Week 2 with Chef Nicholas was another great experience as we worked on a wedding cake and a winter wonderland plaque. The wedding cake is a different style as far as color goes but then to tame that down a bit, the rest of the cake is kept pretty traditional.
We made a plaque which is a really cool idea because basically it can sit on top of the cake and can be on either a cake board made of cardboard or can be made of edible material such as gumpaste or pastillage. Then when the cake wants to be eaten, the plaque is taken off and can be saved. He said for baby showers he will make a plaque with the child's name and birth date on it and a half 3D baby under a blanket (like the snowman) and then he will give sell the couple a shadow box that has a nail they can then hang the plaque on and keep for forever. I don't like the fact that the one we made is on a cake board but I think it is a really neat idea if it is all technically edible but won't go bad with time. So we made this Winter Wonderland themed plaque. We used a mixture of fondant and gumpaste for all the things on the board. The letters and the snowflakes were all cut out with little cookie-like cutters. The snowman is just built up 50/50 (called 50/50 mix because its half fondant and half gumpaste) that was then covered with little accessories. The moment when I truly appreciated the genius of Chef Nicholas was when we started to work on the scarf. Before each day, he would set a few tools on our table that we would be using during the class period. This day, we got a toothbrush and we were all so confused and he told us just to wait until the demo to see what it was used for. So when he started making the scarf he told us to use the toothbrush bristles to create a wool like look for the scarf. Seriously?!?! Who thinks of that? I was literally awestruck by the smallest thing because it's obviously incredible all of the things he does but its the little stuff that just blew me away.
I can't tell you how many times throughout the two weeks that he said, "so when I was creating this technique/tool...". It is unbelievable to be working with such a person.
The second week we worked on a wedding cake. It was a lot of new and traditional techniques but with a cool color. But the cool part was working on the gumpaste flowers We made three different types of flowers: calla lilies, a mini orchid, and a gardenia as well as some leaves. I really enjoy making gumpaste flowers as it is a very meticulous process and requires a lot of detail and attention but the result looks so good that it is worth it. They can break pretty easily but if they are taken care of then they are fine. Some people only make gumpaste flowers for a living. Chef Nicholas told us how one of his students has kids so couldn't have anything but an at home job so she contacted the local Four Seasons and a few other hotels in the area and provides them with all the gumpaste flowers they need for their cakes since they don't have the time to make them. She makes over $2000 a WEEK!! Crazy huh?! All just making gumpaste flower arrangement. The other decorations are all really simple for the most part. The draping was probably one of the hardest parts but at the same time not too hard. The hard part is that they will all look different because draping drapes differently each time you hang it on the cake. At first I didn't like the look of the cake but it really grew on me as time went on because the color is my favorite color but the look was still traditional which I like.
So back to Chef Nicholas Lodge, when I was talking to him about how I loved blown sugar and other sugar work because I saw a woman on tv do it and he was like well I can just shoot her a text and see if she has any openings. Then we got to talking and he said he has plenty of contacts of big named cake artists in Australia, New Zealand, every state in America, and England obviously. And I'm sure more and more. He is probably one of the most well connected people I have ever met. What a great man and a great week. Also, many of the chefs here are opposed to giving A's because under the A grading it says that the person has perfected the skill and so they say that since we are students, we have not perfected the skill so they won't give us an A. There are four sections and throughout the entire semester I have only gotten maybe 3 or 4 A's in a section so never as an actual overall grade for the week. I think only one kid in the class has an A and he's just really really good at everything. But I got a perfect score with Chef Nicholas in all sections giving me an A+ for two weeks. Also most of the chefs are all about being honest and straight forward. I once brought my airbrushing dots up to Chef Scott and without looking at them he jokingly said they were terrible and then said "just kidding" only to take that back seconds later when he actually did look down and said "actually they are kind of terrible." I mean I definitely want them to be honest but boy are they honest. Good thing blunt people don't offend me much because I would be a wreck in this industry if I got upset about those kind of comments. Some people don't take so easily to those statements. But Chef Nicholas was always saying how for being the first time we are doing something we are doing excellent. He always says that nervous or unpracticed shaking makes things look more antique and adds extra texture, always turning negative things into positive ones. I think we all needed those two weeks of uplifting words to get us through the rest of the semester. It has been absolutely amazing with him and again, I can't wait to work with him in the last two weeks of the program. I'll try to be better at posting blogs and I'm still a little behind so keep looking for posts soon to come! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone and maybe I'll see some of you while I am home.
We made a plaque which is a really cool idea because basically it can sit on top of the cake and can be on either a cake board made of cardboard or can be made of edible material such as gumpaste or pastillage. Then when the cake wants to be eaten, the plaque is taken off and can be saved. He said for baby showers he will make a plaque with the child's name and birth date on it and a half 3D baby under a blanket (like the snowman) and then he will give sell the couple a shadow box that has a nail they can then hang the plaque on and keep for forever. I don't like the fact that the one we made is on a cake board but I think it is a really neat idea if it is all technically edible but won't go bad with time. So we made this Winter Wonderland themed plaque. We used a mixture of fondant and gumpaste for all the things on the board. The letters and the snowflakes were all cut out with little cookie-like cutters. The snowman is just built up 50/50 (called 50/50 mix because its half fondant and half gumpaste) that was then covered with little accessories. The moment when I truly appreciated the genius of Chef Nicholas was when we started to work on the scarf. Before each day, he would set a few tools on our table that we would be using during the class period. This day, we got a toothbrush and we were all so confused and he told us just to wait until the demo to see what it was used for. So when he started making the scarf he told us to use the toothbrush bristles to create a wool like look for the scarf. Seriously?!?! Who thinks of that? I was literally awestruck by the smallest thing because it's obviously incredible all of the things he does but its the little stuff that just blew me away. 
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