First Couple of Days

                           First couple of days in the bakeshop    

                   The first couple of days has been very new and exciting!

 when we first came in to the bakeshop we had to try to get used to the surroundings. in the first couple of days I was in the yeast station and still am. I have been baking all sorts of good stuff like soup buns, bagels, cinnamon buns and also pretzels.  this is going to be an interesting and fun learning experience. the teacher and the students are great. I'm hoping to learn lots of cool and exciting things this semester.

sour cream lemon pie

Today I finished making sour cream lemon pie and it turned out great. I added sour cream to the filling. i whipped the whipping cream firm and added icing

First Week

          In the classroom we have been covering some basics in food safety and have begun our firsts blogs. In the bake shop I have made three items thus far. Apple Crisp was the first; I mixed the doughy batter for too long, though it seemed to only affect the texture and not the overall flavor. Chocolate Sauce was the second; no major mistakes were made, though I was quite surprised with how much the whipping cream expanded when it was simmered. I really liked how well it turned out, the steps were few, and there were only three ingredients. Cake Pops was the third, I did not make the cake pops just melted the white chocolate and added the sprinkles. The way I was told to melt the chocolate though was quite interesting, I had to place the chocolate in a metal bowl and place it over a pot of hot water. I have melted chocolate by pouring or adding a hot substance with the chocolate, or just putting the chocolate in the microwave, so it was interesting to learn yet another way.

          Getting use to a new kitchen always takes me a while, the bake shop is no different. Though it is very organized and while I like to think I know where most of everything is I still have to be told or reminded.

          The people in this class are all very kind and helpful and complementary as well as our teacher/chef. I do hope I can mirror their kindness.

          The bake shop is a nice place to work in. Everything is neat and tidy, the windows let in a great deal of natural light which I glad for.

          While I tend to be tired from the work we do in the mornings I am sure I will get used to it soon enough. This semester is looking to be a good one.

The first week in baking was quite interesting because I got used to wearing a bakeshop uniform and working neatly in a certain space as well as using various sorts of methods and tools. Everything here is so much different than at home! We must stay very clean whenever we’re in the kitchen, begin with copying the recipe we’re writing into our notebooks, and scaling out all of our ingredients. The good thing in baking & pastry  is that you have to clean up after yourselves, that I actually had to get used to. First week is over and I have already learned so much I already made soup buns, breakfast buns, Bagels, Soft roll dough (mini loafs), Amish style Pretzel, pizza dough, and helped making cinnamon buns. It is so fun baking if you understand what you have to bake and if it turns out well. Something that I learned already is how to roll the dough so if you put it in the proofer that they rise all in the same time. At home we never rolled the dough like I do now, its way easier and faster too. When I took this baking course my mom was so worried that I would get fat, and it’s not true at all since we don’t eat everything we bake we freeze it or it comes to the cafeteria right a way. This baking course is a million times better than sitting in a classroom and learn about the 19^th centuries, or learning English. If you don’t like those courses you have you must take baking & Pastry its easy, awesome and fun. At first I was so nervous taking this course because this school was brand new for me, and I didn’t have any friends, but you make friends very quickly.

When I first heard that I got into Baking and pastries I was finishing my Geo exam and in desperate need of good news. Which I got!       

Ever since the beginning of grade 9 I’ve wanted to open a café and have many delicious treats, so when I heard you could take a class that you could teach you just that I just had to sign up.  Even though I have a set back with my other classes, I’m super excited for everything that I’m going to learn throughout the semester and I’m so glad that I have all these people that I can share it with.

So far in the bake shop I’ve just been in the yeast station. I’ve made bagels, soup buns, and cinnamon rolls. It’s been a little hard for me, I’m used to just making one thing every once and a while, at home for just my family, but here you’re making 2-3 recipes every day for hundreds of students! I’m hoping as the days past I’ll get faster and be able to make and finish more food.

My First Blog Post

Today was the last day of our first station. I was in the cookie and squares station and up until today I had only made chocolate chip cookies. I also made the dough for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies yesterday. I had to scoop out the dough and make them into balls using the cookie scoop today. I still haven’t baked them yet but I can’t wait to see how they turn out. I also made brownies. Again I haven’t baked them or made the icing. The next person on the cookies and squares station will have to. I can’t wait to see what my next station will be.

When we get to the bakeshop in the morning we have to be in full uniform and have washed our hands. Then if we start a new recipe we have to copy it done in a notebook. After we scale out ingredients and follow the recipe. Its exciting when you take out your product from the oven and having it just like you wanted it.

I can’t wait to see what else I get to make in the bakeshop. I’m looking forward to making cake and cupcakes. I love decorating them. I really want to learn how to make macaroons. I love working in the bakeshop. It took us awhile to figure out where everything is. I still don’t. I have to learn how to work a little faster because at home you can work at your own pace and usually that is slower than here. I can’t wait to try out my new skills at home. It’s really challenging trying not to lick the batter just a little bit (which I do often at home). I’m excited to make lots of new recipes. I’ll share my experience with you through posts, pictures and maybe videos.    

First Week at the Bake Shop

My first week at the bake shop has been a lot of fun! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect coming into this class but it’s been great so far. If your someone who loves baking and hates to sit in a classroom it’s perfect for you. I was quite nervous coming into it because I had no friends but you make friends quickly. It’s such a fun experience. The first day everything looks complicated but you learn quickly how to do things and where to find things. It is disappointing when you make something and it doesn’t turn out like you wanted it to or how it was supposed to, but It’s just that much better when you do it right. A great part of being in the baking program is getting a free cafeteria special each day, the one part I don’t like about it is all the cleanup that has to be done everyday and having a different lunch period then everyone else because I like to catch up with my other friends outside of baking. The things I have made so far are chocolate chip muffins, Banana chocolate chip muffins, zucchini pecan loaf, Double chocolate chip muffins and cheese scones. I really have enjoyed making these things and I’m excited to be doing cookies tomorrow. I think this semester is going to fly by instead of sitting in a boring class learning about stuff you don’t care about and looking at the clock every 5 minutes you get to be busy working in a bakeshop making all sorts of different things from cakes to yeast products and many other recipes. The day goes by very quickly. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester and hopefully next year as well!