Almost There

This spring break, I spent my free time researching about what I should make as my final product for this project, and I think I know what I really want to do. A CAKE! Why not end this school year sweet? I decided that a cake would be the perfect way for me to showcase some of the things I learned during these months. My brother's birthday is on May 7th, I believe, so it's the perfect opportunity to practice. Before, I had wanted to make macarons because I love making them, but I thought that they were too unpredictable; sometimes they turned out amazing, other times, eh. But finally, I've decided. The cake should be light and fluffy, not too sweet. The filling should be sweet and fresh, not cloying. Usually I don't like frosting, but it's kind of necessary in this instance isn't it? And I get to decorate to my heart's content.

I've decided on using smittenkitchen.com's strawberry chiffon cake as my base and reference. Her cake is unfrosted, but mine will, for decorative purposes. I'll have to stabilize the whipped cream in order to not have it melt on me. I think I'll do something fancy with the strawberries, like macerate them in honey or balsamic vinegar. That should be fun.

Next, I'll use SMB for the frosting, which stands for Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I've made it before for another project and it tasted so good compared to the heavy sickly American Buttercream. This buttercream uses a meringue base and that is what makes it super fluffy and silky and not too sweet. 

I wanted to include the aspect of tempered chocolate in here only because it sounds fancy, and I recently discovered the technique of chocolate collars in desserts, and it looks really cool.

But instead of lacy chocolate swirls, I think I'll do something more illustrative with it. 

I think the hard part is going to be using the correct structure since it will be two tiered to feed the class. Transporting the cake is also something I'm worried about and serving sounds complicated. Either way, I'll hope for the best!

Update 4/17

Only two more 20% days, excluding spring break. I have decided on what I wanted to make as my final project for the class. French macarons are probably the only fancy thing I have made that I would be proud enough to share with everyone. Hopefully I will impress and win my grade through their stomachs. I am still trying to create and find different flavors that will spark interest, but I do still have some safe bets.
My favorite is lavender with honey buttercream:

Another is earl grey with the same filling, as it is very complementary to floral flavors.

I can always rely on nutella as a crowd-pleaser.

Maybe plain chocolate or perhaps spicy cocoa or any type of spiced flavor.
Some other ideas I was eyeing was mint chocolate, rose jam, cappuccino, strawberry, and countless others.
I hope this will inspire others to use the kitchen more often, because it's not as difficult as some may imagine.
It's going to be very time consuming to make all these different variations with one stand mixer, keeping in mind that each batch takes 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes drying time, 12 minutes baking, and 10 minutes assembling (5x). May 15th is going to be an interesting afternoon.

Update 4/10

I am actually quite excited to start planning for my 20% project final product, which will be my favorite recipe that I would like to share with the class. Right now, I have a couple of recipes I'd like to try out to see if they would be enjoyable while also being individual for easy consumption. Plus, mini things are always much cuter. What I really wanted to make for the class was french macarons, since they are small and petite, but also very impressive. I wanted to make an assortment of flavors, one of my favorites being lavender honey buttercream. The only potential problem with macarons is that it contains almonds, of which I am not sure who is allergic. I have seen those macaron towers as a way of presentation and perhaps I will be able to make one myself.

Something else I would like to try is mini ice box cakes because they seem so simplistic and elegant.
However, I fear they are a bit too simplistic.

Or maybe, I could make the strawberry icebox cake version and somehow individualize it, since everyone likes strawberries and they are beginning to come into season.

The popular choice, right now, would be the macarons. They are simplistic yet impressive and they sound really fancy. They would be easy to pass out and to eat. But either way, I hope that my class will enjoy what I made.

Update 4/3/14

Nothing really noteworthy occurred this week. I've made a couple breads as usual since I wasn't in a hurry. Strawberries are going into season this month so I seized this opportunity to research a number of strawberry recipes; starting with the strawberry muffins from last week and specifically, icebox cakes. Icebox cakes are typically non-bake recipes, usually using custard or cream to soften layers of wafers, resulting in a soft refreshing dessert. This strawberry icebox cake from thekitchn.com caught my eye and I was actually planning on making this for my brother's 24th birthday in May.

I'm excited about making something for my class as a way of showing my final product. Something I wanted to share is the french macaron because they're so easy to make and distribute, but also quite impressive depending on the flavors and components. Or maybe even these miniature icebox cakes from smittenkitchen.com.

So, hopefully, my peers will enjoy their little surprise, especially during the stress of the finals and their presentations.

What's new? Not Much

This turned out to be quite a stressful week, so I have accomplished not a whole lot. I mainly focused on breads because I was in the mood for some comforting recipes, and making bread is somewhat, therapeutic to me. I love seeing the dough come together with only a handful of ingredients and watching the yeast eat its way to bubbly perfection. One of my family favorites is making Japanese cream buns using this recipe at http://www.the350degreeoven.com/.

I also tried out a new savory Artisan Roasted Garlic- Rosemary bread from thenoblepig.com, which my parents enjoyed with our stew.

As, you can see, I really love making  yeasted breads. There's something that's just so magical and beautiful about seeing shaggy dough transform into a delicious golden THING, especially when fresh out of the oven. If I were to be any type of cook, I would definitely be the baker that wakes up at 4 in the morning just to make bread in time for breakfast. So, not a very productive week, but definitely a necessary one.

Blog #6

What's new? Worthy Mentions? Final Product?

Nothing much. I've been researching a lot of cool new recipes that I wanted to try out, but the fruits aren't in season yet, so I'll bookmark them for later. Today, I made a quick batch of fresh strawberry muffins using my favorite blueberry muffin recipe, and they turned out delicious.

                                                      Image courtesy of Kim-Vi Tran

I have made a second batch of cronuts for some of my classmates to try, because I love making cronuts, even if they are a bit time consuming to make. Every couple of days, I'd make some kind of bread for dinner and toast in the morning. I find making bread to be quite therapeutic and relaxing, and delicious. I've been thinking of a few recipes that I wanted to make and share with the class for our final presentation, as an example of what I really like to make, and kind of a way to bribe them through their stomachs.

Excitements? Worries?

I always get really excited when it comes to baking because it's something I really enjoy. Especially when working with new kinds of ingredients, or unique recipes, I would get super elated to see how they come out. My worries are that I do go through periods of time where I just can' find it in me to bake, kind of like writer's or artist's block. But when I do start up again, I'm on a roll. I always remind myself of the Thursday before holiday break and how in that one day, I managed to make 3 different batches of french macarons, assemble 5 whole gingerbread houses, and wrap over 10 presents. It may not have sounded like a lot, but each batch took about 45 minutes to make, then 30 minutes to assemble, and each gingerbread house to be made, cut, and baked in about 2 hours, plus construction, and wrappings on top. So when I do worry, I tell myself its all okay and then I just wait for my creative juices to get flowing.

K.T.

Update

I've been successfully cloning desserts seen in the bakery, but with a few difficulties.

-http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/  was mentioned in my update video-

I am quite nervous about my update video since my product is essentially multiple products of whatever I've cooked up, and I'm not sure if that would be acceptable as many other projects are simply devoted to one task and end result. What I am confident in is how my project will end and I am excited for the final presentation as I have a nice little surprise for the class if Ms. Weck allows it. And I hope that will successfully exemplify how much I learned in this project and will balance out my update, should anything go amiss. I'm basically learning as I go along and hopefully, it will turn out well.

Blog entry #5

I have stumbled upon two new websites to add to my culinary arsenal.

http://joythebaker.com/  has been extremely helpful with her tips and tricks in the kitchen. Her recipe box covers a very wide variety of foods from breads, cakes, and cookies, to salads, gourmet grilled cheeses, and entrees. The website is really inspirational and inviting. It makes me feel neat and organized when exploring the pages, like a breath of fresh air opposed to the mess downstairs in my kitchen. Her ideas are so unique and refreshing and I love the fact that she's not afraid to really stray from tradition and venture out. It truly inspires me to go nuts and experiment with my ideas. Joy the Baker has proved to be invaluable to my learning and progress.

I have also found http://www.the-baker-chick.com/ to be a nice balance to Joy the Baker's different style. Her recipes are more comfort foods and mostly sweets and breads. I rely on her recipes with anything concerning baked goods like cakes and cookies. Everything about it just SCREAMS sweetness. Her blog focuses on more of an old vintage style to things while Joy is more modern and clean cut. And the rough edges are rustic and warmly welcoming. 

I am so glad that I was able to collect more food blogs for future use as I know that they will be very helpful then and now. 

Entry #4 Lvl: Difficult

One challenge I am facing, as of now, is that I can't find the right recipes to use to replicate the dishes exactly. I have accepted the fact that I cannot make every little detail the same; however, I learned that if I couldn't recreate it exactly, I could try to make my own, better version of the dish. But the main issue is that I am never completely satisfied with whatever I make.

 

 Michelle Phan. "The Sweetest Thing." YouTube. YouTube, 02 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

Kind of like her, I see something at the bakery that I'm really excited to make, and I love the process of actually baking and cooking. But, after all is said and done, I just find it 'meh'. It's like you want something you can't have, and once you have it, you get bored and don't want it anymore. I was craving brownies this week and thought it was a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone to make the vegan ones they sell in the shop. And while I was measuring and mixing, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the dense chocolate confection with some cold milk. And when they came out of the oven, my craving went away -poof-, along with my excitement. I think that I crave making it more than consuming the actual food itself, and that is something that could get in the way, but I refuse to let my perfectionist personality get in the way.

The Road So Far...

Since the last time on this blog, my project has been accepted and I have kept busy with experimenting with trending treats from the culinary world.
Things I have made this week...
1. Dark chocolate macarons with ganache filling and Lavender macarons with honey buttercream

I have seen and eaten these petite French cookies from my local patisserie for my mother's birthday. I have made these as holiday treats for my schoolmates and have recreated them again for the purpose of this project. The only tweak I made to the original store bought, plain lavender macaron, was the filling, as I thought that the honey would suit the floral lavender flavor better. I was concerned for the dark chocolate cookies because out of the oven, they were way way waaay too brittle, but a simple overnight rest with the moist filling "ripened" (I believe that that is the correct term for it) the macaron to a delectable, chewy texture.
2. Breads
While I did manage to snap a picture of my flour encrusted sweater after kneading the dough,

I didn't get the chance to take a picture of the actual bread because of my very famished family. They ate my bread with their ramen noodles! So, that'll be another blog post.
3. Apparently the ultimate vanilla cupcake

                                                                    my "blue print"

This was inspired by the beautiful cupcakes at the local bakery. I definitely saw flecks of vanilla beans, despite the glass window in the way, adorned with a pretty "rose" frosted top. This was a basic cupcake recipe, using butter instead of oil, and vanilla beans instead of extract. It was nice, very vanilla-y, but I think cupcakes simply aren't my forte, even if it's quite simple.

P.S
I learned that notes aren't very helpful to me when it comes to the kitchen, but pandora does :)

The Pitch

The Pitch

I want more of my generation to be interested in what happens in the kitchen.

- I am not really sure about my pitch because it's not like other's where their project is to produce something or help others. My project focuses on proving something, making a point. So I hope that's okay for me to be a little bit selfish this time. I'm not sure if my project is something you will accept. I'm scared that no one's going to really take interest in what I'm doing. I have no idea why other's should be interested in my project, but I just really really want to inspire people my age to venture beyond the box mix cupcakes and cookies. You don't need to have formal training to do what I'm going to attempt to do. So if I succeed, I just want everyone to know that if I can do it, they can do it too. And that applies to everything. You don't need to take lessons or classes, it's trial and error, that's life. You can do anything you put your mind to.

Entry #1 My Thoughts

   Hmm, what do I think of the 20% project so far? 
         I think it's an amazing idea to give the students the excuse to do something they are passionate about during school time because we students really lack positive motivation to keep on going. It's always, "I have to do this because it will look good for college," or, "I have to do this to make my parents happy." I have never seen someone do something simply because they want to do it for themselves when it comes to academics. My non-academic interests lay in baking, a daunting, but very rewarding hobby. Whatever project I choose to do, it will always be something culinary related, because then, I know that I will be giving it my best. I hope to use this project as an opportunity to learn more about the professional side of the culinary arts and to prove to myself and others, that you don't need to have graduated from Cordon Bleu to create gourmet foods. I have found that whenever I am in need of a very dependable recipe,  http://www.thekitchn.com/, always has what I'm looking for. It is my ultimate culinary mother load that I will need to use during the project. http://www.the-baker-chick.com/ is also one of my main sources for desserts, which will come in very handy since baked goods are part of my project. I have found these two websites through trial and error when testing recipes, as theirs were the most  dependable and uniquely special, making them invaluable to my learning. Hopefully, this project will give me the chance to grow in knowledge, and as a person.