Fruit Cake.

Just when you thought the fruit cake couldn't get any fruitier....

Maybe it's not my style of cake... or anyone's style under the age of 207 yrs old.  BUT, it was an excellent cake to learn on.  The fruit cake is under all of that royal icing, and a layer of marzipan.  Then the all of the decoration on the cake is out of royal icing.  The cake board decoration, including the rose, is all made out of gum paste.  My piping technique clearly needs some work.  This was my first time piping royal icing onto a cake and it is so much harder than it looks!  Chef Nicholas would show us in class and I would think "pshh this is gonna be an easy week".  Wow did I eat my words.  I felt like my brain and my hands had never coordinated together in my whole life.  I would see the mental picture of what it needed to look like in my head and then my hands would scribble out icing like a drunken sailor.  Long story short, if you try to pipe royal icing and you aren't that good at it, don't beat yourself up. 

I have so many train stories that I've been trying to refrain from telling you.  I'm trying to keep this blog at least 60% cake school, and 40% train stories.  I wont tell you about the lady singing Alanis Morissette at the top of her lungs behind me, or the lady that got her umbrella stuck in the train door, or how the train conductor then yelled at her over the sound system... "whhhy would you stick your umbrella in the door?".  I wont tell you about the guy's shoulder I accidentally fell asleep on (reading a boring book), the homeless man who pulled my hair, or the business man's briefcase that took out my left knee.  But I will tell you a story that I should have told you weeks ago.

This was way back in sugar class, and I can't believe I forgot to mention it.  We were working on our cakes when my friend Chelsea suddenly said, "umm.... Chef I think you need to come over here".  Then she started fumbling with her trashcan.  Then finally she is like "ok Chef.. umm there is sorta a fire".  Chef Scott started to walk over to her station, I look over and there is smoke coming out of the trashcan.  Chef Scott doesn't change his pace, just walks on over picks up the trashcan.  When he walks by my table I could see the bottom of the trashcan is completely orange and you could see the flames flickering inside.  He put it out in the dish room, and we all can't help but bust out laughing.  We would be the class to set the classroom on fire.  Apparently, Chelsea was torching her sugar knife when a piece of sugar caught on fire and fell into the trashcan. Unfortunately, most of our trashcans are filled with paper towels , so those quickly lite on fire.  Chef Scott was like "you wont be laughing when the fire sprinklers turn on".  We have never shut up so quickly.  That is hopefully the first and last story of a fire in our kitchen.  

Stay tuned for the video of the fruit cake... coming soon to theaters.