Aqua and Coral Wedding

 Three Tiered Wedding Cake!

This was my first time doing this much on one cake and I am very proud of it. I always strive for the best, and no matter how hard I work I always seem to be hard on myself.  I know there is always room for improvement and I am glad that I have my chefs behind me showing me the little things that I need to work on!

Valentine's Day Cake and Cookies

This week we covered a dummy cake in royal icing to practice piping. This is a way to display how you do buttercream cakes without having to through them away after something like a bridal show.

The piping we did on this cake is Traditional English style of piping.

Gumpaste rose and rosebud.

L'Art du Gateau

I'm back! I haven't updated my blog in a while because I haven't had any pictures to share, until this week. I started the Cake Program the first week in January and let me tell you, it is a lot different then the Pastry Program. It is a lot more quiet and definitely weird not having my classmates from the pastry program with me. Don't get me wrong, I still like the cake program and the class I have now; but I miss having the class that I had before. I couldn't imagine not doing the pastry program first and not seeing those people every day at 6:45 in the morning.

Anyways, here is what we have been working on the past two weeks. All of these cakes are fake, just so that we can practice decorating. I could not imagine bringing home all of those cakes if they were real. To decorate a real cake, it would pretty much be the same way.

 Tiffany's Box Cake

Vintage Travel Makeup Case 

Baby Shower Cake

(Added a special touch for my cousin Heather who is pregnant! Cannot wait to meet baby Musolino!)

Brush Embroidery

Peony
(Made out of gumpaste)

Graduation

I know that it has been three weeks since I graduated from the Pastry Program, but I wanted to share with you some of the pictures from graduation. The Pastry Program was by far the best experience I have ever had. I met some amazing people from all around the country and event he world along the way. I have also been taught by the most amazing chefs. Each one has their own special way of teaching us, and I know that no matter what I can go to any one of them for help! Some of them, I do not know where I would be without their guidance and advice. The are great chefs, great teachers, and have an amazing sense of humor. No matter who is teaching us, there is always something that is said that is turned into a joke!

I do not know where I would be without my parents. I am so thankful for them and their support.

Chef Sunny Lee; although I only had her for buffet/last week, I will have her in the Cake Program. I cannot wait to learn more from her.

Chef Joel Reno; our class had him for sugar candies, ice cream, sugar sculpture, and entremet(cake) class. He has taught me how to dive deeper into the pastry field and to pay attention to all the detail, more than I have before. While teaching me to dive deeper into the pastry field, he has taught me to be more creative especially when it comes to pairing different pairings together! And, most importantly to work faster.

Chef Megan McCarthy; we had her for our wedding cake module. She has helped me so much the past six months and has pushed me to do better than my best; and when I was hard on myself because I couldn't get something, she was there to help. She is the one who pushed me to enter the Pastry Chicago Brownie Competition and because of her pushing me even though it was a last minute thing, I won 4th place!

Chef Jonathan Dendauw; we had him for breads and breakfast pastries, and petite fours class. There is so much that I have learned from him. I have always loved bread, but I never knew that I would love making it so much. I do not know where I would be without his advice and guidance throughout the whole program. I cannot wait to take the Bread Program in June!

Chef Patrice Caillot; we had him for basics class and tarts. Just like Chef Jonathan, I would go to him for advice for anything. When I was going through the decision making process on whether or not to apply for the internship or the cake program, he made me feel at ease and helped me weigh the pros and cons of each one. Obviously, there are not that many cons for either one. He just told me that I need to think about each one, but not to put too much pressure on myself.

Chef Jonathan and Chef Patrice are the best team! No matter who we have in class, the other is always coming to visit. I can not wait to learn more from  Chef Patrice in the Cake Program and Chef Jonathan in the Bread Program

Chef Jacquy and Chef Sebastien are the co-founders of the school! Our class had them for chocolate showpiece class.

Stream 2 is the best class!

Last Week....Cakes

 I cannot believe that this is the last class blog post of my time here with the pastry program. Next week will be my final week of having exams, it is going to be a very hectic week and then a week later I graduate. I have learned so much over the past six months, it is crazy. I have made some great friends that I will miss so much during my next step in the Cake program. They have definitely helped me get through being homesick, not that I do not still get homesick once in a while. And the chefs; well there is so much to say about each one and how they have helped me along the way. Each one has definitely boosted my self-confidence which is something that I have always struggled with. As I am writing this blog, I am listening to Christmas music and thinking that in two weeks I will be around my family and I am so excited to share with everyone different things I have learned at The French Pastry School! Cannot wait to see all of you! Thank you for being so supportive of me and reading my blog every week! Love you guys! <3

World Cup Cake

 Layers from the bottom to the top: Hazelnut Dacquoise(a type of cake) with caramelized hazelnuts, Hazelnut Mousse, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Mousse, and Chocolate Glaze.

 Nougat Mousse Cake

Layers from the bottom to the top: Pistachio Dacquoise, Apricot-Passion Fruit Gelee, Pistachio Dacquoise, and Nougat Mousse with Pecans, Walnuts, Dried Cherries, and Dried Apricots.

Coconut Passion Cake

Layers from the bottom to the top: Coconut Dacquoise, Passion Fruit Mousse, Candied Pineapple, Coconut Dacquoise, Coconut Mousse.

 Raspberry Silk Cake

 Layers from the bottom to the top: Almond Dacquoise, Hazelnut Crunch, White Chocolate Mousse, Almond Dacquoise, Raspberry Gelee, and White Chocolate Mousse.

Pithivier

(Pit-i-vee-yay)

A traditional pithivier is a puff pastry with almond cream baked inside. You can also add fruit or whatever you like. It would be really good with peaches!

 Raspberry Creme Brulee Macaron

This is just like a bite size macaron, just on larger scale. This time we made a French Meringue instead of an Italian Meringue.  A French Meringue is probably what you are used to making, it is egg whites whipped with sugar. An Italian Meringue is egg whites whipped with a syrup made from water and sugar.

The filling is just like a creme brulee except, it does not have a caramelized top on it. You can do the caramelized top by using a stencil and putting caramel powder in the oven.