So the theme was "A Pastry Chef" and my group, Lindsay Daniel and myself, chose Yannis Janssens. He was just chosen as one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America. After doing some research, and going to the Fontainebleau to meet him, we discovered that he has worked at the Viceroy Hotel, The Setai, and The Ritz Carlton. Instead of doing a cake that he has done, or anything to literal, we tried to include small details from his past, so the cake represented who he
was as a chef. From the top to the bottom - The top is a sugar blown sphere that changed colors because we put a special light on the inside. The top blue tier represent his award. The following black tier is a hexagon and has bamboo on the edges to represent the Asain theme of The Setai. The next white tier has antique paintings of the Ritz logo going around the outside. Hanging in the middle is a sugar pulled spike ball to represent The Viceroy Hotel logo (A Sunburst). The next blue tier has a collection of Common Red Poppy Flowers, the national flower of Belgium, Chef Yannis' home country. The bottom tier represent where Chef Yannis is working now, The Fontainebleau, and has a monogram of his initial going around the rest of the tier. The cake is floating on a bed of truffles to represent Chef Yannis' home country again.
In the end, my team WON!!! We beat out over ten other cakes. This was a huge retribution from last year. My partner and I competed in the last Extreme Cake Competition, and didn't place, so this year, we wanted to show everyone that we could not only place, but win, and
we did! :D Also, in the picture the right, this is Chef Yannis, my partner Lindsay, and myself
These past two years have gone by so fast, but graduation has finally come. But before that, I was nominated for a University Award. This was the day before graduation, and since my parents came in the day before, they would be there. I wasn't sure if I would actually win anything, but as soon as I walked in, I saw these beautifully shiny plates, and I wanted one. As they called out awards, I became more and more nervous that I would not receive one. Then I finally got one, and it was a shiny plate!!! I received the Apprenti Cuisinier
Award - Baking & Pastry. There are five categories (Traditional, Garde Manger, International, Dining Services, and Baking & Pastry) and one student is chosen for each category that best represents it. My family and I were so honored that I was chosen by my chefs to receive this award. And to top it all off, I was inducted into The Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges. That was really awesome as well. Then graduation came the following day, and I was again extremely honored to represent the College of Culinary Arts by holding our banner at the beginning of the graduation. I felt truly blessed this entire weekend. Thanks to everyone that showed up and supported me, I love you all.
