Culinary School - GRADUATION!

I did it! Yesterday I graduated from culinary school with a certificate in Professional Baking & Pastry. The ceremony was held at The Masonic Temple in Detroit and I graduated with honors!



I met many great people during my time at The Art Institute and here are two of my closest friends, Malissa and Heather. We were in every single class together and I will miss seeing their smiling faces each week!


Shaking hands with the Dean...


Walking down the aisle at the end of the ceremony. It's official...I'm a graduate!


The Baking & Pastry graduates...


The man I couldn't have done this without. He's the one that encouraged me to follow my dreams, sign up for culinary school, and supported me 110% the entire way.


It feels good to be done. It was such an amazing journey but I now look forward to using all of my new skills at my new job at the bakery. This new chapter in my life has been very exciting so far and I can't wait to see what the next 5 years have in store for me.

Culinary School - Finals....Part 2

I am officially done with culinary school. My last final is over and all my grades have been submitted. I ended this quarter with all A's. That means I was a straight A student during my entire time at The Art Institute of Michigan. But more importantly, I had so much fun and learned a TON! I stepped out of my comfort zone (after being a stay-at-home-mom for 5 years), replaced my jeans and t-shirt with chef whites and non-skid shoes and went after my dream. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED and boy does it feel wonderful!

Here's a quick look at my final for Artisan Breads. My group had to make 8 different doughs and shape then accordingly. We made: Challah, Soft Rolls, Baguettes, Regular Sourdough, Sourdough with Cheese, Olive Sourdough, Monkey Bread, and Portuguese Sweet Bread. Once all the bread was baked and cooled we had to set up a display and talk to the chef individually about each bread that we made. My group worked so well together and we ended the class with a bang! Check out all of our bread! We had so much bread that I couldn't even fit it all in the picture!



Graduation is this Saturday! What an exciting day it will be. Stay tuned for some graduation pictures...

Culinary School - Finals....Part 1

It's finals week! I will graduate this Saturday with a Certificate in Professional Baking & Pastries. It's a one year program and that year could not have flown by any faster!

For the final in my Showpieces class, we were paired in small groups and had to create a themed showpiece out of "dead dough". The dead dough contains no yeast so what you see is what you get...the bread looks the same before and after you bake it in the oven except with some browning. Dave and I choose an African theme. Our showpiece includes a drum, tooth necklace, totem poles, shield, feathers, and a giselle head. In the picture it is hard to see how big it is but it was tall!



Another view plus a couple of pieces that my classmates made:


For my Advanced Cake Decorating class we had to create a 3+ tiered wedding cake in fondant. I went for a more non-traditional cake and here's how it turned out.


Stay tuned to hear how the rest of finals week goes...

Culinary School - Weeks 9 and 10 (Bread Class)

It's been a couple weeks since I last updated you on my culinary classes. I am on the home stretch and will graduate in exactly ONE WEEK!!!!

Two weeks ago in Artisan breads we made: Croissants, Whole Wheat Croissants (half filled with ham & cheese and the other half filled with spinach & feta cheese), Danish, Egg Bread, Challah, Pain au Lait, and Marbled Rye. We got to practice braiding the bread with 2, 4, 5, and 6 strands. With the croissants we learned how to use the sheeter to roll out and fold the dough several times creating flaky layers.



Last week in bread class we made a German bread called Kugelhopf and an Easter favorite, Hot Cross Buns.



Next came the fun part! We each made a batch of decorative dough and created individual bread centerpieces. We were allowed to create anything we wanted. He's my creation:


With the use of a checkerboard pattern, a 3 strand braid, and rose with leaves - all made out of bread, I was able to create this awesome centerpiece. It was a blast!


Stay tuned for an update on my Show Pieces and Advanced Cake Decorating classes. Finals are next week too!

Culinary School - Week 7

Last week in Artisan Breads we learned all about Rye breads. I was quite surprised that I actually liked a couple of them. I've never been a big fan of pumpernickel bread but I gave it a try in class and it was pretty good! We made Sourdough Rye, Two Castle Rye, New York Rye, Pumpernickel, Volkornbort, Honey Rye, and completely unrelated...French baguettes that we shaped into Pain d'Epi's.



We went into school an extra day this week and also spent the ENTIRE day on Saturday preparing for a chocolate competition at MSU in Lansing, MI. The theme was Cabinets of Curiosity and the minimum height requirement for the showpiece was 30 inches. Originally three teams from our school were going to compete, but with a time crunch at the end, and some very important pieces turning up missing, we ended up joining forces and only one team went to the competition. Here are some of the chocolate pieces made by my classmates...


Here are 175 earl grey tea truffles dipped with white chocolate that I made for the competition...


Both students and professionals were able to enter this competition. One of my chefs {teacher} ended up getting 1st place with his entry below.


And the group from my class ended up in 3rd place.

Culinary School - Week 6

Today in Cake Decorating class we reviewed our homework...buttercream roses and gum paste roses.



Then we practiced making our first person/figurine out of gum paste. Our teacher instructed us to have our gum paste person resemble a cartoon character of ourselves, but my woman was slowly turning into a 90 year old lady with wrinkled skin and all so I went with the flow and gave her a granny dress and put her hair up in a bun. Sorry I don't have a picture to show you. It's probably for the best because she was pretty funny. It was my first time however, so I imagine I can only improve from here on out.

During breads class this week we focused on whole grain breads. Several of the recipes called for "soakers". The primary function of a soaker is to soften uncooked coarsely ground grains by soaking them first in water. We made (in no particular order) Multigrain Sourdough, Whole Wheat Sourdough, Sesame Sourdough, Semolina Bread with Whole Grains, Semolina Bread with Fennel, and Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal bread. We also learned a few new ways to shape the bread: Tabatere "looks like an old tabacco pouch", Pain d'Aux "looks like a bow tie", and Viverais.



COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION: 5 WEEKS!!!!

Culinary School - Weeks 4 and 5

I'm a bit behind in keeping you up-to-date about culinary school. During the last couple of weeks in Cake Decorating class we were introduced to fondant. What a neat medium to work with! We practiced making roses out of gum paste and also had to decorate a cake with fondant. Each student was assigned a certain cake to decorate (anniversary, baby shower, bridal shower, graduation, etc). I was assigned a 3-tier bridal shower cake and the colors had to be pink, grey, and black. It was up to me to sketch a draft and recreate it during class. Here's my cake. I was very excited about it...very clean and modern...just my style!



In Artisan Breads class we made Whole Wheat Sourdough, Olive Sourdough, Hawaiian Sourdough, Pan de Ciocclate, Sweet Rustic w/dried cherries, Normandy Apple and Sourdough Raisin two weeks ago. Last week we focused on flat breads and it was also our midterm. We made lavash, pita, bagels, pretzels, conchas, grissini, and more sourdough.



For my Show Pieces class we are still working on our chocolate show piece for the upcoming chocolate competition.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Culinary School - Week 3

This week in Artisan breads it was all about Sourdough breads and levains. A levain is a type of preferment used in sourdough breads. We shaped all the loaves in boules and batards.



From top to bottom: Sourdough with cheese, dinner rolls made with scraps of leftover dough, sourdough that we let proof inside of a smoker, regular sourdough, whole wheat sourdough, roasted garlic sourdough and potato sourdough.



For homework, we had to take two loaves home and eat bread! (Sounds tough, right?) Then I had to write a paper describing the taste, texture, crumb, etc. of the breads. I chose my favorite two...Sourdough proofed in a smoker and sourdough with Parmesan cheese.

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Yesterday in Show Pieces we continued to work on our pastillage music centerpiece. We are putting this project on hold now and working on a Chocolate show piece. There are several groups in our class that have signed up to be in a Chocolate Competition this February in Lansing, MI so we need lots of time to work on our pieces for that.

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In Specialty Cake Decorating, we had to draw a sketch of a 2-tier buttercream cake for a 5-year old's birthday and then decorate it on two dummy (styrofoam) cakes. I choose to do a Minnie Mouse cake.



Next week we are learning about fondant and I have to decorate a bridal shower cake. It has to be 3 tiers with the colors of pink, gray, and black. I'm looking forward to it!

Show Pieces & Cake Decorating - Weeks 1 & 2

On Saturdays, I have two classes: Show Pieces and Specialty Cake Decorating. I don't have any pictures to show for my Show Pieces class but we were broken up into groups of 3 and are working on a large sugar centerpiece. The theme is Music so we worked diligently last week making lots of pastillage and cutting out lots of treble clefs, records, piano pieces, and such. They will be assembled over the next couple of weeks so I'll be sure to show you a picture once it starts coming together.

I am absolutely in love with my Specialty Cake Decorating class. I figured I would either hate cake decorating or love it and to my surprise, I LOVE it! I've had little experience thus far with cake decorating except for a few in a previous class and just playing around at home so I am like a sponge in class and trying to learn anything and everything I can, making sure to ask lots of questions. This is a very small class (7 people) so there is lots of opportunity for one-on-one instruction from the chef.

The first week of class we made a ton of yellow high ratio cakes to last us several weeks of decorating. We also made the largest batch of buttercream icing I've ever seen. At the end of our first class we practiced piping a bead border and writing Happy Birthday on parchment paper.

Week two was our first attempt at decorating a cake, trying to get the sides as straight and smooth as possible. We would ice a cake, get the chef's approval, then scrape off the icing and do it over and over again. You know what they say..."Practice makes perfect!" We also learned how to do a shell border and a reverse shell border in week 2.

Here is my reverse shell border.


And here is the cake that I decorated about 4 times. :) For practicing purposes, we just used all white buttercream. I still have lots of room for improvement, but I was very happy with how it turned out and had a lot of fun in the process.


Towards the end of class we learned how to make roses with buttercream. Part of our homework is to practice making roses at home. Next week we are going to decorate a cake for a 5 year old's birthday and then it's on to learning about fondant. I can't wait!!!

Culinary School (Artisan Breads) - Weeks 1 and 2

Look at all that gorgeous bread! I've completed the first two weeks of my Artisan Breads class and so far it's been a blast! It's my favorite class so far! Perhaps because I am a huge carb lover!

The first week of class we made two types of Baguettes, Bacon & Onion Bread, Bialy ("poor man's bagels" topped with caramelized onions, garlic, and poppyseeds), and Fougasse with olives.

The second week of class (and when I remembered to take pictures) we made Baguettes, Ciabatta Bread dusted with cornmeal, Filoncini Burro Y Nocci, Foccacia with roasted green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese, Italian Rustic Boules, and Golden Raisin & Walnut bread. All the breads were made using either a Poolish or a Biga pre-ferment.

My Artisan Bread class is 8 hours long (2pm-10pm) so we literally get to bake all afternoon/evening! Next week we are learning all about sourdough breads! Can't wait!!!

From top to bottom: Baguettes, Ciabatta, Foccacia w/green peppers, onions, mushrooms and parmesan cheese.


From top to bottom: Italian Rustic, Golden Raisin & Walnut, and Filoncini Burro Y Nocci.


I love bread!!!

Culinary School - Finals are Over!

Yesterday was the last day of my finals for this quarter. I am officially on a 3 week break! Woo-hoo!!! For our last day in Chocolate and Sugar class each person had to create a chocolate and sugar centerpiece.

Here's my chocolate centerpiece. Requirements included: textured base, 4 piece base structure, crescent, 3 spheres of 3 different sizes with coloring, and a rolled chocolate flower on top. It also had to be at least 12 inches high. Other than that we were left on our own and told to be creative and have fun with it. My centerpiece turned out really well and was chosen to be put on display in the hallway for all the school to see.


Sugar class proved to be quite frustrating for many of us. Requirements included: bottom base with two sided structure, two pulled flowers, rock sugar, and some type of casted or poured sugar (I made sugar twirls). I ended up with a big blister on my thumb from pulling the hot sugar (in order to make flowers). My big flower also shattered while I was assembling my piece. That was very disappointing considering the amount of time it took to make. Even with that said, I am proud of what I created. And more importantly I ended up with A's in all 3 of my classes!


Here's a closer look at my pulled flower. Remember, everything in this centerpiece is made out of sugar {and isomalt} and is completely edible. If you look closely on the left side of the picture, you will see my large purple flower that shattered. Luckily, my small yellow flower stayed together!

Culinary School - Finals!

Finals are in full swing at culinary school. It's been an exhausting last couple of days. Friday night we had fun at my hubby's company Christmas party. Then just a few hours later I had to wake up at 4:30am in order to leave the house by 5am for my first set of finals! My chocolate final started at 6am on Saturday. We had a 15 minute break for lunch and then my sugar final began. Didn't get home until 6:30pm and by then I was completely wiped out!

I couldn't be happier with how well my chocolate and sugar finals went. There were written finals at the beginning of each and then on to the practicals. Here are my chocolates that I presented to the Chef at the end of the allotted time frame.

Orange Grand Marnier rolled truffles in the chocolate bowl, molded PB chocolates colored with orange, and Palet Or hand dipped truffles textured with gold straws.

Culinary School - Week 8

This week in Advanced Cakes & Classical Tortes made more mini desserts and then plattered them up as you would for a dessert buffet service. We made the following items (those in bold are what I made):

1. Fresh Fruit Tarts
2. Opera Torte Squares
3. Dobos Torte Squares
4. Chocolate Mousse Cream Puffs
5. Fresh Fruit Cream Puffs
6. Mini Chocolate Flourless
7. Frozen Mousse
8. Mini Shooters (I made Red Velvet cake shooters)
9. Mini cherry pie
10. Mini Apple Pie
11. Mini key lime pie
12. Mini Lemon Meringue Pie

I also made a large cheesecake this week but we wrapped it up to freeze and will use it next week. Here are some pictures from the day. I don't have Chocolate or Sugar this class because of Thanksgiving so I will be enjoying the extra time off with my family!

Culinary School - Week 7

This week in Advanced Cakes & Tortes we made: Beignets (just a fancy word for doughnuts), Dark Chocolate Mousse, White Chocolate Mousse, Tuile cookies, and a variety of sauces and sugar pieces for garnishing. We spent a large amount of time working on plating and making our desserts look beautiful.

Here are the desserts that I plated up. From left to right: 1) Chocolate Flourless cake with chocolate ganache garnished with a fresh strawberry, sugar piece, tuile cookie, and raspberry sauce. 2) Dark Chocolate Mousse sitting on a sweet dough crust, garnished with a sugar piece, fresh strawberry, creme anglaise and strawberry sauces. 3) Apple Streudel garnished with mint leaves, fresh blueberries, sugar dome, and caramel sauce. I had piped out a pretty design with the caramel sauce but the viscosity was not thick enough so it kind of ran together.

Culinary School - Week 6

Week 6 out of 11. Classes are more than half way over already. Unbelievable! I don't have any pictures to share from my Advanced Cakes & Tortes class last Monday. We made chocolate flourless cakes, chocolate ganache, apple strudel, apple streusel topping, pastry cream, white chocolate mousse, dark chocolate mousse, strawberry ice cream, raspberry ice cream, salted caramel ice cream, raspberry sauce, strawberry sauce, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, crème anglaise sauce, and blackberry sauce. Basically we did all the prep work and all the leg work for this week's class where we will focus solely on plating some beautiful desserts. I can't wait and will have lots of pictures of all my platings for you.

In chocolate class this week we learned how to make Hand Dipped Chocolates. It was a lot of fun. I made Palet Or hand dipped chocolates. They were so rich and so wonderful! Notice in the picture how the front 2 chocolates are a lighter brown color and not as cleanly dipped? That's because my chocolate came out of temper at the very end of my dipping. Chocolate is very high maintenance, if you will and very challenging to keep in temper. Once it's out of temper it does not harden quickly and doesn't have the crispness and sharp appearance.