Challenge Mondays

In this course, a typical Monday starts off in the classroom, meeting up with everyone after the weekend and looking at what we need to do for the day. During this time, once everyone is seated, Mrs. Nikkel will tell us what our challenge of the day will be. Some days it will be easy, others will be more challenging, but that's the point. These challenges put our technical skills and creativity to the test, seeing if we can create something tasty and pleasing to the eye.
A few weeks ago the challenge was pumpkin. I had never made a cake alone before, so I did just that! I made a coffee infused chocolate pumpkin cake, filled and iced with cream cheese pumpkin  spice icing, topped with chopped up toasted pecans, and a border of pecan halves around the perimeter of the top of the cake. The cake was meant to be rustic looking, it was fall! I was quite pleased with how this turned out and only took me a few hours to make! I will definitely be making this again for Thanksgiving next year for all of my family to enjoy!

Chef's Table dessert

At least once a year you must participate in a lunch called Chef’s table, if you are in the bakery and pastry arts program, you must prepare a dessert that is at your difficulty level and must feed 30 people.

 For my dessert, I made “The Severed Head of Cakenstein”. He is a 6-layer vanilla white velvet cake tie-dyed with various colors for each layer, then filled with vanilla buttercream dyed a light green, then covered in fondant, making it look like Frankenstein’s monster! I had two other smaller cakes served on the side just iced the green vanilla buttercream and topped with green sprinkles He took me about 10 hours to make, but it was a labor of love.

I was so happy that I could practice the skills I’m going to be using for when I open my very own bakery. This course has given me such unique opportunity, letting me have all this hands on learning I need for this practice, and while I’m still in high school! It gives me the confidence I need to pursue my dream of owning my own bakery, and each day I feel one step closer to that goal!

Yesterday I spent a chunk of the day making Candy Apples, which is a thing that I have never made and haven't ever eaten. I really liked the way they turned out, because I thought the colour was very nice shade of red and I loved how shiny the candy was on the apples. It was my first time making these and I don't think its going to be the last time, because I want to try making these again but this time I want to make them I different colour and add some flavour to them and see how that turns out. The only part that was not the greatest was having to clean the hardened candy in the saucepan that I used to make the candy. 

 

The next time that I make candy apples I think I would use popsicle sticks on them rather than lollipop sticks because they get soggy from the inside of the apple and come out.

All Over The Place

In the third month of this semester, time is going by quicker than I expected. I love being here-not necessarily this school- but the class itself. Its funny how I've done things I didn't expect to do and be so comfortable in doing so. I've made so much that its almost crazy. Of course things like cookies and muffins have already been done before but things like bagels, bread, tarts, cakes, and things with French names, those have not been done before. I've become comfortable in the kitchen and comfortable enough to know how to make things that I don't ask for as much help as I did when I first came to join this class. The things that may have annoyed me the most of all were the laminated doughs-Danish, croissant, puff pastry- kneading and kneading until you're numb and your arms are ready to fall off. The outcome is great but the process of it is really tiring. The first time I made bagels they turned out great and beautiful, the second time I made bagels they were wrinkly and we had to use them for bread crisps, and the third time I made bagels they turned out beautiful all over again. I have fun in this class. You always hear the culinary class yelling and banging around, it just seems so stressful and scary. I'm thankful I took bakeshop inside of Culinary. I am to be Dessert Chef for Chef's table next week and haven't figured out what I'm going to make. I'm thinking about it though. As I read this over I realize this post may have been all over this place but nothing around here is always perfectly in order, we always find ways to figure out things anyway. Until next time!

For my first Chefs Table I made Puff Pastry Apple Roses, I was pushing my limits with this because I have never made anything like this before. It was difficult and I didn't do it on my own. Vanessa and Lena helped me, I would not have had enough time if they didn't help. To make the roses I cut the puff pastry into even rectangles, about 2'' by 10''. Then I spread whipped cream cheese with added sugar on the rectangle sprinkled with cinnamon, I put 4-5 apple (that were thinly sliced and microwaved in a bowl with water and lemon) on the puff pastry, folded the pastry in half and rolled them to look like a rose. The first few looked bad but with some practice we got the hang of it. When I baked them I wrapped tin foil on top of the pan so the apples wouldn't burn but with the one pan the tin foil fell off so those were nice and crunchy. I preferred the overbakes ones because the others were too soft, but everyone loved them. I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough, I think I made 32 or 34, there were 4 leftover, and I took them home. I enjoyed making them despite the time crunch, the roses were stressful, I was very proud to be the first Chef to make something like this.

I have enjoyed some of the things I have been able to make since we first started with The Baking & Pastry Arts course. One of which was the Watermelon Macarons. I made these Macarons using a different technique to smoothen them before I let them rest which I thought was a very good new way of getting them smooth. While making them, I coloured them all a light pink and sprinkled them with black sesame seeds to look like watermelon, and coloured the filling green, and added a watermelon flavouring. I had a lot  fun making these because I have never made any macarons not only taste like fruit, but also like it.

Another thing that I really enjoyed making was a Peanut Butter Cheesecake. I really like the way it turned out once it was portioned and decorated. I choose to drizzle it with chocolate glaze because I feel like peanut butter and chocolate fit really well together. I actually enjoyed making this cheesecake so much I decided to make another one at home, and also decided to play around with the flavour and made a second one at home but used Nutella instead of the Peanut Butter, and it was excellent. I put the Cheesecake into the freezer before we ate it so to let it chill a little bit more, and forgot about it. Once I took it out it was almost fully frozen and looked kind of like ice cream and my whole family loved it because it was cheesecake that had the texture of ice cream, but the flavour of Nutella. I really enjoyed making all these cheesecakes and would like to make it again soon.

I have been baking in the Bakeshop for around 2 months now, it has been very great! I have made several things, like pies, baguettes, and lots and lots of yeast products! One of my favourite thing is probably making baguettes and cinnamon buns, because I love working with yeast products, and shaping bread and decorating. You learn lots of things in baking class! Before baking class I always needed help with some of the yeast products, but then after I knew that you need warm milk and warm water to help it form together, I also know how to bake yeast products by myself! but when I started baking in the bakeshop I learned many new things, and after that I wanted to bake at home every day and try out different things, but it doesn't work every day because its so busy and usually when we get out of the bakeshop we are all tired and ready to go home. I also made laminated dough, which is dough for croissants, Danish and puff pastry. I already made those doughs, my croissants didn't turn out as well as my Danish, my croissants were kind of dark and they were kind of elastic, but my Danish had a nice filling inside and a really soft feeling and taste from the outside brushed with a hot apricot glaze on it.

Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon buns 

I made cinnamon buns with cream pan sauce. It was my first time. I used whole wheat and that made my cinnamon buns dense (heavy). I had to roll out the dough into rectangle.It was a little bit hard to roll out. It was thick on one side and I had to make it thinner. My classmate Jada helped me roll up the dough. It is hard to start. I baked it with the cream sauce on the bottom. Mrs. Nikkel helped flip the pan after they cooled. Now all the sticky sauce was on top. I shared with the class. They were delicious.  

Cookies and Brownies

So far I am enjoying bakeshop. I have made cookies and brownies. The cookies and brownies turned
out well.
I am looking forward to trying the different stations and learning to bake many different things,
I like that we can sample the foods we make. The chocolate pudding tasted amazing,
We watched as Mrs. Nikkel showed us how to brown the top of crème brulee. I liked the browned sugar but not the custard.

I am enjoying the Baking class, because you experience different things and get to bake. I baked a raisin pie on Monday and made soup buns on Wednesday and started making Bagels, it is fun, but I always have to make sure the dough is not clumpy, because I need a smooth dough. When I made the raisin pie, the dough was really fine and crack able, so I had to be careful that the pie shell doesn't brake, but the pie turned out good. Once I tries out a Lemon Meringue Pie at home, but the filling was really flowy, but then I found out what my mistake was. I enjoy baking at home and trying out more complicated things, because the more things you try out the better you get. Once we baked cookies at home and then it smelled like something was burnt, and I was right, the bottom of the cake was black, and the inside raw. That was so weird, then we made cookies and they also were in the same situation, so then we didn't bake for a while, but we found out that our oven was broken a bit, but thankfully Sawatzky's Appliances fixed our oven😄. I always work in the kitchen at home and help my mom making cakes. If I am bored and don't know what to do then I go and start baking. My mom is also a great Baker, if she makes something, it goes away very fast, because it tastes good. Usually when I bake something it turns out good, but it doesn't go away that fast(probably because I made it). I am hoping to get better in the future and know more baking methods.

the beginning

I've only been in bakeshop for almost a week and it has been so much fun because I get to do what I love for a whole day, but the one thing I miss is my home school and all of my friends there. So far in bakeshop I have made plain bagels and maple cinnamon bagels and both recipes turned out really well for my first time making them, my family really enjoyed them and they said that I should make them more often and today I will be making chocolate cake hopefully it turns out well.

It’s been almost a week since we started our Baking and Pastry Arts class. We haven’t done a lot of baking yet, but have been able to get to know where everything is and kind of practiced making a few things to sell in the Cafeteria. This week I have made a few things like a really soft and moist Zucchini Pecan Bread, and Chocolate Chip muffin batter.  Nothing too difficult but still something new that I haven’t done yet, the muffin batter was made a different way then I usually do at home, and I have never made a loaf of bread with Zucchini in it, but it’s still always good to try new things.

Being in the Baking program is pretty great because we get to spend most of the day just doing what we enjoy, Baking. By the end of the day we always feel like we accomplished something and had fun while doing so. The best part of getting to bake, is being able to sample everything we make. Today is a new day with many more new things to accomplish today and new things to bake and sample. It’s always fun to spend the day doing what you enjoy.

           

I love to bake, and from what my family has told me I am pretty good at it too! I almost never have trouble baking, but I have never successfully made cinnamon rolls. Until now, yesterday I made cinnamon rolls and they turned out good. They looked good, tasted good, thanks to this course. I hope that as I continue this course I will be able to conquer recipes I could not before, and learn new things along the way. I have always been curious about the science behind baking (why do you use baking powered instead of baking soda, why does the amount of sugar make it chewier, what ingredients make a fluffy cake?) things like that. I would be really happy to learn about the science of baking and maybe, one day, make a recipe of my own. (one that taste good of course!) I am really excited to learn new things, something I have not made before, recipes I can take home and make for my family!

Soup Buns

I enjoyed making soup buns.

The first day I made buns they did not rise.

I forgot the warm water. I used cold water. The 2^nd day I used

warm water. They rose higher. I put them in the oven. The tops

 were brown. My muscles were sore. Good exercise. I was the

boss for 3 days. I had to check if the areas were dirty, full the

poofer with water and turn on ovens.

Life in the Bakeshop

It is currently the fourth day of Bakeshop class and as I’m sitting here composing a blog I realize two things: I’ve never written a blog and I’ve already learnt a lot. the idea of my words being posted on a site for everyone to see is -if not already strange- is a little intimidating. Who knows if someone would be judging!? But since they wouldn’t know who I was and would be reading it on a screen I don’t have to hear it. So, I guess it isn’t too bad, having people read what I write. This school though, is a strange experience. The first thing that happens when you walk through the doors is having people stare at you as the commons area is right in front of you. There are not very many halls yet finding the classroom you need to be in is still confusing. the anthem is played between the first and second periods which is something to get used to. Also, since this school is new to me and not my home school, it leaves you missing the school that you know and the friends that you can hardly see anymore. But in the class, I am learning so much. For example, at the beginning of this week, I made chocolate pudding from scratch for the very first time. I was uncertain in how it would turn out and some small part of me worried about burning it. But when I finished putting it all together, I was surprised-but also pleased- by the outcome. It was rich in flavor and creamy in the mouth. It was delicious. And then yesterday, I made crème brulee. I didn’t know what it looked like, what it smelt like, or what it tasted it. I’ve only ever heard of it. But again, I was pleased with it. I created it and tasted it and it was sweet and quite pleasant. I’ve learned that it tastes better cold, well at least for me. I continue this class hoping that I can learn much more and hoping that I don’t burn anything.😆

The beginning

In the baking and pastry arts program provided by Northlands Parkway Collegiate you can learn technical skills and how to bake simple things from breads, muffins, and cookies, all the way to crème brulee, fancy pastries, and complex cakes. The year 1 curriculum for baking and pastry arts covers a variety of different baked goods and skills you’ll learn and then use onto your own baking. The teacher, Mrs. Nikkel, is heavily experienced in the baking industry and knows what she’s talking about and what she’s doing. So far we’ve only baked buns, breads, muffins, cookies, and other simples baked goods, but they’ve all turned out great! I had made buns the other day in class, and no word of a lie, they were the best buns I had ever had. This course gives you the opportunity to become a better baker and to educate yourself on different methods of mixing and cooking the products. It motivates me to do much more baking at home and makes me even more eager to open my own bakery in the near future! With the guidance of a skilled baker and my fellow classmates, we are able to create beautiful and delicious things for everyone to enjoy.

Blog Start # 6

 

I’m going to write about my lemon Soufflés. My lemon Soufflés because they tasted so good and it turned out to be very good. I didn’t usually eat or like Soufflés but now I like them because of the lemon and the icing sugar. I now will eat them unless there is no lemon in them but otherwise I will eat them so they don’t go to waste like some desserts when they don’t get eaten then they go to waste and that is a bad thing because that makes us lose money and that is so awful. I can’t wait to make the lemon Soufflés again because they taste good and they turn out which that makes me happy.