tube was missing. I quickly found a ziplock bag & put a decorating tip out a small hole to pipe out the letters.

In the center of the cake I put a topping with “16” on it… to complete the saying “Happy Sweet 16 Samantha”.

Finally A New Update!

Sorry I haven’t updated in a long while, a lot has happened in the past weeks.

On October 3rd I received an email saying I have been accepted to the Disney College Program! I will be doing Quick Service Food & Beverage during Spring 2015 from January 12th – August 7th.

I will be trying to get more updates on here from my externship & so far from the classes I am taking.

So I will be opening a second blog to post my DCP Adventures, it’s currently a work in progress:

https://sarabethdcpadventures.wordpress.com

 

Back to School

School begins again in a week & I will be posting more updates again soon.

Sorry for the wait! I will also try to upload more recipes as I can.

Check It Out

I added a new page titled “Final”. Here you will learn about a hobby of mine that I love to do & share.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, school has been hectic. I should be updating recipes soon.

It’s Thanksgiving today! Hope you all are enjoying your day with the family.

For Thanksgiving, last night I made apple pie bites. The recipe is on my recipe page, hope you enjoy!

In Garde Manger…

We had our final project where we made an horderves plate. Our theme was “Welcome to the Tropics”.

Below are links that you can click to view.

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Sausages & Swans

In Garde Manger …

We used what we learned about forcemeat & turned it into sausages. Examples of what we made are boudin, alligator sausage, andouille, & more…

It was gross, but interesting learning about & seeing how hard it is to put it into the casing.

Being from down here in the south, it was great learning about the different sausages that can be used & are used in many of our dishes.

In Baking …

We made pastry swans filled with pastry cream. They were topped with whipped cream & placed on a designed plate of sauces.

Making the caramel was fun, I have been wanting to learn the proper way of making caramel for a while now.