Endurance

People ask me all the time: “What does it take to get good at making cakes?”.  The answer came to me this week as I ran my first 8-mile training run for my first half marathon:  ENDURANCE.  As with any craft, learning to decorate a cake well takes repetition over a long period of time.  But what defines this period and  when does one practice one’s craft?  Before work?  After work?  During work?  While getting ready for work?  On the weekends?  The answer seems obvious: all the time…and forever.  I personally practice every moment I can and find ways to learn ways to improve my craft regularly.

Back to my running analogy.  I have never been a runner.  While I used to be an avid distance cyclist, I quickly learned that running uses a whole different set of muscles than biking.  And it requires an enormous amount of mental stamina in order to avoid boredom or talk yourself into stopping short of the day’s target distance.  My coach (and I use the term loosely since we meet so irregularly), at our first running meeting, gave me a battery of exercises to do while I am not running.  Some of these exercises simulate running while others train tiny muscles in your ankles or strengthen your hips to help improve the next run…and avoid injury.  I find myself thinking about running all of the time now.  This is exactly how it should be for the novice cake decorator. 

Carry a sketch pad.  Jot down ideas of techniques you’d like to try.  Carry a camera.  Take photographs of shop windows with a particular pattern or color palette that strikes you and later translate it into a cake design.  These aesthetic exercises are akin to the runner’s “non-running” exercises that will help you develop your craft even when you are not standing in front of a cake.

When you are standing in front of a cake, practice.  Practice techniques you’ve done only once or even a thousand times.  When you do something for the first time it often feels a bit clumsy.  The second and third attempts build your comfort level.  The fourth and fifth create familiarity…perhaps by the hundredth you will have that eureka moment and “get it”. 

The bottom line is that there is no magic period of time by which anyone will “get good” at decorating a cake.  We all have affinities for certain things and struggle with others.  There is truth in the old adage “practice makes perfect”.  So to all of you new cake decorators out there: keep practicing.  And I’ll keep running.

As most of you either know or can guess, much of my life revolves around cake and other sweet things.  As part of the Faculty of the French Pastry School in Chicago, even more things now turn into an excuse for creating something out of sugar, cake, or chocolate.  This week’s Chicago Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup win was no exception.  In anticipation of the big win, Chefs Jacquy Pfeiffer and Sebastien Canonne, Deans and founders of the School, conceived of the idea to create a 50-pound replica of the coveted Stanley Cup out of chocolate. 

Although I am by no means a hockey fan, the project was of interest to me just from the perspective of how it would be achieved.  My small role was to come up with a technique using gum paste to adorn two life-size hockey sticks (made of chocolate) with what I am calling “gauzey tape stuff” that provides friction for the player to grasp the stick as well as an area with which the puck comes in contact.  Sounds easy enough, but upon close inspection of the hockey stick model provided to me, I discovered that the “gauzey tape stuff” is textured. 

Fortunately for me, the School’s supply of textured rolling pins included one that would create just the right effect for the gauze.  I started by passing my paste through the KitchenAid pasta attachment in order to achieve a perfectly consistent thickness in the paste.  Then, applying consistent, even pressure, I added the textured effect to the paste with the selected pin.  With my omnipresent ribbon cutter, I rolled through the paste to cut an even-width strip comparable to the width of the actual “gauze” on the stick.  As I rolled this strip up, I brushed off the excess powdered sugar from the back side then was ready to attach it to the stick.

Using egg white as my glue, I started on what would be the back side of the stick and steadily unrolled the gum paste strip, overlapping just enough to create the look of tape.  The finished result was exactly what I had hoped for.  This little one-hour task was but a tiny part in a wonderful project in honor of a winning team. 

If you would like to learn more about how to create decorative finishes to showpieces or cakes, visit the French Pastry School’s web site for more information about its new L’Art du Gateau program which launches August 30, 2010.

This morning I had my first of many anticipated graduation ceremonies at the French Pastry School.  The students, having completed a 24-week intensive training program in all of the essentials necessary to succeed in the competitive pastry world, represented a wide range of emotions ranging from relieved (to be done with a challenging schedule of concentrated training) to excited (to be embarking on so many new career endeavors) to uncertain (of the current state of the pastry industry).  Although these individuals may be entering a competitive market just two weeks away from a generally lull time (January), I rest assured that they will each ultimately create a unique an satisfying niche in the trade. 

Just moments before the new grads and their friends and family arrived at the School, I managed to snap a few quick shots.  The following short series of photos represents a small part of the lavish buffet that the students created for today’s celebration to showcase their new-found skills. 

Those of you who may be in search of an enthusiastic, willing and prepared new member for your pastry staff, I encourage you to contact the French Pastry School with your open job postings.

Those of you whose mouth waters at the sight of the desserts and pastries portrayed in these images, I encourage you to consider visitng the School to find out more about how to apply for the l’Art de la Patisserie program or the new l’Art du Gateau program that will launch in August 2010.

The French Pastry School

226 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60606  USA
Phone: 312.726.2419   Fax: 312.726.2446
Email: info@frenchpastryschool.com

When I owned my bakery, I re-discovered this truth time and time again.  Yes, I enjoyed many a talented employee over the course of the nearly ten years of operating a cake business.  However, there were an equal number of new hires straight from various schools with the “deer in the headlights” look. 

Now that I am on the Faculty of the French Pastry School in Chicago (FPS), I understand where this look came from.  I was asking someone to perform a task that was beyond their exposure.

FPS heard the industry’s pleas and is about to change all that.  The School is in the process of a major physical expansion of its current state-of-the-art facilities, adding more than 11,000 square feet of new space for classrooms/kitchens to accommodate its new L’Art du Gâteau certificate program.  This new program will focus on all aspects involving the creation of wedding, celebration, and specialty cakes.

What does this mean for business owners?  Simple.  Beginning in mid-December 2010 businesses seeking talented cake decorators with professional training will have first pick of individuals who will have completed a focused training program led by a team of world-class professionals.  Since the program encompasses from-scratch baking, cake decorating, and operational concerns, this new crop of cake decorators should have much to offer.