Finishing up 1st semester & photo update!

Part of the curriculum at the CIA includes going on an externship after your second semester. My externship will land December 2012 to May 2013. I just completed my first semester here and with a Career fair next week, externship doesn’t seem very far away. I will be applying to many places but my top two locations are: Disney World FL & Yosemite  National Park in California.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday I have my 2nd Skills Verification test in Bakeshop 1. It is like a mini version of the practical exam we have to take. We are given a time limit with specific items to prepare and we are judged on performance and quality. After that I will begin semester 2! for the next 15 weeks I will be taking 7 classes (18 credits). 5 of those classes will be 5 days a week for 3 weeks, moving on to the next after completion.There will be Classical Cakes, Principles of Design, Cafe Savory (culinary class for baking), Hearth Breads & Rolls, and Pastry Production! The other two classes will be a writing class and management class. This is a faster schedule than last semester but I’m so excited!!!

Picture time!

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This last photo was taken during Grand Buffet. This is the prettiest cake ever!

Photo Update

Adventures at the Culinary Institute of America. Part 1

I’m finally here! I moved into my dorm April 16th. So far things have been amazing! I was so overwhelmed with excitement that all my nerves were gone as soon as I finally got here. I don’t even know where to begin. The campus is beautiful! The food is amazing! Everyone is so friendly! I had no idea how diverse this school would be. It’s so interesting to meet so many different people. I just had my first week of classes. They just stared a new system so I get to take cooking & academic classes at the same time. I couldn’t help but relate everything to Harry Potter. Roth hall is way too similar to the Great Hall. We even had a fitting for our “robes” (chef whites).

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View from behind the dorms.

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Some of desserts I have had!-
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My homework! (Making marzipan roses)

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The cake is a lie

A lot of the projects I have been doing lately involve some of my favorite video games & superheroes! I’ve always loved to play video games, so incorporating it into art and baking is fun! This post is going to show 3 different projects.
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The first one is a painting I made for my boyfriend.
It’s from the game BioShock and the character is called a Big Daddy. This took me a long time! I probably spent around 25-30 hours spread out over the course of a few months. When I first started the painting I got discouraged when I had spent almost 8 hours on it and it still didn’t look like much. I went a long time without working on it but eventually I decided I HAD to finish it. I’m glad I did because I love it!
I used gouache, as usual. I should try painting with other types of paint, but I just love it so much. I painted it on a 12×16 canvas. That’s a big reason why it took me so long to complete it. Gouache is really watery so I had to let it dry before adding the next layer. I need to invest in some watercolor paper!

(here’s a close up)
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Next are Spiderman cupcakes that I made for a coworkers son.
I made over 50 little Spiderman faces out of fondant, and painted on the details with food coloring to place on top of each cupcake. 25 were red velvet and 25 were white cake dyed blue. For the frosting I made cream cheese frosting and sprayed them with Wilton Color Mist in blue and red.

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The last project was my Valentines gift to my boyfriend.
It is from another video game that we like to play together, Portal. These cupcakes are mini replicas of a cake in the game. We made the cake together a long time ago before we stated dating (the picture at the top of this post), so I thought this would be a cute Valentines gift.
I made chocolate fudge cupcakes and cut the tops off of them, then I put cream cheese frosting in between two of them to make mini cakes. I frosted them with chocolate frosting then rolled in grated chocolate. Instead of using whipped cream for the top, I used the cream cheese frosting again. I used cinnamon Red Hots for the “cherries” and stuck a candle in the center to complete it! It was simple and very delicious. I thought they kinda tasted like a Hostess cupcake, but not as sugary.

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Teacups & Roses

As much as I love flowers and cupcakes, I have never made a flower out of frosting. After watching many videos on youtube, I went out to buy some new icing tips and a flower nail kit. I made a batch of cupcakes, grabbed my buttercream and set out to master this technique. It actually turned out to be easier than I thought! Maybe all the time I spent making flowers out of play-doh with my little sister paid off! I think they came out pretty good for my first time. I’m very excited to make more like this! Here are some pics:

Christmas Cupcakes!

Long time no post, but just in time for Christmas!
I made some mini red velvet cupcakes yesterday, topped with home-made cream cheese frosting. I recently discovered the recipe and I won’t ever be going back to store bought cream cheese frosting again!

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Merry Christmas! 

Etsy Shop Open!

As mentioned in my pervious post, I am going to start selling art on Etsy. I just posted my first item here! A cupcake painting, similar to the ones I did last time. This one is light pink and blue, with a yellow background. Its pretty soft and simple looking, but I really like it. I’m working on making another with a more detailed background.
I am planning on adding more items over time, such as polymer clay goodies and other cute paintings!

Here is the link to my Etsy shop!

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