And That Takes the Cake....

My time at Wilton is over, and it went fast, really fast. I have learned so much over the past two weeks and am super excited to get home and put all my newfound knowledge to use making delicious cakes and goodies for all my market patrons!

The final day we got to take a tour of the Wilton Test Kitchen and the Wilton photography department. Their the ones that test all the products and make all the cakes, cupcakes, and general goodies you see on Wilton packaging. We couldn't take pictures so let me just tell you that some of the things Wilton is "cooking" up is hands down AMAZING!!!! I am so excited to see it all on the shelves of our local stores.

We also were critiqued on our final cake project, as I mentioned was a wedding cake. I am very pleased with the way mine turned out.

Oh you'd like to see it.... well by all means then, have a gander.

I think it really showcases a lot of the things I've learned in the past couple of weeks.

Now I'm excited to get home and put all this new knowledge to good use!

I'll see you at the market Tomorrow!

Well That Was Fast......

Well the first week is behind me, and I honestly can't believe how fast its gone by. I've had a blast and met some really nice people. The instructors are so nice and more than happy to share their knowledge with us, and they know a ton. We've tackled everything this week from borders to flowers, boiled icing to royal, and gum paste. Its a lot to retain in a short amount of time. I'm in classes from 7 in the morning to 6:30 at night. That makes for a long day but it feels really short.

Up next week we're beginning work on our final projects, in which we each get to decorate a wedding cake (I have so many ideas for mine that's its been hard to decided on a concept). There are 8 other people in class with me and I've enjoyed getting to hear all about what they plan to do when the session is over, as well as see pictures of cakes that they've done in the past. I think that's one of the things I've enjoyed the most about being here, the opportunity to be around other people who share the same passion as me. Its refreshing!

I'll share some pictures of what I've accomplished so far:

Exciting News!

I have some very exciting news dedicated followers! I am about to embark on an epic journey like no other. Okay that maybe be exaggerating a bit but it is really exciting. I am about to start a two week course at the Wilton School of cake decorating and confectionary art. This has been something I've wanted to do for a  very VERY long time, and I'm so blessed to now have the time and the resources to be able to.

Now, I know how to do a lot of things with a cake, but I don't know everything. I doubt I ever will. The Wilton school is designed to teach you everything from the ground up. They have classes for every skill level and interest. I'm taking four classes: The master class, Intro to Gum paste, starting a cake business and intro to fondant. I really hoping that these classes will round out my knowledge and give me the opportunity to ask questions.


I'm so excited!!!!

My mom and I are headed to Chicago for the weekend before to catch a ball game and some much needed Garrett's popcorn (haven't tried Garrett's? Run don't walk there right now) and then I'm back to school for the next two weeks.

Stay tuned as I update through out my stay!

Midweek Delight

By happenstance I have this week off of my day job, and therefore are no longer moonlighting as a budding pastry chef but get to actually experiment and play around with some new recipes for the next 4 days at least.

Another perk to having the week off is that I got to go with my mom to the Wednesday market. Normally this market doesn't get as much traffic as our Friday or Saturday does so we take a pared down table with not as many offerings. But this week I decided to try my hand at some mini pies and took them to see how they did.

I'm calling them Pocket Pies (my mom actually came up with the name, cute right!) and today I had them in lemon, blueberry, apple and cherry. I took 12 total and sold out of all of them, so I think people liked them. I plan to also have them on Saturday but also with some raspberry ones!

If that sounds good to you, then stop by and see me

Late Nights & Early Mornings....

What are you still doing awake?? You should be in bed by now. At least I know I should be. It is now..... 12:30 in the morning (or late at night, I'm never really sure how that all works). I have been busy for the last 8 hours baking in my kitchen. The evidence is in the stack of dishes next to the sink and the rather thick layer of flour on my shirt.

Ok I'll admit I wasn't baking that whole time, there was that haft hour I spent helping pick green beans in the garden, we do live on a farm after all.

And we did find time to go out for a little Birthday dinner. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Today, as in Saturday July 26th is my birthday. Normally, it's not something that I jump up and down and shout about. But when your baking cupcakes and cookies, it's a little hard to not get excited. I would love it if you came down to the market and bought yourself a treat in honor of my birthday!!

On the Menu:

• Banana bread- These mini loves have been going like(pardon the pun)hot cakes recently, come early to snag yourself one.
• Chocolate chip cookies- I brought a ton of these last week and only made it home with two, which my dad promptly ate, so you'd better hurry.
• Marshmallows- I have loved experimenting with new flavors this week and am bringing; Vanilla, Strawberry, and Orange.
• For the first time ever Ella Pauline's is proud to present our first pies! Blueberry, Cherry and Apple crumble are on the menu for this week but stay tuned for all sorts of new, seasonal flavors!

I hope to see you there!!

It's a Marshmellow World

Would you like to know the one weakness I have? My love for Marshmallows. People can get me to do anything simply by offering me a bag of squishy delight. My mom knows this and yet doesn't use tis knowledge for evil, instead she simply buys me a bag every once in a while as a gentle reminder that she loves me. This was especially true when I lived out of state, I would get bags of marshmallows in the mail all the time. Once she even brought me a bag of lemon marshmallows, which is the whole purpose of this post. Now I don't know if you've ever had a lemon marshmallow or not so I'll  just tell you that it taste a little like what I imagine heaven to taste like. We've looked everywhere since then and can't find these little delectable anywhere. So I decided to make my own.

Now I didn't have any lemon extract on hand so these ones are just vanilla, but they are no less delicious. And I do mean DELICIOUS!

They turned out amazing and I plan to have them in all sorts of amazing flavors, do make sure you stop by and see me this weekend!

A Little Chocolate Goes A long Way!

I'm happy to report that at yesterdays farmers market we made some money, always a plus on windy and stormy days!

I contribute the majority of sales to the introduction of a new product, well not new techniquely but new to Ella Pauline's. The Chocolate Chip Cookie! This delightfully unassuming treat gave me quite some trouble Friday night, but we pushed through our differences and came to a mutual understanding that I feel benefits up both.

So what makes these cookies so troublesome? I think its the dynamic relationship between the salt and the chocolate, it causes a rift in the recipe that makes cooking times relative. Nonetheless, I had some scrumptious cookies to take with me to the farmers market yesterday. Add that to the cinnamon runaways, chocolate donuts, and banana bread and we had one delicious spread!

Looks good right! I hope you ate something yummy yesterday and if you didn't come see us next week and we'll see what we can do about that!

Ella Pauline's
"Life's short, eat the cake!"