December 2013- Week 4

ORGANIZATION SKILLS

This week was definitely one of those very effective weeks. However, I encountered a few problems in which I am still trying to find possible solutions. Nevertheless, I managed my time very effectively this week, despite going on vacation. However, I know I have to speed up really fast so that I can get my products ready on the due date. My goal is to finish 1 ½-2 cakes before the break ends.

COMMUNICATION WITH SUPERVISOR

When I was told that the plastic boards are out of stock and the shop has only one left, I was literally panicking. I didn’t know what to do. And so, I immediately asked Mr. Pat for help and asked for suggestions. He told me to reflect on this and to not panic, but find an alternative way to present my cakes. This helped me in finding another possibly more creative way to show my cakes.

INFORMATION

Upon the glass boxes problem I encountered this week, I finally decided that the cake that I am going to put in the glass box is the wedding cake, as it is the most fragile. For the rest of the cakes, I am going to purchase wood, cut into squares, and paint on them based on the theme. I will then set the cake on top of it and presented it on top of the tables.

            This week, I also made black forest at IPS and decorated it myself. As this was a pretty tall cake, I had a few minor problems, but I managed to solve it by recovering the cakes with more cream. It was fun decorating a classic black forest cake with chocolate shavings, but then I realized I had to transfer the cake from the turntable to the cake board. This took me like, 15 minutes. I was so scared that the cake would fall apart but with some spatula I managed to transfer it.

            As for my product, I finished my second cake this week. I am really happy with the outcome. Though some royal icing was falling apart as it is very breakable, I managed to redo the piping and everything went fine. However, I encountered some problem with the 3^rd tier. The fondant was too smooth and breakable to be thinned out by the ball tool as what the tutorial says, and so I figured out that pinching the edges would work fine. After putting the strips of ruffles onto the cake, the ruffles break within a day due to the very rainy weather. I had to redo everything again, this time with thicker fondant, and it works fine (it hasn’t rained yet). However, it did fall down but I managed to stick the pieces again with some Crisco, as Jessica Harris recommends. I am working on the flower, which petals need about 3 days to dry out first. Due to the humidity and fragility of the cake, I am going to finish this cake as soon as possible, put it in the glass box, and transfer the cakes to a room with AC at my dad’s office.

December 2013- Week 3

ORGANIZATION SKILLS

This week was a very effective week. I got halfway done through my second cake, in which I am planning to finish next week after my vacation.

COMMUNICATION WITH SUPERVISOR

I haven’t communicated with my supervisor, but will do as soon as I am halfway through my second cake, asking suggestions and the like.

INFORMATION

This week, I managed to finish half of my wedding cake (3 tiers). However, along the way, I made a few changes and adjustments. The first adjustment was to brush off not only white but silver glitter to the royal icing. Then, the second change was that the second tier’s background design is switched with the fifth tier, as I realized the technique is better enhanced with no buttons or sash. I also faced the temperature problem. I couldn’t cover my tiers when it’s raining, or else the fondant will get wet and will drop down. And so, a solution to this is to work on days when the temperature is chill-not too hot nor too cold. Despite facing all these problems, I followed the notes from the online videos I did, referring back to which class teaches which designs. Overall, everything went smooth this week.

December 2013-Week 2

ORGANIZATION SKILLS

This week was not a very effective week. Since it’s almost Christmas break, all the projects, assignments, and exams are piling up. Nevertheless, I managed to get a few things done on the second cake that I have decided to do next- the wedding cake.

COMMUNICATION WITH SUPERVISOR

I haven’t communicated with my supervisor, but will do as soon as I am halfway through my second cake, asking suggestions and the like.

INFORMATION

This week, I decided to move on my second cake-the wedding cake. All of my orders from the US have been delivered and so, I firstly rolled out the fondant. I cut out flower pieces for my fourth tier based on the design, with flower cutters. However, the first problem that I encountered was the consistency of the fondant. It was very, very, wet. The pieces didn’t cut beautifully and I was panicking. I believe this happened as the temperature of the room wasn’t constant, due to the sudden weather changes. I then checked on them two days later, and they were drying out, so I was pretty happy with that. I then covered all my five tiers with white fondant, and going to finish it by next week.

December 2013- Week 1

ORGANIZATION SKILLS

This week was very effective despite the huge amount of projects and other works. I managed to get my first cake done and am definitely satisfied with it.

COMMUNICATION WITH SUPERVISOR

I didn’t communicate with my supervisor at all.

INFORMATION

This week, I finished the third, fourth, and fifth tier of the Alice in Wonderland themed cake. As mentioned before, I am very satisfied with the outcome. Though however, I made a few adjustments on the third tier by replacing the crisscross pattern with black diamonds. I also modified the color a little bit as when I tried to mix the initial color, it didn’t really pop out. However, I did encounter major problems on the fourth tier. I had a really hard time in arranging the lines and it always broke. I then did everything again and then the rope finally stuck to the cake. I knew I could have done better, but I am pretty happy with it. The process of making the fifth tier was smooth, and brushing the fondant with glitter was definitely fun. At IPS, I also baked a traditional cheesecake with genoise sponge, which I decorated myself. The cheesecake tastes so so so good.

November 2013- Week 5

ORGANIZATION SKILLS

This week wasn’t a very effective week. I didn’t have time to focus on my personal project due to the many assignments due this week.  Though however, I believe I did well during the PP Progress Exhibition.

COMMUNICATION WITH SUPERVISOR

During the PP Progress Exhibition, I had some time with Mr. Patrick and another PP supervisor, Ibu Catherine and explained the progress of my personal project so far. This “meeting” was very useful as I had the opportunity to reflect and plan on the future to the due dates of the product, evaluation, and the overall final of the PP. This meeting made me realize that I have to speed up the process of my create stage.

INFORMATION

Other than the PP Progress Exhibition, I barely did anything, almost nothing this week. I only managed to did a few adjustments to my timeline within the create stage. The Progress Exhibition however, helped me to manage my time in the upcoming weeks.