"let's do this!"

okay, okay. so yes, just last night we completed our mid-term. it was two classes long, complete with an intense written portion, and a cake sketch, and the building of a two-tiered cake. the Chefs gave us the opportunity to select the theme: we, as a class, picked "baby shower." honestly, there were several really good choices, but the majority voted (there are so few of us, remember!) and i was enthusiastic in my attack on this project.

the mid-term is really a good point to begin to pull all that we've learned together. the first half of this course has been formula-, methodology-, practice-, build-the-foundation- and process- rich. and that's been intense! we're talking an entire binder's worth of recipes. an entire text book. DONE! you don't go into a program like this with the notion that "hmmm, i GUESS i like cake. i'll do cake!" no! that would be a mistake. do yourself a favor...be a cake person! this is for the passionate, the obsessed, the interested, and for those that want to earn it. to work for it. and your brain has to come prepared for some grueling workouts! but i can tell you, it's so worth every second, every dime, every ride on that awful, stinky subway. because you learn so much. it's ambitious curriculum...designed and taught by ambitious, talented [TALENTED] chefs. and it provides a forum for the ambitious to play in an ambitious playground, and do work, and work up a good sweat.

so in preparation for my mid-term cake i prepared, read, studied my notes and poured over my books on the train to and from school, on the weekend and even on my days off. i just so desperately want to understand, learn and KNOW everything. i feel like if i don't cement it into my cranium, i'll somehow miss out on this fleeting gift i've given myself - by that, i mean cake school, FCI, Chef Cynthia, Chef Judy, Chef Ron, ...all the Chefs, all the hard-working people that are building this class, NOT TO MENTION, all the sacrifices i've made to be here. my job, my savings, my piggy bank, my time, my sanity, my nights, my weekends, my train and subway fare... every last tool, cutter, book, photograph. i'm a girl-obssessed...and i'm okay with that :o)

i came up with a sketch that i thought was really cute- inspired by the marzipan pea pod i had made a few weeks ago. i thought to myself, "ohhh, i'll do a twin-inspired baby shower cake, featuring a pea pod on the top, pinks, blues, celedon greens..." and i made my sketch, brought it in, and felt pretty happy...at first.

then i went home and thought, "hmm, i wonder how popular this concept is." and i googled "pea pod baby shower"...and well, 4,000,000,000,000+ bazillion hits came up. "ok," i thought, "sooooo, apparently, that's horribly unoriginal." and then i was sad.

i wondered, "so, two+ months into school and i come up with some lame, common cake concept? that's the BEST i've got?"

then i got un-sad. i woke up the next day and looked in the mirror and said something i often say to myself when i feel challenged and overwhelmed [sorta like what i said way back during my first weeks and i had to figure out the subway remember this?] "let's do this." yes, i did give myself a little wink and a smile and sat down at my desk. "let's do this!" blasting my music, tuning out the world, tuning into the creative force i keep inside, i grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and closed my eyes.

and then it hit me... inchworm.

yup...inchworm.

let me explain:

when i was small, my grandma...my nana used to watch us a lot while my mom worked two jobs. and sometimes, especially on friday nights, when my mom worked a late shift, we'd sleep over nana's house. by this time, my pop pop had passed away and i'm pretty sure nana loved our company as much as we needed hers. saturday mornings meant sun-drenched kitchen, steamy, hot pancakes, and orange juice - which was, in fact, the smell that would wake us up [by us, i'm referring to my brother and myself.] saturday mornings were awesome. but friday nights were lonely for me. i often missed my mom and wished she'd come home early. but she couldn't and friday night sleepovers were imminent. at night, if i couldn't sleep, nana would sing me songs and one that has forever stayed with me is the inchworm song. she taught me how to sing it and we'd duet and sing it over and over, until i wasn't so sad or lonely and often very sleepy. here's a clip i love of charles aznavour singing it with the muppets. for me, it's haunting and makes me think of being a little girl, singing myself to sleep with my nana.

photo of my nana and step-grandfather, harry. *heart eyes*

photo of me and nana, at christmas about 10 years ago.

so in designing my cake, i wanted to pay tribute to my nana, and the song that helped me through some of my roughest nights.

you might think...worms? on a baby shower cake? but seriously, i adore inchworms. their brilliantly green little bodies, their seemingly inquisitive nature. and just in case you still don't believe me, i photograph them sometimes. just this past spring at the bronx zoo i got to visit with one of these green little fellas.

you know, i've always believed this but it was VERY recently confirmed in my conversation with a rather famous and intensely talented cake designer and artist extraordinaire... there is inspiration every where. you simply must look and find it. [ps...this conversation i'm talking about... oh...SO MUCH MORE on that next post! you don't want to miss that! *wink*]

so...back to this cake design.

i designed my cake with this song playing on repeat in my office. [which MAY explain the quizzical looks i got from my husband when he walked in...]

it's all my favorite things: the colors, the textures, the delicate features, the fun, sweet, tender vibe. i chose to model my flowers after the french marigold, versus the african variety, due to the fact that i couldn't make them look realistic since i had no time, and i didn't know how to make them any other way! :o) i love how it came out, considering it's a mid-term cake and we had a little under two classes to bake, build and decorate it! i've also never seen a cake like it. and that just makes me happy on so many levels, i can barely describe it. [yup, even with my penchant for all that is verbose!]

during the Chef evaluation, i got some great constructive criticism, especially where my creme d'or [slightly over folded] and liqueur soak in the bottom tier [could've been a little more]. but the layering was nicely done, the fillings were basically good. of course, besides the sketch and execution, an equally important part involves making sure your cake TASTES as wonderful as it looks. and let's face it, no one wants a beautiful cake that tastes like flavored sawdust...

i went home EXHAUSTED...but i just love this cake. adore it.

despite the fact that i had to change two design details in the last half-hour due to time constraints...i was able to get it done with a strict time-limit, thanks to Chef Judy suggesting i create a very literal, articulate time-schedule ahead of time!! i finished with ONE MINUTE to spare! *phew*

i don't know how i did grade wise, but i'm happy. really in love and happy with it! [that's a first, by the way, because i often hate cakes by the time i'm done with them...something to do with being an intense perfectionist! *wink*]

anyway, here's the cake :o)

Chef Cynthia was even kind enough to cut out the evaluation slices from the back, ever so neatly, so as not to really mar the cake until i could get it home in one piece and show it to my family :o) THANKS CHEF!

more to come! (SO MUCH MORE, keep checking back! super exciting news to share soon!!)

xo

m

ps...lyrics, just cause it's so darn sweet!

Two and two are four...

Four and four are eight...

Eight and eight are sixteen...

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two...

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

You and your arithmetic

You'll probably go far...

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

Seems to me you'd stop and see

How beautiful they are...