Raspberry-Lemon Torte With Real Roses

I said I was getting down to business.  Here's what this week entailed...

Here is my practice cake for the exam.

We have to have the decorated rouladen (which is the strip around the bottom), fruchtspiegel (which is the yellow lemon-fruchtspiegel), it filled with a cream (mine is raspberry and lemon), and decorated per piece (you see how it's sectioned off into individual pieces).

The flowers were an idea that I got from my boss.  Here goes the story...

I know that a lot of people will be tempering chocolate and creating some sort of decoration from the chocolate to lay on top or to decorate each piece of the cake.  It's not incredibly difficult and can be done in a reasonable time frame.  When discussing my cake with my boss, I expressed my opinion on how I wasn't crazy about doing that.  He explained how he had seen real roses dipped in some sort of sugar and used as decoration... and that no one would be doing this.  I did a little research and found that I can use egg white powder mixed with water, brushed onto the flowers and sprinkled with sugar for my decorations.  

I'm not crazy about the color of the flowers in comparison to the raspberries, but I can always find different colored roses...

Oh yea... and I sectioned the pieces a bit big (there goes my American side of me just shining right through!).  It should be 16 pieces, and not 14, so they would be a little bit smaller...

A Woman Is Like A Tea Bag...

Now that I'm back from vacation, it's straight back to business. The mid-term exam in not too far away now, and I've got a lot to figure out.

On top of work and studying, I really have to get details of my cake planned. I don't just mean coming up with ideas, but putting them to the test as well. Everything sounds great in my mind, but sometimes, as a lot of you may know, when trying them out, it turns out to be a disaster. Let's face it, I'm not trying to have one of those cake disasters you see on Food Network... as entertaining as they are...

My writing in chocolate is getting a lot better, but still not where I want to be! I think I may have written "Herzlichen Gluckwunsch!" about 100,000 times. It'll take 100,000 more until I feel comfortable.

This week I will be putting to test my ideas of my cake, and letting you all know about it! Until then, it's study, study, study... because not only do I need and want to learn everything there is about baking/pastry, but I need to know it in English and German... In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever been challenged this much...

Here we go!

Eleanor Roosevelt sure said it right, "A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."

The Girls Invade Ireland... Road Trip!

Ireland = fantastic... I've now been there twice in one year... and I'm still in love.  The first time was only about 2 days... not enough. At all.  The second time: 1 week... still not really enough.  There's just so much to see!

Here we go!

See our trip here!

First stop: Kilkenny

Seriously the best scone I have ever eaten!!!  I've never been too into scones... I don't know why... they just seem so... so... so... fancy?  Like I should sipping tee with my pinky up?  Wrong!  It was moist, delicious, and yes, we did eat them the fancy way!

Next: Rock of Cashel

We did a random pull-in stop at this place.  We had only read briefly about this place and were only going to stop if it wasn't too far out of the way, and if we had time.

Let me just say I'm so glad we stopped!  It was gorgeous!

So I though I could get a better picture climbing on the wall... I got stuck instead...

Next stop: Dingle!  (Our favorite place!)

Here, we had the absolute best dinner at a place called Ashe's... stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast (with the best pancakes I've ever had), and saw the most fantastic views!

Now, off to Galwayand The Aran Islands!

The original Claddagh Ring shop.  This is the only store in Ireland that is legally allowed to sell the original stamp of the Claddagh Ring, all others are only replicas.  The Claddagh Ring goes like this...

The hands are for friendship

The heart is for love

And the loyalty is shown

With a crown up above

The famous cliffs of course are next...

Last but certainly not least... St. Patrick's Day in Dublin:

And with that... Goodnight my friends...

Ireland Teaser

 Ireland teaser.... absolutely beautiful, right? Can't wait to share more... however, I need some serious recovery right about now...

By the way... Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

Tschüss!!!! Off to Ireland!

Tschüss!!!!  Off to Ireland for one week!

Check out... Our Trip!

My Official Invite

My "official" invite to the mid-term exam came to me in the mail.  So does that mean without it I wouldn't be able to take the exam?

Everything here has to be so official.  This just means that it's time to get down to business... time to practice, study, and get organized.

Zwischenprüfung (Mid-term Exam)

So I realized I haven't posted anything in a week... Going back to work after being away for 2 weeks is always  a little bit tough, but it always keeps me on my toes!

I started studying for my Zwischenprüfung  (mid-term exam).

It involves everything we've learned for this year and a half.  How do I begin?  I pretty much went through highschool and college without doing any major studying.  How is that possible?  I was a dance major.  My studying was going to class (everyday without fail)... and my tests, for the most part, were performing for my teachers.  You can say it was a little bit different than what everyone else was doing.

Now, I have an enormous amount of material to study for, and the importance to me in getting a good grade is also enormous... I've got a little bit of stress going on...

My BFF suggested flash cards.  Which I agree with.  It's just that they take forever to make... It'll be worth it.

That is the theory section of the test... we also have a practical part of the test.

This is something I'm not so worried about.  We are to make:

-A 26 cm cake: with a decorated rouladen rim 2/3 high (here is an example).

It has to be decorated by piece (meaning each piece is to look the same when cut).  It must be filled with some sort or Sahne (cream).
-Decorate the rim of a circle by piping
-Write "Herzlichen Gluckwunsch"
-Make a crepe (yea this sounds weird... but it belong to the cooking part of our program)
-Make a salad with a vinaigrette or dressing

It's do-able.  We have a total of 4 hours: 3 hours for the cake and 1 hour for the cooking section.

I want to thank you all for your comments from the cake competition!!! I still don't have any results, and won't until school starts back up again, but I appreciate all your kind words!

You see this awesome-ness right here??? This is where I will be on St. Patrick's Day next week!!!!  I always thought that being in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day was just a dream, and something that I would say, "Yea that would be awesome to go to," but never really thought it would be a possibility.  Now, I'm meeting 4 wonderful ladies from the US (including my mother and best friend) to have a great vacation road-tripping around Ireland for a week, ending in Dublin for the big day.  

It's gonna be legendary.