Day 3

So on Thursdays we decorate up the cakes, lots of little detail work to take the cakes from blank canvases to finished product. Too bad I didn't get to do any of that. When I arrived there was three of us on the cake side and only one person in the kitchen so I was asked if I could help out in the kitchen today. I did gladly (anything to help) and I learned several of the recipes they use. I started by learning how to turn on all the equipment then I made the icing which happens to be a swiss meringue buttercream where I learned to use an induction burner. I also learned a neat trick for working with glucose (a very sticky, corn syrup like substance) where you dunk your hands in cold water and then the glucose doesn't stick to you, a handy thing to know for my future sugar work. I then made carrot cake, pecan pies, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate cake, I also did a lot of dishes. While I didn't mind helping out I came to SugarPlum to expand my skills in cake decorating and today was the day all the finish work I wanted to learn got done and I didn't learn anything about it. All I could think was how I could have stayed at Wholefoods and made cookies and cake and I would have been being payed for it. The thing that gets my back up is that the other intern wants to open her own cake shop in Singapore but she can barely work the dishwasher much less the mixer or the ovens. She fully admits to never working a single day in the kitchens of SugarPlum and while I'm sure her schooling has taught her the basics of cake baking there's a big difference between school and the real world, I would know better then most. If it comes up again I'll have to air my grievances but for today I'm glad to have gained the knowledge of how to work the bakeries equipment, what recipes we use in the bakery, and where everything is kept in the bakery.