50th Anniversary Craziness/Christmas Break : )

So, like 6 months ago my mom and I started planning what extravagant cake we were going to create for my grandparent's 50th anniversary. We had tons of ideas but then I moved to Boston...and my flight back to Utah for the big party was the night before. And cakes cannot be super awesome in just one day unfortunately. Anyway, to make a long, tragic, sad, and frustrating story short my flight out of Boston got delayed and I flew into Salt Lake the morning of my grandparent's party and decorated two cakes (which my mom had baked and made frosting for in advance) as fast as I could. We decided to keep it simple since we knew we would be low on time. My plan was 2 tiers, the bottom one covered in gold leafing and the top piped elegantly and painted gold. Well, cake will be cake...which means it does whatever the heck it wants and never what you want it to do : ) ...so here is what everything ended up being!

 

I started the special personalized chocolates a few weeks before I left for Utah. This picture is of the painted chocolate molds.

The finished chocolates : )

 

 ...complete with gold sparkles!

 

the wrapped chocolates! : )

They say

Jack & JoAnne

December 27, 1962

...then just a bunch of lovey words

 This cake was chocolate filled with pastry cream and fresh raspberries

All finished and topped with roses.

 So, we ran out of gold leafing...and it had been ordered special online and so we couldn't get any more of it. Also, when I say gold leafing, I mean real gold leafing. Don't worry, it is edible, but it is also expensive. Anyway, we had to go for the distressed/weathered look since we couldn't cover the whole cake.

 Here is the other cake. Like I said, the plan was to put this one on top of the other one but I just couldn't since the golds didn't match! It irritated me so much! Oh well! I was lucky I even got to be there : ) Oh and this cake is lemon filled with lemon buttercream and fresh strawberries.

The cutest grandparents around! : )

hahaha...my cute cousin Abby LOVED the chocolates.

Beautiful lips eating beautiful frosting...hehehe  ; )

me, Abby, and Bay at the party : )

Well, other than decorating cakes I also went snowboarding over Christmas break with Brai for her first time! Also, we got to go with Jashley for the first time, and Brock and Brenton even tried skiing!

Baking Principles and Viennoiserie: Week 3, 4, 5, and 6!

Because I am more than a class and a half behind I am basically just going to show you lots and lots of delicious pictures of everything I have baked at school since I last posted! : )

 

This class was the block I had before Christmas break and mostly consisted of flour and yeast! haha...that is one of the things I like about breads though, they are enough alike to make them easy to make! It is kinda crazy to me that so many different kinds can be made out of the same 4 ingredients. Anyway, here are some pics! : )

 

 

Challah

I told you before that foccacia was my favorite bread BUT I think that this one might be tied for first! It is sooooo good!

...plus we had a lot of fun yellin "HOLLA" during class!

 

Ciabatta.

 Skybridge sourdough.

Isn't this a cute little bread? So, I have this thing with smiley faces. I can't help but draw them on anything and everything. So, all the production groups I have been in at school are known for the smiley. Like, in this block we were Team F which no one remembers who is on unless there is a smiley face by our label. Anyway, our team started calling our doughs babies and naming them (there was a LOT of down time in the breads class) and so we decided to score this little guy with a face. Our Chef wasn't all that amused...

Cuban Bread

(the traditional scoring this time...no smiley haha)



Pane Toscano





 

 

Baguette

I swear, we made so many baguettes...I don't really know why! We made the original recipe once in class, then again for a practical, then the original recipe again to practice different shaping (as seen below), and then again with a different recipe. THE BAGUETTES, HURRY UP! still comes to mind everytime I see one...



 Pithivier

 This one is pretty fun to make and also to decorate! It isn't all that good though in my opinion. The rich dough crust is pretty tasty but the filling, frangipan, isn't my favorite.

 

 

Stollen

Almost everyone in the class ewed at this bread when we were making it up because it included raisins and candied fruit (which looked a lot like diced red and green peppers)...but it actually is pretty good. I mean, it is a rich dough filled with sweet fruit and covered in powdered sugar! : )

Also, we love to say "who stole our stollen?"...I know, not that funny right? That just goes to show you how desperate we are for a good laugh at school. : ) My teammate Mackenzie would shake her head right about now and say, "aww baker's humor..."



Napoleon

Such a delightful pastry...layered with vanilla and chocolate pastry cream and topped with a sugary glaze. Mmmm...

Palmier

I like these little guys cause they look like hearts. <3



Brioche

Pecan Rolls



Danish

Oh man. If I want to die an early death I will work somewhere where I bake these everyday. So good but so bad.

Fun fact: danish dough is made up of 40-50% butter. 50%!?! HALF? Half the dough is butter!



Oh also, I have another dumb baker's joke for you...everyday before we would work on danish my teacher would say as we were walking out of the classroom, "don't forget to wear your danish shoes tomorrow!"

HAHAHA...I won't lie, sometimes I am the only person who laughs at his jokes.

 

Cinnamon roll

Puff pastries...

 

these ones are called bouchees

 these are turnovers

 

 the white one is a cornet and the green and red is a french horn (it looked like a Christmas tree)

 

 these are just cinnamon braids we made with the scrap dough

 Croissants

Another one of my favorite things in the world. Oh and don't worry, croissant dough is usually only 30-40% butter. MUCH healthier than danish dough...  ; )

Tart Tatin

A weird little puff pastry involving caramlized sugar and apples.