Birthdays and weddings galore!

This last few months have been crazy. It has been wedding cake after birthday cake after wedding cake. As much as I gripe about cakes, I really do think that it is one of my favorite mediums to work with. But for the sanity of myself and Tom, I should definitely keep it down to one special occasion cake per month. Three in one was probably too much for me (and Tom) to handle.

 Scott & Joanne's 30th Wedding Anniversary!

 Paula's Birthday Cake

 Alice & Mark's Wedding Cake. 

My Californian Adventure!

So it has been a REALLY long time since I have written anything.... I apologize to the very few who read this.

A lot has happened since my last post. I am now an official Californian! The moving process went fairly smooth, other than the fact the UPS demolished my KitchenAid Mixer and refuses to pay for a new one. Tom and I are all settled into the house on the vineyard (yup, that's right, a vineyard) but unfortunately we have to move soon. We are attempting to find a place that is within our price range in the bay area/peninsula but that is turning out to be a lot harder than finding a place in NYC was.


Drive out to CA in my Chefs hat








View from my front yard


After my little stint (worst internship ever) in the dungeons of the Jean-Georges pastry kitchen, I honestly thought this is how all pastry kitchens would be. The environment at JG was icy cold to say the least. No one was friendly; I worked (for free) the most ridiculous hours and the whole experience truly made me wonder if my love of baking should have stayed a hobby rather than a career. Then I got an amazing job! I absolutely lvoe it. I am working at Mayfield Bakery in Palo Alto. I've been here for about 2 1/2 months now and have enjoyed nearly every single day (I'm not a huge fan on Cleaning Mondays). I would have to say the only negative right now would be the pay, which is fairly minuscule.

Things I've learned: The sheeting machine makes laminating croissants/puff pastry the easiest thing ever. You don't need pectin if you have apricot seeds. And I can proudly say that I can now frost 6 cakes in 20 mins!




I've been attempting to start up my own little baked goods business, but haven't really been actively pursuing it. The only thing I have right now is business cards, but that's better than nothing right? I made a little potty training cake topper for my little cousin, which didn't quite survive the shipping down to L.A. These past few weeks have been cake mania! Birthday cake after birthday cake, wedding cakes and anniversary cakes. Tom finally got his dream birthday cake: Choc Devils Food cake with Moose Tracks Ice Cream and a whipped cream frosting. And I got my first commissioned cake as a Pastry Chef: a Vegan Lemon Cake and a Vegan Rhubarb Pie! I've only made a few attempts at vegan baking and generally the lack of butter and eggs doesn't satisfy me, but this cake turned out great. I'm putting the funds of this little project towards my "buy a new KitchenAid fund".

In the next couple of weeks I am making another birthday cake, an anniversary cake and my cousins wedding cake. I am not getting paid for these ones, but the pics will add to my portfolio!

I'll keep you posted and add pics once the cakes are done!


Tom's Ridiculous Birthday Cake


Potty Training Cake Topper


Vegan Lemon Cake


Vegan Rhubarb Pie

My list of books

So I am in the process of moving, yet again. I forgot how much I despise moving. I am once again downsizing and tossing the things I really don't need. One thing that constantly seems to accumulate every place that I go is my cookbook collection and my Martha Magazines. Yes, I collect Martha Stewart Magazines. Don't judge, she is a genius. As I am packing up my boxes of cookbooks I noticed a few big gaps in my collection.

The Cookbooks that I want… and So should you!
-Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Vol 1 &2. Julia Child
-Momofuku. David Chang
-Ad Hoc at Home. Thomas Keller
-Crust & Crumb. Peter Reinhart
-The Flavor Bible. Karen Page…
-The Craft of Baking. Karen Demasco
-Dessert Fourplay. Johnny Iuzzini
-Desserts. Pierre Herme
-Amy’s Bread. Amy Scherber
-How Baking Works. Paula Figoni

And the Book of my Dreams!
-LA PATISSERIE DE PIERRE HERME (The Patisserie of Pierre Herme). Pierre Herme

These are just a few on my list. I don't think there is a blog long enough to contain my entire list.

I'm officially a Pastry Chef!

The last six months in pastry school have been an utter whirlwind. Nothing is quite as dramatic as 21 angsty women (and one guy) with knives, boiling pots of sugar and hot trays. People cheated (yes cheated! In pastry school!), stole things and were injured, but all in all, it was an incredibly memorable experience.

This last week was insane. Over the course of our 4 day final exam, we had 2 false fire alarms which caused us to lose about an hour+ of time plus more to regain our mental composure. For our final we had to make 1 cake/tart, 1 viennoiserie, 1 petit four and one chocolate. We also had to create a showpiece to hold these items that followed the theme of “My Favorite City.” During the final lottery I drew, an Apple Tart, Eclairs, Palmiers and Orange truffles. My favorite city, none other than my hometown of Seattle.

It was amazing to have my Mom, Tom and my friends at my graduation. I was so thankful to have people there to celebrate this experience with me. Graduation was unexpected to say the least. I knew that I would win the perfect attendance award, but was totally shocked when my name was called for top of the class and the creative pastry award. I was really happy to have my family and friends there to share that with me.

Wedding cake project: nautical themed (i didnt choose it)

Its already February?!?

I apologize for the extremely sparse/ non existent blog entries
lately. Things have been crazy lately. The holidays were a whirlwind.
I had class on Wed 12/23, flew home directly after class. Work for the
parentals X-mas eve, spent Christmas baking, worked the 26th, hung out
with some good friends, then flew back home first thing Sun morning
the 28th. Then it was back to school on Mon the 29th.

Here are some cakes I made before I left for break from school.











( my first really bad attempt at a basket weave)





Tom got into town just as we were starting the chocolate section. It
was an amazingly delicious mess. I've never been so covered in
chocolate in my entire life. We even made chocolate from scratch (from
the nibs of the beans). Here are some picture from the chocolate
section.


Cocoa Pod with beans

Cocoa beans

Choc Box I made for Tom the Geographer





My choc stand. Ski lift made entirely of choc. ( i even did a wood paneling design for the chair)


Next section was Individual Desserts. Honestly not too exciting. But
here are some picture for y'all to enjoy.



































My favorite section thus far has to be the Sugar section. It was also
our last section in level 2. We played with marzipan, made pastillage
(paas-tea-ahge) which is a sugar dough that dries like clay. Then came
the most excited days when Chef Ron Ben Israel came in and taught us
how to make life like sugar flowers. He is a genius. I did so well
that the Chef thought I had made them before. The most daunting part
of this section was making a pastillage stand that could hold the
weight of a 6" cake. So in 2 days we created a stand, baked and
decorated the cake. I finished as my name was being called for
grading. Just in the nick of time.






















I am now in my 3rd and last level of school. Only 2 months left! Time
has gone by so fast. We are back to doing more chocolate. Its bonbon
time :) I love bonbons



my newly invented recipe: Berry Nutty for You- Raspberry, Strawberry and Nutella


A bunch of Bonbons and caramels



Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake. (hand painted with colored cocoa butter, with modeling choc roses) the picture quality is so wonderful because my awesome roommate Hannah took them

In the midst of all this schooling, i managed to get an internship at my #1 choice restaurant Jean Georges. Its a great opportunity and will look amazing on my resume. I'm not sure if the restaurant line productions is my thing, but it is definitely a good experince. So now that I have condensed almost 2 months into a few short paragraphs. I'll try to be better at updating. Sorry