Thursday, May 30, 2013
Favorite Projects/ Orders
My Last day..
On May 20th, my last day at the Cake Mama's had appeared. I had mixed feelings about this day because I knew I wanted to stay, but at the same time, I wanted to leave because of school! I did not know what to do, so I decided to finish my last day of cutting edibles and making fondant discs. As the time flew by, I stayed focused on the task at hand so that I may end my time there on a good note.Before Janelle Copeland
, the owner, had left, she told me that she would be willing to bake, fill, and cover all six cakes I needed for my presentation, which was amazing to hear! I was excited because decorating cakes was my original plan for my presentation, and to here here say that she will donate the cakes made me feel like I could actually do the two hour presentation with an amazing activity, so I want to thank the Cake Mama's for every they have done for me and for accepting me as an intern. After experiencing what it is like to work in a business, I feel ready to learn more about every aspect of business management I can.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Blog #26: Senior Project Reflection
1] The thing I am most proud of during my senior presentations is my big activity. My activity was to decorate a cake based on a certain theme that they were given at the beginning of the presentation. After my presentation, everyone was telling me how they loved my activity, and it made me feel like I had an awesome opportunity and senior project that everyone really enjoyed.
2] a. On my presentation, I would give myself an AE
b. On my overall senior project, I would give myself a P
3] What worked for me the best about the senior project would definitely be the mentorship because I learned a lot more that I would have originally through research and it was a new experience that I never thought I would get the chance to do. Also, I felt that through the mentorship I got experience to experience what kind of skill I need to improve on and what I need to learn in order to actually be ready to own my own business.
4] If had the opportunity to change something in my senior project, it would have to be the amount of research I had, and also to extend my research to more aspects of not just the cake decorating side, but the business aspect as well.
5] The first thing the senior project has helped me in is how much more detailed and extensive in my research I should be. When I was beginning in my research, I never really new what I was looking for, or how to look at every word so I knew what I could research next in the topic. Another thing I learned was how a business is actually run. I never really understood how pricing works or how booking keeping is done, so actually getting to experience and do it myself helped me learn a lot more about the business side of a bakery or retail store, or how everything functions in a business.
2] a. On my presentation, I would give myself an AE
b. On my overall senior project, I would give myself a P
3] What worked for me the best about the senior project would definitely be the mentorship because I learned a lot more that I would have originally through research and it was a new experience that I never thought I would get the chance to do. Also, I felt that through the mentorship I got experience to experience what kind of skill I need to improve on and what I need to learn in order to actually be ready to own my own business.
4] If had the opportunity to change something in my senior project, it would have to be the amount of research I had, and also to extend my research to more aspects of not just the cake decorating side, but the business aspect as well.
5] The first thing the senior project has helped me in is how much more detailed and extensive in my research I should be. When I was beginning in my research, I never really new what I was looking for, or how to look at every word so I knew what I could research next in the topic. Another thing I learned was how a business is actually run. I never really understood how pricing works or how booking keeping is done, so actually getting to experience and do it myself helped me learn a lot more about the business side of a bakery or retail store, or how everything functions in a business.
Prep and Outcome
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I had begun to set up, and it was a mad rush to get everything ready, like the table positioning, the chocolate melted, and the cakes out of Mrs. Pittman's fridge, and as soon as the presentation had started, I was nervous to the breaking point! It was until I had started my activity that I saw everyone was truly having a good time at my presentation. As soon as they got to work on their designs and cakes, I was creative sparks flying. All of them had such great ideas, and I was happy to see creativity in a classroom of people who really found interest in my presentation. This whole experience has been such a rewarding experience and I am really happy that everyone, including myself, had an amazing and fun time!
Monday, May 20, 2013
Rice Krispes; Painful, yet artistic...
Today was an interestingly painful day at the Cake Mama's. When I first arrived, I was greeted by the aroma of freshly baked cake and the hellos of my fellow workers. As soon, as I asked for my first duty from my mentor, Ashley McNeal, she told me that I had a list of fondant numbers that had to be done. Thankfully, I had some of the number already cut out, ready to be glittered, as the orders had said. After constantly cutting a variety of numbers, wring them so they could stand, and glittering them different colors to match the theme, I was giving the task of sculpting towers of rice krispes..JPG)
Blog #28: Mentorship
L:
1. Mentorship Log link:
Mentorship Log
Mentorship Log
2. Contact name: Ashley McNeal
Phone #: +1 (909) 354-1112
I:
The most important thing that I took from working with my mentor was learning how the cake decorating business works, like how to price the design of a cake and how to talk to customers when discussing their cake order and design. This became so significant to my senior project because being able to understand how the pricing and how to properly treat customers and making connections with them became part of my foundation and also my third answer. I would not have been able to find both is these without the help of my mentor.
A:
Throughout my mentorship, I learned about new aspects to cake decorating that I never really realized before. For example, when I started talking to customers, I food out that this is a huge part to cake decorating because they give us the inspiration to the cake designs, an after seeing this and experiencing it for myself, this became my new third answer to me EQ. Also, I gained more information for my foundation, like how pricing works and what happened before actually decorating a cake (the baking of the cake).
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Blog #24: Exit Interview Questions
1. The essential question to my Senior Project is "What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake?" and the best answer to that question is Prioritizing Customer Relations.
2. The process of getting to this answer as my best answer was a lot of trial and error. When I first started finding possible answers, I ignored this as a key factor, but when I actually got to talk to customers at Cake Mama's, I realized that talking to the customer and designing the cake with them is what is the foundation behind the other two answers.
3. The main problem I had was getting a reliable mentorship. The reason for this is because when I first started working with my first mentor, she told me that she would call me in for every order she got, but I never got any messages from her. Since that failed, I began to search for a new mentor, put myself out there, but because I was underage at the time, no one would take me as an apprentice until Cherokee told me about the Cake Mama's and how they did mentorships, so the way I solved this problem was by asking around me about who they knew.
4. The two most important sources I have were my Third interview with Ashley McNeal, the head cake decorator at The Cake Mama's because she gave a new insight on the world of cake decorating, like making a connection with the customer and how they are the key aspect to the decorating process. The second important source that I have is my 10th Article "Interview #4: Ron-Ben Israel" because it showed me that you don't need to be classically trained to be an amazing cake decorator. He has always been an inspiration to me as an aspiring cake decorator and the article just showed me that not only do you need to have the inspiration to be a cake decorator and some of the key aspects to designing a cake, showed me that you need to find your muse and own style of decorating to be a success.
5. The product for me is definitely deciding what I want to major in when I go off to college, which is Business Management. The fact that I feel more confident with Pastry art does not mean that I know how to work the business itself. This project has helped me realize that I have to learn more about owning a successful business in order to follow my dream of being a pastry artist.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Hectic Day at The Cake Mama's!
Today was probably one of the most amazing, but stressful, days of my mentorship (Second to Valentine's day, that was just ridiculous). While my mentor, Janelle, and Sabrina went to finish a cake for the Game of Thrones photoshoot, I was left doing the other orders that I knew I could do on my own.
When I first entered, my mentor literally told me that she was going to "Pinch" me. Apparently, I took an order that was not supposed to be taken, but we got it done just in time! After, that my mentor had me do a bunch or other orders that needed to be finished. This took up my entire day and my feet have never hurt so much.
After doing all of the orders for the day, I had decided to go to the back of the bakery to see how my co-worker, Gaby, was doing. She had told me that she frosted and filled about 24 cakes since 12 pm, and I thought she was about to go into a corner a cry because that is a lot cakes. I decided to help her out by frosting the last 3 cakes and wash the dishes for her.
Blog #23: Junior Interview
1. The Junior I interviewed was Vanessa Pancheco and she is in West House.
2. While talking to her, she had said that the ideas she had for her Senior Project was between three: Journalism, Animal Rescue, or Marketing. She had told me the main reason she wants to do either of these three is because she feels like one of these will become her future career and be passionate about doing either one of these topics.
3. She told that what she plans to do for her 10 hours over the summer is to volunteer at the Poly post if she decided to follow the journalism path. For Marketing, she had mentioned doing some advertisement for her local library, or doing volunteer work at an animal shelter or the Humane Society if she did animal rescue for her project.
4. Vanessa had said that what she wants to see from the 2-hour presentations is to see how we manage our time during the presentation. Also, she wanted to ask about the process of how we got to this point in our senior project and what to do and not to do during the presentation.
5. The first question Vanessa asked is how I choose my senior project and how she should choose her's. What I had said to her is that it depends on the person. "The reason I choose mine is because I love the idea of doing a food based project." Also, I told her that it depends on how she want to approach the project, by doing something she knows she can do or doing something she is passionate about. The second question she asked was problems she might encounter. I had responded by telling her that finding a mentorship in ideal fields might be difficult because some places only take people at a certain age. Secondly, I had mentioned that research is going to be difficult to find when you reach the midpoint of the year because depending on the topic, research can be or not be difficult to find.
2. While talking to her, she had said that the ideas she had for her Senior Project was between three: Journalism, Animal Rescue, or Marketing. She had told me the main reason she wants to do either of these three is because she feels like one of these will become her future career and be passionate about doing either one of these topics.
3. She told that what she plans to do for her 10 hours over the summer is to volunteer at the Poly post if she decided to follow the journalism path. For Marketing, she had mentioned doing some advertisement for her local library, or doing volunteer work at an animal shelter or the Humane Society if she did animal rescue for her project.
4. Vanessa had said that what she wants to see from the 2-hour presentations is to see how we manage our time during the presentation. Also, she wanted to ask about the process of how we got to this point in our senior project and what to do and not to do during the presentation.
5. The first question Vanessa asked is how I choose my senior project and how she should choose her's. What I had said to her is that it depends on the person. "The reason I choose mine is because I love the idea of doing a food based project." Also, I told her that it depends on how she want to approach the project, by doing something she knows she can do or doing something she is passionate about. The second question she asked was problems she might encounter. I had responded by telling her that finding a mentorship in ideal fields might be difficult because some places only take people at a certain age. Secondly, I had mentioned that research is going to be difficult to find when you reach the midpoint of the year because depending on the topic, research can be or not be difficult to find.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Blog #21: Independant Component 2
Literal
(A) I, JD Pabon, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(B) My Sources were my mentor, Ashley McNeal, head cake decorator at the Cake Mama's.
(C) Daily Duties at the Cake Mama's.
(D) At the start, I learned the importance of getting ready way ahead of time for big events. I also learned how to take orders in a way where I can make connections easier with clients. During this time, I learned new business/ consultation techniques, like not to say words like, "No" or "can't".
Interperative
This was a very fruitful independent component actually. I already knew how to talk to customers, but throughout the component, I learned that talking to customers about cake orders is a completely different ball game. When I first started taking real cake orders, I usually would jump straight to the point, but when Janelle, the owner, confronted me about what I was doing, she told me that I should not jump straight to the point, but talk to them about what they like and what they are looking for so I can get a better idea of what the design should look like.
Also, I had learned a lot more about the process of doing orders, and singling out things that can be done immediately from the things that take more time to do, like sculptures. Usually I had seen the cake decorators do one order at a time, tackling things at once, but now that I really focused on it, I saw that they took apart the order piece by piece, and did in time increments.
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(A) I, JD Pabon, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(B) My Sources were my mentor, Ashley McNeal, head cake decorator at the Cake Mama's.
(C) Daily Duties at the Cake Mama's.
(D) At the start, I learned the importance of getting ready way ahead of time for big events. I also learned how to take orders in a way where I can make connections easier with clients. During this time, I learned new business/ consultation techniques, like not to say words like, "No" or "can't".
Interperative
This was a very fruitful independent component actually. I already knew how to talk to customers, but throughout the component, I learned that talking to customers about cake orders is a completely different ball game. When I first started taking real cake orders, I usually would jump straight to the point, but when Janelle, the owner, confronted me about what I was doing, she told me that I should not jump straight to the point, but talk to them about what they like and what they are looking for so I can get a better idea of what the design should look like.
Also, I had learned a lot more about the process of doing orders, and singling out things that can be done immediately from the things that take more time to do, like sculptures. Usually I had seen the cake decorators do one order at a time, tackling things at once, but now that I really focused on it, I saw that they took apart the order piece by piece, and did in time increments.
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| These are the cake push-ups we had prepared for an event at Nordstrom, in Brea Mall. This became a great opportunity to advertise about the bakery and tell people what we are capable of. I had to do 200... by myself. It was TWO DAYS of non stop cake push-ups. I hope I don't have to make those again for a long time. |
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| These were some of the random colored fondant discs I made. I had to create about one tray of each color. I think I at least went through 5 full trays, leaving almost none for the rest of the bakery. I felt bad because I constantly thought, "What if they need these? Well, at least I know I used them for a good purpose!" |
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| These are dog biscuits. I was kind of freaked out because I had never thought I would see the day when the bakery would do dog treats. They were really greasy and tough, but I guess the dogs will like them right? |
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| This is going to become a mickey mouse hat for a Disney cake that we were preparing for . The rise krispes were really gooey and difficult to work with but I eventually got it into the right shape.
Applied
This was a very useful component, for the most part. It definitely helped me with my third answer "Customer Relations". The fact that I got to work with customers all the time and improve my speaking skills was a big plus because I actually got to see my research and studies on customer service into action. Also, I saw things, like breaking apart the orders into sections, in greater detail because I never really paid any attention to it. Now I got to see that organization and communication between everyone in the bakery is crucial for the the business to run smoothly. Helping prepare for the events was also something new that I wish to research. I hope to find things about advertising and reaching target audiences with those events.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Productive day at The Cake Mama's
Today was a very.... Productive day. When first entered the bakery, I was greeted with the smell of fresh cake coming out of the oven. The air was sweet with sugar, and I was ready to tackle the day.
Ashely had started me with a simple task of making some edible images, which I did with haste as I knew there was going to be a lot more fore me to do. The edibles I had done were quick and I ha jumped to the next task of making numbers the rest of the time. I had to prepare numbers from zero to nine.
During that time, I was ale by the financial officer, Corrine, to work on an order that she had just taken. I had to create forty-two disc that had '900' written on them. That task was relatively easy, but was still took up a lot of time.
After finishing that order, I ha continued to work on numbers, but unfortunately, because of how many numbers I had to prep, I did not get to finished them, but ashley that it would be ok because I can continue them the following day when I walked in.
The rest my day was consumed with cleaning dishes in the kitchen, frosting cupcakes for the front of the store, and helping customers. I think that this day was a relatively useful day because I had talked to Corrine about how I am doing in the bakery, and she had tile me that I am doing a great job, but that I needed to work on my focus so that I may get tasks done faster, and be able to focus on the task at hand instead of scattering my mind from the front of the house to the back.
So now I am learning how to focus on focusing on one task at a time and when it is a good time to jump in and help at the front/ back. Hopefully, they see improvement and decide to keep me.
Ashely had started me with a simple task of making some edible images, which I did with haste as I knew there was going to be a lot more fore me to do. The edibles I had done were quick and I ha jumped to the next task of making numbers the rest of the time. I had to prepare numbers from zero to nine.
During that time, I was ale by the financial officer, Corrine, to work on an order that she had just taken. I had to create forty-two disc that had '900' written on them. That task was relatively easy, but was still took up a lot of time.
After finishing that order, I ha continued to work on numbers, but unfortunately, because of how many numbers I had to prep, I did not get to finished them, but ashley that it would be ok because I can continue them the following day when I walked in.
The rest my day was consumed with cleaning dishes in the kitchen, frosting cupcakes for the front of the store, and helping customers. I think that this day was a relatively useful day because I had talked to Corrine about how I am doing in the bakery, and she had tile me that I am doing a great job, but that I needed to work on my focus so that I may get tasks done faster, and be able to focus on the task at hand instead of scattering my mind from the front of the house to the back.
So now I am learning how to focus on focusing on one task at a time and when it is a good time to jump in and help at the front/ back. Hopefully, they see improvement and decide to keep me.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Getting Ready For another Event
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On April 18th and 19th, the bakery had started to get ready for another event at Nordstrom in Brea Mall. We have been preparing a lot of items to sell, like Cake push ups and cake in a jar. We spent most of our day making a variety of items, but the one item I focused on making was the Cake Push Ups. My Mentor mentioned to me that doing these kids of events is great publicity for your business.Hopefully, I will be able to work on more of these events and learn a lot more.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Blog #19: Senior Project and ESLRs
1. I think that the ESLRs that I have excelled in the most are being an effective user of technology, effective learner, and effective communicator.
2. I believe that I am a successful at being an effective user of technology because I am learning how to use new types of technology at my mentorship, like using new settings on the somerset roller. Also, being able to communicate with the customers I help and the students that I teach at classes proves the fact that I am being an effective learner and communicator because I not only had to talk to these people, I also had to be trained in order to fulfill these jobs, when assigned by my mentor.
3.
2. I believe that I am a successful at being an effective user of technology because I am learning how to use new types of technology at my mentorship, like using new settings on the somerset roller. Also, being able to communicate with the customers I help and the students that I teach at classes proves the fact that I am being an effective learner and communicator because I not only had to talk to these people, I also had to be trained in order to fulfill these jobs, when assigned by my mentor.
3.
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| This is a photo of a group of girl scouts that I had taught a class too. |
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| This was my first time making a sculpture for an order by myself. I had to input all that I had learned from Ashley when making this. |
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Blog #18: 2 Hour House, Answer 3
1. My essential question is:
What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake?
2. The third answer to my essential question is simplicity.
3. Examples/ evidence:
- Ex. If we were having a wedding, and it was a simple black and white theme, you would not want to have fireworks made of fondant and the whole cake covered in flowers, it would not only look like a hot mess, but it would also look to busy and complicated for anyone to really enjoy.
- Evidence: My interview #3, with my mentor, Ashley McNeal. She had mentioned to me that we want to keep things nice a beautiful, but at the same time, keep it simple and clean.
- Ex. Simplifying as much as we can in an order for a cake is one of the best ideas because we want to be able to do the order without having to call and bother the customer by calling them if it seems to complicated to the cake decorator. We make sure that is the case in all of the orders we do in the bakery.
4. The main source that helped me reach this answer if my mentor, Ashley. She always tells me that when we take an order for a cake, that we want to stress that keeping the design simple is important so that we do scramble in the bakery, and get confused on what is written down on the order itself.
5. I plan to study more on other cake decorators styles to broaden my horizon about different cake decorating styles. I hope doing this helps me find my niche in cake decorating.
What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake?
2. The third answer to my essential question is simplicity.
3. Examples/ evidence:
- Ex. If we were having a wedding, and it was a simple black and white theme, you would not want to have fireworks made of fondant and the whole cake covered in flowers, it would not only look like a hot mess, but it would also look to busy and complicated for anyone to really enjoy.
- Evidence: My interview #3, with my mentor, Ashley McNeal. She had mentioned to me that we want to keep things nice a beautiful, but at the same time, keep it simple and clean.
- Ex. Simplifying as much as we can in an order for a cake is one of the best ideas because we want to be able to do the order without having to call and bother the customer by calling them if it seems to complicated to the cake decorator. We make sure that is the case in all of the orders we do in the bakery.
4. The main source that helped me reach this answer if my mentor, Ashley. She always tells me that when we take an order for a cake, that we want to stress that keeping the design simple is important so that we do scramble in the bakery, and get confused on what is written down on the order itself.
5. I plan to study more on other cake decorators styles to broaden my horizon about different cake decorating styles. I hope doing this helps me find my niche in cake decorating.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Blog #17: Interview #4 Questions
1. What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake?
2.When you sculpt, is their any process you have that helps you with complicated sculpting projects?
3. When their is confusion with an order, what is the best way to solve the confusion?
4. What is the best part about doing a new order?
5. When you take an order, what do you usually talk about with the customer?
6. What is your mentality when cake decorating?
7. Do you personally think that improvisation is an important skill to have as a cake decorator and why?
8. How do you determine the price of a certain sculpt?
9. How do you keep up with all of the orders that you do?
10. What is most interesting about doing wedding cakes?
11. Have you ever had any orders where you had to improvise and why?
12. Do you think that simplicity can be a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
13. Why do you think that color is such an important factor in a cake order?
14. Have their been any instances where you had to do change what you were already doing on a cake order? What happened?
15. I have noticed that you put ribbon on the bottom of some of the cakes. Why is that?
16. When you cover a cake with fondant, what is the most important thing you make sure of?
17. Can you tell me one of the best experiences you have had when doing an order and why?
18. When you finish an order, what are some feelings when you give the cake to the customer and why?
19. Besides being able to sculpt, are their any other important skills that a cake decorator might find useful?
20. What is the best piece of advice you can give to an aspiring cake decorator?
2.When you sculpt, is their any process you have that helps you with complicated sculpting projects?
3. When their is confusion with an order, what is the best way to solve the confusion?
4. What is the best part about doing a new order?
5. When you take an order, what do you usually talk about with the customer?
6. What is your mentality when cake decorating?
7. Do you personally think that improvisation is an important skill to have as a cake decorator and why?
8. How do you determine the price of a certain sculpt?
9. How do you keep up with all of the orders that you do?
10. What is most interesting about doing wedding cakes?
11. Have you ever had any orders where you had to improvise and why?
12. Do you think that simplicity can be a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
13. Why do you think that color is such an important factor in a cake order?
14. Have their been any instances where you had to do change what you were already doing on a cake order? What happened?
15. I have noticed that you put ribbon on the bottom of some of the cakes. Why is that?
16. When you cover a cake with fondant, what is the most important thing you make sure of?
17. Can you tell me one of the best experiences you have had when doing an order and why?
18. When you finish an order, what are some feelings when you give the cake to the customer and why?
19. Besides being able to sculpt, are their any other important skills that a cake decorator might find useful?
20. What is the best piece of advice you can give to an aspiring cake decorator?
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Blog #16: 2 Hour Meeting Answer #2
1. My essential question is:
What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake?
2. What I have decided to make my second answer to be is color.
3. The reason I believe that color is so significant to my essential question is because of three main reasons. The first reason that color is so important is that color can define what is going on, for example, when you typically think of elegant colors, like white, black, or silver, you would think of a wedding, not typically a birthday or Valentine's day. Another reason that color is so significant is that color can bring life to what can be a possibly dull cake. Just like in any art, not only is the way the artist does his or her painting or photography, without the use of color, it can possibly be a dull and boring image or sculpture. The last reason that color is my answer is because during my research, I had found an article that I plan on using (Click here), it had said the color cannot only add unity and contrast to a design, but the colors we use can actually affect the emphasis you piece has.
4. Like I had said, the link I had mentioned before has definitely helped my realize that color should be my answer, but also from talking to mentor, Ashley, about the topic while working in the bakery.
5. I plan to continue my study on my answer 2 by finding my articles on why color is useful in art, and asking more questions during mentorship to get more information from an expert in the field.
What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake?
2. What I have decided to make my second answer to be is color.
3. The reason I believe that color is so significant to my essential question is because of three main reasons. The first reason that color is so important is that color can define what is going on, for example, when you typically think of elegant colors, like white, black, or silver, you would think of a wedding, not typically a birthday or Valentine's day. Another reason that color is so significant is that color can bring life to what can be a possibly dull cake. Just like in any art, not only is the way the artist does his or her painting or photography, without the use of color, it can possibly be a dull and boring image or sculpture. The last reason that color is my answer is because during my research, I had found an article that I plan on using (Click here), it had said the color cannot only add unity and contrast to a design, but the colors we use can actually affect the emphasis you piece has.
4. Like I had said, the link I had mentioned before has definitely helped my realize that color should be my answer, but also from talking to mentor, Ashley, about the topic while working in the bakery.
5. I plan to continue my study on my answer 2 by finding my articles on why color is useful in art, and asking more questions during mentorship to get more information from an expert in the field.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Blog #15: Independent Component 2 Approval
Content:
1. What I am planning on doing for my independent component is working at the same bakery, Cake Mama's, with all the orders that we have each week.
2. My plan to complete the 30 hour requirement will work because I usually work from 2:30 PM - 7:00 PM, which is a 4 hour and 30 minute time frame of work, so if I keep that up for a week and a half, then I would have completed my 30 hours of Independent Component.
3. Since my topic is Pastry art, and I do a lot of cake decorating at the bakery, then the work at the bakery will definitely help me seek the knowledge I need for my 2 hour presentation.
1. What I am planning on doing for my independent component is working at the same bakery, Cake Mama's, with all the orders that we have each week.
2. My plan to complete the 30 hour requirement will work because I usually work from 2:30 PM - 7:00 PM, which is a 4 hour and 30 minute time frame of work, so if I keep that up for a week and a half, then I would have completed my 30 hours of Independent Component.
3. Since my topic is Pastry art, and I do a lot of cake decorating at the bakery, then the work at the bakery will definitely help me seek the knowledge I need for my 2 hour presentation.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
BLog #14: Independant Component 1
Literal:
A) I, JD Pabon, affirm that I have completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
B) Janelle Copemen/ Cake Mama's #: (626) 335-4999
Ask to speak with my advisor, Ashley.
C) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgvBrtYSqMR6dEUyMjZZWDZJTzlBWXpuNmVqaTBjQkE&usp=sharing
D) I have helped the bakery with close to 10 orders since I have started, learned how to make some of the batters and buttercreams, how to properly use gum paste and fondant, and also acquired the knowledge of new techniques and technologies in baking.
Interpretive:
.JPG)
A) I, JD Pabon, affirm that I have completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
B) Janelle Copemen/ Cake Mama's #: (626) 335-4999
Ask to speak with my advisor, Ashley.
C) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgvBrtYSqMR6dEUyMjZZWDZJTzlBWXpuNmVqaTBjQkE&usp=sharing
D) I have helped the bakery with close to 10 orders since I have started, learned how to make some of the batters and buttercreams, how to properly use gum paste and fondant, and also acquired the knowledge of new techniques and technologies in baking.
Interpretive:
The fondant discs I had to separate on my first day.
This is just one of about 6 trays of fondant discs I had to cut out.
This is a side view of my mentor Ashley teaching me how to use a new piece of tech that I had never seen before.
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This is just the first week of my working log. I still need to obtain the newer week log.
This is the Somerset, which we use to reconstitute fondant to a more pliable form.
Applied:
- I feel like this first Independent component had helped me tremendously because i know get an understanding of how Cake artist work, the amount of work that they do for the variety of orders, and the complicated works that they have to create. I have actually had hands on experience with how fondant works and how long it takes to make the certain shape that we have to make almost every single order. I have felt the pressure their is because the bakery is so poplar, their are always people coming in with event orders, and the expectations they have the workers because of the title we had obtained at Cupcake Wars as champions. So I now have a bigger appreciation of Cake Artist than I had before.
Monday, January 21, 2013
First Day to a New Beginning
Total Hours worked: 7 hours
Today, I had marked the beginning of my independent component, which is actually getting hands-on training at a bakery. When I first walked into Cake Mama's, they had automatically given me the duty to unstack dried fondant, which was probably the hardest and most painful things I ad done today. I had done this for about 30 minutes until my actually trainer, Ashley, had arrived due to traffic.
When she had first walked in, she had gave quick introductions, then put me straight to work. She first had me cut our different colored discs of fondant for cupcake toppers. This took about most of my time, being about 2 hours 30 minutes. After I had finished making about 5 trays of different discs of fondant, she put me on another project with gum paste, and putting printed images on them, which was really cool and interesting because it is something I have always be curious about how to do.
I had made about some many fondant "toppers", that I was about to crack, until they gave me the chance to work with the fondant roller, which was so amazing! after that bit of excitement, I had gotten to work on the other orders that we had due this week, starting with the closest orders, to the later dated.
I had worked on all the decorations for the orders for another 3 hours because of the amount of orders there were and they amount of decorations we had to produce, and while I was at it, Ashley has taught me a lot new techniques and how to work with certain pieces of equipment.
When it was about 2 hours before closing, we had just finished with the decorations for the cupcakes, and I had started to clean up, and soon after, help with the incoming customers for another hour.
Today, I had marked the beginning of my independent component, which is actually getting hands-on training at a bakery. When I first walked into Cake Mama's, they had automatically given me the duty to unstack dried fondant, which was probably the hardest and most painful things I ad done today. I had done this for about 30 minutes until my actually trainer, Ashley, had arrived due to traffic.
When she had first walked in, she had gave quick introductions, then put me straight to work. She first had me cut our different colored discs of fondant for cupcake toppers. This took about most of my time, being about 2 hours 30 minutes. After I had finished making about 5 trays of different discs of fondant, she put me on another project with gum paste, and putting printed images on them, which was really cool and interesting because it is something I have always be curious about how to do. I had made about some many fondant "toppers", that I was about to crack, until they gave me the chance to work with the fondant roller, which was so amazing! after that bit of excitement, I had gotten to work on the other orders that we had due this week, starting with the closest orders, to the later dated.I had worked on all the decorations for the orders for another 3 hours because of the amount of orders there were and they amount of decorations we had to produce, and while I was at it, Ashley has taught me a lot new techniques and how to work with certain pieces of equipment.
When it was about 2 hours before closing, we had just finished with the decorations for the cupcakes, and I had started to clean up, and soon after, help with the incoming customers for another hour.
 |
| Ashley teaching me how to use a new tool for a laces. |
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Blog #12: Third Interview Questions
The questions that I want to ask is:
- What is the best way to create a decorative art themed wedding cake? (This is my Working EQ because it has not been approved yet.)
- Did you take any special classes before becoming a cake artist/ baker?
- What would say is best tip you can give to an aspiring baker?
- What is the biggest milestone in your career and why?
- Why did you go into this profession in the first place?
- Are their any helpful college majors that could possibly help a baker in the future?
- What sets you apart from other pastry shops?
- What is one of the most difficult parts about owning your own pastry shop?
- Can you tell me one of the best and most fun projects you have done?
- Who inspires you to keep baking and owning your business?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Blog #11: Mentorship 10 hours Check
1. As of right now, I am doing my mentorship with my cousin, Kim Crus, who owns her own catering business, but I have just gotten a chance to work with a place called Cake Mama's in Glendora, but still not sure I will be able to work with this certain place.
2. My current mentor:
Name: Kim Cruz
Contact #: (626)589-0162
My new possible mentor:
Business name: Cake Mama's
Contact #: (626)335-4999
3. I have only acquired the 10 hours from the summer because my mentor has not given me any notice on when I can come in and help out or learn from her, even though I have messages her asking when I can come over.
4. Right now, I cannot explain the 10 hours I have done since the summer because I have not gotten any notice from Kim about being able to come in and help out with her orders, or learn from her.
5. I have sent Mr. Ogden the contact #s of both my current mentor, and my possible new mentor.
2. My current mentor:
Name: Kim Cruz
Contact #: (626)589-0162
My new possible mentor:
Business name: Cake Mama's
Contact #: (626)335-4999
3. I have only acquired the 10 hours from the summer because my mentor has not given me any notice on when I can come in and help out or learn from her, even though I have messages her asking when I can come over.
4. Right now, I cannot explain the 10 hours I have done since the summer because I have not gotten any notice from Kim about being able to come in and help out with her orders, or learn from her.
5. I have sent Mr. Ogden the contact #s of both my current mentor, and my possible new mentor.
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